| This article is written from a real world point of view and is not considered to be part of the Mad Max canonical narrative. |
You know you’ve hit the BIG TIME in the music industry when “Weird” Al Yankovic parodies one of your songs. In the industry of BIG TIME movie franchises you know you’ve made it when the toy collectible company known as “Funko” makes a line of pop vinyl bobbleheads out of your story. Mad Max finally made the “BIG TIME” in the world of pop culture collectibles in 2017.
Overview[]
After the huge success of Mad Max: Fury Road, pop vinyl “immortality” was assured, yet didn’t happen until 2017. Then, in 2017, Funko began to release their line of Fury Road-related products. These would be the first figure-based collectible toys since 2001.
For those who are not collectors, and, yes, there are many out there, Funko is a major company in the collectibles world. They’ve been around since the early two-thousands, developing their style in the bobblehead niche.
The company started out by attempting to produce “realistic”-looking figures with marginal success, even though they held a license for Star Wars. However, things blasted-off to the moon circa 2011 when Funko finally nailed down their style, which is a sort of cartoon-y caricature, yet their talented artists created enough detail for the collector to know who it’s supposed to represent.
Funko not only nailed down their style, but created neat window boxes which could act as a display for the toy all on its own. It was a grand slam design and soon Funko started acquiring licenses for everything, or, to be exact – EVERY-THING! Nowadays, Funko owns a license to produce bobbleheads and associated vinyl collectibles for almost every major and minor franchise one can think of.
So, Funko finally acquired the rights to Mad Max around 2016 and then started releasing product in 2017. Funko, appropriately, started with their “Pop! Movies” line. Counting the various variants, there were fourteen bobbleheads released between 2017 & 2018. And, of course, some of those were special exclusives, variants, and chase figures.
Mad Max fans also scored a few more elaborate bobbleheads under the Funko “Pop! Rides” line. The first released in 2017, though, wasn’t technically Mad Max -- definitely not Fury Road -- as collectors found “Mad Max Rick,” from the Rick and Morty show, cruising along in a car straight out of the wasteland.
It would be 2018 before Mad Max fanatics scored a legitimate Fury Road ride when at San Diego Comic-Con Funko released a very, painfully, extremely Limited Edition called “The Nux Car” -- Nux driving his silver ’34 Chevy with his blood bag, Max, safely mounted to the front. This “Summer Convention Exclusive” was an edition of only 5,000. With an edition that small, a lot of collectors had to go without it.
Along with the full-sized bobbleheads of 2017, Funko released a brief line of “mystery minis” -- smaller versions of the "bobbleheads" that came in "mystery blind boxes." These minis were essentially the same characters as their larger sisters, only with slightly different sculpts. Also of note, these weren't actually bobbleheads like other Funko Mystery Minis such as the Star Wars line. These were molded "Vinyl Figures."
In 2018, Funko only released a couple more bobbleheads in their Fury Road line. The first was Imperator Furiosa sans left arm which was exclusive to Hot Topic. The second figure was Rictus Erectus who was an exclusive to Seattle’s Emerald City Comic-Con. Erectus was a very Limited Edition of only 7,500 – he’s rare.
Also in 2018, Funko released a pair of figures -- more like vinyl statues billed as “vinyl collectibles” -- under their special “Rock Candy” banner. The characters were Imperator Furiosa as well as Capable, one of Immortan Joe’s wives. In fact, Capable was the only “wife” that made it into the lineup, but she was included in all three lines when many other characters were not.
Sadly, it would be six years before any more Mad Max Funko Pops were produced.
In 2024, which happens to be the year of Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary, Funko Pop released four more vinyl bobbleheads to celebrate the momentous occasion. This time the focus was on Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior as collectors find The Humungus, Max, and Wez cast in vinyl under the “Pop Movies” line. And, finally, Mad Max fans also got another unique ride – “Lone Wolf.”
Pop! Movies - Bobbleheads[]
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #507 | Imperator Furiosa | Furiosa was the first Mad Max figure in this line, | ||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #507 | Imperator Furiosa | This Furiosa was known as the "Bloody" Chase Variant. | ||
| 2018 | Pop! Movies | #508 | Furiosa (Without Arm) | This #508 was Exclusive to Hot Topic but wasn't released until 2018. | ||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #509 | Max Rockatansky (Unmasked) | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #510 | Blood Bag (Max With Cage Mask) | This was a WalMart Exclusive. | ||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #511 | Nux (With Goggles) | This version of Nux was a Funko Shop Exclusive. | ||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #512 | Nux | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #513 | Capable | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #514 | The Valkyrie | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #515 | Immortan Joe | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #515 | Immortan Joe (Unmasked) | This was a rarer Chase Variant. | ||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #516 | Coma-Doof Warrior | |||
| 2017 | Pop! Movies | #517 | Coma-Doof Warrior (With Flaming Guitar) | This version was a Target Exclusive. | ||
| 2018 | Pop! Movies | #527 | Rictus Erectus | This was a Limited Edition of only 7,500 Exclusive to the Emerald City Comic-Con. | ||
| 2024 | Pop! Movies | #1468 | The Humungus | Celebrating Warner Bros. 100 with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. | ||
| 2024 | Pop! Movies | #1469 | Max | Max Rockatansky's third edition in Funko Pop! | ||
| 2024 | Pop! Movies | #1470 | Wez | Celebrating Warner Bros. 100 with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. |
Pop! Rides - Bobbleheads[]
| 2017 | Pop! Rides | #37 | Mad Max Rick | Rick of "Rick and Morty" fame. | ||
| 2018 | Pop! Rides | #42 | The Nux Car | This was a "Summer Con Exclusive" Limited to 5,000. | ||
| 2024 | Pop! Rides | #304 | Lone Wolf | From Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. |
Funko Mystery Minis - Vinyl Figures[]
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Capable | Capable was the only character besides Furiosa to be included in all three Funko lines. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Coma-Doof Warrior | Like the normal bobbleheads, Coma-Doof Warrior was posed with his guitar. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Coma-Doof Warrior | This second version of the Doof, like the Target Exclusive, featured his flaming guitar. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Imperator Furiosa | This version depicts her with her black grease mask, | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Imperator Furiosa | In an action pose. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Immortan Joe | With his mask on -- no Variant for his Mystery Mini. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Max Rockatansky | Basic version of two editions of Max. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Max Rockatansky | As the "blood bag" with mask and chain. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Nux | Looking evil and devious. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Nux | Ready to ride with a steering wheel. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | Rictus Erectus | NOT limited to 7,500 pieces this time. | ||
| 2017 | Mystery Minis | N/A | The Valkyrie | Similar pose to her bobblehead. |
Funko - Vinyl Collectibles[]
| 2018 | Rock Candy | N/A | Capable | Capable was part of the "Specialty Series." | ||
| 2018 | Rock Candy | N/A | Imperator Furiosa |
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Funko Mad Max Beyond . . . 2024[]
Unfortunately, there isn’t any sign of products being made for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Collector-fans can only wonder if they’ll see any at all or if this is the end of the Fury Road again.
On the bright side, it was two years after Fury Road came out before the products even made into stores. Collectors can only hope it doesn’t take so long this time around.