(CBR) As evidenced by the past few weeks on social media, a good chunk of the $430.7 million worth of people who have seen “Guardians of the Galaxy” thus far were absolutely captivated by the image of a potted baby Groot dancing to “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. It was inevitable that official merchandise would soon arrive based on this adorable phenomenon – and now it has.
Ryan Penagos, Marvel”s executive editorial director of digital media, announced Friday via his Twitter account that Funko will release a “Dancing Groot” vinyl bobblehead – he called it the “first” official Dancing Groot toy, implying more may (likely) be on the way – as part of the company”s popular POP! line. This one may not be able to emulate all of Groot”s sweet moves, but it”ll have head-bobbing covered.
Further details – like when these actually will be available – haven”t yet been released, but Funko said to expect an announcement early next week, and that the Dancing Groots will be available in retail stores, not as an online exclusive. The POP! toys – which have encompassed a wide range of licenses from Marvel, DC Comics, “The Walking Dead,” “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad,” “Big Bang Theory” and more – are prevalent at both mass-market retailers and feature stores, so it may soon be difficult to escape Dancing Groots.
The Dancing Groot sequence has proven so popular online that Marvel beat pirates to the punch and released the clip on YouTube – where it”s gotten nearly 900,000 views as of press time.