Days ahead of New York Comic Con, Funko has revealed its line-up of exclusive Marvel products.As has become tradition, Funko will be releasing a variety of exclusive products in conjunction with New York Comic Con. These figures represent characters and icons from across media, including movies, video games and animation. As part of its Marvel Comics line, Funko will be releasing a Pop! of Carnage from Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a Pop! of Polaris as she appears in the X-Men comics and two Vinyl Soda figures of Guardians of the Galaxy member Rocket -- both regular and flocked. However, despite New York Comic Con's strict COVID vaccination policy, Funko has opted out of attending in person, meaning these hot-ticket items will not be available at the convention. Instead, fans will be able to order these figures on Friday, Oct. 9Â at 9Â a.m. PST through Funko Virtual Con NYCC 2021.
Funko's decision to sell its NYCC exclusive products online has drawn criticism from many collectors. As the popularity of virtual conventions continues to rise, so too do cases of websites crashing, bots buying up products and scalpers selling rare merchandise for high-profit margins. To combat this, Funko has opted to forgo the lottery system that it has used for in-person conventions in the past, instead utilizing a virtual queue that prioritizes customers on a first-come, first-serve basis. Funko has also stated that it will limit all of the exclusive items to one-per-household, while enhancing its website to accommodate for the expected high traffic.
Coming off of the massive success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage's box office performance, the Carnage Funko Pop! is perfectly timed for both moviegoers and comic fans. While the figure retains the classic elements of a Pop! with an enlarged head and lack of articulation, the character's design literally makes it stand out amongst other Funko products. Carnage is lifted into the air by his tendrils for this figure, making it substantially taller than a standard release.
Joining Carnage for the first time in the Funko Pop! line is the Mistress of Magnetism, Polaris. The oft-mistreated mutant was recently elected by fans to join the X-Men, making this a very topical release. Actor Emma Dumont, who portrayed Polaris on The Gifted, replied to Funko's announcement expressing her interest in picking one up for herself.
Lastly, Rocket joins the ranks of Vinyl Soda, one of Funko's newest lines of collectibles. Each Soda figure is packaged inside of a uniquely designed soda can, which has a 1/6 chance of containing a chase variant. In the case of Rocket, the flocked edition will be the harder-to-find version. It's a shame there was no way to make Rocket's abandoned Loki variant as well. Maybe for next year's New York Comic Con.
Source: Twitter