Current:Home > InvestFunko pops the premium bubble with limited edition Project Fred toys -StockSource
Funko pops the premium bubble with limited edition Project Fred toys
View
Date:2025-04-14 17:49:30
Funko is going into the premium collectible line, with figures costing many times the price of its current toys. The first subject of its higher-priced products: the iconic Bob's Big Boy statue.
The toy company and Big Boy restaurants, founded in 1936 in Glendale, Calif., have shared history. Funko founder Mike Becker's first foray into toy figures was the creation of a Wacky Wobbler figure of the Bob's Big Boy character. That first licensed character released by Funko got its name because the head wobbled.
Now, Funko plans to release an updated Bob's Big Boy-themed figure to kick off its new Project Fred premium collectible line. These figures of Funko's standard-bearer Freddy in the Bob's Big Boy outfit ($295 each), will be larger than typical Funko Pop figures – at 11 inches tall. And they will be more exclusive with only 750 being made.
Typical Funko Pop figures are 4-5 inches tall and cost $12 to $30; larger figures and combo packages cost more.
“As we look beyond our 25th anniversary, we’re taking it back to where it all began with our first Wacky Wobbler by bringing Bob’s Big Boy and Funko together again for Project Fred,” said Becker, who's also Funko's senior vice president for creative and entertainment.
Shoots and scores?:Case of hockey cards, which may contain Wayne Gretzky rookie cards, sells for $3.7m
Here's how to get the new limited edition Funko Bob's Big Boy figure
The figures will go on sale March 7 on the Funko website. Each $295 figure is encased in premium matte packaging and comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity.
Adding to the collectability factor, 75 of the 750 figures will have Freddy in a different Bob's Big Boy outfit.
To commemorate the project, Funko and Bob’s Big Boy held an event Tuesday at the historical Bob’s Big Boy location in Burbank, Calif. – built in 1949, it's the oldest operating Bob's Big Boy restaurant.
Becker got the idea for Funko by looking at the Bob's Big Boy statue. "I remember thinking, 'There's gotta be a thousand other knuckleheads just like me out there,'" Becker told Yahoo Entertainment in 2023.
Since then, the company has sold more than 1 billion pop culture products.
In August 2023, it launched its direct-to-consumer Pop! Yourself figures, which let you create customized figures. That initiative and products focusing on pop culture moments – limited edition figures wearing Ben Affleck's DunKings track suit and the shirtless celebrating Jason Kelce – are part of the company's rebound strategy after cutting about 12% of its workforce in July and streamlining its product lines.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Here's how much income it takes to be considered rich in your state
- UFL schedule for Week 5 games: San Antonio Brahmas vs. Arlington Renegades in Texas showdown
- Zillow to parents after 'Bluey' episode 'The Sign': Moving 'might just be a good thing'
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Jelly Roll has 'never felt better' amid months-long break from social media 'toxicity'
- Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris Make Red Carpet Debut at 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner
- One climber dead, another seriously injured after falling 1,000 feet on Alaska mountain
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Zillow to parents after 'Bluey' episode 'The Sign': Moving 'might just be a good thing'
Ranking
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Family Photos With Son Rocky
- Now that's cool: Buy a new book, get a used one for free at Ferguson Books in North Dakota
- Truth, Reckoning and Right Relationship: A Rights of Nature Epiphany
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Another McCaffrey makes the NFL: Washington Commanders select WR Luke McCaffrey
- See inside Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow's former New York townhouse that just went on sale
- Here's how much income it takes to be considered rich in your state
Recommendation
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
1 climber dead, another seriously hurt after 1,000-foot fall on Alaska peak
Horoscopes Today, April 26, 2024
Too Hot to Handle’s Harry Jowsey Shares Skin Cancer Diagnosis
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Clean up begins after tornadoes hammer parts of Iowa and Nebraska; further storms expected Saturday
Emergency exit slide falls off Delta flight. What the airline says happened after takeoff in NYC
Detroit Lions going from bandwagon to villains? As long as it works ...