Funko's New 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' Sets Debut at Target

Funko launched its second wave of "A Court of Thorns and Roses" collectibles at Target on Nov. 4, including the first-ever figures of Cassian, Azriel, Morrigan and Amren. The release also introduces a brand-new product category for the company: Bitty Pop! Books, miniature-scale figures paired with detailed book-inspired packaging, created in collaboration with Sarah J. Maas' licensing agency, IMG Licensing.

The first two Bitty Pop! Books sets are based on Maas' "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and its sequel, "A Court of Mist and Fury." Funko describes the contents plainly: "The Bitty POP! Books A Court of Thorns and Roses set includes a Bitty POP! Town Spring Court Manor, Bitty POP! collectibles of Feyre – Solstice, Rhysand with Wings, Tamlin, and Lucien; while the Bitty POP! Books A Court of Mist and Fury set includes a Bitty POP! Town Moonstone Palace, Bitty POP! collectibles of Cassian, Azriel, Morrigan, and Amren." Each set comes packaged in a book-themed collectible box and includes a Prythian-shaped figural bookmark.

Why the numbers matter

The new launch rides a wave of commercial momentum. Funko's first round of "ACOTAR" products debuted in September, ahead of the Oct. 27 release of Maas' sixth book in the series, "A Court of Splintered Harmony." That book sold 1.7 million copies in its first 24 hours, as Variety previously reported.

"So far we've been really excited about the ['ACOTAR' Funko] sales results overall," Funko CEO Josh Simon told Variety ahead of the company's Q3 earnings announcement Thursday. "Since it launched at the beginning of September, it's been the number one license in first-time customer purchases on our DTC site. So if you look at the universe of what we're selling and what's bringing in new customers and fans, the number one product bringing in new fans is coming from 'ACOTAR.'"

Three out of four customers buying from the "ACOTAR" Funko line are women, according to Simon. That demographic detail matters for a collectibles company that has historically leaned on film and television IP.

A collectibles line without a screen adaptation

What makes "ACOTAR" unusual, Simon argues, is that it exists as merchandise at all. "Historically, there hasn't been much of a fan or merchandise portfolio of products that are based on books until usually a character is brought to life in the world of a film or TV adaptation," he said. "It's pretty rare for a book series to get its own collectibles line at all, and I would say almost unprecedented before a screen adaptation. I went back and looked and even at the time, despite how popular clearly Harry Potter was as such a publishing phenomenon, I think a lot of the merchandise and certainly what we did across Funko didn't really come to life until the Warner Bros. films came out into the world."

"ACOTAR" currently has no TV or film adaptation in the works. A previous project at Hulu was scrapped. The difference this time, Simon says, came down to Maas' willingness to let Funko play with the "fun stylized" look of characters who had only existed in readers' imaginations.

"We worked directly with her and the whole team around deciding for the first time what characters who really only existed in their imaginations would actually look like," Simon said. "We definitely get a lot of feedback and do rounds of designs and revisions. Our teams are fans of these things, and so they come to the table with a lot of ideas and, trust me, just as much respect for the underlying source material."

That collaborative back-and-forth covered every product decision, including the divisive "Under the Mountain" look for protagonist Feyre Archeron. Simon sees the fan debate as part of the job. "The same way people are debating on a plot point when the book comes out, they debate what we do as well," he said. "So it comes with the territory."

What does this change for collectors?

The short answer: more is coming. The "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series currently consists of six books, with the seventh, "A Court of Fractured Melody," slated for January 2027. Beginning with the "A Court of Mist and Fury" characters launching today, Simon says Funko will unveil products based on all the current books and the upcoming seventh title.

"The short answer is, yes. We definitely have more lines planned for Books 6 and 7," Simon said. "I can't say what, but we do have more planned. We have a long history of trust that we've built up across the entertainment community. Typically we are working with studios a couple years in advance of something coming out."

He declined to hint at any plot points from those future books. "Over time, when you look at the number of Pops that we create or products in general in a given year, and the breadth of entertainment IP and other genres that we focus on, that level of secrecy, spoilers and security is obviously of the utmost importance to us," Simon said. "And it's a natural translation into the world of publishing that we thankfully we have systems in place that give people a little bit more trust in us and our reputation."

For a franchise with no screen adaptation, that pipeline suggests Funko now treats bestselling book IP as a long-term merchandising category — and that Maas' fans, three-quarters of them women and driving first-time purchases, have become a core growth audience for the company.