Welcome to the world of Funko and pop culture collectibles! For those new to all of this, we're excited to welcome you and give some insight into what to expect from Funko during convention season!

Funko is all about expressing your love and excitement for pop culture in and through your everyday life, whether that's through apparel, collectibles, accessories, and/or cosplay.

Why We Love Conventions

Conventions also encourage and enable fans to express their fandom with excitement and connect with others in their communities in a fun environment. Whether you're just looking for unique art to expand your gallery, or you're dressing up in costume to meet an actor you admire, conventions bring pop culture fans together as a community. These events host panels interviewing celebrities, celebrity guest appearances and signings, contests, and various vendor booths where fans can find artwork and merchandise for fandoms spanning movies, television shows, games, books, and more.

There are hundreds of conventions around the world, though there are a few we attend consistently (since we're not able to attend all of them). Let's jump into what to expect from Funko during the conventions we can attend.

When To Expect Convention Announcements

If we're hosting a booth, we'll make an announcement a month before the upcoming convention. A week or two after we've confirmed that we're going to be at a particular convention, we'll announce which exclusive collectibles will be available during that event. Keep reading for more details on exclusives in the next section.

Once all the exclusives are announced, we'll provide details about our booth numbers, ticketing info, safety protocols, and sometimes a booth sneak peek preview. The announcement blog for each event will be home to questions for that event, which we add to leading up to the convention as well. If you have any questions about an event or convention, you can always send them in via our social channels @OriginalFunko, and we'll do the best we can to answer. We won't spoil any surprises though!

How to Buy Funko Convention Exclusives

Each event has different collectibles that are made just for that event. These exclusives are either completely new characters/designs or they're highly anticipated variants of collectibles with new features (some are glitter, glow-in-the-dark, there's many different variations). These exclusives are made in limited quantities and will not be re-released. We understand that not everyone can attend conventions in-person, so a portion of those limited items will be available through select retail partners as “shared exclusives.” Those shared exclusives have an alternate sticker compared to those which are purchased at the convention, making them distinguishable from one another.

Once the exclusive collectibles are announced, we post shared retailer guides on the associated announcement blog. Those who cannot attend the event in-person can look to the shared retailer guides to know where they can go to try and collect the items they're on the hunt for. When applicable, we'll also post guides for items available through international partners.

See the SDCC 2022: Everything You Need To Know Blog for reference!

What's at the Funko Booth

Each booth has a different theme and configuration, which makes each convention unique and fun! Some features will remain the same; we'll have a stage where we host games, giveaways, contests, and more. There are also checkout counters where you can purchase exclusives via order sheets which are handed out as you enter. We almost always have enormous photo ops which make for amazing keepsake pictures!

Sometimes the booth entry is ticketed or segmented into time slots with wristbands. The entry details vary depending on the convention requirements. Entry details are posted to the announcement blog before the convention, so you'll be able to check the post in advance and plan accordingly.

Below are some photos of previous events and a video of our SDCC 2022 Booth Preview to help give you a more visual idea of what we've done in the past.

Welcome to Funkoville at San Diego Comic-Con® 2022! Freddy is here to give you a tour and provide a sneak peek at all the fun coming this July! #Funko #FunkoSDCC #SDCC2022

Games and Activities

No matter which convention we're at, the Funko booth always hosts a ton of games and giveaways. Everyone is a fan of something and we are always thrilled to be able to get together and celebrate with the Funko Family and pop culture community! Conventions are one of the ways we give back to our Funatics and Funko Family. Our whole goal is to have fun and share what we love!

Let's chat STAR WARS™ Celebration questions and have a livestream giveaway!

Panels

At times, Funko will host a panel while at a convention. Sometimes it's a live session of a popular FunTV segment; other times, it could be celebrity interviews. If we're hosting a panel, we'll let you know the details in the announcement blog.

Artists' Alley

We love to bring some of our incredibly talented artists to any convention we can. At times, the Artists' Alley at the Funko booth will simply be a queue of requests for custom Pop! stylized artwork, while other times, we'll raffle off the framed custom pieces. Our artists love it when Funatics stop by to chat about art and pop culture, as well as ask questions. Your questions may even end up on an episode of The Artists' Studio on FunTV!

What are Funko Special Events

For conventions like Emerald City Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con, we host additional events. These events are ticketed since they are separate from the conventions but happen during the same time frame.

HQ Meet Ups

Since Emerald City Comic Con is near our Funko Headquarters in Everett, Washington, we usually host an HQ Meet Up event the night before Emerald City Comic Con begins. After store hours, Funatics who have purchased tickets to this HQ Meet-Up event, can play games and enter raffles for random mystery prizes. Prototypes are often given away as mystery prizes at HQ Meet Up events, so it's well worth the trip for a chance to collect an ultra-rare item. Prizes are random and prototypes are never guaranteed. Here are some pictures from the 2021 Festival of Fun Fan Meet Up at Headquarters in Everett, WA.

Fundays

During San Diego Comic-Con, we host Fundays – the ultimate Funko Family celebration! This ticketed event happens the Friday night during SDCC, and is jam packed with stage performance entertainment. Each attendee gets a mystery Box of Fun with exclusive collectibles that have never been available for purchase. There are additional games held and random prizes awarded throughout the Fundays event as well. At its core, Fundays is about celebrating our Funatic community since our fans are the firm foundation of Funko. This is also the event where we announce Funatic Hall of Fame inductees, Lifetime Achievement winners, and more!

There are limited seats available for this catered event, and tickets always sell out fast!

You do not have to be attending San Diego Comic-Con in order to attend Fundays. Each person can only order two (2) tickets: one for themselves and a second for a plus one (+1) guest. Attendees of all ages require tickets. Children with tickets are welcome, though we warn that the event is quite loud, and there are usually lighting effects. Tickets to Fundays cannot be transferred or resold to someone else; attempts will result in cancelled tickets and denied entry. Table assignments are given when entering the event, so it's best to enter with your group if you'd like to be seated with them.

Experience the sights and sounds of Freaky Tiki Fundays in our latest video! Funko Means Family!!

How to Experience the Fun at Home

After the convention is over, we post a recap blog filled with photos, and sometimes a video or two, to share the fun virtually as well. Recap blogs are usually broken up into sections so that you can see the booth, the happenings, and even behind the scenes with ease. We love to highlight some of the outstanding costumes we saw during the convention and thank the celebrity guests that popped in to visit the booth.

Check out the Star Wars Celebration 2022 Recap as a great example.

For questions about specific events, make sure to look through their specific blog posts often for updates. Any questions not covered in the blogs, you can send in to us via social media!