Funko To Release New Blockbuster Rewind Figure Line

Funko has announced its latest upcoming product offering: the Blockbuster Rewind series.

This unique line is inspired by the nostalgic charm of video store culture, specifically the iconic blue and yellow branding of Blockbuster. This announcement comes via a feature article on Fast Company, which can be found here (it's worth a read).

Inspired by the recent resurgence of vinyl records, tapes and analog media, Funko's CRO, Brian Mariotti, spoke of their goal to capture the vintage video store experience. They couldn't get away from Blockbuster, design wise, where Mariotti got to the point of saying "Let’s just go get Blockbuster".

That's exactly what they did, acquiring the IP from Dish Network, granting use of that glorious blue and yellow branding.

It definitely pulls my nostalgia strings considering my first job was delivering newspapers for a hybrid convenience/video rental store. Growing up in Scotland, I was paid £20, a bag of sweets and two free video or game rentals a week!

Weekends spent watching rented films, games, and the pick-n-mix style snacks that went along with them, hit differently than a film picked on the many streaming giants today. Time invested in those rental aisles made our weekend picks feel more cherished, something that the glut of on-demand media seems to have taken from us.

The new Funko product attempts to capture that magic with a VHS style box. This new packaging form factor is the star of the show in our opinion. It's exciting to see how Funko deliver on the mind-bending artistic opportunities for this new packaging format. Classic horror, anyone?

The clamshell opens to reveal a newly designed Funko Figure, similiar to a Funko Soda, but a with a more proportioned body and less whacky appearance.

Funko chase hunters will also be happy, as one in every six figures is set to be a chase variant.

In commemoration of Funko's 25th anniversary, the company will preview the first two figures from the Blockbuster Rewind series during a travelling marketing exhibition in July. The official launch of the first wave of figures will occur at San Diego Comic-Con on July 19th, before they become available in stores in the autumn.

Funko has remained tight-lipped regarding the identities of the first batch of characters but mentions that licensing partners include Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. Additionally, the Rewind line is planning to release six to eight new figures each month after the initial wave.

This methodical approach is intended to foster a unique fanbase for the new series, as Mariotti explains, "When we’re curating a certain fan base with a new format, we always want to go really slow". This could be loosely translated  to 'we don't want to be left with any more unsold stock'!

We are optimistic that the Blockbuster Rewind series will succeed, provided they knock it out of the park creatively with the upcoming licensed releases. We can only hope that they don't follow in the same footsteps towards irrelevance as the freshly procured Blockbuster IP leading this new venture.

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