Image via Funko
One of the things I realized during the quarantine was that I was a little too into my collection of Funko Pop! vinyl figures. In covering the Pop! side of life for this site, I’ve kept my eyes on new releases; at any time you can find four-to-five Pop! figures already pre-ordered, waiting for their time to be sent to my porch. Without a real place to display my collection (yet), and a weird thing about not taking the figures out of their boxes, I end up with a few spaces in my home dedicated to boxes of amazing Pop! figures. Don’t mind my obsession; you probably have a cluster like this in your home, or as Funko CEO Brian Mariotti tells Complex, on your desk at work.
“Some people really get behind decorating their desks” with their favorite Funko Pops, Mariotti says. “You go in and look at their desk, and you know exactly what they love.” (Mine change with the season. Like, during October, all of my horror Pops are out. Don’t mind my obsession.)
Mariotti spoke with Complex ahead of the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which airs on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 25) at 9 AM on NBC. The parade will see the debut of Funko’s collaborative ballon with LucasFilm, depicting the Pop!-inspired Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, the tiny star of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. It depicts the perfect Grogu moment, one that has been meme’d up and loved to death. AKA the perfect way for Funko to make a splash during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
During their conversation, Mariotti gets into working with Macy’s and LucasFilm on this project, being able to see the 41-foot high, 29-foot long, 37-foot wide balloon during a recent test flight, and his own pop collecting habits, including if his figures remain boxed or not. Be sure to grab the Mandalorian-inspired Funko line and tune in to Grogu’s debut on Thanksgiving Day.
What was it like for you seeing the Grogu balloon?
I did not realize I wasn’t going to be able to ride in it during the test flight. Once I got past that idea I wasn’t going to be able to ride the damn thing [Laughs], it was pretty cool. It turned out so cool. It’s really adorable at every angle. They did such a great job.
I didn’t realize that this would be the first Star Wars-themed balloon in the parade.
Yeah, I was surprised about them not having a balloon in the parade; I did not know that either. I’m like, “Wow.” There was a dialogue between our promo LucasFilm, and just [finding] ways to elevate the brand, and having Macy’s being interested in us being a part of it. The fun part was once those two got a line on the reality of us participating, then the fun part is figuring out which main character to use, right? We had a long list. It felt like a no-brainer—we all pretty much unanimously supported the idea of Grogu getting the first balloon.
Was it difficult keeping up with this during the quarantine in the pandemic?
Yes, it was. The team at Macy’s was so complementary to our team and LucasFilm; everybody has a passion. We get it right. Everybody wanted to get the balloon design right. Everyone just worked harder and quicker, and it just moved really, really quickly, from iteration to iteration. Everybody was just so passionate about, “This is a great opportunity. Let’s not screw it up.”
Where are you going to be on Thanksgiving? Are you going to be watching on the parade TV?
I love Thanksgiving. I’ve got to decompress from my obsession to pop culture, working all the time. I am going to hunker down here and I may invite some friends and family over and just watch a lot of football, and watch a lot of movies, eat turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes, and be very happy to be with everyone.
Switching gears, during the quarantine, I finally downloaded the Funko app. I didn’t realize that the app kept track of the market value of your Pop! figures. I mention this because during the quarantine we’ve seen an influx of trading and interest in the collectible space. Is that Funko market as wild as some of the other markets? It feels like it’s more the fun in seeing what things are worth compared to selling them.
Yeah, it is. When we built the app—first of all, that’s a dangerous app to be on. Even for me. There are things I catch on when I’m on that app that are like, “Oh boy. Oh boy. I forgot we made that.” We love the app.
Seeing the price for your collection, that’s what we do. It’s about people showing off the things they love. We love that. The app itself was really important to our fans. They love tracking what they’re worth.
I just completed a project where I went through and did a whole Funko archive of everything from the early days. I was searching for things to put into my little museum. Going back and getting Flavor Flav and Chuck E. One of my favorite albums of all time is Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. Going out and getting old school rap Pop! figures that I hadn’t had forever. Just going and getting all the stuff I wanted, Scot Pilgrim, and Game of Thrones—the app was just instrumental in that.
That’s why, again, when I, when I talk about the market, it’s funny to me because Pop! figures are everywhere. Yet, it’s not like I’ve got to grab them, I got to get them all. Like you mentioned, Fear of a Black Planet was important to you, and that’s why you grabbed certain Pop! figures. They’re very personal to people. People, they hold them in high regard. That begs the question, do you open and have yours on display or do you keep them in the box?
Yeah. That’s funny, because I want to tell you I like to open them, right. When I started what I like call my historical library, I decided there were certain ones that were rare that I wouldn’t open. I would say the majority of my stuff down there now is definitely out of the box. I like to see the figure. But now I’m starting to see the people that are obsessed with the box itself and never take them out. My answer is, most of them are out of the box. Sometimes I like seeing more rare figures in the plastic box.
When I first got a few Pop! figures, I took them out of the box, and I have a few at work that are open, but all the rest of my Pop! figures are in boxes. Sometimes I’ll go on Instagram stories and hold up a Pop and ask, “Should I open this Eazy-E Pop?” It’s always, “no.” I put up a poll. People don’t want you opening up the Pop! figures.
That’s funny. Yeah. I think people are a little too precious about that stuff. Some people really get behind decorating their desks. You go in and look at their desk, and you know exactly what they love. I love that.