Funko Pop - Dragon Ball

The Dragon Ball franchise has made a huge earning off merchandise, including (but not limited to) action figures, official cosplay pieces and costumes of the series’ most notable characters, Goku and Dragon Ball toys, the series’ collectable card game, and hundreds of hoodies, t-shirts, and other clothing items, all with their own unique designs featuring stunning art of the series’ protagonists and antagonists, such as Son Goku, Son Gohan, Vegeta, or Son Goten. The anime meta-series and its video games, movies, shorts, and original video animations are iconic and easily recognisable in the massive universe of anime fanbases.

The original anime series was based off the manga created in 1984 by Akira Toriyama, but it took several attempts at release until the series became hugely popular in the United States public audience in 2001, when it was released on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block in cooperation with Toei Animation, dubbed in English. Before this, the original Japanese series aired in Japan from 1986 to 1996. The manga was split into two anime series: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

The studio has since developed twenty animated feature films, three television specials, and two more anime series sequels; Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super. From 2009 to 2015, a revised version of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Kai aired, which was meant to follow the original manga’s storylines more closely. Numerous video games have also been created and released, such as Dragon Ball FighterZ, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. These video games have been released on PS4, mobile, and Switch.

What is a Funko Pop?

Funko Inc., an American company founded in 1998 by Mike Becker, is best known for its manufacturing of pop culture collectibles, specifically licensed bobbleheads and vinyl figurines. The bobbleheads feature an easily recognisable stylistic design, with large block heads, shorter limbs, simplified facial features, and a smooth matte plastic material. The eyes are large circles in one color, usually black, with small noses and no mouths, giving them a very distinct, cute, but slightly unsettling look. Within the Funko Pop bobblehead and figurine categories, there are mystery minis, pop keychains, and pop tees.

Even the packaging for their products is detailed and colorful, matching the characters they hold and featuring the iconic Funko Pop logo, with at least one wall of the box package made out of a sturdy clear plastic, so that one can look inside at the figurine without taking it out of the packaging. The figurines come either individually, or in pairs.

In addition to their popular figurines and bobbleheads, the company also produces and sells plushies, action figures, and electronic items such as USB drives, headphones, and light fixtures.

The company also collaborates with other exclusive pop culture companies and brands, such as the Emerald City, San Diego, and New York Comic Cons, Hot Topic, Gamestop, Funimation and Fye, among others.

With the growing popularity of books, anime, cartoons, movies, manga, comics, and adaptations in modern pop culture, Funko Pops have become hugely more in demand, with many more figures released in recent years. Their collection has grown to even include real life celebrities, artists, and characters from live action films, such as Harry Potter, The Avengers, and Star Wars. Many fans of such genres collect Funko Pop figurines, action figures, and other merchandise, oftentimes keeping it inside the original packaging to preserve its retail worth on the market.

The Funko Pop website features videos, podcasts, and a blog to keep up to date on their latest releases, as well as two apps which can be downloaded on a mobile phone; Funko App and PopYourself.

Funko Pop Dragon Ball Characters

Though the Dragon Ball series is by no means a recent anime, it has garnered an even larger fanbase in recent years with the release of the series Dragon Ball Kai in 2015, as well as its many video games. In fact, it has become one of the most well-known, exemplary animes in history, and certainly one of the most successful manga series to date. As the fanbase for the series grows, more items have been designed and released on Funko Pop; specifically protagonists (and antagonists) of the series in different outfits and designs.

On the Funko Pop blog, new character designs are frequently released to be coming soon, the latest being in September, 2019, with an exclusive design of Vegeta.

DBZ-2 Pack Funko Pop Bulma and Goku

DBZ-2 Pack Funko Pop Bulma and Goku are a standard 4 inches. Bulma has her green hair tied back with a red ribbon, and wears a bright pink dress with her name on it, on her left wrist is a red watch, and her right hand is gloved. Around her waist is a belt with her tool pack, and she wears light blue sneakers with purple socks. She is poised with her right hand up and feet together.
Goku stands on his flying nimbus, an orange cloud. His black hair is in its usual spiked style, and he wears his blue martial arts uniform with grey trimming, black shoes, and two leather wristbands. He holds his staff behind him, poised to fight.

Funko Pop Goten

Goten has his black hair spiked up in its usual style. He wears a long-sleeved shirt and pants with gray trimming under a blue vest with green trimming, and black shoes. His hands are at his side, looking directly forward.

Funko Pop Gohan

Gohan wears his signature yellow and green tunic with a large circular patch on the chest, in which the kanji for ‘world king’ is written. His red hat is adorned with a dragon ball orb decoration on top of it. His brown tail peeks out behind him.

Funko Pop Bulma

In this design, Bulma’s green hair is shorter and more voluminous, staying up on its own around a blue headband. She wears pearl earrings, a striped red dress, and a bright orange vest, as well as red shoes with white laces and purple socks. Her left arm is bent, hand on hip, while her right points forward, head tilted slightly to the side, as if giving an order.

Funko Pop Goku (Super Saiyan)

Goku’s usually black, wildly spiked hair is now blond and spiked directly up with bangs. His eyebrows are also blond and drawn in concentration, and his eyes are light blue. He wears his orange and blue martial arts uniform with blue shoes, and blue wristbands on both wrists. His legs are slightly bent and his arms are held out to either side, in the same iconic pose he takes before unleashing his full power.

Funko Pop Krillin

Krillin is in a similar pose as Super Saiyan Goku. He is bald with six dots on his forehead and large black eyebrows drawn down in concentration. He wears a blue and orange martial arts uniform with a white patch on the left upper chest, which has the kanji for ‘turtle’ on it - a symbol that he has trained under Master Roshi.