One of the things I realized during the quarantine was that I was a little too into my collection of Funko Pop! vinyl figures. In covering the Pop! side of life for this site, I’ve kept my eyes on new releases; at any time you can find four-to-five Pop! figures already pre-ordered, waiting for their time to be sent to my porch. Without a real place to display my collection (yet), and a weird thing about not taking the figures out of their boxes, I end up with a few spaces in my home dedicated to boxes of amazing Pop! figures. Don’t mind my obsession; you probably have a cluster like this in your home, or as Funko CEO Brian Mariotti tells Complex, on your desk at work.
“Some people really get behind decorating their desks” with their favorite Funko Pops, Mariotti says. “You go in and look at their desk, and you know exactly what they love.” (Mine change with the season. Like, during October, all of my horror Pops are out. Don’t mind my obsession.)
Mariotti spoke with Complex ahead of the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which airs on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 25) at 9 AM on NBC. The parade will see the debut of Funko’s collaborative ballon with LucasFilm, depicting the Pop!-inspired Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, the tiny star of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. It depicts the perfect Grogu moment, one that has been meme’d up and loved to death. AKA the perfect way for Funko to make a splash during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
During their conversation, Mariotti gets into working with Macy’s and LucasFilm on this project, being able to see the 41-foot high, 29-foot long, 37-foot wide balloon during a recent test flight, and his own pop collecting habits, including if his figures remain boxed or not. Be sure to grab the Mandalorian-inspired Funko line and tune in to Grogu’s debut on Thanksgiving Day.