In Memory Of William “Wild Bill” Ziegler

[Glowman_Greco]

Greetings From Greece
I’m Anastasis a.k.a Glowman_Greco
ADMIN Of Funko Funatics Greece

Spoiler: show

https://www.facebook.com/share/vsRbTFSnAyxt1kHt/?mibextid=K35XfP

Inspired By Ron’s Post (glowfunkofreak)
“UFO '14 - Unnamed Funatic Outing FCBD May 3rd“

Spoiler: show

https://funkofunatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=47165

That Scotty Forwarded To Me In A Conversation We Had
I Decided To Make A Whole Post,After Research
In Memory Of Wild Bill
For New Funatics To “Get To Know” Him
& For Old Funatics To “Remember” Him

William “Wild Bill” Ziegler, A Pop Culture Icon In The City, Whose Nostalgia Shop On Newfield Street Brought Joy To People Across The Country Died 70 Years Old At His Home In 2017.
Ziegler’s Wild Bill Nostalgia Shop Featured An Encyclopedic Collection Of Show-Print Posters,Vinyl Records,Toys,Collectibles, Books, Antiques,Gag Props,Incense,Vintage Clothing,Cartoon And Carnival Characters And Wacky Wobblers
Wild Bill Was A Self-Proclaimed “Conservative Hippie” Who Worked In Air Force Intelligence During The Vietnam War. He Opened His Store on Main Street in Middletown 39 Years Ago And Relocated To Newfield Street in 1996. In its March Issue, Connecticut Magazine Named Wild Bill’s One Of Connecticut’s 30 Hidden Gems.

(Source: Just Another Funko Observer)

A Note From Mike Becker About Wild Bill

Mike Wanted To Pass Along A Note About Wild Bill
Mike Becker here, Funko Founder And Big Fan Of Wild Bill.
Just Heard The News Of Bill’s Passing This Morning.
Just Wanted To Share A Story With All The People Who Are Feeling His Loss.
Sometime In Late 1998 I Was On One Of My First Trips To LA To Find new licenses for a product line called Funko Wacky Wobblers. Wild Bill had somehow found my number and said he would be in LA around the same time. We agreed to meet at a restaurant close to my hotel. At first sight I thought, “ Wow! Is this Jerry Garcia’s brother?!” He was quite the character and I soon realized he really knew his stuff. Especially when it came to pop culture and collectables. He seemed really interested in my little company that had yet to really produce anything other than a few initial characters. At that time it was just me in a small garage in Snohomish Washington with sales totaling just about enough to pay my current mortgage that month. Scared I could lose what little I did have, I explained "I’m not really exactly sure what I’m doing here."

But he assured me this was going to be a big success and soon. “I can just feel it!” he said. “I’m glad one of us thinks so”, I thought. He went on to place an order for the few characters I did have and told me I had a standing order to ship him any new characters for as long as I make them. He also said he had several friends who would also be interested in carrying Funko Wacky Wobblers. He also assured me that starting a Funko Fan Club would be a great idea. This gave me a real confidence boost at a time when I was more than uncertain about this new venture. Just a few months later he called and wanted to create an original Wacky Wobbler of himself! Even showing up at one of the first Fundays events as his own Wacky Wobbler. At one point I even remember he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world’s largest wobbler!

As Everyone Who Ever Met Him Knows,He Was A True Character In The Best Sense Of The Word. And For Me He Was A True Friend Who Was Always There To Support Me And Funko In Any Way He Could. Thank You, Bill You Were There From The Start!

This Picture Of Bill Is From Vegas in 2003

Taken While They Waited On The Fundays Line To Get In. Where Most Of Them Met For The First Time As Funatics.

I Hope You Enjoyed The Wild Billy’s Time Capsule Post
Feel Free To Share Your Bill’s Wacky Wobblers & Your Stories Times With Him.

R.I.P Wild Bill

[SpaceDude]

Thank you for making this post brother, more people need to know about Bill and what an awesome guy he was!! Here is some of my Wild Bill related pieces in the collection! Rest Easy Bill.

[Glowman_Greco]

Thank you for making this post brother, more people need to know about Bill and what an awesome guy he was!! Here is some of my Wild Bill related pieces in the collection! Rest Easy Bill.

Tate,Thank you for sharing these awesome Wild Bill’s Wacky Wobblers & Posters
I think that exist some crystals also
I am courious if someone have the whole set to share it

[SpaceDude]

[
Tate,Thank you for sharing these awesome Wild Bill’s Wacky Wobblers & Posters
I think that exist some crystals also
I am courious if someone have the whole set to share it

Of course pal!! Thank you!! I have every Wild Bill crystal but one, I can share a picture if you would like.

[willy wonka]

Loved to visit this place when it was around. Usually would go down after NYCC. His Family was really nice and had lots of knowledge about Funko. Spent many hours listening to them tell us stories from back in the day.

[Glowman_Greco]

Loved to visit this place when it was around. Usually would go down after NYCC. His Family was really nice and had lots of knowledge about Funko. Spent many hours listening to them tell us stories from back in the day.

Joe,thank you for sharing your experience with William.
It’s obvious he was a really lovely funatic.
I wish I had met him.

[mikechickenhead]

Great post!

[Scotty]

.
I've posted these before, but for those who haven't seen them...

When we were there for the UFO in 2014, on the day I left, I spent some time with Bill talking about Funko and his business. He took me upstairs to his storage area and showed my the cases and cases of Funko he was squirreling away--mostly Wobblers, but he had a lot of PoP too. He had a LOT of stock he was holding on to for when the prices of the Wobblers went up. Back then, you could get Wobblers at a pretty good price on the secondary market. Bill felt that at some point, when Funko got really big (which he predicted), that the old-school Wobbler prices would also go up and he'd be the only retailer with new, old stock. The man knew his business. The 2nd picture is about a tenth of what he had up there.





A lot of people forget that these were also Wild Bill exclusives. Actually, it was a shared exclusive. Bill had them in North America and Elm Street had them in Europe. Brian said there were only 50 sets made and it's thought that each shop had 25 sets.

[Glowman_Greco]

.
I've posted these before, but for those who haven't seen them...

When we were there for the UFO in 2014, on the day I left, I spent some time with Bill talking about Funko and his business. He took me upstairs to his storage area and showed my the cases and cases of Funko he was squirreling away--mostly Wobblers, but he had a lot of PoP too. He had a LOT of stock he was holding on to for when the prices of the Wobblers went up. Back then, you could get Wobblers at a pretty good price on the secondary market. Bill felt that at some point, when Funko got really big (which he predicted), that the old-school Wobbler prices would also go up and he'd be the only retailer with new, old stock. The man knew his business. The 2nd picture is about a tenth of what he had up there.





A lot of people forget that these were also Wild Bill exclusives. Actually, it was a shared exclusive. Bill had them in North America and Elm Street had them in Europe. Brian said there were only 50 sets made and it's thought that each shop had 25 sets.

Thank you Scotty,I am always enjoying your stories.
I didn’t know that these cereal crystals were Wild Bill’s Exclusives.
I know the Elm Steet Store (I grabbed the GITD exclusive Casper from there)
Nowadays the most collectors are more into Pop Culture but I feel the need to help in not forgetting the Wobbler Culture.
Without the wacky wobblers would be no pops today.
You are my mentor