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What's the thing on the right? A 007 passport?
It's a Designing 007 guide with photos of the expo inside. Really nice.
I may need to get one if they become collectors items.
Me too.
Connery Bond, Moore Bond, Golden Girl, Oddjob, Jaws and Blofeld.
Then there were three special variants of the above - Black Tux Connery Bond, White Tux Moore Bond, Oddjob sans hat.
The tenth figure was Connery in the DB5.
It’s a shame we never got that much touted wave 2 line.
The guys at the James Bond and Friends podcast had the scoop. Funko itself never comments on lost licences, and I'm willing to bet Danjaq does the same.
Transcribed from the episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=393&v=K7tzSUxG9JI
Coming soon:
This one was the first one that Archivo 007 announced long ago:
To be fair, those Pop!s were rumoured as far back as December, found on pre-order lists around that time, again in February, and were found in some computer systems (e.g. Target) in April after being taken off again. The podcast referred to the deal falling through as very recent ("last couple of weeks").
So forgive me for being not very optimistic, @Archivo_007 , but I think those guys are right. These figures are held up more than half a year. There has to be a reason behind all this? As we know, both the CR Craig and Jinx received sketches and were planned for the first wave, but scrapped.
As I also frequent a Funko message board, I can tell you that they are way more disappointed if the deal fell through than most Bond fans on these boards.
I posted a lengthy post on there, speculating why the deal might've come to an end. I'll repost that here, under the spoiler tags.
I'll explain the last point in more detail: Both Jinx (from 2002's Die Another Day) and Daniel Craig from Casino Royale (2006) were planned for the first wave, appearing on pre-order lists, and receiving sketches by Funko artists. At the same time, Big Chief Studios announced their high-end scale model figure line. They admitted that due to licencing constraints, they were not able to make figures based on the Brosnan and Craig eras.
When Funko's first wave was announced, both 'modern era' figures were absent. Those figures were probably cancelled late in the game due to the same request: classic era only, please.
The following is pure speculation, but bear with me: I raised an eyebrow when I saw that the second wave consisted of 'modern era' Bond. Was the ban lifted? Not for Big Chief, who continued to announce classic Bond. Did Funko get a special treatment?
The difference beween the two companies is that Big Chief produces limited quantities in a very high price range, and delivers directly to the customers. They can "get away" easier with making very niche characters. Funko needs to appeal to the masses when making a second wave (I'm not counting their very obscure Star Wars characters). I imagine some stores asked Funko: "No-one is buying these old characters, you're sitting on a goldmine. Can't you produce Daniel Craig Bond? That will sell!" So Funko tried to work out a deal to make characters from the modern era.
And I think that's the deal that fell through. Maybe Danjaq made them cancel the plans last minute again, maybe Funko promised things to the stores they actually could not make at that time.
Whatever happened, both companies seemed to have a fall out, resulting in Danjaq taking the licence away. If both companies are used to dealing with things in a certain way that's opposite to each other, then there's a problem.
but this video is dated April 2019! Why are they still listed or scheduled?
Do you have an idea why "classic era only"? Is not it obvious that the modern era Bond would sell better??
With pleasure! August, has it really been so long?! It has to be!
Regarding why they stick around so long, that's common with Funko (and toys in general), I'm afraid! There are still listings of entire new lines (including one with real-life people) that have been around for ages. Some companies put up pre-orders when the first rumours appear and don't bother with them once it doesn't happen. Others (like Amazon or Target, ToysRUs) wait until Funko announces them proper. A Canadian gaming store had the new Bond ones up for pre-order on their site, but when a customer asked in-store directly, they had no clue at all.
Regarding classic era versus modern era, I've no idea what the business strategy is with Danjaq. They sometimes impose this rule on some companies, while others can do whatever they want.
Factory Entertainment has made both classic era and modern era replicas, with a current emphasis on the modern era. Corgi can do whatever they please, and choose to remake the DB5 every 2 years. Zippo only has designs based on DN and FRWL, plus generic Bond (007 logo, gun barrel). The new Orlebar Brown collection is deliberately classic, but they too are not able to make a replica of Craig's swimming trunks from CR or SF, despite the latter actually being a pair of their shorts originally. Big Chief wanted to make a Craig, to differentiate between the new scale model line and the old Sideshow one. But they were told off by Danjaq directly, and are forced to make figures from DN to LTK. Funko seems to fall in that same category, at least with the first wave.
It seems that everything that has to do with a representation of an actor from 1995 onward (whether in realistic or stylised form, or something they wore) is off limits.
Edit: https://funko.com/blog/article/coming-soon-pop-james-bond
Listed as coming soon, no release date as yet.