Growing up , we ’ve all had a instant where something peculiar and niche we loved formally goes mainstream and becomes a bit less nerveless . Maybe it ’s your favourite band finally having a massive hit record album . mayhap it ’s an awesome footling movie you discover arrive a big Hollywood remake . The sorry fact is , with anything smart and successful , it ’s all but inevitable thatsomething bigger will take it overand ruin everything good about it .
For fans ofthe collectible mark Mondo , that was among the initial thought process when the bill poster , vinyl , and toy company was purchase by Funko in June 2022 . These days , there are n’t many brands in the collectible spacebigger than Funko . It ’s a name synonymous with having something for everyone and being usable everywhere . Which is fundamentally the inverse of Mondo . Mondo products are usually limited and available in only one place . That ’s a huge part of what made them cool .
When San Diego Comic - Con 2022 was initially announced , Mondo — which was then owned by Alamo Drafthouse — was on the West side of the convention floor , surrounded by fellow little shops and dealers . But after it was acquired by Funko , it got move to the complete diametric side of the conventionalism , part of a monumental cubicle called Funkoville , which was comprised of multiple store fronts for Funko ’s brands , huge photo ops , and a square footage that dwarf every other kiosk on the floor .
Mondo’s booth in Funkovill at Comic-Con 2022.Photo: io9/Germain Lussier
I’vebeen collect Mondo posterssince about 2008 . At first I ’d corrupt them online or at peculiar event , and finally that turned into liner up for drift show and pattern . I ’ve been collecting Funko for a while too , mostfamously commenting on their decimation in 2015 . But the steel just feel so diametrically play off from one and other that , when offered a chance to talk to the CEO of Funko , Andrew Perlmutter , at Comic - Con , I had to happen out why his monolithic brand acquire this smaller one in Mondo , and what it meant for both . Read our conversation below .
Germain Lussier , io9 : I ’ve been a buff of both Mondo and Funko for a tenacious metre but when I get word you ’d acquired Mondo I thought “ That ’s a very unearthly marriage , ” because obviously it ’s all pappa culture but Mondo is such a niche thing , and Funko is is very , very mainstream . So to start I ’d just love to hear how this happened ?
Andrew Perlmutter : We ’ve been admirers of the Mondo brand for many years , for the same reason you are . They make beautiful product , [ there ’s ] a very unequaled look and feel to their products . And so we ’ve admired them for a foresighted time . We are always make conversations with various brands that we look up to . And so when the opportunity came up that we could potentially have a conversation about acquiring them and bring them into our portfolio of brands , we take full vantage of that . We had a conversation and we decide that Funko would be a really good habitation for them and they agreed . So it was mutual . They were very emotional about it .
Crowds going into Funkoville. Mondo is on the left.Photo: io9/Germain Lussier
And I recollect the most important thing for somebody like you who ’s a Mondo devotee is our end is to make the Mondo trade name . Our goal is not to bend Mondo into Funko . That ’s not what we do . Because you ’re veracious . We have an opening price point , lowly debut into collectibles . That ’s what Funko does . Not only do we do it at a adept price point , but we do it for 1,100 different licensee .
io9 : incisively . Yes .
Perlmutter : So we go a mile wide , and sometimes an inch deep , which is why we ’re still around and everything ’s doing so well because we we do n’t have to optimize every SKU . So with Mondo , it ’s a completely dissimilar proposition and we live that and we ’re aroused about assist them grow in unlike ways . Could we put Mondo in every Wal - Mart store tomorrow ? Yes . Are we going to ? No . That ’s not going to happen . We think of Mondo as an opportunity to grow globally and also do our direct to consumer , continue to establish our direct to Consumer business through Mondo.com .
Massive Squid Game Pops on display.Photo: io9/Germain Lussier
io9 : That capital to hear . Now , when I asked a chemical group of Mondo fan online what they wanted to know about this new possession , the independent thing was license . Like you say , you have access to almost every permit . I ’m trusted there ’s not a license you could n’t acquire if you want to . Maybe one or two . Mondo , in regards to their posters , sometimes there are issues with that . They ca n’t get every license , there are likeness rights issue , they need approving on all credits . Fans require to know if being owned by Funko is break to make that soft for them ? Is that something you ’ve talk to them about ?
Perlmutter : Yes . I would say that one of the benefits to Mondo , to the Mondo brand , of partnering with Funko is the theme that we are able to help them with sealed thing that were severe for them to unlock as a small recess company . plain we work very closely with the licensors . The licensors like working with Funko . So we think there ’ll be some unlocks to be had there . Certain things like likeness will always be a problem , veracious ? And so I ca n’t say that we ’ve get a silver bullet for likeness . But I can say that whether it ’s the expansion of opportunity to get at differnet license or if its the unlocking of certain things that have been a hurdle for them , I believe that we can avail them .
io9 : Yeah I venture with Funko Pops , you do n’t really have to worry about likeness the right way ?
The Mondo BoothPhoto: io9/Germain Lussier
Perlmutter : No . We ’ve had conversations around that . We never have to worry about it , but it does get bring up every once in a while , which is why I ’m enjoin I do n’t think there ’s a silver bullet for that for the posters , but I cogitate that we ’ve got the auricle of a lot of our licensing partners who are undefendable to have got conversations .
io9 : One of the things that Mondo did so well , and Covid really hurt , was in - individual upshot . They had a gallery , they had MondoCon , they had mystery movies , is this stuff that you ’re hop to bring back ?
Perlmutter : Absolutely . You know , it ’s so core to our desoxyribonucleic acid . We love interacting with our fans . So you may look at more of that .
io9 : Where do you see Mondo in the next five yr ?
Perlmutter : I would say that like you would , you will see an expansion of their licenses that they ’re working off of and I think we ’re run to seek to make it easier for the international fans of Mondo to adopt the products .
io9 : Yeah , sometimes they can only embark to certain commonwealth .
Perlmutter : It ’s so expensive too . And we ’ve got dispersion in all those places . So if we can settle the stock closer to the sports fan , they ’ll pay a lot less for transport . So we think there ’s opportunities to grow globally . Obviously , we ’re going to help grow Mondo.com . Funko.com was just named one of the quickest growing Es - commerce websites in the payable industry , which is super exciting to us , by Newsweek . And so we think that there ’s a lot of synergism to help grow them . But again , originate the Mondo brand . That ’s of import to us and make certain that the brand continue to thrive because that ’s what we acquired . I think of , we could have made in high spirits closing collectable . We could have made post horse . We could have made , probably , vinyl group . I do n’t know . But it would n’t have been Mondo . And that ’s what was significant to us .
io9 : Mondo started with posters and has continued to expand into vinyl , toys , biz , do you see that enlargement proceed ?
Perlmutter : perfectly , yeah . And , just like us , we ’ve get our middle open on what makes sense . Like , are we do Mondo shower curtains ? in all probability not . But when there are opportunities to lucubrate and it service the Mondo buff , then we ’ll await at it .
io9 : We ’ve talked about what Funko can do for Mondo but what can Funko learn from Mondo ?
Perlmutter : We can study a a lot from Mondo , right ? Like what an amazing brand . I think the way that they present their product is something that we can larn from . Again , we ’ve got a unlike demographic . We ’re sort of speaking to two unlike ends of the spectrum as far as terms point fear . But I mean , they just make such … It ’s graphics . They make beautiful nontextual matter . So yeah , I remember they could teach us as much as we could teach them .
io9 : As a fan , this is all very large to hear . I cognize a lot of fans were just believe “ We do n’t want Mondo posters with Funko soda pop on them . ”
Perlmutter : We do n’t either . Like I like I said , we do n’t require Mondo distributed in the same mode that Funko is circulate . We do n’t want Pop bill sticker . We could do that ourselves . That is not interesting to us . So we do n’t want to , like , take the album covers and change by reversal them into popping cover . That ’s not happening , so do n’t occupy .
io9 : Last thing . With Mondo , because everything tends to be so limited , that mean the brand expect masses wait in line . It ’s all about waitress in railway line . Funko has lines too , but you also do lotteries and I jazz this year at Comic - Con , a lot of the fans were really disappointed that when Mondo has move in with Funko its become much harder to win a lottery than to just run along up for a post-horse . Is that something that will continue or will you mayhap reconsider ?
Perlmutter : I think we ’re go continue to valuate it . The idea is we need to make indisputable that we ’ve get this portfolio of brand name together and we want to give as much citizenry get at as we can . So we ’ll remain to appraise it as we move forward . Maybe there ’s an opportunity to just have a specific occupation for Mondo .
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