Funko is dumping $30 million worth of unsold toys

[Veho]

FORESHADOWING LOL​

Funko, purveyor of the (in)famous Funko Pop dollies, the creepy, samey hunks of plastic lazily modeled after every single piece of pop culture that has been released in the last two hundred years, announced that they have "30 million dollars' worth" of stock in, well, stock, and they would be... let's see how their statement put it:

"Inventory at year-end totalled $246.4 million, an increase of 48% compared to a year ago. This includes inventory that the Company intends to eliminate in the first half of 2023 to reduce fulfilment costs by managing inventory levels to align with the operating capacity of our distribution centre."

Basically, "we're shitting 'em out faster than we can flog 'em, so now we're knee-deep in plastic we have to get rid of."

And how will they be... aligning the inventory levels with the operating capacity of the blah de blah?
By sending $30 million worth of product the way of Atari's E.T. - straight to some landfill.

Normally products like that get discounted, to recoup some of the losses, but it is literally cheaper to just dump them than to manage logistics.
And also selling them under the full MSRP would be dilluting the perceived value of the toys and casting doubt on their normal pricing.
And all in all it's more profitable to just skip the middle man and ship them straight to the landfill.

Which brings me to the "$30 million" number, which was pulled from the same source as the gaming publishers' estimated "losses" to piracy: straight from their butt.
It is the full retail price of a Funko toy, times the inventory. It's nowhere near the cost of manufacture.

That doesn't make the dump any less colossal though, at a rough estimate that's 300 metric tons of Funko Poop.

But hey, that's business baby.




https://www.ign.com/articles/funko-is-sending-30-million-worth-of-its-products-to-a-landfill

 

[hippy dave]

You should watch them to find out where they bury them.

 

[Flame]

You should watch them to find out where they bury them.

they should use this location 32°53′11.87″N 105°57′38.69″W

 

[Reploid]

I'll buy that for a cent! But not much more.

Post automatically merged: Mar 4, 2023

You should watch them to find out where they bury them.

Alamagordo, New Mexico

 

[hippy dave]

they should use this location 32°53′11.87″N 105°57′38.69″W

Eh, it's been done.

 

[FAST6191]

Saw this doing the rounds, though I had honestly expected the bubble to pop long before now. Going to be curious to see what becomes of various game (computer and board) and comic shops that seem to have these as the main money spinner.

Also curious what the most desired models will be in 15-20 years among the remaining collectors (people liken these things to beanie babies, and yeah other than the speculation levels not quite being there it is a direct line, but it is noted there is still a market and still rare and hard to come by ones, just not the same as the ones back at the height

I'll buy that for a cent! But not much more.

Careful with such things. More than once I have been dragged in when someone bought a going concern or some scrap and found it was going to cost to dispose and/or bring things up to snuff.

 

[TheStonedModder]

Funko pops are just Beanie Babies for this generation. I’m surprised it took this long for people to stop buying as many of them.

I never understood the hype tbh the figures are too small for what they charge imo


It’s sad to hear/see just how much plastic waste they created though, just to “preserve” their image. With Companies and and rich people creating this much waste. There’s litterally jack shit the rest of us can do, when one company, can produce enough waste without trying, that offsets the sacrifices thousands of people try and make each day to do their part

 

[cearp]

I don't collect stuff like this, but if it's even unprofitable to sell these for cheap (they mention logistics etc), how much would they need to sell these ones to break even / make it worth their while?
At least recycle the plastic or something.
Weird.

 

[x65943]

So a company that makes thousands of tonnes of generic ugly molded plastic they sell as "collectibles" is dumping it in a landfill instead of recycling it?

When is Greta gonna protest these guys, instead of Norwegian windmills

Funko is such a scummy company and their product is garbage - hopefully they go bankrupt soon

 

[SylverReZ]

You should watch them to find out where they bury them.

They should bury them at the place where unsold copies of E.T. were, that'll be way easier for collectors to come and find them and then sell it all for really inflated prices on eBay.

 

[DinohScene]

Massive conglomerate directly contributes to plastic pollution but the public is to busy arguing about politics....

I hate this world so much...

 

[TheStonedModder]

Massive conglomerate directly contributes to plastic pollution but the public is to busy arguing about politics....

I hate this world so much...

Even just like donating a shit load of them somewhere would be a step in the right direction if they don’t want to pay for recycling.

I’m sure some kids somewhere would love playing with these. Yes they don’t do much, but kids can be creative

 

[Veho]

Massive conglomerate directly contributes to plastic pollution but the public is to busy arguing about politics....

Regulations that would prevent that have been made a political matter by lawmakers bought and paid for by those same conglomerates.

 

[JuanMena]

every single piece of pop culture that has been released in the last two hundred years

I'd be surprised if they had made a Jack the Ripper FunkoPop toy.

 

[Veho]

I'd be surprised if they had made a Jack the Ripper FunkoPop toy.

Well, technically...

 

[JuanMena]

Well, technically...

Meh.