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Funko Addresses Last Year's ECCC Criticisms… And It Really Works!
Ian Melton is writing for Bleeding Cool from ECCC,
A new stable of ECCC since last year, and the source of the largest controversy and complaints last year, Funko brought a smaller display but a good amount of exclusives to Emerald City Comic-Con this year. Set up in the middle of the show floor, the giant Funko sign can be seen from everyone anywhere on the convention floor. Last year the exclusives Funko brought made the booth the highest traffic destination for the convention, but left many many attendants frustrated and angry at the very long lines and the exclusives being sold out within the first 30 minutes of the show. Rumors of other vendors buying all the exclusives before con-goers made it onto the show floor were spread, and many complaints made Funko's first year at ECCC a failure for many fans.
In response to all the criticisms that Funko revised the whole process for 2017. A "lottery" was announced online, and everyone wanting to buy exclusives could enter and win a place in line each of four days. Only those with tickets won through the lottery would be allowed to line up for sessions each day, but later in the day the Funko booth would be open to the general public. The remaining daily allotment of Funko merchandise could be bought by those who did not win a place in the lottery then. In addition more of each exclusive seem to be available but buyers are still being limited to only one of each exclusive during each turn in line.
So two days in how is the new process doing? It seems pretty well. No angry confrontations have happened and the area around Funko is easy to walk by and the lines are orderly and seem to have happy customers. The huge lines of last year are gone, and constant yelling of "what do they still have" and "what has sold out already" are also absent. The main thing to see now at the Funko booth now is the giant statue of Eleven from Stranger Things, clutching her Eggo waffles.