I was disappointed to not get the Funko Pop exclusive to SDCC 2020 at home Black Lightning piece. Limited to 3000 pieces, I knew I had to be right on top of the process. I reviewed it ahead of time. I made a Funko account in advance. Starting a few minutes before the appointed time, I sat at the Funko website, hitting refresh every few seconds. The moment the site went live, I put Black Lightning and only Black Lightning in my cart. Yes, Black Lightning was in my cart. I was put in a queue. I got to the next screen, entered the information there (address I think). Then it started calculating my shipping rates.

This is where the Funko SDCC at home system broke down. This should have been a simple calculation. A flat rate based upon the number of items ordered. 20 minutes later the page finished loading. But it was over. Despite the item being in my cart, it was now sold out. There was nothing I could do.  It was done.

It would have been one thing if when I went to choose him, Funko Black Lightning was marked as sold out. But he was not. It would have been disappointing if when I went to put him in my cart it told me that the Funko Black Lightning was sold out. But it did not. Getting it into my cart and being told I was in line to check out I thought I had beaten the odds. I thought I had one. But it was not to be. Funko has since come out and apologized for the way their site ran that day. That was a pretty good thing to do.  To me the best thing they could do is offer a slightly revised product to the general public.

Crisis Poster

One direction Funko could go is to offer a set of Pop figures to go with the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event broadcast on the CW network last year. This event not only crossed the paths of characters from the CW shows Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl but also included Black Lightning. While various members of the various casts got different amounts of screen time, Funko could mine this event for a ton of characters to give Pops to including a number of characters who have never gotten the Pop figure treatment.

Green Arrow Oliver Queen
Spectre Oliver Queen
Spartan (John Diggle)
Wild Dog
Ragman
Mr. Terrific
Black Canary Dinah Drake
Black Siren
Arsenal
Green Arrow Mia Smoak

Flash Barry Allen
Flash of Earth 90
Elongated Man
Killer Frost
Vibe
Nash Wells

Supergirl
Martain Manhunter
DEO Agent Alex Danvers
Brainiac 5
Dreamer
Lex Luthor
Superman
Superman Brandon Routh
Clark Kent of Smallville in a flannel shirt

White Canary
the Atom
Heatwave
Steel
Constantine
Jonah Hex

Batwoman
Black Lightning
Monitor
Anti-Monitor
Pariah
Harbinger

There are definitely characters to be mined here. While there are a few listed here that are still available cheaply on the secondary market, any character never made or done only as an exclusive should be considered. We need easier access to Black Lightning, Killer Frost and Supergirl.  And we need to head back to the individual series and add Guardian Jimmy Olsen, Mon-El, Saturn Girl, Thunder and Lightning at a minimum.

My hope is that Funko sees the insanely fast sell out of Black Lightning as a sign to go back to the Arrow Flash Super Legends Lightning verse for more character inspiration.   My personal top wants are Supergirl in pants, Martian Manhunter, Spartan and Black Lightning in his new costume.  For fans of Funko Pops, hopefully the Crisis has just begun.