“There's no better way to celebrate what you like collecting…” — Funko Pop! Yourself Director, Bianca Calingo Brooks On The SDCC 2024 DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Activation
Image: Fashion and Fandom
Funko had another massive presence at San Diego Comic-Con this year, treating fans visiting the Funkoville International Airport inside the Convention Center to multiple experiences across its family of brands including Loungefly, Mondo, and Funko Fusion. One of the longest lines in the booth all weekend was the Funko Pop! Yourself experience, where Funko officially kicked off it’s first ever cosplay collaboration with Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine.
It’s one of the biggest Marvel movies in years, setting box-office records since it’s release in theaters July 26th. Fashion and Fandom was invited to visit the Funko booth during the show to check out the Pop! Yourself experience and talk with Bianca Calingo Brooks, Director of the Pop! Yourself program. We chatted about how fans have responded to the program since it launched last year, what they can expect in the months ahead, and more!
Images: Bianca Calingo Brooks (Fashion and Fandom) / Funko
Fashion and Fandom: I was here last year during the soft launch of the Pop! Yourself experience. How have fans responded to program since it made it’s debut?
Calingo Brooks: I think fans have been loving being able to turn themselves and their loved ones into a pop character. I mean, they have been collecting fandom Pop!s for a very long time, and there's no better way to celebrate what you like collecting than turning yourself into custom figure. There’s lots of fun everyday celebrations to commemorate with a Pop!, and now you can cosplay with a Pop! too.
Fashion and Fandom: Over the past year the Pop! Yourself experience has branched out with different themed accessories like weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day — and now cosplay. Can you talk a little bit about the through process behind branching out into cosplay accessories and outfits?
Calingo Brooks: Sure. Obviously, we knew Deadpool & Wolverine was going to be a huge movie this year, and the stars aligned perfectly with it coming out the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con where people love to cosplay. So we knew that bringing Pop! Yourself to San Diego Comic-Con was going to be a great way to celebrate this weekend. We are constantly listening to our fans and reading comments about what they want to see with Pop! Yourself and trying to figure out ways to bring them to life with our program.
Fashion and Fandom: The booth is absolutely incredible this year! So much fun to look a with all the Deadpool & Wolverine doodles photo-ops. What other themed Pop!s, accessories, and new buddies can fans expect in the next few months?
Calingo Brooks: We recently did Mother's Day, Father's Day and graduation. Something that we did really well for us last year was Halloween and Holiday. So we're going to have some refresh looks for those events coming up, which will be really fun and fantastic.
. Images: Fashion and Fandom
Fashion and Fandom: I noticed some anime-inspired accessory options on the Pop! Yourself experience site recently. Is Funko thinking about doing more cosplay and specialty-themed Pop!s for different fan conventions moving forward?
Calingo Brooks: I think that's definitely a possibility. We want to integrate Pop! Yourself with the things that are taking place in pop culture. We want to be part of the social conversation. One of our recent collabs was with Dunkin’ Donuts on Dunkings. We saw that fans were really loving that commercial, and we thought there was no better way to celebrate that than by bringing Dunkings to Pop! Yourself. So fans can have themselves holding an iced coffee or something which has been really fun. So we are driven by our fans and their feedback.
Fashion and Fandom: If someone is really passionate about a certain IP, or a fandom or commercial that they’d like to see Pop! Yourself opportunities for in the future what’s the best way to reach out and engage with the brand?
Calingo Brooks: On funko.com.There's an area where you can put in your ideas and submit them. I'm the one who's on the receiving end of them. So there's no comment that I haven't seen. And, you know, even internally at Funko, all of our all of our employees are huge fans so they're constantly giving us ideas of what to do next.
Fashion and Fandom: The booth is absolutely incredible this year! So much fun to look a with all the Deadpool & Wolverine doodles photo-ops. What other themed Pop!s, accessories, and new buddies can fans expect in the next few months?
Calingo: We recently did Mother's Day, Father's Day and graduation. Something that we did really well for us last year was Halloween and Holiday. So we're going to have some refresh looks for those events coming up, which will be really fun and fantastic.
Fashion and Fandom: I noticed some anime-inspired accessory options on the Pop! Yourself experience site recently. Is Funko thinking about doing more cosplay and specialty-themed Pop!s for different fan conventions moving forward?
Calingo Brooks: I think that's definitely a possibility. We want to integrate Pop! Yourself with the things that are taking place in pop culture. We want to be part of the social conversation. One of our recent collabs was with Dunkin’ Donuts on Dunkings. We saw that fans were really loving that commercial, and we thought there was no better way to celebrate that than by bringing Dunkings to Pop! Yourself. So fans can have themselves holding an iced coffee or something which has been really fun. So we are driven by our fans and their feedback.
Fashion and Fandom: If someone is really passionate about a certain IP, or a fandom or commercial that they’d like to see Pop! Yourself opportunities for in the future what’s the best way to reach out and engage with the brand?
Calingo Brooks: On funko.com.There's an area where you can put in your ideas and submit them. I'm the one who's on the receiving end of them. So there's no comment that I haven't seen. And, you know, even internally at Funko, all of our all of our employees are huge fans so they're constantly giving us ideas of what to do next.
Funko’s Pop! Yourself launched last year in Funko’s flagship stores, at an invite only soft launch at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, and finally opened wide online. If you haven’t already created your own custom Pop! the process is pretty simple — you pick a body type then choose from a variety of skin tones, hair styles, colors, facial features (like facial hair and glasses), before selecting your outfits and accessories. The end result is pretty sweet whether it’s for yourself or as a gift to commemorate a special occasion.
Image: Fashion and Fandom
The Pop! Yourself experience at SDCC gave collectors a few exclusive “show only” options like special packaging, a lanyard, and a TVA TemPad. But there’s still plenty of great accessories to choose from if you weren’t at the show, whether you want to be Deadpool, Wolverine, or you want to make a two-pack and cosplay as both. Everyone gets a bonus Dogpool buddy for their creation too! Prices for the custom Pop!’s are $20 each (which Funko waived for press covering the booth experience). You can also add on a premium plastic protector for an additional fee.
Images: Fashion and Fandom
One of the questions I always get asked when I tell people I cover pop culture conventions is whether or not I cosplay. The answer is a resounding, NO!” But I have to say, getting to create my own custom Pop!s in cosplay was a lot of fun, and now you can create your own Deadpool or Wolverine figure online now too while supplies last!
Images: Fashion and Fandom
A big THANK YOU to the Funko Team for inviting Fashion and Fandom to the Deadpool & Wolverine Pop! Yourself Experience! To create your own custom Deadpool & Wolverine Pop! head over to the Pop! Yourself experience online here. Deadpool & Wolverine is playing in theaters world-wide now.
Marena Bronson is an award-winning journalist, a life-long nerd, and the Editor-in-Chief of Fashion and Fandom. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
