Update: false rumour! (Was formerly James Bond will NOT return - Funko has lost the licence)

[ShakenNotStirred]

After a single wave, James Bond and Funko have parted ways. For all of us who wanted more from the line (myself included), this might not be a big shock after wave 2 (including Daniel Craig's and Pierce Brosnan's 007) had been stuck on computer inventories for quite a while.

What exactly has happened, remains a mystery. It seems Funko really made EON Productions angry in some way. The James Bond and Friends podcast from the reliable fansite MI6-HQ broke the news.

Listen to it here, from 38 minutes onward.
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ebc3t-b128f9

(Partial) transcription:

- A little scuttlebutt: we've found out that something has come to an end in the James Bond universe, the last few weeks. And that sadly, much to the chagrin of myself and many people who do this podcast [note: this is sarcasm], there's gonna be no more Funko Pops.
...
* So do you think they listen to this podcast and that they thought that "these guys are so influential, that we're just gonna give it up"?
- Without going into too many details, to echo a line from Gregory Beam [character from Quantum of Solace]: "We should just deal with nice people". (laughter) I'll just leave it at that.
* Or as Roger Moore says, "If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, don't say it."
- We will not be seeing any more Funko Pops.

Within the Bond fandom, this is surely going to be met with great pleasure and hilarity. As a member of both the Bond fandom and the Funko fandom, I think it's a real shame.

[Xenomorph]

Well that's unfortunate. When this line came out I decided for myself the only practical way for me to collect these with my current space restrictions was to only collect pops from one movie so I went with Goldeneye because that's my favourite Bond movie/video game.

So it looks like that's never going to happen so I might have to jump on a few of these pops while I still have the chance to get them at a reasonable price.

[NCDS]

That's a bummer, I have been getting them for my mom, she loves the series. Closest I could get to getting her a real Bond

[Oxayotl]

That's too bad. I don't own any of them, but it was a fun license.

[XSRK]

I’m so glad I got my Sean Connery pop. That’s very sad to hear.

[randig]

Darn, well at least we got one wave!

[molodamus]

Very sad news.

[GettingSodas]

Wow I wonder what really happened.

[MacKazoo]

Wow I wonder what really happened.

I wonder if the license holder of James Bond started to charge more money and Funko decided to end their contract. I know Disney does that

[CaseyJones14]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

[GettingSodas]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

[MacKazoo]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

Fandom is weird, wouldn’t fans be happy about new products for their favorite franchise

[nyel24]

That's too bad. Was just talking to a friend the other day about the bond pops. He's a fan of the movies but didn't grab a pop yet so hopefully he can get one before they go away.

[MegaPool]

Well that kinda sux, I was looking forward to the next wave....

[hawkman2]

He was one of my favorite characters.

[rexflexall]

Aw, I wanted more!

[omarwinkie]

first MOTU and now Bond. whos next, Star Wars?

[TheResidentEvil]

When a company holds so many licenses, its easy to lose a few. Funko probably didnt get what they hoped out of the line and it wasn't worth pursuing. I wouldn't read too much into it save for the line is dead.

[MacKazoo]

When a company holds so many licenses, its easy to lose a few. Funko probably didnt get what they hoped out of the line and it wasn't worth pursuing. I wouldn't read too much into it save for the line is dead.

That’s interesting I know Disney & Universal does that with the theme parks as well. It’s why rides get replace

[Jalapenopete]

That's sad news my favorite bond piece was the toy r us exclusive this line was a really cool line

[lavery01]

Things like this happens unfortunately, I really enjoy the James Bond movies and have a couple of pops in our collection. Maybe this is just a little bump in the road and Funko will get the license back, only time will tell.

[GettingSodas]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

Fandom is weird, wouldn’t fans be happy about new products for their favorite franchise

You’d think so

[Universal_ghost]

Now that's motu and 007. Hopefully funko doesn't continue losing these licenses.

[MacKazoo]

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

Fandom is weird, wouldn’t fans be happy about new products for their favorite franchise

You’d think so

I sometimes wish fandom was simple because it’s too complicated

[CaseyJones14]

Now that's motu and 007. Hopefully funko doesn't continue losing these licenses.

Everybody is "losing" the MOTU license because of the new movie. Mattel wants to make everything for the movie and I'm sure companies will get the license back later down the road.

[MacKazoo]

Now that's motu and 007. Hopefully funko doesn't continue losing these licenses.

Everybody is "losing" the MOTU license because of the new movie. Mattel wants to make everything for the movie and I'm sure companies will get the license back later down the road.

So Mattel is having a monopoly on MOTU, that’s what I am seeing

[SpastikGrl]

That makes me wonder how long a licensing period lasts for.

[ryanc_]

I liked the ones that were released, was looking forward to seeing what else they would be able to do in the future

[caliwolv]

Well hopefully one day they get it back! I need Goldeneye 64 8-bit pops! (Yes I know... Nintendo... but I can dream)

[Mario Wario]

Bummer.

Thank goodness I got the ones that came out.

[Lobstercrossing]

Now that's motu and 007. Hopefully funko doesn't continue losing these licenses.

Everybody is "losing" the MOTU license because of the new movie. Mattel wants to make everything for the movie and I'm sure companies will get the license back later down the road.

Sheesh.. so I'm guessing Super7 will be pretty much MOTU-less this year at SDCC?

[ShakenNotStirred]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

I totally agree with that sentiment. From what I've seen, wave 2 would've been an absolute banger too.

To give some context to the jabs shared on that podcast (and the Bond community as a whole): Bond has always been about the high-end products the last decade. Bond is a luxury name as the character lives a luxury life, and has been associated with expensive items.
Examples are golden pens ($1.300 - 1.600), wallets ($500), bags ($1.600 - 2.000), very expensive replicas or t-shirts costing around $26. Then they announce a high-end range of figurines ($280 - 300). A lot of disgruntled fans, including myself, were asking for something more affordable. Then Funko announces their first wave of Pop!s. As I already was a Funko collector, this was right up my alley.
But a lot of Bond fans were mad at the Bond brand 'selling out' or 'not having the high standards they once had'. They felt that vinyl figures were beneath them, and yearned for times when they could discuss the expensive watches Bond wears.

As an aside, the Pop!s are still available through the official Bond Store. So this decision seems very recent.

TL;DR: A lot of Bond fans are snobs. Not me.

[CaseyJones14]

Sheesh.. so I'm guessing Super7 will be pretty much MOTU-less this year at SDCC?

They'd be an exception I'd guess. Their Snake Mountain is so badass!

[jarroyo2491]

Darn. At least I have a few still in my collection.

[hailmary25]

I am also a little confused are they insinuating that the team from Funko is at fault and that they were not good people about it?

[Mos_Eisley]

Too bad if true, the second wave looked great.

[GettingSodas]

Sounds like there are quite a few babies in the Bond fandom. It always amuses me when fans of a certain show/movie get upset about a company making products for them.

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

I totally agree with that sentiment. From what I've seen, wave 2 would've been an absolute banger too.

To give some context to the jabs shared on that podcast (and the Bond community as a whole): Bond has always been about the high-end products the last decade. Bond is a luxury name as the character lives a luxury life, and has been associated with expensive items.
Examples are golden pens ($1.300 - 1.600), wallets ($500), bags ($1.600 - 2.000), very expensive replicas or t-shirts costing around $26. Then they announce a high-end range of figurines ($280 - 300). A lot of disgruntled fans, including myself, were asking for something more affordable. Then Funko announces their first wave of Pop!s. As I already was a Funko collector, this was right up my alley.
But a lot of Bond fans were mad at the Bond brand 'selling out' or 'not having the high standards they once had'. They felt that vinyl figures were beneath them, and yearned for times when they could discuss the expensive watches Bond wears.

As an aside, the Pop!s are still available through the official Bond Store. So this decision seems very recent.

TL;DR: A lot of Bond fans are snobs. Not me.

All I can say is... wow. If that’s the truth... wow.

[MacKazoo]

Yeah I really don’t understand that. It’s not like Funko butchered it either. They came out great.

I totally agree with that sentiment. From what I've seen, wave 2 would've been an absolute banger too.

To give some context to the jabs shared on that podcast (and the Bond community as a whole): Bond has always been about the high-end products the last decade. Bond is a luxury name as the character lives a luxury life, and has been associated with expensive items.
Examples are golden pens ($1.300 - 1.600), wallets ($500), bags ($1.600 - 2.000), very expensive replicas or t-shirts costing around $26. Then they announce a high-end range of figurines ($280 - 300). A lot of disgruntled fans, including myself, were asking for something more affordable. Then Funko announces their first wave of Pop!s. As I already was a Funko collector, this was right up my alley.
But a lot of Bond fans were mad at the Bond brand 'selling out' or 'not having the high standards they once had'. They felt that vinyl figures were beneath them, and yearned for times when they could discuss the expensive watches Bond wears.

As an aside, the Pop!s are still available through the official Bond Store. So this decision seems very recent.

TL;DR: A lot of Bond fans are snobs. Not me.

All I can say is... wow. If that’s the truth... wow.

Snobs are the worst, I would happy for merchandise of any degree.

[leosalion]

Very unfortunate to hear this

[Lobstercrossing]

Sheesh.. so I'm guessing Super7 will be pretty much MOTU-less this year at SDCC?

They'd be an exception I'd guess. Their Snake Mountain is so badass!

Seriously.. and freaking massive! Although I haven't seen it in person yet, only pics. Didn't make it to the lair last year :( Did you pre-order it?!? #MuchoDinero