Pawnee, Indiana. It’s the hub of all things Leslie Knope and Parks and Recreation, a.k.a. the most quotable television series to air in the history of ever. If you’ve been longing to reenact some of Leslie’s badass feminist statements or her adoration for breakfast food, or maybe Ron Swanson‘s timeless words of wisdom, Funko‘s here to help.
July will see the release of Pop! vinyl figures featuring Leslie, Ron, Andy Dwyer (two Andy Dwyers, actually, because Hot Topic will have a Bert Macklin exclusive), April Ludgate, and Li’l Sebastian. Those characters will help you make a fine start at filling your own Pawnee City Hall with antics and bizarre happenings. Take a look at the characters below and in the gallery.
But before we talk about how you can treat yoself to these Parks and Rec collectibles, we need to address an egregious oversight: This line-up features pretty much only white characters from the comedy. With the exception of April Ludgate (the character and actor Aubrey Plaza are half-Puerto Rican), this release of Parks and Recs toys features no people of color. We get a miniature horse and two versions of Andy, but no Ann Perkins, no Tom Haverford, and no Donna Meagle.
What. This is the kind of reaction they would get to being more inclusive.
All of those characters were integral to the show, and while Funko may not be able to create toys of everyone all at once, they should embrace diversity with their first showing. It’s especially jarring considering all examples of and jokes about racism in the actual series. Pawnee wasn’t so open minded in the past.
This is particularly disappointing on the heels of them finally making a Bodhi Rook character from Rogue One, but limiting its release to a Comic-Con exclusive.
What do you think about these Funko Pop! figures? Should they make a Perd Hapley figure? (Yes, is the answer.) Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Funko, NBC, Tumblr/Jay