Ep. 136: Let's Chat Thrilljoy Frodo 1 of 1, Their SDCC Reveals, & Funko Fires CEO!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Collector Chatter. In today's episode, Thrill Joy
has really taken over all of thecollector news.
We can't wait to talk about that, and we'll give our little
input into the whole Funko CEO fiasco as well.
Collecting is the way. Now let's chat.

(00:27):
Everyone, welcome back to the channel.
This is Collector Chatter episode 136.
What's going on? I'm Meg's here with Charlie.
What's going on, Charlie? I'm excited to be back.
I'm excited to talk about all things that will join like you
mentioned. And that's true because they're
they're right now, in my opinion, they're they're hot
right now. And yeah, but for many reasons

(00:49):
they're also cold as well, but mostly hot so.
Yeah, yeah, we're going to talk about all things a lot of thrill
join news, very jam packed and we will talk some Funko because
you know, we didn't talk about have an episode last week's when
you're going to talk about the whole CEO thing, which we will
get into. But we want to start it off with
thrill Joy. We will start it off and a
little bit more of the controversial side of things

(01:11):
because we didn't get to kind ofreally put our thoughts out
there of like, you know, the drama and everything that
happened recently, which if you guys don't know when you're live
on the rock, Throwjoy did have, which I will say a pretty
awesome yes type of drop, right?And they announced one of their
first big one of one potential type picks that you can get.

(01:34):
And the way they did is they collab with Hot Topic.
It was, of course, the Frodo picks.
And the great thing about it wasthat all you had to do was be a
member of, like, Hot Topic, be one of the rewards members, and
you can go to Hot Topic and get it for free.
You didn't have to purchase anything at all, which was
awesome. Yeah.
And you can just walk in, tell them your phone number, e-mail,

(01:55):
whatever it was, and then they look you up and you walk out
with it for free. So that was pretty sweet.
And we were pretty excited aboutthat.
I mean, Charlie, you can get into, like, what happened with
you. But Charlie went to a Hot Topic,
waited outside, got the little ticket to tell you.
How many do you know? You are in line.
Like the good old days. Good Funko.

(02:16):
Yeah. Stuff, right?
Yeah. And I was a different story.
I did a little differently. But Charlie, you can kind of
talk about your experience and then I'll talk about mine and
then we'll kind of get into whatwe think.
Yeah, I mean, so like Mick said,I did it old school because I
really wanted this. I'm a big Lord of the Rings fan
and I thought the whole promotion that they were doing
with this pics was just so awesome.

(02:38):
And weirdly enough, like I have everything and everything I
could ever want where I live, but all the hot topics have gone
out of business. So I actually had to like travel
30 minutes to go and I was I wasworried I wasn't going to be
able to get one. But then I'm just like, who
knows? I'm the throw.
Joy is still new. Another reason why I think they

(03:00):
did this awesome promotion. So the Hot Topic opened at 10,
but supposedly you were allowed to go into the mall, like
starting at 9. I think they said, I got there
at like 940. And I was like, OK, I see a
little bit of a line and I'm like, look, and there's no Hot
Topic employees there. And then someone could see that

(03:21):
like, I'm looking, they're like,you're going to get one.
I was #7 in line and they had eight, so like, I just made it,
which I would have been so angryif I didn't get one, but at the
same time I knew that was a possibility.
What was super cool was there was a bunch of, you know, you
know, I started chatting off people on the line because there
was only seven of us. There are collectors in the

(03:43):
community. One's actually Thrill Droid fan
Advisory Board member tone. I didn't even realize that he
was local. That was another fun thing just
to like see other people who areexcited for throw joy.
Some of the collectors even madea video of it when they got out.
But basically how ours happened got those tickets, like Mike

(04:05):
said, they opened up the store, went in, told the person, hey,
my name, they checked my account, made sure I had one,
gave it to me and like we said, you didn't have to buy anything.
It was it was super cool. I that whole process of how this
went down, I really, really liked.
Yeah. So that was my experience.

(04:28):
Yeah, so for me, I wasn't like, I don't need to rush there.
I don't really know if I want toget this or not.
I was kind of on the fence. I mean, not that I thought it
would be the one of one winner, you know, like it's whatever.
And I just happened to like tellmy wife like, hey, you want to

(04:49):
go to American Dream because we love going to American Dream,
which is the local mall here that's a massive mall.
And, you know, let's just go Brooklyn, we'll go walk around
because it was so hot. I think that's what it was.
It was like super hot out. And I was like, I don't want to
go outside. Let's go someone as AC and you
can walk around there and do so much.
And I do want to do some shopping, whatever.

(05:09):
So we went to American Dream andit just so happened to also be
the same time that there was World Cup.
Well, the Club World Cup game, things going on at MetLife,
which is literally right next door, shares a parking lot and
everything with them. And it was wild.
So like American Dream gets crazy.
But right now it was like foreigners left and right and
people just wearing Real Madrid jerseys because they were the

(05:30):
ones playing. And it was pretty cool because
there's a lot of people. So we went and walked around
while I was there and you sent me like that.
You were in line, everything. And I was like, oh, damn.
So maybe I can just check out the hot topic here because
that's also like my closest hot topic basically.
But I think the mall opens at 11.
I'm not mistaken. We were there at like 12:30,

(05:54):
maybe like it was after 12 and everyone's already posting,
you're getting yours. Everyone's like we got all these
things da, da, da, da. So the one-on-one wasn't found
yet, but it was like around thattime and I was like, I'll check
out Hot Topic, see what's in there.
So we went, we did our normal like mini.
So we're going to mini. So my daughter gets like blind

(06:14):
boxes of stuff. And I was like, we're going to
go upstairs, we'll check out popart, come check out Hot Topic.
So I walk into Hot Topic and they have the sign, like the
little white sign that says yeah, go the photo, whatever.
No one's there. Like literally no one's even in
stores ever. Like the work.
So I'm like, they got to be gone.
They must have been sold out probably.
Well, not that they were sold, but you know, they're all given
out and I walked towards where they have their display of throw

(06:38):
joys because I hadn't seen them and they had like a little
pushcart with what I sent you the picture.
It must have been like 14-16, maybe even more I had.
More left at my story than yeah.And this is over an hour plus,
yeah. Almost 2 hours in.
And yeah, at least like 18, likea ton stacked.

(07:00):
And I was just like, oh, and I go to the guy and I was like,
hey, I was like, you still have them.
I'm able to. He's like, yeah, as long as you
have a reward to count, we'll just look it up.
You don't buy anything. Whatever I go to, I was alright,
cool. But let me just take a look
because I didn't have any pics yet at the time, like those
versions of pics. So I took a look at the and it
had pretty much everything like in shelves so I gotta.
Get the joke that sort of had a great stock.

(07:21):
Yeah, yeah, they had a lot, a lot stocked up.
And I don't know how long they've been like that or if it
was just for this day. They've stocked up more.
But I got a Joker, I got an Annabelle, and then I grabbed
the photo cuz it was like, you know, whatever.
So that's how kind of mine went,which is interesting because it
was so many. There wasn't people walking in
there at all and I was kind of surprised, but also maybe they

(07:43):
just got that much more shipment.
I don't know. It was weird.
So right after that we're walking around and obviously
shopping the rest. We went to Pop Mart and Box
lunch and all these other places.
And then that's when we see the post that goes out showing that
someone pulled the one of one. So right away I was kind of

(08:07):
like, oh, you see, I didn't get the one-on-one, you know, which
is like whatever, but I was justlike, oh, that's pretty cool.
Where was it? Like what happened?
Whatever. So the person that I think it
was, if I'm not mistaken, the first person I posted, it was
kind of the person that was there at their like local store
and she's like a collector and, you know, has a page and
everything and posted a video ofthe kid pulling it.

(08:31):
But the video had Carissa from Throw Joy kind of celebrating
with him and the Internet went crazy.
It was it was obviously a big uproar.
You know, me and Charlie, we're going back and forth.
People are, you know, texting, posting, commenting left and
right that comments on that video.

(08:52):
We're going crazy. And it was a pretty big dilemma.
And the drama was built around like, why was she there?
Why was like, obviously she knewthat the pix was there at that
point, that was the one that waspulled, Why was it done this
way, yada, yada, yada. And it kind of went on and on.
And I know we wanted to give just our little bit of our take

(09:13):
not to like beat that horse because it's been a little while
now. At this point, they.
Even came out she had she was inthe gas cast explained some
stuff. She was live on their their
channel and everything kind of seems like they're working on
things etcetera. So you can give your thoughts
kind of like, I don't know, maybe if it has changed since

(09:33):
then or if you're still kind of in the same boat.
And I'll kind of give my thoughts.
But you know, we just like to speak the truth and what we feel
and you know, when things go wrong, we talk about it.
When things are great, we talk about it.
Like right after this, we're going to talk about amazing
stuff that throw joy's doing. Exactly.
But we got to kind of talk aboutwhat happened with this and just
what our thoughts are. And then before and after, of

(09:54):
course, it came out and spoke about it.
But you can kind of give your thoughts.
So my first initial reaction wasI was not happy.
Honestly, I remember very vividly watching that video and
then noticing she was in it. And I like just lost my mind.
I was like chatting up a bunch of my friends, obviously you and

(10:16):
I was just like, dude, this is rigged.
This is the first thing that came to my mind.
I was I was not happy because real joy for me has been a
roller coaster from the very beginning and it finally for my
personal self. I was like, they're hitting a
stride now where I think I will probably never really have many

(10:36):
issues with it again. I love their product.
Their social has been great. The hype for it's been awesome.
I'm pumped. Even though I'm not going to see
any old Comic Con. I'm pumped for the exclusives.
I'm pumped to see and hear aboutthe block party.
Like everything just put a bad taste in my mouth and I was just
like, Oh no, they went and shot themselves in the foot again.

(10:58):
It's almost just like you can't make this up.
It's almost it's like they're not meant to just have smooth
sailing. I was upset for a while once
again too. It's not like I thought I was
going to pull the one-on-one, but I was just like another
thing to give their flowers. I thought this promotion was
brilliant. It was super cool.

(11:20):
Like you said, it felt like the old days, you know, obviously
you got lucky and you didn't need to wait, but people were
waiting. I was seeing like they were
going beforehand, you know, everyone just wanted their hands
on this. And you know, one thing that
Krista has said, which I completely agree with her is
like, this was such a good way to get people to maybe who
weren't familiar with throw Joy yet to if you get familiar with

(11:42):
them, get a, you know, a piece in hand for free, then also have
a chance to win an amazing sweettrip.
So all of that is awesome. I just didn't like the way they
went about it. And once again, I've thought
about a little more. I've come to terms a little bit
with it not being I'm not as angry about it as I was in the

(12:03):
beginning. I still think there's some holes
in their explanation for how this all went down.
I also think, you know, people are out there trying to make
excuses for them, which I don't really like.
At the end of the day, though, Ithink they kind of owned up to
their mistakes because the community was not happy, which I

(12:27):
also really respect about them. I mean, obviously we've talked
about this in the past and the people, you know, if you're
listening for the first time right now and you're not
familiar with Drill Joy, obviously people who are they
have really listened to the fan community unlike any of the
other collectible brands. So I do think they're gonna,

(12:49):
they were hurt by some of the community being upset about how
this went down. And, and I'll let you explain a
little bit more in your explanation of exactly how it
did go down, because I don't want to keep talking.
But I think if they're to do this again, I would.
I even with their explanation, Idon't think they should do it
this way again. I think there was a better way

(13:10):
to do it. Yeah.
And still, it could have been, you know, how they were kind of
interpreting. They wanted to make sure
everything went smoothly. I think there's other ways of
doing it than how they did. And I hope they do learn from
that. Yeah, yeah.
So I mean, I was in the same boat as you initially.
Like 100%. It was kind of like, whoa, like

(13:31):
that's kind of crazy. And the first thing I thought it
was like, it was almost kind of more of like a naive thought,
like how did, how did she happento know where it was?
And then you say that and you'rekind of like, well, there's no
way. That's just so random that it
would just be, oh, it's so happyto be right.
So then it was more like, alright, so clearly they knew

(13:51):
where it was. So it didn't, it didn't really
bother me too much. It was more kind of like a, this
is kind of crazy. Like I wouldn't, I wasn't using
the word rig. Like a lot of people were saying
that. Like you even said, like you
said that a lot of people were saying that it's just, it's kind
of the first thing you want to think of because it just seems
like it's planted and it's done a certain way, right.
So it was more just like it was weird and like a too.

(14:16):
It was too. It was just done wrong.
It's exactly like how you said, right?
Just the execution of everythingwas.
Done. Not to interrupt you.
The other reason, even at that moment I felt like and maybe
rigged wasn't the right word, but the guy who won didn't even
seem excited. Yeah, which I was going to talk
about that actually, so a littlebit.

(14:36):
And she came out and they said, so supposedly the kid didn't
really even know much about throw Joy, I guess, and has not
had throw joy powers before. So like maybe it was something
like hot his that local hot topic should boosted it out.
Like, hey, if you have a rewardsprogram, you can come, you'll
get a free product. Maybe he thought of that.
Well, maybe he's the Lord of therings fan.

(14:56):
It it's attached that you can potentially win a trip.
Maybe he liked that part of it. But like actually thrill, joy
and opening the box and knowing even how to open about all that
stuff. He didn't even know.
So it was a little strange, which is I guess like it's it's
cool in a way because it like you were saying it, it's
bringing other people in that maybe know nothing about throw
joy and we love that fully like when when that kind of stuff

(15:17):
happens. So that's kind of what it seemed
like. But anyways, like essentially
this is this is what they said. So the first thing was Gasol
cast, obviously, you know, reached out and they started
kind of asking questions and because they had similar
thoughts as as us as well. Like, you know, what's this
coincidence? How how is it that you knew

(15:38):
about this, that obviously people are probably sending
himself left and right because they know they will speak about
topics and stuff, right. So they were able to get Carissa
on to actually be in an interview style type of thing
where she kind of broke down on what happened.
And after hearing like her speak, like I, I agree there was
still some things that were a little weird, maybe some holes

(16:00):
and etcetera. But then it got me thinking more
on like the business side of things and like thinking less
like just a consumer who's sitting there and just wants to
get this prize or get this thing.
And it started making a little bit more sense to me where I've
come to terms where like, you know what, I think I'm OK with

(16:21):
what they did in the sense of like how they had to keep an eye
out for it, which I'll explain, but I don't think they executed
it right. And I think there's one big, big
part that should have been different that wouldn't have
made as many people go crazy, which I'll explain.
So one, they basically did it because they wanted to know
where this product was going to go because of course, it was one

(16:44):
product only. There was a huge thing attached
to this, which obviously is thismassive trip all exclusive or
whatever, but they wanted to make sure a few things didn't
happen. One was that it got lost.
Obviously if it got lost, that would have been a nightmare.
People would have jumped down their throats after the right.
They wanted to make sure it didn't get crushed or smashed or

(17:04):
damaged in any way. So they wanted to make sure it
was secure. And then which I really believe
they really wanted to make sure that like an employee wasn't
going to grab this, which we know has happened with a lot of
other things, especially in the Funko side of stuff because it's
been around for so long where employees will grab first dibs,
whatever. And that would just make things

(17:24):
really not fun or fair, right. So they essentially what they
said was they chose a random store out of all these stores
that put them all together, chose a store.
And it happened to be this one store, which is a store that was
located and it's not even in LasVegas, but it's in like consider
Las Vegas at the area and they knew where it was going to go.

(17:45):
They knew it was when it was going to get there and they
basically went there to make sure that it got there, someone
got it, opened it and they want it.
The part that I think that was alittle bit messed up, the
execution part of it is that Carissa should not have been the
one to go, and I think because she's a big face.

(18:08):
She is throw. Joy, she is the face essentially
because Brian's really kind of more behind the scenes now.
Brian was the face for conventions and when it first
started, but now she's the one that's driving it everywhere,
right? Social media and everything.
You see her. So she was there before the
store opened. So even if you obviously the kid
in the front pair had no idea who she was luckily, but
everybody else, if you know anything about throw Joy and you

(18:30):
see her, you're automatically going to kind of start thinking
like, why is she here of all places?
Is it here is am I? Do I have a chance to win?
That kind of ruins a surprise from ruins all that kind of
stuff. So what I said and I said to
Charlie was it should have just been a random employee, someone
no one knows, because if someonewas there, they would have
thought they worked for Hot topic.

(18:51):
Someone would even have any ideaand then do what they had to do.
They knew it was there. I was going to be opened and
then like yeah celebrate and whatever.
Cuz even if they're in video being like, Oh my God, they want
still no one would know that it was like attached to the throat
right Then on the side they speak to the person.
Hey, here's the details is how we're going to do it completely
OK with that. I don't think as many people

(19:14):
would have went as crazy and I don't think the community would
have gone so like, oh, this is great.
This is whatever because of likethat.
That's one thing I think and obviously picking the the stores
randomly, like how was that done?
Like we will never know. But I mean, I guess they kind of
had to do it a certain way eventually.
But that's like my take on it. I think that's the only part

(19:38):
that I think was a little that made it just seem a little worse
because like I said, if you knewabout their joint, you seen
Carissa there, you were going toknow something was up.
They obviously made them open it.
That was another thing that was a little weird, like you had
opened it there because they wanted to make sure.
And I believe I think as guys orsomebody said that it was like
the first person that went in got it.

(20:00):
So I think it was whoever was first in line essentially, which
happened to be that kid got lucky, that type of thing.
So to kind of obviously do it and get it done.
But the only thing I can say is the only reason I'm not going to
just bash them fully is because.I can't, and I don't know if you
can, I can't tell them what theyshould have done and how to have

(20:21):
done it. So it would have been perfect
when no one would have issues because I can't think of
anything and I don't think anyone has been able to.
So that's always why I feel likewe kind of have to be like, you
know what? So it was done.
But I will say, and you said it,they came out right away and
made sure that you know what, we're going to fix things.
And they've done that with everything since the beginning.

(20:44):
And we have to give them their flowers for that, like you said,
because a lot of other companiesand a lot of other people would
have swept it under the rug, took the criticism, whatever,
and just kept them moving. Like right away.
She went on, spoke to Gas, Gas, whether you believe everything
she said or not, she came out, she said whatever she had to
say. They had their plan.
This is what it was. But most importantly, they said,

(21:07):
we're listening to you guys, we're going to change this.
We're going to do this differentwhatever because of the
reaction, because they obviouslydon't like the bad press, don't
want to like bad press, but theyreally, really do care about
what we think as collectors and people out there.
And that's why I think that fan Advisory Board is one of the

(21:27):
best things any company has everdone when it comes to like
collectibles because they reallydo listen to them and they're
listening to us and other, otherpeople out there.
Yeah. That's kind of my thing.
You say that perfectly 100 I youput the word right in my mouth.
I loved your idea of what we really probably would have fixed
it for me if it wasn't Cursa andnot nothing against Chris, but

(21:49):
like you said, if you're a throwjoy fan, you know she is.
And quite frankly, they could have even kept it under the
like. You may have not even have to
know that other person ever worked for throw joy too to make
the magic. Feel like they could have
totally like. They could have just pretended
and you could have said Hot Topic filmed a video of you sent

(22:12):
it off and like it could have been a mystery the entire time.
And then yeah, I myself included, I wouldn't have been
upset about it. And you, like you said, I don't
think a lot of people would havebecause then it still would have
seemed like, Oh my God, like this is so amazing.
The other thing I've also thought too, I mean, I can't all
snuck him. It was free, yes.

(22:32):
It was just an awesome a free and it's also like a freebie
products like this is a product that they are, which you didn't
really. We didn't really get into this,
but we don't have to in length. It's I mean, at first they
didn't want to sell this. Yeah, but it was an
afterthought. They weren't thinking that, you
know, they legally weren't able to.
And not exactly. Yeah.

(22:53):
So once again, you know, when other companies do things like
this, it's not even. It could be a product that they
make for this giveaway. It's not as good as quality.
Like, yeah, like, yeah, this was.
Different. This was an actual product.
Yeah, so that's once again like it was free.
You can't really complain if Thrilljoy wanted to do it the
way they wanted to do it. I really have come around that

(23:14):
like it. I've moved on and they've done
already good things afterwards, but I can't be upset for them
for it's not like they keep we, we can't say this enough.
Like the fan Advisory Board, howthey listen to the fans even
when there's negative like things being said about the
company. They're, they're listening to
everything And they, I don't really necessarily think they
hate, you know, constructive criticism like they do

(23:38):
appreciate it. So yeah, hopefully next time if
they, it looks like they're probably regrouping before they
do anything like this again, which Krista kind of mentioned
in a Whatnot stream, because there's going to be a one of one
possibility for a San Diego Comic Con exclusive that now if

(23:59):
you get the 101, it's cool that you have a 101.
Yeah, it's just the figure and nothing attached to it, which I
mean, it makes sense. You know, they're not going to,
it's smart because it means they're just not going to do the
same thing over again. They're going to rethink of
things. Are they going to attach things
to one on ones in the future? Maybe.
And and if they do, how can theydo it?
Because like I, I just, I, I will say, like most of the

(24:23):
people don't think of the logistical side of things.
When you really think, you thinkmore on emotion and you think
more like on on that side of things.
And then like when you really break it down and you look at it
like that, you're like, there's only certain things that you can
do. And I know for a fact, and I
said this earlier, that if it was lost or was given out or
whatever, it would have been wayworse.

(24:46):
Like people would just been like, Oh my God, they're
incompetent. They can't do this or these
people, you know, And then it's like.
That really. Oh yeah, 100% yeah.
The fake thing would have been like, oh, they're just given to
this person because it was us aninfluencer got here or
something, you know, like that could have totally been a whole
different, you know, can of worms.
But I think, you know, they justdidn't think that the the uproar

(25:11):
would be as strong. But honestly, now they got to
see like there's some passionatepeople out there and there's
some pretty die hard hands and people will speak right away
with emotion and what they feel.And I just think like, and like
you said, she's great. She has been doing great things
for them and she's the face. We don't say it in a bad way

(25:32):
that it shouldn't have been her.We're saying it more like, you
know what, like people just wouldn't have cared as much if
it wasn't. And people do care because they
do see her. They know how much she is the
company. So like that was, that was the
thing that was a little weird. Yeah, because if I was in my
store and I saw her and I noticed, I think basically every
person in my line would have known who she was.

(25:55):
Actually, everyone who was thereactually was already a throw
jury fan, which was kind of cool.
Yeah, we all would have known. It'd be like what?
What is going on? Yeah, why?
Why are you in New Jersey? Yeah, but yeah, so of course,
you know, like we said, they're they're changing things up.
So look out for the future of these like type of giveaways and

(26:16):
stuff like that, because I'm sure they will do something
again, but they got to obviouslyreally figure it out, make sure
everything is is locked down and, and it's done the right
way. But I will not knock them from
at for at least, you know, manning up and saying they're
going to change things, fix things.
And they've done it with a lot of other stuff in the past.

(26:37):
So they have to track record that they are listening and
they're willing to make changes even from changing products
completely because people are complaining about certain things
and they changed it. And then even which we're going
to get into some of the productsnow even this, the products that
they have had, there's already been changes to those based off
of the community and things thatthey're hearing and things that

(26:58):
need to be changed. So it's like it's pretty crazy.
There's one other thing I want to mention later that hopefully
they change as well with the product, the package.
I know exactly. But but we'll get into some some
good stuff that we were saying we're going to talk about some
products that they are releasingthe announced a lot of us for
San Diego Comic Con. So obviously San Diego Comic Con

(27:19):
is coming up. So they have a big set of stuff
coming out. Like I'm actually surprised at
how much they're they're they'regoing to drop.
I agree. But they're doing like the New
York Comic Con style where, you know, back then it was obviously
the pics, which are now panoramics, but they had that
huge wave. They went crazy and they they
were the they were the talk of the show, which we've said

(27:40):
especially when they were right next in Funko and known, you
know, that was like dead. So for San Diego Comic Con now
they're pushing all the pics to have some pixels as well.
You want to run through some of the some of the stuff that has
been like announced. Obviously it's like a mixture of
stuff. There's some new stuff that's
for sending a Comic Con. Something's not for it.
But there's a lot of a lot of stuff that they have shown.

(28:05):
Even on the Whatnot stream they showed a few of them because of
course it went and opened up a lot of them, which that was
really cool too, to kind of see what they look like and
everything. But I mean, I'll start off with,
so we're getting Scott Pilgrim versus the World.
And the reason I bring this one up first is we're not only
getting pics, we're also gettingpixels, which this is a niche

(28:27):
property. But I've always felt, and I
think it's even been confirmed, I think even Chris actually said
in the one like there's one of Brian Marietta's favorite
movies. So there was always cool Funko
products around. This movie always had con
exclusives too. It's just funny because I'm
seeing a lot of strategies that Brian used for Funko.

(28:50):
He's totally bringing over to throw Joy.
And what's super sick about thisone is we're getting the chase
and then we're getting a super chase.
And as Thrill Joy continues to crush it out of the park, and
I'm pretty sure it's for almost every single one in this, like

(29:11):
major standing, a common drop, we're getting new molds,
different molds for chases, for super chases.
And I can't say enough how much I love that.
And it just makes his products, you know, cooler.
Yeah. I was going to say, I think I
don't know this for a fact because we don't know.
But I feel like this is one of the things, whether it was

(29:31):
specifically a fan Advisory Board person, whether it's
random channel like us who's notthat big or another bigger one,
or people that spoke directly toBrian, Chris with the rest of
the people, I feel like someone mentioned the whole chase thing
or they've heard the whole chasething.
You know, Brian, if I heard it back when sodas were out and we
talked about it like left and right and they literally were

(29:53):
like, all right, we're going to do it.
And they're doing bad ass chases.
They're changing the molds completely.
And sometimes they'll change thecolor or do whatever, but it's
like, makes sense. Or it's nothing.
Still cool and it like still looks great, like it's enough of
a change, whatever, etcetera. And then they have obviously
super chase options which are like 20-4 pieces and like crazy

(30:16):
rarities to those. And then those are even more
crazy looking or whatever. Like you said, obviously Scott
program is one of them. Another one is Batman.
So they have a couple of Batman's, but one of the big
ones is like the Adam West old school throwback Batman, which
is just going to be a Batman. And then we got the pink cowl
one, which obviously that was a soda and that was like a cool

(30:38):
one. But then we get a super chase
and it's like with the surfboard, like the surf style
Batman that because obviously that was like the really comic
bookie like crazy over the top. Campy.
Batman Yeah, very, very campy. And you see this and you're just
like, what? That is sick.
So like, it's like you got. And it's any of the three that
you get you're gonna love because they're like perfectly

(31:00):
exactly like amazing. So like, yeah, that's another
one that that I think was like great.
Another sick one. I mean, it's not something I
collect, but the space ghost one, once again, we're getting
an ultra chase and we're gettinga chase and this, they're all
three different characters. It's not even like a different

(31:21):
pose or different color. Like we're getting three
different characters getting space ghosts.
We're getting the mind taker andwe're getting a little car.
And I mean, these just look sickin general.
Even if you're not like, a fan of them, I think they, you know,
really, really crushed it with this one.

(31:42):
And that's the one, I don't knowwhat the peace gun was on the
Super chase of the Batman, but that mind taker won the Super
chase for that. That's one of the ones that's
like 20-4 pieces. Like it's crazy.
So like, yeah, that that's amazing.
Then we're getting Jetsons, So we're getting George Jetson.
This one doesn't have a super chase.

(32:02):
Not just a chase. I mean, George Jetson.
But then they're making Rosie the Robot like as a chase.
So it's like there you go, another one where it's a
completely different product, completely different mold,
completely different character, whatever.
But it fits, makes sense, and it's cool.
Another one, I love this one theway they look, the $6 million

(32:25):
man, which I feel like Brian hasbeen talking about.
He always brings this up and like anytime he speaks like, you
know, we make anything for anyone even like we'll make the
$6 million man like he had said anything about that.
I mean, this is a super old movie.
I mean, even before we were alive and it it's he's, you

(32:47):
know, does different disguises and whatnot and we're getting
three different molds of, you know, different versions of him.
This one has a super chase, the chase in the common.
And now once again, even though they're the same character,
they're all look completely different.
It's not just like some of them,you know, one we'll talk about
too is like the Chucky one, which is still kind of cool, but

(33:09):
you know, the only way. To change.
Yeah, still awesome, but like this one, brings to a whole new
level. Yeah, no, that one, that one is
definitely like really cool. And then one of the ones, I
think it might be the common like one of the eyes is even
different, yes, which obviously we don't have the typical.
Yeah, maybe you have. The first time that's been done.
Yeah, that changed the eye on it, which that's really cool.

(33:31):
Another one that I really don't know too much about this.
I've heard of the character obviously and whatever, but
clearly they're making a pretty big, big one here with a super
shaped option as well. Is the atom bomb.
Oh yes, yeah. So we're getting, we're getting
that. Go ahead.
The Garbage Pail. OK, it's the garbage pail.
That's what it's OK, so it's atom bomb.

(33:52):
And then there's a chase, which is dead Ted, obviously a
completely different character, but then we're getting another
atom bomb as super chase, but this one has like a 40.
It looks like It's like an anniversary, birthday or some
kind of celebration popping out of his head or whatever.
That's another one that they completely change it.
I mean, like the dead Ted. Like that's completely

(34:12):
different. Like that's so cool.
Completely. Yeah.
Something. And it's not just a small paint
job or something, you know, it'svery different.
And then another like another thing too, like these are all
just like so outside of the box.And they're not just your
standard, like, OK, we just expect this to come out because
of the time of year the movies are coming out.
So we're getting one of the Mummy, we're getting Brendan

(34:33):
Fraser's character, Rick O'Connell.
And here we're just getting a hero and a chase.
And, you know, it's a different pose and a weapon.
But regardless, it's still supercool.
And I feel like this is such a, there's going to be hardcore
fans who really want this one. And it's not timely either, but

(34:54):
it's so cool. And it's, you know, obviously
seeing a Comic Con, everyone just celebrates all things nerd.
So this one's cool. Yep, and then another one, the
thing I was a classic movie RJ Mac ready.
They got the regular version there and then there is a chase.
So this one is I'm super chase, but it has a chase.
Obviously he's all like frozen up and everything.

(35:14):
So like, that's another one that's like super cool.
Looks completely different, Likeit is the same character, but
they at least did enough to it to be like, alright, this one's
special because it's different enough of a of a figure.
And then it's funny one I want to talk about that isn't San
Diego Comic Con, but it's comingout around the same time.

(35:36):
You actually just were able to pre-order it, but it was a
Superman 1. I don't want that one to go on
untalked about because I actually think this is the best
one they've made out of anythingthey've made so far, in my
opinion. Because you're getting Superman
is the hero, you're getting Crypto as the chase, and then

(35:57):
the Super chase is Lex Luthor. All completely different
characters, all different molds.The details are amazing.
Yeah, this, this obviously couldhave been San Diego Comic Con
one, but I think with the hype of the new movie, this is
actually one thing Crystal also did say recently and whatnot,
which I had never heard this before and maybe they've said I
missed it. This is the biggest piece they
have made though, even though it's still limited, but there's.

(36:19):
Very high. Number, it's very high, there's
9999 of them, but she said that is the highest they will ever
go, which is interesting to hear.
So even though it's a high number, I still still limited
and it's still super cool like this.
I haven't gotten to the point yet where I'm like, Oh my God,

(36:42):
I'm gonna get like mix was the soda king of always getting 2.
I haven't done that with the pics yet.
This I think I'm gonna buy more than one because I do really
want to try to get one of the chases.
Yeah, which, like you said, super cool.
They're completely different. I thought what was interesting
is that this is for the Supermanmovie that literally just came

(37:04):
out. Slash is about to come out.
Yeah, he's announced it before it even came out.
So like, that was pretty interesting because that goes to
show you that yes, they're gonnago super niche sometimes they're
gonna go on old movies and showsthat don't have.
Like, that was always a big thing to talk about about the
panel. They talked about it.
They're gonna do stuff that people talk about but hasn't
really been out there. But then there's still things

(37:27):
coming out like where it's like this isn't just Superman comic
or Christopher Reeves or something like that.
No, this is the one that's literally coming out now.
Crypto in the movie. That's now the same version of
Lex Luthor that's in now. Like it's not a different
version. So like it's from the movie.
So that's actually I thought wasinteresting that they were able
to do that. And like you said, yeah, there's

(37:47):
a lot of detail on all of these.There's a lot of detail.
I just opened some for the firsttime.
I got told you I went to American Dream and open and grab
some. So I was able to open them for
the first time. And the details on the figures
specifically is great. Like they did really good,
really good details. So I got to talk about one
that's not sending you Comic Conas well, because this was

(38:08):
something that's going to be coming out to Hot Topic and I
will most definitely yes, went out there and grabbed 1 and it
is a Jason Voorhees one which was shown off.
She actually shown her showed it.
Chris showed it on that one thatstream that they had.
And this looks pretty sick. I mean, it's it's horror.
They they kind of already have been in that field, like you

(38:32):
seen Chucky. Yeah, they're making good
horror. Ones they're making really good
ones, yeah, and it's and it's like cool to see because we're
we're getting like Chucky's an interesting one with Chucky's,
you know, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong.
Besides, obviously probably blue.
Technically Chucky is the only one.
I think they did both in panoramics and the new version
of Pics. And Leo.

(38:53):
Leo. Leo OK, yeah.
Leo I think they're the only. Turtles, which it's like they
was kind of like a repeat because essentially they kind of
do have those. Everything else has kind of been
just fresh and new, so it is interesting that they had those.
I'm assuming he's a pretty big Chucky fan.
You know, we'll see. Yeah, you too.
Yeah, but Jason is going to be coming out as the next one, 7500

(39:13):
pieces is going to be a Hot Topic exclusive.
So similar to like the Frodo. Well, actually this one's only
Hot Topic, which was interestingabout the Frodo.
I do want to say it was a Hot Topic and box Lunch exclusive
and had the stickers had both onit, which was kind of a cool
sticker if you're a sticker whore.
But Jason is going to be the hero and then the chase.
So this one's kind of similar tothe Chucky one.

(39:35):
It's just a difference in weapon.
So you're getting like the like the the hatchet axe, like for
the smaller one and then like the bigger long like knife that
you see him with all the time isgoing to be the chase.
I kind of wish it was more like blood involved.
There's some on the on the knifein the chase, but it should have
been kind of splattered around them, kind of like what they did
with the Annabelle chase. The Annabelle one is, yeah,

(39:59):
there's. A lot of blood on the chase.
But, and I said this, I say it in a video.
I'm going to drop a video of me opening some of the stuff.
But you mentioned it as well. One of the changes that they
did, but we'll talk about two ofthe changes, I guess.
But one of the changes they did was the whole the wording.
So now it does say hero as like the common quote UN quote.

(40:19):
Which obviously that was something that was just began,
it was coined or whatever, and now they put it on the box.
So it'll say that and then it says chase.
So still hearing the word chase,but they don't like the word
common, you know, so, so they switch that up.
But now in the newer boxes, you'll see that.
And then there's another change on the newer boxes, which I
think if you want to mention. Yeah.
And we pointed this out right away as being like this is kind

(40:41):
of a problem, especially with their whole.
Box design, you know, like they're very big with their
slogan, you know, tear into the thrill and then reveal the seal.
And you were doing that. And you do who you had before
you even turned it around. Or the seal was over which?
Yeah, it was. I'd be kind of lame, but hey, it
is what it is to do here. If you want to, it's not going

(41:02):
to show off about. It show it off Awesome.
So like this is Annabelle. So obviously this is a common.
So when you would tear the back,literally what you got was
showing on the back. So if this was the chase
version, it would have been a bloody one.
But as you tear, you would see that before you even got to flip
it and see the seal or what the product was, right?

(41:22):
So that was a little little hiccup on their end, but like
you just said, they changed. Now you will open it up and
you'll see all the different versions that you're able to get
and you have no idea what you'regetting until you turn around,
which I mean, ultimately now is the perfect experience for this
being blind box. We're in the beginning.

(41:43):
Like obviously it was once you did that, immediately you knew
what it was. So this adds to that excitement,
which is exactly what I think they they want and makes this
product once again, even more unique because me and Megs are
obviously huge lovers and fans of Throw Joy, but they're still
those Funko diehards, which eventhough we are, we're not like
Snooty about it where it's if it's not Funko, it's not good.

(42:06):
Like a lot of people are still being silly, like, oh, they're
just, you know, RIP offs of Funko pops.
But no, they they've made the experienced much better actually
than what our current state of getting Funko Pops is.
In my opinion, they've hit the mark of, you know, right now in
the collecting world, blind boxes are like all the craze and

(42:27):
they've managed to turn a product that really isn't a
blind box into one which I actually think is genius.
And like even to the quality of these are just so nice.
Like I'm even thinking about going to con if there was any,
you know, actors that I was looking to get signed Funko Pop.
But if I had a pics of this character, I think I'd pick it

(42:48):
over that which is just, you know, a testament to the quality
and awesomeness of this product.Yeah, I will say that's it was
fun ripping because I had just for the first time got mine and
it was fun like like I love thatmisery.
Like most of the blind boxes, you get that tab on the top
right, Obviously. Yeah, when those little Boo boos
out there and the the other stuff you can find at Popmart

(43:11):
and even mini souls and stuff for the Disney characters and
blind boxes that they have, you tear the top and I thought it
was something else funny. I was thinking of this when you
were talking about the whole blind box culture and all that
kind of stuff. Is that like when you ripped it
back and you saw it? Like you're gonna open it
anyways. You're gonna see right, But that
like was something that kind of like would upset you and it

(43:31):
would it would have said me. You said you like it was the
same thing because I still to this day, and this is so
hilarious in blind box other products.
So like Disney does a bunch of stuff with like a mini So.
And then there's even something at Pop Mart.
And obviously the same thing with little Boo boos.
Most of those, if not all of them have like a card.
Yeah, inside that kind of tells you the character and who you

(43:53):
got and whatever. And even with my daughter, she
says it the first thing we say whenever she opens it, Don't
look at the card, don't look at the card, don't look at the
card. And we like freak out, like
we're like tearing it, looking to the side, like trying to grab
the bag. Don't let the card come out.
And it's like, is it really that, Like you're gonna open,
you're gonna see it anyways, right?
But it's like you have to do it that way.
You have to make some more fun. Surprise, you know, when you

(44:14):
open up the bag. So like when this happened, it
was, yeah, it was taking away that huge surprise.
So now it's one extra step to get surprised.
But that's what we want. We want we want it to be as far
as we can before we see the surprise.
It's also just so funny too, that I love the packaging of
these so much. It's almost just like that part
that you RIP open, I guess, ultimately just becomes trash.

(44:37):
Yeah, but just. Today I was thinking about that.
I ended up throwing them away, but I'm like, we're gonna hold
these. I'm gonna put them.
Now, but they look so nice, it'slike a show.
They got the good conditioner. Yeah, so it's a thick like
cardboard. It's crazy funny.
It is funny. But even like the thing about
the blind boxes, the boob boxes,you RIP them and you're tossing
them. You're not keeping that at that
point. Maybe you'll keep the card and

(44:57):
you'll keep the actual. Figure you get grade labooba
cards now, yeah? That's so weird.
But two, there's still a few more products that we need to
talk about. We, I think we kind of talked
about all the, you know, the IP characters, but then we are
getting obviously. Others do one more, which I

(45:17):
think there's one more, so I'm surprised you didn't talk about
it. The Monsters.
Oh, you're right, because I didn't talk about that one
because I actually want that one.
So the monster. Yeah.
So that one's awesome because you're getting, once again,
three different characters. The hero is just, you know, the

(45:37):
Herman. Yeah, Herman.
The chase is the grandpa and then the ultra chase is Eddie.
But it has a mistake. They talked about this.
It's a but. The actual like actor's name.
Yeah, which is super hilarious. And they did mention that if you
do pull that, they are getting new boxes made.
Yeah. And they'll say it's cool to
have. It is super cool to have.

(46:00):
Yeah, this one's super cool. I I do really.
I want this from Michael Action This actually, this may be the
best. It's not necessarily my favorite
IP or anything like that, but it's the whole bunch of the
different figures you can get. I think this in the Space Ghost
for what we always talk about like the chases and the search

(46:22):
chases like these are pretty good.
Details and very things that they have on them and.
You pick great characters. It's also interesting to not to
go off topic, but I've always thought like one thing that's
been has drove me crazy about Funko recently is like they make
everything and everything and they're all always separately.

(46:45):
And one thing I kind of like about this, like this could be
the monsters picks that they make.
Yes, it's not all the characters, but like I like that
it was like the one skew product.
We have a chance of getting three different ones.
It's not just like all they're just making every person with
the family and if you want them all, you buy them all.
Like I kind of like that. I'm sure we'll see other

(47:07):
characters for other bigger IPS later down the line.
That's just another thing I really like that they're doing
with this product. But yeah, so then, but the other
thing I want to mention too is so all these ones we've talked
about, you can get them on throwjoy.com for saying it's
kind of just like Funko does. So you get them at home or you

(47:31):
can get them at the booth. And then but these figures, he
can't. The only one you'll be able to
get is the pixel line, which I think these are awesome.
The Blue universe, they're making all the new characters.
We're getting new debuts. So we have blue and then his
friends, we're getting red and we're getting tuxed.
So the red panda and the Penguin, all of those characters

(47:53):
you'll be able to get at home inthe pixels for the picks.
We're getting 3 Blues, I believewe're getting a red and we're
getting a tux. They all have their chases,
super chases. Those are show only.

(48:14):
Yeah, but those are super cool. Obviously going to be first
appearances for these characters.
And another thing to talking about make set before sticker
horse, they are going to be doing what Funko does.
So the San Diego Comic Con official stickers is going to be
on the products that you get at the con and then at home they're

(48:34):
going to have like, you know, summer convention sticker type
thing. So that's like another thing
that they're they're going with.But I'm excited for the new
characters. Blues friends.
I'm really Rocky Moto has gottenme into like the original
characters. It's like I have so much IP
stuff. It kind of makes it more fun,
and so I'm excited for that withRoll Troy.

(48:54):
Yeah, no, I agree. I think once we saw, I mean, we
posted it all over our socials. Like we were excited when we saw
first of all that there was a tease that there was going to be
new characters and friends. And then when we saw at least a
these two, who knows? It's going to be more.
But like the tux, obviously Penguin and then Red, the red
panda, which I love red like that, which is so cool.

(49:15):
I love the outfits like this, the way that they always dress.
That one is so rock. With a bucket that.
Yeah, I know it's funny with thebucket, but it's just like it's,
it's cool that we now finally are seeing them, but like
obviously it's gonna be pretty sick if you're there cuz these
are only at the booth and you can get them for the first time.
I'm sure in the future we'll getmore, you know, other ones that

(49:36):
will drop out online and stuff. But for now, that's all you
could do. However, if you want to get,
like you said, the pixels, they do have a set that will be
coming out like online, which does have some of the friends in
there. And those are really cool.
Like there's a few. There's actually I think like 4
versions of blue, yes, 4 versions of blue and then one
tux and one of the red to make the six to have like that set,

(50:01):
which obviously the pixels are, you know, the smaller ones where
they still come in a little small piece kind of.
And like, yeah, and you said too, Scott Pilgrim obviously
also has it too. So both of those will be kind of
their drops for sending comic, but where you're able to kind of
get them online. They did have, they didn't have
turtles. They had Corpse Pride and

(50:25):
Beetlejuice when I went to my Hot Topic.
And then they also, they even had them at box lunch, Corpse
Pride and Beetlejuice. They had any turtles if I
remember, but I didn't. Oh actually they had turtles at
box lunch. Didn't have it in a hot tub.
It was weird. I was like one or the other, but
I didn't grab any of those. I did get the regular pics.
I didn't get the pixels just cuzI think it has to be something

(50:45):
that I'm going to be like. You really like?
Fan of that I really like and I'll grab them course right not
so much Beetlejuice like I like those but not like that I need
them and then even turtles I'm just kind of like you know but
we'll see if we get more stuff that I will get me into the
whole pixel because I do like them like I like the product and
I like what they're doing with it and the casing and everything

(51:06):
of it but yeah I mean all that stuff was announced has been a
lot of hype and excitement behind throw joy right now they
you know they were giving out a bunch of stuff on that what not
yeah stream they were doing theyeven gave out one of the front
of the line passes. Which is they've.
Been doing that a lot. Protos, they were given out the

(51:29):
new product. Stuff and things like that or oh
and a new product that they did give out actually and we did
want to mention it. Everything said that they will
have for the picks specifically right now protectors for the
boxes. So if you didn't see it, because
it's not really being talked about much anywhere there is
maybe diss trackers has like a picture up where you see one in

(51:51):
the protector, but it's a hard stack protector that they got
made. They haven't announced a price
that's going to be very, very competitive, very good price,
but they haven't announced it and it's not going to actually
release until after San Diego Comic Con.
Unfortunately. This is kind of the way the
timing and everything happened. But they it's one of those

(52:11):
things that they said they really, really listen to the fan
Advisory Board and all the people and there was a lot of
input put into what they were going to do with this one that
they wanted one obviously to protect the boxes and what were
they going to use and how they were going to design it and
everything. And it's pretty nice.
It looks like it's great quality, even has a seal.
So the primary on the back of all like the throw joy stuff.

(52:35):
Anyways, they have that on it. They're on the front back.
However you want to put the box in there.
It's supposed to be like nice and smooth so it doesn't scratch
up or mess up the boxes. And then one of the other things
that's big is the bottom of it. Only get that little like pointy
little bump that on a Funko oncemess up the bottom of the box.
Well, I guess you have to have that bump to kind of seal those

(52:56):
type of cases. But they were able to put layers
in the inside above that so thatit's still smooth on the inside
and you don't feel that bump. So which is a really good thing.
So they really put a lot of thought into that.
And there was a lot of people that, you know, on their fan
Advisory Board that kind of spoke up on like what we need
and what works, what doesn't. And that's just another example

(53:18):
of how they're really listening to take all their input and they
do something about it. Yeah, I mean, I'm pumped for
those. I'm pumped for throw Joy once
again. Obviously we had the rough start
to the week, but it ultimately they recovered, I think.
And I'm excited to see what comes out of San Diego Comic Con

(53:41):
and like to hear about the blockparty.
You know we have, you know, we know some friends that are
going. They shared some things about
that. Seems pretty epic.
Yeah, she was spilling some stuff I think she wasn't really
supposed to fully say. Yeah, it was cool.
Yeah, it, it seems like it's going to be fun.
We're not going to be there, obviously.
If you are enjoy, hopefully it'sgoing to be great and hopefully.

(54:05):
They have one for New York. I was.
Just to say, hopefully when New York Comic Con comes around,
they do anything, we'll we're definitely going to make sure
we're there because that's goingto be a big deal.
Because it'll be exciting and fun.
We'll get to hang, maybe with our boy Alex.
Yes. We had on the last episode, you
can check out, definitely check out.
That was a great episode with him.
One of the fan Advisory Board members, actually, yeah.

(54:28):
But yeah, so throw joy doing bigthings.
They have a lot of products, a lot of cool stuff, and things
are starting to look definitely more on the up now.
Even, like you said, start off alittle rough, but they were able
to kind of come around on that, which is good.
I like that kind of thing because other companies don't
and they kind of start going down to make sure it doesn't.

(54:48):
Have to ever recover from going down, down, down.
Yeah, right now we got a companythat who knows where they're
going because we do want to mention because this happened
again a little while ago, but weweren't able to talk about it,
kind of give our input on the big massive Funko.
So, you know, we always talk about Funko all the time, and

(55:10):
this time it's not going to be in the best light, but we'll
give our thoughts what we thought and kind of what's going
to happen because who knows? But obviously you probably
already know. But the CEO of Funko, Cynthia
Williams, right? Is your last name.
Cynthia Williams. She was let go essentially,

(55:30):
right let go no longer is the CEO of Funko and was maybe a
year over a year like it's very.Barely made over a year.
Yeah, I thought it was under a year when it first happened, but
then I looked into it. Second, I think she got hired in
May of last. Year.
Sheesh. So just made it over a year.
I mean, good job. Obviously, obviously back when

(55:56):
she was hired, it was kind of a big thing.
We talked about it, we had an episode about it and we both
kind of on the on the on the thing like that was a little bit
of a weird like, you know, especially coming from what we
had before Bryan's and Mike's ofthe world and stuff like that,
where she came from, like what her background was just didn't
seem like it fit like this type of company collectors and

(56:19):
collectibles and that kind of stuff.
But she was like a business person.
Obviously she's been CEO, so we figured, OK, maybe she can make
the company money. Who knows.
What's going to happen in that transition was kind of when
Funko was like, oh, we're going to stop making less things, less
skews, yadda, yadda, yadda. They made more stuff.
There was more skews clearly coming out.

(56:41):
There was a lot of stuff that wedidn't need.
Events were, sorry, not great, like either non existent or if
they did have them, they just weren't really what we were used
to and it just was like a weird state.
Obviously they were still comingout with products.
Some stuff was amazing, some stuff was terrible, like they
just kind of were doing their thing, whatever.

(57:03):
Then we had the most recent event, which was the Fun Days
experience that they called it, which she was there, she spoke,
she hung out with people and like a couple weeks later she's
gone. A.
Couple weeks even right, like a week later.
So it's just strange. Obviously they had their

(57:26):
official like announcement aboutit saying, you know, they parted
ways effective immediately to yada.
Then other guy, Mike, Michael Lunsford is going to be like
interim CEO, which is funny because he was the interim St.
CEO when Brian left before Cynthia came in.
So from what I was reading on, Ilooked into it a little bit, He

(57:48):
seems like he's kind of like a good like filling type of person
like this. That's what he's known for.
He's known for steadying it, keeping going in the box.
Yeah, yeah, Clean up the stuff. That was a little bit of a mass
transition into somebody else and then that's it.
He's very short term. Yeah, he's just not long term.
So he's not going to be the CEO essentially because I'm assuming

(58:09):
at this point he would have beenCEO.
Before, Yeah, yeah. He doesn't want to do it.
Who knows? I mean, who know who wants to do
that? But what are your thoughts on
kind of, I don't know what happened and then maybe what do
we think is going to happen because a company going through
CE OS like this quick, like in this amount of years, it's not

(58:31):
good. Yeah, it's a very bad look,
especially when it's a publicly traded company, you know, like.
Yeah, I mean, I was shocked to see her get, I mean, she was
fired. Like, I don't care what anyone
says. Like that's what happened.
But when you're in that high of a position, that big of a

(58:52):
company, the way the, you know, it's released to the public,
they give you grace and respect.And it doesn't necessarily look
that way, but the shareholders, the board, they were not happy
with the performance. And now before I really get into
my thoughts, you know, I've seensome chatter online, there's

(59:12):
some people who are like defending Cynthia that you did
an amazing job. I mean, I think she fixed up
some things on paper for the company, but at the end of the
day was not good enough and theyprobably didn't see it getting
much better under her leadershipand they they needed a change.

(59:39):
I think it was the right decision.
We actually met her really quickly at New York Comic Con.
I mean, it's nice way. She was nice.
She was fine. I don't think Funko, they are
just so known for so long, even though they're this huge company
now, having people like Brian and Mike I, you know, they're

(01:00:02):
going to be hard to replace and it's being seen that way.
They need someone though, like that.
They need to collect. Like both of them are collectors
at heart. That's why it's funny, the
reason I love Brian and I still,you know, I've always was the
Brian sweaty. He is knows business, but he's a
collector too. Like he knows what the people

(01:00:25):
want. Once again, just the stuff he's
implemented. Throwjoy is amazing.
They need someone like that. There's got to be someone out
there that exists that can do that for Funko and I think they
are seeing that they need that because if they were just going
to turn themselves into another run the mill toy company that

(01:00:46):
only you know, focuses on their IP licenses and hopefully people
want to buy Star Wars toys or want to buy Marvel.
We talked like they were they were becoming the competitor
Hasbro, Mattel and too many products.
Like I, Cynthia, I don't know what she was doing, but she
definitely didn't scale back on the SKU's.

(01:01:07):
She only made more. She got rid of lines that people
liked, like sodas, for example. Yeah, but and you know, I like
biddies, but I think they doubledown way too much on the Biddies
and they also double down way too much on the pop yourselves.
I feel like the pop yourselves were slowing down for them.
You probably started off super hot.
But once you make one, you make one once you buy them for

(01:01:29):
presents, you buy them for presents.
Like I thought it was awesome. Like I made one for my dad, for
example, but I'm I'm never goingto make him another one.
And we talked about this is the last episode.
I think they've completely butchered that because I thought
Pop yourself was awesome. They started off strong.
I thought the Dunk Kings one that they made was awesome.

(01:01:50):
And then when I found out they were making sports ones and not
to beat that, you know that intothe ground they've totally miss.
They have not executed the sports correctly and other
special ones they made, like when they made the Marvel ones,
you have to make a pop yourself and then you have to pay extra
to get that body. So then you're getting another

(01:02:10):
body that you're gonna like, you're not gonna change it back
and forth, especially at Funko, like I don't know, so and I also
now think too, it's kind of crazy.
You know, anime was super hot and I think she doubled down on
that and now she's pissing off the anime fans.
Like they kind of upset other fans by making way too many.

(01:02:31):
Like in the beginning, I remember when One Piece was
super hot, they were like not many coming out.
When they came out, everyone wanted them.
Now even that has slowed down. Like they've come out with ones
that are still sitting on the shop.
That never happened for One Piece ever.
And then my last thing before I let you talk to me because this,
I think she's made decisions that she thought would help, you

(01:02:53):
know, people coming and buying more product and they make more
money. Like, OK, this One Piece pop,
you have to get it in a hard case.
So it makes it 20 bucks. Yeah.
Moves like that I think have pissed off collectors, not made
them happy. Yeah, no, sure.
Yeah. That was a lot of stuff that we

(01:03:14):
and we talked about it every week and like why are they doing
this? Why is there so much of that?
Why'd they get rid of that? Like there was just a lot of
questions that you don't need tobe asking if the company's just
doing things the right way. And one thing that you said, and
I started thinking about it thatis interesting about the
Bryant's and Mikes of the world,right, is that it's tough

(01:03:38):
because it's not like this with every company.
Certain companies, you can have somebody be Aceo, somebody comes
in, new CEO, they can keep running that company keeps it
going. Maybe they did something
similar, maybe they didn't even do something similar, but
they're able to do it, right. But Funkel's like a specific
company. That's very, it's because of how
it started that it's very specific to like, yeah, their

(01:04:02):
toys and whatever. But like collectors and
collectibles in the community, like aspect of it is so big in
driving the company that when you don't get that pure
collector or somebody like that really making decisions and
looking at it in different lens and more in the business side of
things, it's it just doesn't work.

(01:04:25):
And I think the only thing that kind of sucks is because Funko
already was created, is that it's because they created the
company. Yes, like they were the CE OS
Eventually Mike and Brian and you go back and forth or
whatever, but they essentially made the company.
They made the original products,they made what was coming out
and then they ran that business.That's what you're doing now.

(01:04:48):
Rocky Moto Mike goes over, he makes these products, he's
starting it. That's his company, but he
created it. Same thing with Brian and
Throwjoy, but now Funko's going to be in a spot that it's like
whoever takes it over, they didn't make this company.
So it's going to be hard if they're not a collector at all
or some type that like that kindof realm.

(01:05:10):
It's not like another company where it might, you know, CEO
comes in who's popular with thisone.
We just saw it. It didn't work.
And like, yeah, she did like thecards and Magic or whatever it
was. And it's like, OK, that's a side
of things, but it's not the samething.
It's funny too. I'm happy you just brought that
up because I was gonna after. It's kind of, it's kind of

(01:05:31):
ironic to me that magic's hotterthan ever.
And it was after she left. And you think about that too.
Maybe fuck those guys. Yeah, they're good at.
Everything stuff. So it's just, it's just crazy.
And it's like, who? You're not gonna get a mind
compartment, Of course you're not gonna come back.
You're not gonna get them. That's fine.
But there has to be someone. And this is the thing.
Maybe there needs to be a betterteam.

(01:05:53):
Maybe there needs to be someone who's good enough at at least
finding other people that maybe he doesn't know it or she
doesn't know it, but they have somebody who can be the face,
right? They have a mic.
We need that. I feel like we need someone who
was going to be a face via therein the community and then be
like that middle ground between them and CEO to make decisions

(01:06:15):
and listen to OK, this works or that doesn't work because we
said it so many times, bro. Like whoever was, and it wasn't
just her, clearly whoever was inthat brain trust to that room
round table, like, and the differences that one product
would do one week and then the same product would come out with
something else that's completelyweird.

(01:06:36):
Like it was like they had a new person in that room every day.
That's how it felt like, yeah, Iwas making decisions.
So we're kind of in that realm. And nothing against her.
Everything we've ever heard is that she's super nice.
She's great. People have met her.
A lot of people we know have we met her.
Like you said, we said she was like, I took a picture.
Super nice nothing against her at all but clearly wasn't

(01:06:58):
working but it's just it is pretty fast that a year later
they're like yes I'm working we got to change which is kind of
good for the chair. They know, yeah, what's going
on. So I don't know what's going to
happen now. Obviously this guy is going to
kind of be interim. He'll clean up some stuff.
If I'm trying to remember when Brian left before she came, kind

(01:07:20):
of where the state of uncle was at that point because I thought
it was kind of in a weird state even then.
Getting in a weird state, but I don't feel like it was they were
losing money, but I think it wasonly because of the, you know,
the ripple effects of the pandemic.
Yes. So it's now they're like at a
point where obviously you were never going to reach those highs

(01:07:40):
of the pandemic. Also, I always was just biased.
And I mean, I understand business, but I always lived in
my own world because I've always, you know, had a like a
romantic relationship with Fuckobefore I use that word.
But like in AI, they weren't newto me.
Like it's crazy to think of how many people I do meet who or

(01:08:03):
even now like being part of the Funko, like a YouTube community
where it's like that's when theystarted where like I had always
known the company where they're just never going to get
unfortunately to that pandemic high level anymore.
But I do really hope they bring someone in who I think they need

(01:08:30):
to change up the company. Actually, that's another thing
like they need people. They need to also surround
themselves around people who love the brand and love
collectibles and maybe not just Funko, but can get other aspects
of other things of other companies that I think they
like. Like, it's just funny.
I always talk about him and it'ssad that he was a victim of a

(01:08:53):
layup like Sully, who used to be, you know, one of the main
guys on the social media team. He has left Funko and I still
have a brand for himself that hehas made in the space because he
was that good, in my opinion, his job.

(01:09:13):
They need people like that because in my opinion, they've
had, they haven't had any. Yeah.
And we had said a year ago that they really needed to lean on
influencers. I think they do that too much
now. There needs to be a good, you
know, in the, you know, in between.
And it's easy for me to say, youknow, we obviously love Tristan

(01:09:35):
and I'll just use some example. I'm at a point now where they,
if they want someone like Tristan, they need to hire him
and he works for Funko. Yeah, and just, I'm just using
an example. I think they, they got to stop
cherry picking all these influencers.
I think that's actually in a weird way of hurt the brand
because it doesn't feel authentic anymore where they

(01:10:01):
just need to get people that areworking for them.
And if, you know, lifting this up and then obviously, you know,
you have to fix the business side of the things too.
But I think that'll go a long way, if that makes sense.
Yeah, No, I agree. It's kind of similar to what I'm
saying, like the team and like who's around, who's making
decisions like that, Just that all needs to kind of be blown up
and like really looked into moreon like people that can relate

(01:10:26):
to collectors and people, whether they are collectors or
they're from another company that, you know, is a collectible
company. And now they transition into
Funko, whatever it may be. Having a face I think is a big
deal. I think of seeing the last year
of not, you know, yeah, she popped up at like events here

(01:10:46):
and there, but just energy was different and you just it wasn't
the same. She wasn't really driving their
social media herself. She the social media in general
was kind of and then they had a little bit of a team, but, you
know, it was it's nothing like what they used to have.
And a lot of that I think is kind of putting went into like a

(01:11:07):
lot of this like stuff that we see where they weren't doing
well and I don't know, we got tosee what's going to happen.
Obviously they're still out there.
So like the company's going to be gone, but it's definitely
crazy. I mean, I'm, I'm sure if we go
back to like episode 1, episode 2, episode 3 and we started
seeing like where was Funko, what we were talking about and

(01:11:29):
how exciting things were. It's like it's been a big
change. And granted, it's been a few
years, but it's still kind of crazy that it couldn't happen
that fast though. Yeah, I mean, I never thought
this would happen like this. Yeah, I also another thing to
like talk about the fun Days experience.
We know people who went and saidit was awesome and I'm sure if I
was there I would have had a great time too.

(01:11:50):
Even though we've joked like I still I don't have FOMO of not
going and I'm sure that event did not do well on paper for
them. It's not a.
Yeah, that must have been a thing, too.
I mean, right after for her to be gone.
Like, it must have been kind of a nail in the coffin.
Yeah. Where I mean.
Which almost is just kind of like the fun.
Part, I'm sure, was a community part, like being there, being

(01:12:11):
around other collectors, Yeah, you're getting fun, you know,
from these boxes. That's cool.
And I'm sure those were good. Obviously we saw them whatever.
And like just being there. I'm sure that was more of it,
but it wasn't the same, clearly.And you know, there and even
people, big influencers and people and YouTube friends that
we have and everything, like they spoke, they've spoken up
and like a lot of them had positives and negatives, like it

(01:12:34):
wasn't perfect and whatever. And not that it needed to be,
but in the state that they were at, it just kind of seemed.
And then like now look, think ofthis now they're going to be in
San Diego Comic Con coming up soon.
Now then we have CEO, they have an interim and yeah, they have a
booth and they hanging out pops or whatever, but they don't have
an event. They have a panel this year,

(01:12:54):
which is interesting. Oh, I'm the who's going to be on
that? That is interesting, Yeah.
Just kind of like after that, let's see where that's going to
put them now. Like people are still buying
Funko Pops. Obviously they're still going to
go. That's still a thing.
It's just it's different. It's even crazy we haven't, I, I
know we haven't talked about this on an episode, and this

(01:13:14):
used to be an instant thing we would talk about, which we'll
probably get into in our next episode.
But the San Diego Comic Con lineup, even this year, is the
worst it's ever been since I've been collecting Funkos pops.
Yeah, like, I mean, I know. You don't want that.
Obviously it's just that's just a whole other thing that's just
showing. It's like there's no, that

(01:13:35):
always is a hyped time. It just also shows like the
state of it. Yeah, it's big, big changes.
So. But yeah, so that'll be it for
the episode. I mean jam packed episode there
and we all pretty much mostly talked about through Joy, a
little bit of Funko, but a lot of good stuff happening out

(01:13:56):
there. Obviously seeing new comic cons
coming up. So that'll be something we'll be
talking about. We're not going, but you know,
whatever news comes out of that will definitely be all years to
the ground to try to let you guys know our thoughts on things
and and we. Know people who are going to the
block party and rocking our dreams so.
Yes. So those will be a big.

(01:14:17):
We'll get first hand experience from that.
Which I'm excited for, we will talk about and I believe we're
gonna have another guest soon aswell, hopefully.
So yeah, look out for that. And yeah, that'll be it for this
episode 136. Thank you guys for being here.
If you haven't already, please liked this video.

(01:14:38):
That'll help us out. Maybe subscribe if you haven't
already cuz come. On Yeah, we're.
Just kind of sitting in a numberthat just never changes.
I don't know what's going on it.Just makes no sense.
But whatever. Yeah, we still love doing this.
We do it for fun. It's a fun hobby for me and
Megs. I still think we're gonna grow.
I feel it. And yeah, you know, if you're

(01:15:00):
new, as he said, thank you for coming.
And if you're old, thank you forcoming back.
But if you haven't already, if you could please subscribe to
this channel, hit the notification bell.
So you know, when new videos come out, like Meg's mentioned,
you know, he's going to be dropping a video soon of him
ripping open some pics. I'm going to be doing one of
those two. So we're going to have other

(01:15:21):
stuff coming. I still have some cards that I
want to open up, hopefully trying to make some videos and
yeah, shoot down some comments. As we always say, we respond to
every comment and throw us down some ideas, anything you want us
to talk about. But everything's always welcome.
And obviously, if you're listening on the podcast
platforms, we appreciate that. If you're on Spotify, you can

(01:15:42):
answer our question of the episode on there.
And please, you know, shoot us areview over there.
But also come over to the YouTube video so you can see all
the fun visuals and whatnot because it's always the best
over here on YouTube. So with that being said,
collecting is the way the next episode later.

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