Millions of dollars worth of Disney collectible items might be on their way to the dump soon.
Collectors of Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel merchandise all may be familiar with the distinctive Funko Pop! figurines. But despite the popularity of the brand, it appears that a huge amount of merchandise may be heading to a landfill in the near future.
NPR has reported that the maker of Funko Pop! collectibles plans to toss $30 million worth of its inventory, after realizing it has more figurines than it can afford to hold on to.
A combination of decreased demand and excess inventory is driving a financial loss for the company. The company’s warehouses are currently full, which has forced Funko to rent storage containers to hold the excess product. As a result, the inventory is now worth less than it costs the company to keep on hand.
According to Funko, at the end of last year, its inventory totaled $246 million worth of products, an increase of 48% percent from a year earlier. In a Wednesday press release, the company said, “This includes inventory that the Company intends to eliminate in the first half of 2023 to reduce fulfillment costs by managing inventory levels to align with the operating capacity of our distribution center. This is expected to result in a write down in the first half of 2023 of approximately $30 to $36 million.”
According to Juli Lennett, vice president and industry advisor for NPD’s U.S. toys practice, this news is surprising because the collectibles market is still performing well as a whole. She told NPR, “I was a bit surprised because the collectible market is one of the big stories for 2022. Collectibles were up 24%. That’ll include any other types of action figure collectibles as well. But Funko, of course, is the biggest player in that space.”
Funko has made much of its revenue from selling licensed products from major pop culture brands such as Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, and Harry Potter. However, they also manufacture figures from a variety of more niche franchises and characters, like Sharknado and Krampus, to name a few.
Some have spoken out against the company’s plan to dump the excess inventory, arguing that it should instead be donated or sent to small, independent comics stores that could use the revenue from the products. Funko hasn’t yet made a statement in response to such requests.
We’ll continue to be on the lookout for any new developments regarding Funko’s future plans, so stay tuned to AllEars for the latest updates.
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Do you own any Funko Pop! figurines? Let us know in the comments!
When are we going to learn to stop consuming this plastic garbage?
Don’t chuck them in the dump. Millions of kids around the world ( homeless or not) would
Love them. Would lighten any kids day. Don’t waste that opportunity to brighten someone’s day.
I suspect Funko overplayed their hand in some of their licenses. I have laughed at seeing Funko Pops of old films like Dumb and Dumber and Stripes. They are great movies, yes, but most of us who saw those films in theaters and not basic cable are of the age that don’t collect Funko Pops.
I hope they just don’t destroy their inventory and find some sort of use for it. I would even think auctioning it off in mass quantities would at least deliver a small profit.