As a toy collector, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear “Funko?”
For most, it’s got to be the company’s popular line of Pop! vinyl figures, with thousands of characters from TV, movies, and other media recreated for the loyal fan. While Pop! vinyl figures were formally introduced at New York Toy Festival 2011, did you know that the line actually made its first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2010?
Back then the Pop! Vinyl name did not yet exist. They were called Funko Force 2.0, a follow-up to the original Funko Force, which had characters from such properties as Star Wars, Marvel, and Star Trek.
Source: ActionFigurePics.com
Funko introduced the new 2.0 line with Green Lantern, Batman, and Batgirl from the DC Universe. While still bearing the same oversize heads and small bodies of the first Funko Force – 2.0 figures were smaller and more conceptualized. Green Lantern was outfitted in a green glow-in-the-dark costume, while two Batman figures were offered, one adorned in metallic blue and the other in a normal blue. Batgirl was dressed in metallic black to round out the foursome.
In 2010, these figures were packaged in plastic clamshells, which showed more of the figure, but after Comic-Con they were packaged in the more conventional box used today.
Source: Funko
A year later, Pop! Vinyl was officially introduced. But it was at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2010 when Pop! Vinyl truly started the new line that grew quickly and, 150 licenses later, has become what it is today: the number one line of stylized vinyl collectibles in the world.
The first Funko Force 2.0 wave was going to include:
- Aquaman
- Batgirl (blue, metallic black)
- Batman (blue, black, metallic blue)
- Green Lantern (green, glow-in-the-dark)
- Penguin
- Riddler
- Robin
- Superman
- The Flash
- The Joker
- Wonder Woman
Did we miss anything? Which Funko Force 2.0 figure do you wish you had?
