Funko Pop maker admits it might not survive another year as sales crash

Article on dexerto / archive

Funko has warned investors that it may not survive another year after reporting a sharp decline in sales and issuing a formal notice about its financial stability.

The collectibles giant behind the Pop Vinyl brand posted net sales of $250.9 million for the third quarter of 2025, down 14% from the same period last year, and recorded a net loss of roughly $1 million, according to its latest financial filing. The company cited falling demand, higher tariffs, and tighter retailer inventories as major challenges in what it described as a “difficult retail environment.“

Funko’s troubles follow years of explosive growth fueled by its vinyl collectibles, which once dominated shelves at Walmart, Target, and comic book stores. But as overproduction flooded the market and consumer interest waned, the company’s once-steady profits began to collapse. Reports from industry tracker ICv2 show that Funko’s U.S. sales plunged 20% year-over-year, accounting for most of its overall revenue drop.


“Substantial doubt” over Funko’s future​

In its latest SEC filing, Funko said there is “substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months,” acknowledging that without new funding or an acquisition, it could breach loan covenants and default on debt obligations. The company has roughly $250 million in total debt and has already amended its credit agreement twice in 2025 to secure covenant relief.

Funko says it will focus on smaller product lines such as Bitty Pops, blind-box collectibles, and its Pop Yourself kiosks while “exploring strategic alternatives,” including a potential sale. Once a billion-dollar powerhouse of pop-culture merchandise, the company now faces its most uncertain year yet.
 
They were just the fad collectible of the past few years. Like all fads that came and went before them, they were always destined to have a limited shelf life. They should have planned for this.

Also, publicly admitting this decline is terrible PR, it’s basically announcing to everyone who hasn’t yet got the message that your product has gone out of fashion.
 
how do you lose 250 million dollars making little plastic figurines. The bloat at this company must be insane.
They must've blown a lot of moola on their video game
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what happens to all the stores at the mall that are just 90% funko pops?
Good fucking question.

I've been to many malls where there are several shops dedicated to them. Never seen anyone actually shop in them, however.

Probably will fill it with some other trash modern 'collectable' shit in a sad attempt to save their business (whatever business they have) then go belly up.
 
Just wait until they shift their focus to an entirely new product: funko paps - home pap smear kits with product licensing including everything from the golden girls and iron man to oj simpson and game of thrones

That said i'm surprised nobody has tried to pull off a pog revival yet. Just think, if pogs ever get popular again we could start releasing limited edition lolcow pog sets. Just imagine it - chris chan and sonichu pogs with a special edition lumberjack bob and hoarder barb slammer set. and i'm sure the special edition 5 guys pog and horrifying blowjob zoe quinn slammer pack would sell well. I don't think the special fecund bae pack of wern pogs featuring toasterbortions, hobo life and shirtless steak eating wern slammer packs would get him any closer to any fecund ova though

and of course we can't forget the extensive cheeses of the world and IT nightmare null collections either

and i'm surprised chris chan never made any sonichu pogs of his own. He's the right age for it, you'd think it would be one of the things he'd have done at some point. Plus he could put a hole through one and wear it as an emergency sonichu medallion
 
and i'm surprised chris chan never made any sonichu pogs of his own. He's the right age for it, you'd think it would be one of the things he'd have done at some point. Plus he could put a hole through one and wear it as an emergency sonichu medallion
I don't know if Pogs lasted long enough for them to have much of an impact on Chris. I seem to remember them becoming a thing and then just vanishing within a year.
 
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limited edition lolcow pog sets
If you put the legal issues aside, like whether someone's going to sue you for saying "Pog" and you'll have to say "juice cap lid-type collectable circle," Pogs seem like one of the easier fad toys to replicate. It's just thick cardstock, art, and a printer with the right size die.
 
I can't believe the Funkopacalypse is finally happening!

I remember a couple of years ago, when they were literally dumping unsold Funko Pops into landfill by the hundred.



I suspect there's going to be a few very interesting books/documentaries/eight hour YouTube 'Pop slop' video essays coming out about this, and exactly the reasons this happened - I have my own theories as to why they're going out of business, but I'd be interested in having them confirmed and I'd like to know the sort of bad corporate decisions that lead to this.

What really interests about this is how it's going to affect bricks and mortar retailers. Every 'geeky' shop I have ever been to has had walls full of these things. It's weird to see them going the way of the Beanie Baby.

I'm also very intrigued as to what level meme culture played in Funko's demise. They've become, in the popular imagination, a kind of cultural shorthand for the sort of person we all think of when we hear the words 'Funko pop' - the soy-filled Redditor who gets cucked and cries at Star Wars trailers. Funko stopped being cool and quirky, and became an embarrassment.
 
I remember a couple of years ago, when they were literally dumping unsold Funko Pops into landfill by the hundred.
Man, they missed an opportunity to build something using their square heads like bricks. Little bodies and feet just poking out the back and front.

Either an igloo that'd take a year to offgas, or two vast and trunkless legs of vinyl standing alone in the desert.
 
Oil crisis for me, stupid plastic bullshit falling off Chinese assembly lines and into a landfill 24/7 for thee.
 
I don't know if Pogs lasted long enough for them to have much of an impact on Chris. I seem to remember the things becoming a thing and then just vanishing within a year.
Can't speak to how things were in virginia but they lasted from 1993 to mid 1996 in canada, but yeah you could be right. Though i'm not sure how chris would react to somebody actually hitting his homemade pogs with a slammer or trying to play for keeps. Back in the day if he'd been into that stuff he'd have definitely been one of those kids who loses his shit over losing his favorite pogs in a game and getting them banned from the school over his meltdown. I can't imagine he'd be too much better now

Aunt Carol dijo:
If you put the legal issues aside, like whether someone's going to sue you for saying "Pog" and you'll have to say "juice cap lid-type collectable circle," Pogs seem like one of the easier fad toys to replicate. It's just thick cardstock, art, and a printer with the right size die.
When you put it that way, maybe it would be better to call them nogs instead and make them all have pictures and facts about inner city crime. I'm sure that would go over hilariously well. Doubly so if you included a george floyd pack and a derek chauvin slammer and called it an I can't breef if you managed to flip the floyd cap upside down and have the slammer land on it
 
Good fucking question.

I've been to many malls where there are several shops dedicated to them. Never seen anyone actually shop in them, however.

Probably will fill it with some other trash modern 'collectable' shit in a sad attempt to save their business (whatever business they have) then go belly up.
I'm pretty sure most of those are money laundering
 
I don't care for them at all but if Funko Pop goes belly up as a company it's certainly an end of a era as far as "pop culture collectibles" go.
 
I don't know if Pogs lasted long enough for them to have much of an impact on Chris. I seem to remember the things becoming a thing and then just vanishing within a year.

THE VIRGIN POG
  • Created by some fat Hawaiian school teacher (probably a paedophile).
  • Inspired by some gay game involving milk bottle tops.
  • Literally expected you to pay money for little discs of cardboard.
  • Unappealing art style and charmless mascot, 'Pog Man', who looked like Captain Caveman would look, if Captain Caveman was some kind of sex criminal.
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THE CHAD TAZO
  • Came free with a bag of crisps.
  • Notches in the side, so you could join them together and do some kind of cool K*Nex style shit.
  • Featured beloved established franchises kids would love, like Looney Tunes, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Pokémon.
  • Swap 'em with your friends at lunch time on the playground.

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If you put the legal issues aside, like whether someone's going to sue you for saying "Pog" and you'll have to say "juice cap lid-type collectable circle,"

Could we call them 'Poggers'?

A legally distinct portmanteau of 'Pog' and 'niggers'?
 
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