From the Editor: The Play Date, The Owlbear, and The Great Silicon Valley Swindle
WowWee’s Sydney Wiseman shows off the relaunched Fingerlings at The Play Date, March 8, 2023

I think it’s fair to say that it’s been a busy year already.

As the toy industry heads toward the end of the first quarter, much work has been taking place behind the scenes to reset and refocus. With earnings season officially in our rearview mirror for now, the industry can work toward a better future while taking the learnings of a terrible fourth quarter into account.

While inventory levels are still a concern for some manufacturers and retailers, 2023 has something going for it that last year didn’t: a stronger lineup of new toys and games (and some returning favorites), many of which come with better price tags.

Last week, Adventure Media & Events (publisher of The Toy Book) teamed up with The Toy Association to host The Play Date, an exclusive media event in New York City. There, a solid mix of established companies and emerging players unveiled new toys and games that sparked an immediate buzz. The enthusiasm and energy could be felt throughout the venue, and attendees have taken those good vibes with them. Newness powers the industry, but in times of economic uncertainty, seeing a repositioning to get product costs back down to affordable levels is something that we all love to see.

Slumberkins were at The Play Date last week. It’s pretty appropriate that they have a book called Weathering the Storm.

The Great Silicon Valley Swindle

In case you missed it, the banking industry had quite an adventure in the past few days, and the toy industry was not immune to the fallout.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) held assets worth approximately $209 billion and faced a “bank run” last week following news that it was selling securities. Faced with a plunging stock price and mass withdrawals, the bank was seized by Federal regulators on Friday and has reopened today under Fed control.

Experiential retailer CAMP was the first toy industry player to send up the emergency flares as it scrambled to generate cash flow due to having most of its assets tied up in the bank. Metaverse giant Roblox said in an SEC filing that 5% of its $3 billion in cash and securities was held at SVB but it saw no effect on its business. But then Slumberkins revealed that its assets were also in SVB and a community rallied behind it.

The good news: Federal regulators are backing SVB customers and are making sure that everyone is made whole.

Buckeye distribution center model | Source: Funko

“Funko Pops! are headed to a landfill?” Not So Fast:

One of the most annoying habits in the media is the tendency to take something out of context and run with it. And that’s just what happened following Funko’s Q4 and full-year 2022 earnings report back on March 1.

Turns out that the truth doesn’t make for as juicy of a headline, but as we reported at The Toy Book following Funko’s earnings call, millions in unsold product will be destroyed, but that does not mean it’s “headed for a landfill” as some outlets have reported.

While it’s true that Funko expects to take a write-down of $30-36 million as it disposes of (destroys) unsold inventory, Steve Nave, the newly minted Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer specifically stated on the earnings call that the product is being recycled by “a very green third party” that is located near the company’s Arizona warehouse.

“Yes, we are destroying this product, but we’re doing it through a very green third-party firm that’s going to recycle everything, to the extent it can be recycled. So I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that we’re trying to do this the most responsible way we possibly can.”

Funko’s Steve Nave on the destruction of $30-36 million in product, March 1, 2023

Toy Book readers may recall that this is not the first time that this has happened. As we reported on Feb. 5, 2020, Funko took a one-time, $16.8 million charge to write down the disposal of “slower-moving inventory to increase operational capacity.” At the time, it was rumored that much of the unsold product was tied up in subscription boxes for Star Wars, Marvel, and DC Comics and that those boxes would have to be stripped and sorted to be recycled.

At the time, an anonymous Toy Book source provided a video of some product destruction that was said to have taken place in the fall of 2019 at an undisclosed location. See it below.


To those outside the business, this may seem like a shock, but this is, unfortunately, a standard practice when it comes to licensed goods. While calls to “donate the unsold products” come from a good place, it’s just not that simple.

Due to licensing agreements, unsold products must be destroyed (recycled) and a certificate of destruction must be provided to the licensor. Unfortunately, all of the Funko product was licensed.

The Toy Book's 2023 edition of "The BIG Toy Book"
The Toy Book’s 2023 edition of “The BIG Toy Book”

The Owlbear Rises

In case you missed it, we unleashed the 2023 edition of The BIG Toy Book at the end of February. Behind Moose Toys’ advertorial cover lives an epic, editorial cover featuring the global debut of Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons Golden Archive Collection Deluxe Owlbear action figure. If you’re not familiar with an Owlbear, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves star Chris Pine calls it “The mashup that somehow pairs all of the terror with none of the cute from owls and bears.”

Stay on the #pulseofplay and be sure to check out the new issue if you haven’t already, and be sure to click here to learn about how you can get involved with our next issue, The Classics & Specialty Issue, available in May.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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