The Dying Art of the Metallic Variant

[Peachtree]

Hello!
Just thought I would bring this up as it is something I had noticed recently and knew that Brian had even made a statement about it:
What do you think of the art of the metallic variant? I know that Funko made a statement discussing how they are intentionally moving away from the basic metallic repaint (in regards to SDCC 2015) and putting more effort in to new sculpts and more creative variants, which I certainly appreciate and enjoy. I noticed recently though, with the new FYE exclusive variant that metallic variants really do look good! I know some of the good ones in the past were the Mickey and Chernabog two pack, the Notorious BIG looked good, and of course the always beautiful General Mills 2011 set. What do you think? Are you sad to see the decline of the metallic reign or are you glad that Funko is branching out to more complex variants? Maybe a little bit of both? I'm excited to hear your opinion below!

[Gren]

I'd rather Funko move away from glows than metallics. GITD only works in the dark or under a blacklight, and depending on the color sometimes not even very well. Metallics look great all the time and really stand out on the collection shelf.

I do like the idea of more variations rather than just repaints, but I hope Funko doesn't just drop metallics altogether.

[buf12sbr]

A lot of it is that they are incorporating the metallic into regular pops or at least a softer metallic like with iron man and hulkbuster. It is being a less necessary varient unless the Pop does not actually warrent the varient.

[treswright]

Cool topic Samuel! I absolutely LOVE metallic Pops. I've bought some simply because they're metallic, the GM set you mentioned being one. My favorite Pop set is without doubt the metallic Universal Monsters Gemini exclusive, they are jaw-dropping. I was really disappointed when I read Brian's comment that they're moving away from metallics.

And with apologies to Gren, I LOOOOVE the glow Pops and hope they continue glow variants forever and ever

[CampBhoy67]

I think if the piece warrants a metallic variant like the recent Baymax one then it should be made. A metallic iron man works well but a metallic black widow wouldn't, if you know what I mean.

[Lucina]

Considering they announced that there will be 2 new metallic variants being released, I think it's safe to say that, for now, they aren't going anywhere

[operez086]

I didn't think much of metallics at first but my metallic Sapphire Wonder Woman, Vegeta, turquoise Robby the Robot and Golden Frieza proved to me that they are incredibly awesome! I really love the GITD stuff too. I hope they keep variants cause I think they're pretty neat as exclusives

[Princess]

I'd rather Funko move away from glows than metallics. GITD only works in the dark or under a blacklight, and depending on the color sometimes not even very well. Metallics look great all the time and really stand out on the collection shelf.

I do like the idea of more variations rather than just repaints, but I hope Funko doesn't just drop metallics altogether.

I think Gren summed up my view on Metallics. I have also bought some metallics just because they were metallic, particularly the metallic sapphire Wonder Woman and blue flash. I love them. The GITD....not so much since I don't have a blacklight.

I love that Funko are focussing more on the detail and creating different variants, but I would be really sad if the metallics disappeared altogether.

[Jango_Fresh]

I think in general the comic character look awesome in metallic even ones that don't warrant the metal treatment, like the Thing, Deadpool, unmasked cap. I think it's a nice change up, while maybe not SDCC ex worthy anymore, they are perfect for store exclusives that just want something a little different.

Really sad I traded away my metallic cap #06

[emcee]

I'm also under the notion that in order to warrant a metallic variant, it has to make sense. Examples of good ones for me are Magneto, Optimus Prime, C3P0 (the best metallic representation). I can't say I like metallic Mickey, TMNT, or Captain America.

[Jango_Fresh]

The Thing, Deadpool, All of the spider man pops, looks super awesome, to me at least. They don't really fall under metal characters.

[Nenja]

I'm a huge fan of metallics! Less so of GITDs for the reasons mentioned. However, that may also be because I like Pop!s which metallic paint works well for.

[JBiz]

I like them when they make sense or at least look good. Wasn't a big fan of the metallic Thing, but love the metallic Deadpool. I was surprised they never made a metallic or chrome Silver Surfer.

[Squird]

Kill 'em.

I've never been a fan of metallics. The paint can fade like a mo-fo in strong light (not just sunlight).

[jinxykat]

I'm a huge fan of the metallic variants too....I'll buy them even when they don't necessarily make sense like the metallic Nightmare Before Christmas set..... that's one of my faves along with the metallic Universal Monsters set.

[Maclay]

I'd rather Funko move away from glows than metallics. GITD only works in the dark or under a blacklight, and depending on the color sometimes not even very well. Metallics look great all the time and really stand out on the collection shelf.

I do like the idea of more variations rather than just repaints, but I hope Funko doesn't just drop metallics altogether.

This.

I like the metallics and I think they look really beautiful!

[elormolinyawe]

as long as metallic makes sense as a variant, I would love to have that on my collection.

[shogunjlips]

I'd rather Funko move away from glows than metallics. GITD only works in the dark or under a blacklight, and depending on the color sometimes not even very well. Metallics look great all the time and really stand out on the collection shelf.

Glows work much better during the day than Metallics do at night.

[sushiguru]

the thing with the metallics is that you can spot paint flaws on them more easily

[tinkerbell055]

I agree with those who've said they'd rather have metallic variants than GITD. I have a few GITD Pops, but I bought them because they were convenient, not because they were GITD (like, the store happened to have them and not the regular ones). I buy metallics because they look cool. Metallic Cap? Metallic Mean Machine? Chase/metallic Batgirl? All amazing. Yes, there have been some metallic variants on characters that didn't really "make sense", but there have been GITD ones like that, too (Captain America, anyone?). I personally don't see how a blood-splattered variant (for example) is any more creative than a metallic variant. All that being said, I do appreciate the fact that they're changing up sculpts a little for variants now (like with Anger and Grinning Ultron).

I like them when they make sense or at least look good. Wasn't a big fan of the metallic Thing, but love the metallic Deadpool. I was surprised they never made a metallic or chrome Silver Surfer.

I would DIE if they made a chrome Surfer!!

[WolfXGames]

I absolutely love metallic variants.

[swind15]

Metallic variants are my favorites.

[allhermight]

I would prefer that characters that made sense to be metallic were just initially released as metallic to begin with.

[Cthulhu Mythos]

Honestly I like both metallic and glow variants depending the character, color/type of paint, etc. One in my collection that I really thing would be 100 times better as metallic is the glow Freddy deathstroke. The difference between the regular and the glow is very small and the glow itself is pretty weak. But there are definitely some that I feel are way better glow like the lo pan mentioned or the ht vault boy.

[RoboFist]

I'd rather Funko move away from glows than metallics. GITD only works in the dark or under a blacklight, and depending on the color sometimes not even very well. Metallics look great all the time and really stand out on the collection shelf.

I do like the idea of more variations rather than just repaints, but I hope Funko doesn't just drop metallics altogether.

Funny you say that, because I have five words that puncture a hole in both the anti-glow and anti-metallic arguments: Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Metallic variant and the GitD variant are both top notch. I agree that MOST current glows are pretty terrible, but if Funko starts making the GitD Pops using the glow paint they used for the Creature, I think people would be a lot more excited about them because it actually glows PERFECTLY.

Now, I WAS going to make a case against bloody variants, because those seemed completely unnecessary to me...but then EE revealed their bloody variant Shaun of the Dead Pops and I fell in love, so...

[jrrl]

To clarify one point, Captain America's costume (in the comics) has been chainmail (or a variant thereof) for a lot of its history, which sounds reasonably metallic to me.

[big_pun_209]

Glows work much better during the day than Metallics do at night.

He's right you know?

I like both GITD and metallics, they should switch it up and still do both. I think I would have much better liked a metallic Ant-Man then the GITD one since the red glow is just horrible.

[Gephyrophobia]

I hate repaint variants in general.

[Mr BATMAN]

Personally, I hope they don't ever move away from metallics completely. Love them too much! But I def appreciate new sculpts!

[emcee]

To clarify one point, Captain America's costume (in the comics) has been chainmail (or a variant thereof) for a lot of its history, which sounds reasonably metallic to me.

Your avatar is what every Captain America POP! needs. Metallic shield. Seriously how is that not a thing?????

[emily]

I like it if it makes sense with the character. I didn't understand why Sam and Dean from Supernatural got metallic variants when they would never be seen in shiny versions of their clothes on the show.

[buf12sbr]

I like it if it makes sense with the character. I didn't understand why Sam and Dean from Supernatural got metallic variants when they would never be seen in shiny versions of their clothes on the show.

To mess with the supernatural fandom and annoy them by not making new characters

[Beto]

Metallic POP!s are a nice variant for sure!

[mistypop]

I agree that if a character makes sense as metallic, then it should just be released with metallic paint in the first place, but that's kind of what they already do most of the time anyway. But there definitely are some more random metallic repaints that look really cool, like metallic Merida, Batgirl, even the blue dress Daenerys I really like, and a lot of the comic characters look great. I admit, I have a tendency to be like "ooh shiny!" at some metallic variants . On the other hand there are some that don't make sense at all and don't really suit as metallic (IMO) such as minions, TMNT and Supernatural.
So overall it would be sad to see the metallic variant be phased out completely, but personally I could live without them. I much prefer variants that have a completely new sculpt, rather than just a repaint.

[toro423]

I dont mind, as long as they dont milk it. If it makes sense, I like it. The metallic paint is really great to look at for some and not that great for others. Metallic red looks great, even if the character never really was supposed to have a metallic paint scheme. Again, as long as we dont start seeing a metallic repaint for everything I will be ok with. The wallet cant handle so much hurt.

[spinn4]

The Sesame Street Count would look awesome metallic.

[Poncho Pete]

The fading is a stressor as others have said. I prefer complete color variants.

[emily]

I just realized I don't actually have any metallics! I'd never thought of that before. I guess none of them really stood out as necessary to me - but now I want one just for the sake of it.

[slimpicks]

I like both glow in the dark variants and metallic variants as long as they work with the character. repaints on the other hand I feel are just not appealing compared to gitd and metallic.

[a99kitten]

I love the metallic variants personally. Not for just any character but for the ones it makes sense for - it s so awesome. And I too would prefer less GITD than metallic.