Walk into any geek shop and you'll see a wall of Funko Pops staring at you through their vacant, plastic eyes - they're unavoidable. Hell, even HMV has an aisle dedicated to the little Chibi mascots. Going by sheer exposure alone, you'd think they were a thriving cornerstone of nerd culture, but, as it turns out, this once billion-dollar enterprise is fast losing money.

As reported by Dexerto, the company has warned investors that a sharp drop in sales, President Trump's tariffs, and the growingly "difficult retail environment" are to blame, and that it's currently "exploring strategic alternatives" to survive.

Its top properties right now are One Piece, Mickey and Friends, Pokémon, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hello Kitty, Stranger Things, Marvel, Harry Potter, and Lilo & Stitch.

The pop vinyl maker reported in its latest SEC financial filing that it has suffered a net loss of $68.1 million over the last nine months ($1 million this quarter) "due to the decrease in net sales outpacing the decrease in operating expenses". Combined with its $215 million in debt, Funko admitted that there is "substantial doubt about [its] ability to continue" operating, anticipating that its "cash flow may be insufficient to support working capital needs within the next 12 months".

Funko Is Considering An Acquisition Amid Dwindling Interest

fallout ghoul funko pop with dogmeat bitty pop.via Funko

Despite these challenges, CEO Josh Simon remains optimistic about the future of the brand, and several ideas have already been put forward on how it might prevent collapsing into the million-dollar landfill of plastic IP (yep, that really happened); "I'm only 60 days into the role, but it's already clear how powerful the Funko brand is and how much growth opportunity lies ahead," he said.

Suggestions include obtaining additional financing, focusing on smaller lines like Bitty Pops and blind-box collectables, as well as Pop Yourself kiosks, and even selling off the company. "Our board of directors has initiated a formal review process to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company, including a potential sale of the company," the report states. "The company has not set a deadline or definitive timetable for the completion of the strategic alternatives review process."

So, there are a few avenues that Funko could take to pull itself back from the brink, but the company also stressed in the same report that it cannot assure it will "obtain refinancing or additional financing on favorable terms" and that there is "no assurance that management's liquidity plan will be successfully implemented", nor that an acquisition "will result in any particular outcome"; frankly, things aren't looking good for Funko, and soon, the era of walking into those geek shops and seeing a labyrinth of franchise mascots eternalised in plastic, looking out from behind their prized box windows, might finally come to an end.

mixcollage-13-dec-2024-08-29-am-4834.jpg
2.0/5

Funko Fusion
Action-Adventure
Systems
super greyscale 8-bit logo PC-1 Playstation Logo Xbox-1
Top Critic Avg: 53/100 Critics Rec: 14%
Released
September 13, 2024
ESRB
e
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

Genre(s)
Action-Adventure