Less than a year after its creation, Thrilljoy descended onto San Diego Comic-Con 2025 hoping to deliver something special. With a company made up of veterans from the collectible business, namely its Co-Founder Brian Mariotti’s roots at Funko, Thrilljoy had the knowledge, but that will only get you so far. However, by the first day of the show, when Thrilljoy had sold out of all its daily inventory in a matter of hours, all of those uncertainties washed away. Thrilljoy was a hit.
Now, a year later, Thrilljoy is a major player in the collectible business, leveraging its high-quality designs, unique “Tear into the Thrill” unboxing mechanism, and growing brand partnerships to continuously deliver collectibles that are as highly sought after as any out there. Its concept is simple, and its appeal is universal.
Thrilljoy Reveals SDCC Scott Pilgrim PIX! [EXCLUSIVE]
At Comic-Con 2026, I chatted with Thrilljoy Co-Founder and CEO Brian Mariotti to discuss what the company has learned in the year since its Comic-Con debut, how it plans to continue to expand, what he feels Thrilljoy brings to the table that other products don’t, and to tease some big things for 2027. When Mariotti and I spoke in 2025, he was thrilled to see Thrilljoy was a massive hit and vowed to bring even more product to hopefully keep the shelves stocked for a little longer. They did, and even still, when I walked into the Thrilljoy booth for our interview at 1 pm, the shelves were bare. Thrilljoy’s popularity has only grown over the last year and there’s little the company can do to withstand the tremendous demand for its event exclusives. It’s a good problem to have.
One huge area where Thrilljoy has expanded is its licenses, which now include Disney. For Comic-Con 2026, Thrilljoy brought a Buzz Lightyear Pix to the show, but that’s only the beginning. Mariotti admits that his and his team’s experience at Funko helped them get a leg up with Disney, but those relationships take time to come to fruition. In the meantime, Thrilljoy is growing.
“Our license portfolio continues to enlarge, which brings in new demographics, which is great. I think it’s very important for us to continue to seek licenses that people enjoy collecting and being a part of, and I think Disney brings a lot of that to us and rounds out our collector base, which is phenomenal. And we’re also meeting with retailers and licensors on what’s coming out in 2027, and I think we have a couple really great products that we’re going to probably announce in a couple months around New York Comic Con.
With so many brands in the zeitgeist or just waiting for their moment, Thrilljoy has a lot to choose from when it comes to its Pix collectibles. From Street Sharks to Space Ghost to Hazbin Hotel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the company has a diverse selection of partners that make up its daily product and event exclusives. But Thrilljoy also finds products that might not have a huge fan base, but whose fans are rabid enough to show up when they release a new line.
There’s no secret sauce when it comes to finding the right IP, but Mariotti does believe his team has their pulse on what’s popular right now and what will be in the near-future. He calls it his “collective of geeks.” They pick from all different categories and make sure there’s a little bit of something for everybody, while being mindful of the Comic-Con environment.
“Diversity of licenses is important, so that we’re hitting women-centric fandoms, men- centric fandoms, kid-centric fandoms, and ones that serve all of it, like Toy Story. Making sure that balance is there is also really important as well. So there is a little bit of an art to it. As much as we love anime, we would never come here with all anime. We’d never come with all horror. We’d never come with just cartoons. We’d always want to make it a representation of pop culture as a whole.”
In addition to its Comic-Con show floor booth and exclusives, Thrilljoy also hosts an exclusive party. Last year, The Block Party was an event filled with carnival-style experiences, live stage debuts, and appearances from upcoming Thrilljoy licenses and partners. For 2026, Thrilljoy’s Rock the Block party offered a similar vibe, but with more of a Rock n Roll flair. Bowling for Soup closed out the party with a live performance, but before that, attendees got to try their hand at winning some unique Thrilljoy Pix that ranged in rarity from 1,500 pieces to the ultra-rare Proto.
Mariotti knows that demand is high – last year’s party had 5,000 applications for 1,500 tickets, and this year 51,000 vied for that same number of spots. It’s a party that is as much about the experience as it is the unique items you receive. With Chase, Super Chase, and Ultra Chase variants of Thrilljoy Pix!, the hunt for rare items has a massive appeal. Mariotti doesn’t shy away from admitting that there is a secondary market as well, saying that lucky Con attendees or partygoers who reveal an extremely rare seal could turn a huge profit thanks to their luck.
The Thrilljoy party is, needless to say, a hot ticket event for many reasons. And while you might think that growing demand would encourage expansion, Mariotti wants the Thrilljoy party to retain that once-in-a-lifetime vibe.
“We want the party to feel like you won a Willy Wonka golden ticket if you got in. Yeah, we’re disappointing a lot of people, but the people that are going are aspirational. They are loving it. I think how we would expand [at Comic-Con] would not be about parties; it’s about the new product lines that will be showing up in 2027 that will be very well featured here.”
Whether it’s the booth, the products, or the party, Mariotti is always looking toward the future, and it sounds as though 2027 is going to be a big one for Thrilljoy. He wouldn’t say specifically what it is, but Mariotti left me with a massive tease regarding what fans can expect from the future of this booming company.
“A year from now, you’re going to see one entry into a category that I think we’re going to disrupt. We have a way of doing something that is beloved in a different way with a different take that I think is going to add to the experience of buying the product, and I think that is going to be the story. I think it’s going to be the story that people are going to go, ‘Wow!’”
Mariotti is charismatic and confident, but after nearly two decades at Funko, you get the sense that he knows how to navigate the collectible business as no one else can. His understanding of what Thrilljoy offers and where it can head next is a testament to the team he has built, and the company’s early success will allow it to snowball into bigger licenses with contemporary relevance.
But it’s that final tease that I’m most curious about. Up to this point, Thrilljoy has followed a familiar playbook – event exclusives, big licenses, and exclusive party – but those feel like proof of the company’s viability. For 2027, if Mariotti is to be believed, Thrilljoy is going to make its mark on the collectible industry and prove its staying power.
