Having worked at Funko for years, I saw the company go from a scrappy underdog trying to convince the collectibles and toy world of its merit, to a global powerhouse. There was magic in the early days: passion fueled the product, and the quality of the figures was constantly growing leaps and bounds. Even though the team worked hard, we played and were allowed to grow. Crunch time was due to a new hot license or opportunity that we just couldn’t pass up, and it was always exciting even though we were on the grind. Integrity of the product and respect to the fans and licenses was key. Communication issues, management and career ambiguity, and even the development process have always been an issue, but the work and the people outweighed the quirks and flaws. Once Funko went public, things started to shift. No more risks were taken on small, niche licenses that wouldn’t make huge profits - passion projects that made the daily grind exciting. After COVID and layoffs, morale took a nosedive. Artists are underpaid and underappreciated with no clear career growth direction or opportunities, relationships between other departments were tense and sometimes combative, and trust that things would improve at all diminished since “the company is doing so well and is so successful”. I do not see a positive future for the creatives at Funko. Since layoffs, artists are scared to speak up for themselves or risk losing their jobs or denied pay or career growth due to being “difficult” or being considered “ungrateful” or “not passionate enough”. There is a deep culture of fear that is unfortunately not unfounded. Opportunities and projects are being sent overseas where workers can be paid less to make more, and HQ artists are told to reduce quality to meet breakneck quotas for company profit margins. It’s demoralizing and discouraging - what used to be an exciting environment for artist growth now feels like a factory floor assembly line. Crunch is frequent, and unlike the film or games industry, there will always be more product to make. There is no end. While I used to wholeheartedly recommend Funko to fellow artists, I can no longer do so.
