McFarlane Toys announced on February 12 that it acquired the QMx brand and is relaunching Q-Figs collectibles. The stylized figure line that disappeared in 2023 returns this summer with DC, Marvel, and Spawn licenses.
This is McFarlane's second major licensing play in a week. Days earlier, the company landed the Sony PlayStation license and revealed action figures for Helldivers 2, God of War, The Last of Us, and Bloodborne. Now it's going after the Funko Pop audience.
What Q-Figs Were
Q-Figs launched in 2013 under Quantum Mechanix, a Los Angeles-based company that made stylized collectible figures with expressive sculpts and scene-driven dioramas. Think Funko Pops if they had actual character and dynamic poses instead of bobbleheads.
The line covered DC, Marvel, Harry Potter, Disney, and deeper properties like Firefly and Doctor Who. Standard Q-Figs retailed for $14.95. Larger Q-Fig Max releases with multi-character dioramas ran $27.99. The Q-Master premium tier pushed past $50 with enhanced sculpting and paint.
Quantum Mechanix's founder passed away in 2022. In 2023, UK distributor Heathside Trading bought the IP. Then nothing happened. The line went dormant. Retailers kept selling old stock, but no new figures shipped.
McFarlane's Plan
The relaunch centers on two product formats. A blind box program with highly detailed figures across major entertainment brands. And a window box program called deluxe-Figs with upgraded sculpts, paint, and premium packaging.
DC, Marvel, and Spawn are confirmed. More licenses coming. McFarlane didn't announce pricing, but expect it to land somewhere between the old $14.95 entry point and the $30-45 range where NECA and Super7 operate.
Summer 2026 is the target. Available online and through select retailers.
Why This Matters
The stylized collectibles market is massive and Funko has owned it for a decade. Funko Pop revenue hit $1.08 billion in 2023. Over 5,000 unique figures across every major license. The company went public, crashed, delisted from Nasdaq, and is still printing money.
But Funko's design language is polarizing. The oversized heads and minimal articulation work for some collectors and annoy the hell out of others. Q-Figs offered an alternative. More expressive faces. Actual poses. Figures that looked like they were doing something instead of standing there staring forward.
Youtooz has carved out a piece of the market by targeting internet culture and gaming. Limited runs, no restocks, and controlled scarcity. Rare Youtooz pieces flip for ten times retail. Funko struggles to hold value because everything gets reprinted.
McFarlane is betting there's room for a third option. Premium sculpts and paint at a price point between Funko's $12-$15 mass market approach and the $35-$55 ultra-premium collector tier.
The PlayStation Connection
The Q-Figs acquisition makes more sense in context of the Sony deal. McFarlane now has licenses for DC, Marvel, Spawn, Warhammer 40K, and PlayStation. That's a stacked portfolio.
The 7-inch articulated action figure market is McFarlane's core business. But that segment caps out. Only so many people want hyper-detailed 7-inch Batman variants. The stylized collectibles market is different. Broader audience. Lower production costs. Faster turnarounds. Easier to display. Less intimidating for casual buyers.
If McFarlane can deliver Q-Figs with better sculpts than Funko at $20-$25 retail, there's a real opening. Especially with DC and Marvel licenses already locked in.
The Competitive Reality
Funko isn't going anywhere. The company's distribution is too deep and the brand recognition is too strong. Walk into any Target, Walmart, or GameStop and the Funko wall is 20 feet long.
But collectors are restless. Funko quality control has been a running complaint for years. Paint apps are sloppy. Boxes arrive crushed. Exclusives flood the market and crash secondary prices. The Pop format itself feels stale.
NECA and Super7 proved there's demand for nostalgic properties executed at premium quality. McFarlane's TMNT and DC Multiverse lines proved you can compete with Hasbro if you price aggressively and ship product consistently.
Q-Figs could slot into that middle tier. Better than Funko. Cheaper than NECA. Accessible enough for casual collectors. Detailed enough for display-focused buyers.
The Risk
McFarlane is expanding fast. PlayStation figures. Q-Figs blind boxes. Warhammer statues. DC Multiverse keeps pumping out Batman variants. That's a lot of SKUs to manage.
The risk is dilution. If every line feels like a cash grab, collectors tune out. McFarlane built its reputation on delivering solid figures at fair prices. Overextending that goodwill into too many product categories at once can backfire.
The other risk is Funko's first-mover advantage. Casual buyers don't comparison shop stylized collectibles. They see a Pop of their favorite character, they buy it. Breaking that habit requires better product and better placement. McFarlane has the licenses. Whether they can get shelf space at mass retail is a different question.
What to Watch
First reveals will matter. If the blind box program launches with deep-cut characters no one cares about, it's dead on arrival. If the first wave includes Batman, Spider-Man, and Spawn in iconic poses with sharp paint, it has a shot.
Price point is everything. $14.95 competes directly with Funko. $24.99 positions it as premium but risks pricing out casual buyers. $19.99 is probably the sweet spot.
And sustainability. Funko prints everything into the ground. Youtooz does controlled scarcity. McFarlane needs to pick a lane. Limited runs build hype but leave money on the table. Mass production floods the market and kills resale value.
Q-Figs were good the first time around. If McFarlane executes, they could be better this time. If they phone it in, it's just more plastic on the clearance rack.
We'll know by summer.
