Comic-Con at Home, the replacement for San Diego Comic-Con's physical event this year, has started today. Fans are able to watch virtual panels and buy exclusive merchandise from the comfort of their own home, but the first day of the big event has already had a few issues.
The merchandise at Comic-Con has always been one of the most sought after aspects of the event. Companies such as Funko, Toddland and Marvel usually bring a line of exclusive products to the convention floor, causing chaos each day as fans queue early to try and score an exclusive. Funko is particularly popular thanks to their exclusive lineup of Pop Vinyl figurines that the company brings to the convention, some of which can go for hundreds of dollars after the event.
It seems the chaos is no different this year, despite the convention being held virtually. The Funko exclusives went live for purchase on Wednesday 22nd at 5pm PT with a limit of 1 per customer. Customers flooded the site and selected their exclusives, but issues occurred when it came to choosing a shipping option. Many users reported on Twitter that the shipping option wouldn't load, with some waiting as long as 1.5 hours for their purchase to go through.
After 25 minutes Funko posted that the site was experiencing issues and that they were working on it in maintenance. Funko warned buyers not to reload the page or they would lose their place in the checkout queue, but many were still unable to checkout even after waiting. An hour later Funko posted to Twitter that the virtual store was sold out, with many disappointed fans missing out entirely.
A second wave of Funk Pop exclusives was also made available through other retailers such as Amazon, Hot Topic and GameStop which all launched at 9:01pm PT. Each retailer featured its own exclusive Pop figures but it seems it wasn't completely smooth sailing there either. Users reported many retailers launched their sites early without warning, meaning many buyers still missed out if they weren't prepared.
The Funko Pop exclusives this year included a decent lineup with new Pokemon, Marvel, Harry Potter and Star Wars figurines all available. The most popular was the Black Lightning figurine which was a show exclusive limited to 3000 pieces, but with the checkout glitch, many fans walked away empty handed and very unhappy.
Funko Pop Vinyls have always been notoriously difficult to score at Comic-Con. Attendees usually wait in line overnight to try and be the first in line on the convention floor, however, the company had moved to an online ticketed lottery system in recent years as numbers grew. If Funko is going to continue releasing virtual exclusives, the company will need to re-evaluate their system to account for the huge number of fans who are eager to buy their products.