Funko acquires Mondo Collectibles from Alamo Drafthouse
Thom Yorke said it best, “Big fish eat the little ones,” but that might not always be that bad. In a recent announcement Funko has acquired Mondo, the high-end pop-culture collectibles vendor from Alamo Drafthouse.
Mondo got its start in 2001 under founders Rob Jones and Tim League. What began in a closet in the corner of an Alamo Drafthouse lobby…then out of a closet underneath the seats of a Drafthouse auditorium, eventually opened its own gallery space, and even started its own convention: MondoCon. In an article on ComicsBeat.com they say, “Mondo (originally called Mondo Tees) started as a 4′ x 12′ quasi-bootleg t-shirt shop located in the basement storage hallway of a single-screen movie theater. It became Mondo in 2007 when and began working with major artists and studios to forge beautifully designed licensed products.
Mondo specializes in collectibles including but not limited to limited edition screen printed posters, vinyl movie soundtracks, clothing and apparel, toys, books, games, and more. Mondo’s pop-culture brands compliment Funko’s Vinyl figures and will also pair well with Funko’s Big League licensing agreements it has with Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Netflix, Epic Games, Blizzard Entertainment, the NFL and the NBA.
Of course, Mondo promises no changes will be made on the inside, ““We are still the same company that started in the theater lobby… only now with even more resources to support our vision. We can’t wait to show you what’s next.” An article in Variety states, “Funko intends to run Mondo the way it has managed Loungefly, the apparel and accessories brand it acquired in 2017, according to Perlmutter: ‘Mondo will operate as a unique brand in the portfolio, gradually integrating into common back-end functions where it increases efficiency or makes sense.'”
Again from ComicsBeat.com, “It’s certainly an end of an era of an era and change is always the name of the game. Keep your eyes peeled to see how the new Mondo under Funko. It seems safe to say that this may be the end of the Alamo Drafthouse exclusive commemorative pint glasses. But a man can always dream…”
The above article focuses on collecting and collectibles. Fanboys has a series of blogs titles “Beginners Guide to Collecting,” get started on your own collection with tips and tricks found in our blog series. Find it here.