A Funko executive leaves and launches a new vinyl figure collectible company shortly after. His new company decides to hold its first San Diego Comic-Con event in 2025, the same year his former employer moves Funko Fundays from SDCC to Los Angeles. This first event is hosted at the InterContinental Hotel on the same night that a Funko Fundays was held during SDCC 2024.

Yep, that’s Brian Mariotti and Thrilljoy’s Block Party Boardwalk Bash on Friday, July 25, at Lane Field Park behind the hotel.

But wait! That’s also Mike Becker and Rokimoto’s Dreams on Saturday, July 26, in the Pacific Ballroom inside the hotel.

With Fundays out of the SDCC picture (at least for this year), Thrilljoy and Rokimoto brought fresh blood and hopes of filling the Fundays-sized void at SDCC 2025. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so how did they do?

I’ve structured my report into different aspects of the event and discuss both events in those areas. This is from my personal experience as a general paying attendee. Comparisons to past Fundays will be inevitable.

Check-In Process & Goodie Box

• Thrilljoy: Even for people arriving before the doors opened at 6pm, they faced an hours-long wait to get in. It’s pretty much expected for an event of this size, so while frustrating, I was not surprised by the extended wait. Once I got to the check-in table — where I provided my name but curiously did not have my ticket scanned — I could choose one of three teams (Team Bloo, Team Redd, Team Tux) and receive a Block Party PIX! pack themed to that team in a gigantic tote bag. Attendees were also given a lanyard with two badges on it: one for our team and a punch card to redeem our food, drinks, and additional prizes throughout the night.
• Rokimoto: Doors also opened at 6pm for an 8pm program start. I arrived around 7:45pm, where there was no wait to check in and receive my box of goodies. From my vantage point, it seems the only real advantage of an early arrival was getting a prime seat in the ballroom. Otherwise, I did not appear to have missed any major pre-show activities or giveaways.

Food & Drink

• Thrilljoy: The event ticket came with two drinks (beer or wine or non-alcoholic) with additional drinks paid for, a hot dog or pizza, and two treats (ice cream, churro, or pretzels). Decent in quantity, not so much in quality. They also appeared to run out early on some food items while simultaneously passing out stale pretzels later in the evening without punching any cards.
• Rokimoto: A snack box with a grilled cheese sandwich, brownie, and a non-alcoholic drink of choice (not chilled, but ice was provided) and a cash bar. No alternatives to the grilled cheese were available, so a tough break for vegans or the lactose intolerant.

Whatever the opposite of #foodporn is, this was that at both events, hence the limited photos. On the bright side, they both managed to clear the (low) bar set by the Fundays 2023 chicken sandwich.

Seating/Accessibility/Event Arrangements

• Thrilljoy: The decor and overall aesthetic was probably the strongest part of the Block Party. No expense was spared in decking out the area with photo ops, theming, and activities to remind you that, yes, you were at a Thrilljoy event.
  • As the event wanted you to be moving around and exploring all the available activities, there were limited FCFS lounge benches, belly bar tables, and picnic tables spread throughout the venue for people needing to rest their feet or eat.
  • Instead of a more central location, the main stage where announcements and team activities were held was on one side of the park. This might have been fine if they had set up additional speakers and/or an extra screen on the other side (where the carnival games, food stations, and Ferris wheel were) so that attendees in that area could hear or see the announcements. As it was, unless you were near the stage, you couldn’t see or hear much of what was going on.
  • I didn’t notice any obvious accessibility issues, though much of the event’s footprint included grass.
  • Lots of apologies were overheard from attendees bumping into each other. After all, everyone was lugging around a tote bag that was the size of a child.
• Rokimoto: The arrangement mimicked past Fundays, with a stage in the center of the room surrounded by seating (except that the dinner tables were replaced with panel-like rows of seats). Theming was minimal inside and outside of the room, save for a couple of event backdrops.
  • Unfortunately, despite relocating to the InterContinental after initially overselling the event (by 1,000 tickets, according to this Instagram post) the event still seemed oversold/overcrowded: I witnessed (and spoke with) several attendees who were sitting outside the ballroom all night (including some on the floor) because there was no available seating inside.
  • The ballroom was jam-packed with seats and narrow aisles, which may have created issues for mobility scooters and wheelchairs, as well as general overcrowding.
  • Ineffective AC and all the side ballroom doors closed at the start made for a stuffy and hot interior. Thankfully, the side doors were eventually opened to provide much-needed air flow throughout the entire room (and recalibrate the prize distribution process).
  • I’m giving Rokimoto the benefit of the doubt that part of the event budget unexpectedly went to needing a larger venue, leaving less funds available for decor and theming.

Activities & Programming

• Thrilljoy: The Block Party did their best to provide multiple options to pass the time, including carnival games, a station with caricature artists, a Ferris wheel, and a dunk tank (late at night). With the gamification of the carnival games (win tickets = redeem for prizes) and no limit on how many times someone could play a game, it came as no surprise that the carnival was swamped by lines most of the night, while the caricature and Ferris wheel lines ranged from minimal to non-existent.
  • At the main stage, product announcements, special appearances (including Rob Paulsen from Animaniacs, Richard Horvitz from Helluva Boss, and Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai), giveaways, and team activities took place throughout the night.
  • While the team element was a carryover from Fundays, the free-roaming nature of the event in comparison to sitting in your team section all night at Fundays meant your entire “team” was never truly together at any point.
• Rokimoto: Dreams was an evening of special appearances, prize giveaways, product announcements, and, um, dream fulfillment.
  • The event ran late and ended closer to 11pm (despite being advertised to finish at 10pm on their blog and 9:30pm on the display outside the ballroom). Most of the evening also frankly wasn’t holding the attention of the room: I saw dozens of attendees leaving the event early. I stayed until the end because I’m stubborn and, based on my timestamps, some attendees were leaving at least an hour before it ended. 
  • Special appearances included Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias (to the surprise of absolutely no one), Jo Koy, and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels. Additionally, Rokimoto partners and collectible content creators spoke throughout the evening. I don’t think most attendees came to hear from the latter group, and the idle chatter around me picked up in volume and frequency each time one of them took the microphone.
  • Prior to the event, Rokimoto sent ticket buyers an email asking them to send in their “dream,” big or small, and that “it just might come true.” This was a part of the Dreams program, as they brought people on stage to see their dreams fulfilled (such as someone performing a magic trick with Fluffy). I’m not sure if they didn’t get enough suitable responses, but it was certainly… interesting that one of the people who had their “dream” fulfilled was a Rokimoto employee (singing with DMC).
  • There were also at least two attempts at eBay Live flash auctions for “Dream Drop” packages via QR code. These quickly went awry when virtually no attendees could access the listings to bid due to the lack of cell reception in the room. I also didn’t think it was a great idea to dedicate time to ask guests who have already paid to attend your event to then ask them to potentially spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more on an on-the-spot flash auction.

Prize/Giveaway Distribution

Somehow, this may have been the biggest sorespot, because let’s be real, the ultimate end goal for attendees at events like these is to walk away with a ton of merchandise/swag to justify the ticket prices ($150 + fees for Thrilljoy, $100 + fees for Rokimoto).

• Thrilljoy: In addition to the box you received at pickup, a redemption area was set up outside the main event space for both the all-room giveaways and for the ticket redemptions from the carnival games.
  • Attendees could re-enter the event at their leisure, and attendees could get prizes whenever they wanted. However, as the three all-room giveaways (listed on the punch card) weren’t available until they were formally announced on stage, most attendees who weren’t actively doing the carnival games waited until the third one was announced before heading to the redemption area (versus going multiple times).
  • Naturally, this led to a gigantic crush of attendees at the end of the night. There were no stanchions or ropes to divide the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds into organized lines.
  • We understand the “cover your ass” nature of having the “while supplies last” fine print for prizes, but it seems like a reasonable expectation that there would be enough inventory for the all-room punch card prizes, at least. For the ticketed prizes, sure, if it runs out, it runs out. However, at least one of the all-room prizes (a Leonardo PIX) was gone prematurely.
  • Like Fundays, there was a winning team that got an extra prize at the end of the night (in this case, Team Bloo, go me). I’ll point out that the Bloo badges were not being punched as winning team members redeemed for their additional prize, meaning the team badges could theoretically be passed around and reused by other attendees (or the same attendee getting into a different redemption line).
• Rokimoto: From this attendee’s perspective, the only “all-room” giveaway of the night was the Box you received at pickup.
  • Once the program began, subsequent prize distributions took place via the return of the “throwing things into the crowd” option that had been phased out at Funko Fundays due to safety concerns. Things got heated after the first few rounds of prize tosses were limited to the seats immediately around the center stage — light plastic toys in plastic bags can only fly so far — leading to some attendees in the back of the room to vocally boo and jeer. This led to an uncomfortable moment with Fluffy and an attendee at the stage that took what little wind there was out of the event’s sails (see the TikTok from @pandafunks here or embedded below).
  • They eventually opened the side doors, which was great for air flow purposes and to position event staff in better spots for subsequent prize tosses that did reach the areas of the room initially being neglected. However, this still did not guarantee that every attendee would receive at least one prize (plus at least one of the things being thrown out was not Dreams-exclusive and was being sold at the Rokimoto booth in the Exhibit Hall).

@pandafunks Rokimoto was not it…. CONTEXT: @ROKIMOTO had their first SDCC dream party (people were thinking it would be like fundays type event). Event was oversold, no seats, busted AC. Father of the kids basically called them out when they said everyone was going to get something. Prizes were tossed into the crowd of grown adults. Certain areas and kids had no chance of getting anything. They were on an honor system that if you got something pass it along. @Gabriel Iglesias (who was just a guest) said everyone would get something or along the those lines… the dad yelled out bullshit.. Fluffy then called the dad and 2 little girls up… dehumanized the father by trying to give him $100 in front the entire party to silence him. proceeded to pull the man’s kids on stage so they would at least get something The show continued on with the same format. Overall very disorganized. (context info from @DtlaFunkoConnect and what was gathered). #sdcc #sdcc2025 #gabrieliglesias #fluffy #rokimoto #funko #thrilljoy #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Arian Meza

Conclusion

(As one final piece of feedback that didn’t neatly fit into a category above, Rokimoto also could have done better in communicating more specifics about the event beforehand: Compare this dedicated event post on Thrilljoy’s blog two weeks in advance with the vague details provided at the bottom of this Rokimoto post on the Tuesday of SDCC week).

I attended multiple Funko Fundays. They weren’t always perfect, but were generally well-organized, started and ended on time, and left attendees well-fed (again, chicken sandwich year aside), as well as with tons of Funko product in hand.

I know some people who attended one or both of Thrilljoy and Rokimoto did enjoy their evenings (which was likely correlated to how much stuff they walked away with). However, for the majority of attendees, Thrilljoy and Rokimoto’s events did not give them their money’s worth: just look at our mentions for Thrilljoy here and Rokimoto here, and the discourse elsewhere.

I imagine some have sworn these events off after just one year, but there are others willing to give one or both companies a second chance. I want Thrilljoy and Rokimoto to succeed and have these events become as much a part of the SDCC fabric as Funko Fundays was, particularly if the Fundays relocation becomes more than a one-off. Mariotti and Becker built up lots of goodwill with SDCC attendees during their time at Funko, and I’m pretty sure the event planning debriefs have already taken place at each company as they consider whether to run it back at San Diego Comic-Con 2026.

If they do choose to come back next year, you know what they say: You only get one chance to make a second impression.