The Evolution of Funko Pop! Vinyls: A Marvel Rivals Retrospective

In a tale that is practically as old as time in internet standards at this point, there is a sense of inevitability that any big new thing—movie, TV show, game, or otherwise—is in want of its own little plastic army of big-headed, occasionally bobble-headed Funko Pop! Vinyls. Marvel Rivals, and its roster of hero designs that have taken Marvel fans by storm, is no exception, so on the one hand, there’s no surprise that some of the first collectibles out of the gate are going to be from Funko. On the other, they’re still perhaps not what everyone clamoring for more of these designs really wanted when they said that.

Funko’s Marvel Rivals Lineup: A Mixed Bag

Today Funko announced that it would be kicking off a line of Rivals Funkos with a quartet of character designs from the hero shooter—a motley mix of two playable characters in the form of Iron Man and Magneto, and two NPCs. This marks the beginning of a long line of Rivals collectibles, from Funko or otherwise. While some fans may be excited to get their hands on these new figures, others may be disappointed by the limited selection.

A Call for More Faithful Figures

I’d kill for Hasbro to do a subseries for Marvel Legends that gives us more faithful, posable takes on Rivals‘ roster, or hell, Lego may face the same minimalization issues Funko does, but little sets in the Marvel Superheroes line built around a bunch of minifigures and the payload vehicles you fight over in-game could be great! Hell, maybe we could get some international companies like Goodsmile or Kaiyodo to do some buck wild, super-stylized figures to boot.

The First Wave of Marvel Rivals Funkos

For now though, all we’ve got are the Pops—Iron Man, Magneto, Doom, and Galacta are all set to start hitting shelves soon. While these figures may not be the most faithful representations of the characters, they are still a step in the right direction. As the Marvel Rivals line continues to grow, fans can only hope that Funko will listen to their feedback and create more accurate and detailed figures.

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