Written by In early 2023, after suffering nearly $47 million in losses, Funko reportedly dumped more than 30 million of Funko Pop! collectible inventory (product that was worth less than it cost to store.)
That began a tumultuous time for Funko, the parent company that acquired Mondo back in 2022 (the company responsible for “Masters of the Universe” 1:6 scale figures and the high-end “200X” 1:10 Scale Figures).
In August, we reported that even after laying off 20 percent of their workforce, the pop culture collectibles company was still unable to stop their revenue from falling for a third year in a row (resulting in a reported whopping 80% stock price decline for Funko.)
Now, in Funko’s latest quarter report, (while a vast improvement over the 41 million lost in the previous quarter), Funko lost another million dollars this quarter ($992,000 exactly) reported by ICV2, and “Funko has little room to maneuver without running out of cash.”
“Funko has little room to maneuver without running out of cash.”
ICV2
Funko themselves reportedly pointed to a “challenging retail environment” where retailers have slowed restocking and/or canceled orders.” They also attributed blame to tariffs (even though the company’s woes began long before the new tariffs were implemented.)
Revealed in a SEC Filing, Funko is reportedly now forecasting they “must raise additional cash or negotiate further loan relief or be in default” leading to a scenario for Funko where “[T]here is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for the next twelve months“.
So what will the future hold for Mondo’s parent company Funko? Apparently Funko confirmed that “a sale of the company and other strategic transactions continue to be under consideration, along with a search for new debt financing.“
However, after stopping a lionshare of the hemorrhaging, Funko did experience a bump in their stock. Could there be a turnaround in their future? We shall see.
We’ll see you next time.
That’s too bad, but I think that’s what happens when your trendy fan product becomes unpopular and all your other stuff is too pricey for the average customer.
Mondo thought that they got a sugar-daddy when Funko bailed them out from Alamo Drafthouse… then they literally started doubling their prices on everything. Then, they got so brazen with it that they started charging 1:6 scale prices for 1:12 scale RGB figures. Asinine.
Mondo may have shot themselves in the foot. I love MOTU… I love 1:6 scale figures… however, I DO NOT like being swindled into believing a 12″ plastic action figure with a few cloth goods should cost $300.00USD.
If they go belly up, I want two things before they go:
1. My She-Ra 2.0 better get to me (I already sold my 1.0 version)
2. They can hopefully think about how they have taken advantage of their customer base and other similar companies will learn from Mondo’s greed.
On a side note, I got a strange email from Mondo asking me to update my email preferences with them… in order to help “save the Mondoverse…" ??
I wonder if they’re looking around for another company to bail them out again..?
@ornclown I understand the narrative surrounding Mondo products, as well as some of the legitimate concerns. But if Super7 had kept the MotU licence, how much do you think we’d be paying today? The same price as the current Ultimates figures: $65. This itself triples the price of the Motuc figures. The current economy seems willing to suck our wallets dry at all costs. What will you do? As I’ve posted several times before regarding the headache caused by these 1/12 200X figures, I would have liked to see Mattel release a dedicated subline under the Masterverse umbrella. I would have ignored Mondo’s offering, just as I still do with superior scaled products. However, Mattel is not stupid. Given the situation, it is much better to expand the Origins line and opt for a more cartoon-accurate look, since they had already started with Filmation. This way, their licensing is somewhat protected from cannibalism.
Good. I hate those stupid POPS.
More pops for the landfill.
Stop the Pop shit and focus on Mondo and new product. Pop is over.
dang this is a slow death. Sell mondo to mattel and let mc run it
a company ran by idiots being sold to bigger idiots. What does that solve? Mondo is still huge in posters and vinyl records. Do you think mattel can manage that? Mattel couldn’t touch the quality of Mondo figures with a ten foot dick.
The 1/6 line of motu is my favorite thing to collect besides music, but Im at the stage of saying hell with it, end it. Im tired of the po on top of po on top of po, and waiting for shit to ship because they are nickeling and dimming holding shit back to save on shipping here and there all the while they have had your money for a very very long time. Thats not how you run a business. If you want to do shit like that, make a certain amount, then sell at time product in hand with up to date shipping costs. You’re screwing your customers by penny pinching who gave you money way way in advance.
Then that brings up a whole other issue. If companies dont have the funds to produce items and they need po money from one item to pay off another it will bite in ass and it looks like it has. This isnt a kickstarter line made by some guy. This at one time was a billion dollar company(?) who shit the bed. They got in over their head with all these random lines and charging crazy prices for some of these stupid lines. Then on the other side of things, just look at the just pops alone. How many licenses do you think they have paid for? How many have they sat on? How many never brought back what was paid? Funko has to have the most licenses out there, dont you think?
Everyone knew this was gonna happen the day it was announced Funko bought Mondo.
Cant really give two shits for a company filling a landfill with product for tax write offs, instead of donating to hospitals and what not. Fuck em!
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@banthafett Before Alamo Drafthouse sold off the Mondo division, the company had some really talented people working there.
Unfortunately, most of them left or were laid-off.
A company that used to be by-fans-for-fans turned into a company that would rob their own grandmothers to increase the profit margin.