Originally posted on Agents of Geek on August 5, 2014
Throughout the various decades, there have been many collectable fads. From Pet Rocks to MadBalls, to Beanie Babies… all of them, both super-addictive as well as income-consuming. In the mid-90’s, Funko established their own collectable fad by starting their “Wacky Wobblers” line of bobble heads. Cereal mascots, Hanna-Barbera characters, even Mr. T.
After a buyout of the company in the mid-2000’s, Funko decided to up the ante on what collectibles they would sell. Enter, the POP Vinyl: Adorable vinyl renditions of characters from movies, television, and more.
As far as addiction goes, outside of my huge Transformers collection, I’ve never been compelled to collect so many POPs. So much so, that I’ve officially named my collection the “Great Wall.” With the amount of different and various properties and licenses that POP have used to create figures, I’m convinced that eventually EVERYTHING will be made into a POP. Heck, there are even blank POPs that you can purchase to make your own. There are some who even sell custom made POPs on Etsy.
Having said that, there are a few characters/properties/etc. that Funko is missing for one reason or another (I imagine due to difficulties with rights issues, etc.) Even still, here is a list (in no particular order) of some that I believe should be made into POP Vinyl figures:
8: A Random Assortment of TV/Movie Characters
Along with the usual Star Wars, Disney, Comic Book, etc. POP figures, there are definitely plenty of “wild card” types that appear in sets of one or two. For instance, there’s a POP for Ash from Army of Darkness, as well as Robocop, the Xenomorph from the Alien series, and (because there just HAD to be) a Sharknado POP figure. This is where you can really have some fun with licenses. I mean, Funko had a Mr. T Wacky Wobbler, so lets start with making him into a POP. Since T is from the 80’s, let’s continue there. ALF would be cool to add to a random line of one or two. How about Jake and Elwood Blues of The Blues Brothers fame? Since Funko’s been throwing around vehicles, maybe even a Bluesmobile one? Going a bit obscure, if you’re going to make a Sharknado, could we also see a Tommy Wiseau from The Room figure? Ohai, Funko.
7: Classic Cartoon Network
Ok, so there are plenty of figured based on Adventure Time, as well as the five main characters from Regular Show. What about featuring some of the classic CN shows like Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Samurai Jack, etc. There’s actually a comic book line by IDW which has all of these characters in crossovers. Perhaps tying that in would work.
6: Godzilla/Other Kaiju (and Jaegers too)!
With the fairly new Ghostbusters line, Funko has proven that a bigger POP figure is doable. They only cost a couple of dollars extra, and with the right figures, will sell rather well. In this case, why not capitalize on another Summer Blockbuster in Godzilla? We know a sequel is in the works, featuring not only the titular character, but his classic foes (Mothra, Ghidora, etc.) as well. With last year’s blockbuster, Pacific Rim, you can also throw in some of the newer Kaiju such as Knifehead. Heck, throw in some Jaegers as well. I for one would love to have Gipsy Danger in POP form.
5: Harry Potter
Funko has POP figures for books turned into TV and Movies such as Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, and (for some odd reason) Ender’s Game. So why not show some love to one of the more contemporary yet still classic book young adult book series. There’s definitely a following in the Potterverse, and there are so many characters that can be put into a POP Vinyl series.
For instance, each series can either have characters from different books. Obviously each series has to have the three main characters of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Hagrid could show up in the Sorcerer’s Stone set (another bigger POP opportunity). They could also do sets according to House. A Slytherin set with Snape, Malfoy, and Voldemort, perhaps? Maybe Ron in his parents’ car?
4: Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter
There are plenty of the contemporary video game characters represented in POP. Halo, Mass Effect, Sonic the Hedgehog… but no love for the two big classic fighting games of the 90s. With so many characters in both game series, it’s simple to start with 6 of each. For Street Fighter: Ken, Ryu, Chun Li, Blanka, and Bison. For Mortal Kombat: Scorpion, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Liu Kang. Funko could even throw certain stores (I know Hot Topic is among them) who have exclusive figure variants Sub Zero, Reptile, and the rest of the multi-colored ninjas.
3: Indiana Jones
When Funko started the POP Vinyl line, it was limited to DC, Star Wars, and Disney characters… with Marvel coming in shortly after (obviously due in part to Disney buying Marvel). Now that Disney has come to terms with LucasFilms’ other big property in Indiana Jones, why not start a line? Hasbro actually had its own vinyl line (known as Mighty Muggs,) which featured various characters from the four Indy films.
Obviously Funko could follow suit and release various characters (Obviously Indy, Mola Ram, Henry Jones, and *groan* Mutt). I would honestly prefer them to release a collection of 4-6 in each, based on each film, starting with Raiders. If they did one series every 6 – 12 months, who knows… maybe that fabled 5th film will be out by then?
2: [adult swim]
Since it’s inception, the [adult swim] brand has been pretty random when it comes to making figures from their properties (I blame the fall of Palisades Toys in part for their randomness). In recent years, we’ve only seen mainly the Venture Bros line as well as a Mego line for the upcoming Mike Tyson Mysteries. I was rather shocked last year when Funko decided to produce a POP featuring Dr. Blake Downs of Childrens Hospital. It actually made me wonder if Swim had plans to work with Funko on more POPs?
Imagine an Aqua Teen line with the 3 main characters and Carl? Characters from your favorite shows like Superjail, Metalocalypse, even the Venture Bros. Throw in some live-action with Tim and Eric, Delocated, Eagleheart, and NTSF:SD:SUV::. Even a Space Ghost POP would be awesome (although, they could always add ol’ Tad to their current Hanna-Barbera line).
1: Doctor Who
Of all the current popular TV series NOT a POP yet, I’m sure this line is on the top of most of your lists. Like many other properties, I’m sure there’s plenty of red tape (It’s a BBC property after all). There are so many different ways to start this line. The most logical, would be to work backwards from the Matt Smith era: the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, River Song, etc.) After that, if it’s successful (and why wouldn’t it be?), the David Tennant era featuring the Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, and a couple of baddies… Cybermen, Ood, etc.
A more daring way to start would be the entire run of the Doctors, from William Hartnell to Peter Capaldi (including John Hurt as the War Doctor). Speaking of Capaldi, you may have noticed I left out Clara Oswald. I would definitely save her and Capaldi’s Doctor for a future line, considering the new season is just about to start.
Of course, much of this is simply my opinion. I’m sure everyone has their own wishlist for Funko. Regardless, it will only be a matter of time until our Vinyl overlords end up making everything into a POP figure. Even us.
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