HELP Funko & Hot Topic discontinued our ponies! #savethefunkoponies

[HoustonCollector72]

It's unfortunate that they discontinued. I was so looking forward to Nightmare Moon But I can understand why. A couple of people have mentioned that Hot Topic has stopped carrying them. While I'm sure part of it is moving onto the next big pop culture phenomenon, I feel like part of it also has to do with some people purchasing 24 of each character in hopes to get the glitter chase, then returning the rest. That is a huge lose for Hot Topic and Funko. They see a huge spike in sales, and then have to return a portion of it. For every person who bought 24, got their glitter, then returned the remaining 23, that is roughly $460. Couple that with characters who aren't that popular (seriously, I agree with you all who have brought up Maud and Cheese before NMM and Chrysalis?), declining interest, and a switch to a new pop culture series. I'm sad that they are gone, they are really wonderful figures when their quality control is good. And I do hope that petition works. I'd love to see Nightmare Moon!

  HT implemented "bulk policies" for anyone who purchased more than 4 of any items , they had a different process to go through , and HT could very and Did declined returns on the scenario you mentioned ,so no, that is not a reason,the reason is that they probably just did not want to pay the expense on ordering these plus the  characters they chose to produce were not that popular as probably NMM and QC,so it could be also related to Funko license cost from Hasbro to continue with the production of them.

[Wardah]

What matters to Funko is sales, not a petition that a bunch of people signed because from a business standpoint that means nothing. Just because people sign something that doesn't mean they will spend money on it. I'm sure there were people who wanted so badly for Funko to make Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich, but when Funko did that they did not drop a dime on either of them. The past few releases for these have been proven to be a bust because no one wanted Cheese or Maud just like no one wanted CMC. Instead of selling out super quickly they just ended up becoming shelf warmers and when that happens to a product that ends up costing the company money.

In short your petition shouldn't be to retailers or Funko themselves, but to the consumers. If you can convince them to spend the money on this line again then, and only then, will you get Funko's attention.

The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.

Did I ever once say people weren't buying because they don't like Funkos? No. You sort of missed my point altogether.

Funko didn't lose money on Cheese and Maud tho. If anyone lost money it was the retailers because they were stuck with the product. Unless a product is defective they can't return it to the manufacturer so their only option is to keep it shelf warming or clearance it out and lose money. After Cheese and Maud's poor performance the retailers didn't want to take a chance and order as many ponies. After all why order something if nobody is gonna want them. So without enough orders to justify manufacturing them Funko just cancelled them outright.

I do think the only good that might come out of this is if Funko sees enough interest in NMM and Crys they might make them for SDCC since that's pretty much the only time they sell directly to fans.

[Princess Lala]

I'm sad they dangle the prototypes of NMM and Chrysalis in front of us, and see this news. At least give us these, Funko! x( They were going to be so gorgeous.

Signed the petition, hope it helps

[Dragonflitter]

I just noticed the Petition page currently says this:

2,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to release NNM, and QC.

5,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to save the whole line!

Do you have any evidence to support this, Aquatic Neon? :\ I feel that if you just chose these numbers arbitrarily and you don't have any indication that Funko actually cares about how many signatures you get, you're kinda spreading false information and fostering false hope.

Do you have any hard evidence that Funko would care at all if you got even a very high number of signatures? As several people pointed out in this thread, signatures don't equal sales. It's easy for someone to click a button on a website and say "Yes I would totally buy them!" But it's a different matter entirely to get people to actually spend that much money on collector's items. For example, I signed the petition but I wouldn't buy the full sized vinyls. I just collect the minis. I'm sure Funko will realize that signatures don't necessarily equal sales. It's entirely possible the company won't care about the petition at all. Unless you've heard otherwise? Did anyone at Funko actually tell you that if you get 2,000 signatures or 5,000 signatures it would change their mind about the cancellation of the line?

I just feel like it's unfair to tell people "Hey if we get 2k signatures we'll get these two figures you really want!" unless you have actual indication that they will release the figures.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I just noticed the Petition page currently says this:

2,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to release NNM, and QC.

5,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to save the whole line!

Do you have any evidence to support this, Aquatic Neon? :\ I feel that if you just chose these numbers arbitrarily and you don't have any indication that Funko actually cares about how many signatures you get, you're kinda spreading false information and fostering false hope.

Do you have any hard evidence that Funko would care at all if you got even a very high number of signatures? As several people pointed out in this thread, signatures don't equal sales. It's easy for someone to click a button on a website and say "Yes I would totally buy them!" But it's a different matter entirely to get people to actually spend that much money on collector's items. For example, I signed the petition but I wouldn't buy the full sized vinyls. I just collect the minis. I'm sure Funko will realize that signatures don't necessarily equal sales. It's entirely possible the company won't care about the petition at all. Unless you've heard otherwise? Did anyone at Funko actually tell you that if you get 2,000 signatures or 5,000 signatures it would change their mind about the cancellation of the line?

I just feel like it's unfair to tell people "Hey if we get 2k signatures we'll get these two figures you really want!" unless you have actual indication that they will release the figures.

Uuhhhhh yeah.  If you haven't made personal contact with a human being at Funko in response to this petition, it's misleading to say that there will be any kind of positive outcome.  Any luck with contacting them? 

[Al-1701]

Yeah.  And, as others have pointed out, it was probably retailers who refused to purchase orders of any new full-sized vinyls because they have the last wave still taking up space on their shelves.  The petition would have to not just impress Funko but their retailers enough to think they'll get the sales to justify making NMM and Chrysalis.

Though, they could sell them at SDCC and the MLP Fair since that isn't through retailers.  It might make a fitting last hoorah for the line.

The problem is Funko done goofed.  They dared to chase the brony fad mentality one too many times and got burned.  If the full-sized vinyls aren't being purchased by retailers, they're going to concentrate on the minis and these new MyMojis because they can move them.

[Aquatic Neon]

I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick, I can remove that if it sounds like it could lead to possible disappointment?

We are doing a good job keep it up eveyone, I'm still working on EQD but they want more proof which unfortunately Funko couldn't provide me. :/ Since they don't share that kind of info.

I also added Toysrus, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Spencers and Kmart!

I just hope we at the very least would be able to get NMM and QC at SDCC this year, its possible!

[Wardah]

Though, they could sell them at SDCC and the MLP Fair since that isn't through retailers.  It might make a fitting last hoorah for the line.

Having NMM and/or Crys as MLP Fair exclusives is actually a good idea. At least there is no chance if it being one of the Mane 6 in a costume like last year from Hasbro.

[Al-1701]

I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick

They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us.  Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.

[Aquatic Neon]

I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick

They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us.  Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.

Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM

[Midnight_Dream]

I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick

They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us.  Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.

Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM

That's not the same at all. Did the Clockwork Orange line have a petition and did Funko say for that that X amount of signatures would get them to renew the line? If it did I would like to see proof. I understand how hearing that gave you hope, but you can't make claims that getting X amount of signatures will get Funko to start working on the line again because unless they have personally told you that it's lying.

[Aquatic Neon]

I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick

They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us.  Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.

Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM

That's not the same at all. Did the Clockwork Orange line have a petition and did Funko say for that that X amount of signatures would get them to renew the line? If it did I would like to see proof. I understand how hearing that gave you hope, but you can't make claims that getting X amount of signatures will get Funko to start working on the line again because unless they have personally told you that it's lying.

I heard there was similar petitions, pages, and things. I never made claims of x amount will do anything I said, it may/should never said it will.

[Galactica]

I would die of happiness if they made Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon SDCC exclusives...

but-  I fear that will not happen since the last SDCC pony exclusives took so long to sell out.

[Wardah]

At least Guardians of Harmony have an accurate looking Cheeselegs and NMM on the way. The only thing I'm truly sad about is that I doubt GiH will have glitter chases.

[Eily311]

Hello everypony,

I'm not sure if aquaticneon has posted this on here yet, but funko will no longer be making ponies. I'm just devasted. Aquatic neon made a petition I will post the link on here. Please sign the petition and #save the funko ponies

Www.change.org/p/6383783