Posted in: Collectibles, Funko | Tagged: funko, Funko Fundays, funkon

Did Funko's FunKon 2021 Fall Flat? Here is Our Thoughts

Funko's newest virtual convention FunKon 2021, has come to an end, and now we can look back at the recent summer event. I have been collecting Pop Vinyls since 2012, and being Funatic has only increased over the years. So it is always a treat when Funko hosts another event or convention, which has only increased with their "virtual con's" since the pandemic. Funko FunKon 2021 was set to be a big event with an in-store Hollywood component as well as an online release. However, this newest con might have been overhyped with a lot of letdowns, misinformation, and a poor Fundays event.

Starting things off is the FunKon Exclusive Pops which were all great with a lot of franchises covered, giving collectors plenty to go after. Like past cons, an online lottery was held with select Fan Club members being picked for the special release. Funko has seemingly gone back to only notifying winners of the Lottery this year rather than issuing a simple "Sorry, Better Luck Next Time" notification to losers. I would rather know I lost (which I did) rather than just be skipped over, making my Fan Club membership feel not even worthy of an email. The lottery went pretty smooth, but due to "logistical" issues, they pulled a lot of their hot-ticket Pops from the lottery last minute, with My Hero Academia and Kaboom Soda dropping now in September. With world issues, shipping delays are inevitable but telling fans 10 minutes before the actual drop is pretty sad, as many of these "delayed" Pops were already in store at Shared Retailer locations.

Funko did state that they will hold another FunKon event in September for lottery winners giving them the ability to own that official sticker Pop later on. However, these seem to make the Lottery Event worthless if many of the Pops are able to be a first obtained before by non-lottery winners. The lottery was the least of the FunKon issues as the 3-day event was more promoted for the 45 Minute in-store Funko Hollywood launch rather than its online component. They did release special videos three times a day, but they were more skits than rather interactions like previous live-stream virtual con events. I would have loved to see some unboxings of the FunKon Exclusives, giveaways, and contests through social rather than pre-recorded videos.

Funko Hollywood Ticket winners did get the best of the event with contests, in-store events, and even proto giveaways. In previous years, only ticket holders would be able to attend SDCC, but with FunKon set as a vital convention as well, they let the majority of their fans down. It would be insane to fly or drive cross-country just for a 1-hour excursion of the Funko Hollywood store. It would be a no-brainer to attend the event if you live a couple of hours away, but why not at least offer a live stream event for the Funko Hollywood store? Funko has some amazing hosts, and it would have been cool to see some of these Pop Quizzes, spinning wheel games, and even proto giveaways live. Polls, questionaries, photo challenges, and much more are offered now, and it is sad that Funko did not allow non-Funko Hollywood guests the chance to be a part of FunKon 2021. Maybe NYCC will be different, but only time will tell what they will do, be sure to stay tuned for our sad thoughts on the weird overly-hyped Funko Fundays event.

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