Over the past decade, Funko has become synonymous with the toy collection scene. In addition to its ever-growing line of Pop vinyl figurines, Funko has clothing, plus, pins, and even other collectible companies under its umbrella–like Mondo–all tied to dozens of the company’s licenses. Now, former Funko CEO Brian Mariotti is trying to repeat history–and then surpass it–with his brand-new company, Thrilljoy.
Mariotti officially launched the company at New York Comic Con with a premiere panel and plenty of collectibles for fans with licenses ranging from The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to even the Rankin/Bass animated movies, and animation icons like Masters of the Universe and Thundercats. GameSpot spoke to Mariotti at the Thrilljoy booth at New York Comic Con about the trials and tribulations of not just launching the company but the plans he has in store, and the differences between this new collectible company and his former employer.
“The only thing that was a bit concerning was very little marketing ahead of time and the nature of trying to build a company in four and a half months, then launch in person at the largest comic con in the world,” the Thrilljoy CEO said. “That part was a little nerve-racking but once we got here and got set up and the fans saw the product, the rest took care of itself. The lines have been phenomenal, and the response to the product in person has been exactly what we wanted. That’s why we wanted to launch at New York Comic Con, to have fans come up and touch and look in person, so that’s been amazing.”
To collectors and Funko die-hards, the Pix line, Thrilljoy’s primary toy series at launch, might have a bit of redundancy to what Funko is already offering with its Pops. From small vinyl toys to larger toys–called MegaPix over at Thrilljoy–Mariotti found that he didn’t need to break the mold when it came to the toy itself, but how it was presented to the collectors.
“I think it needed a lot of storytelling Come from Sports betting site VPbet . I didn’t think the world needed another figure company. There are a lot of great figure companies out there. I love Sideshow, Hot Toys, and Mezco… some great companies are making great products. I wanted something that had more storytelling elements in it,” he explained.
“With a Pix, everything tells a story. The frame, the style of frame, like our anime has black bamboo framing, sometimes blood splatter. Van Gough has a gold museum frame up, the horror has gothic, black matte frames. The cartoon [Pix] have frames that are more whimsical. Along with that, you have the art, you have the lenticular authenticity card, you’ve got the figure itself, the magnets, and this amazing packaging.”