"Friends" fans couldn't be more excited about the release of Funko's Pop! Vinyl line starring all six "Friends" characters, but the figurine of Joey Tribbiani caught one "friend" totally off guard.
"That's me?" Matt LeBlanc remarked when Headlines & Global News exclusively gave him his first look at the pint-sized Joey at the Television Critics Association's CBS/Showtime event on Aug. 10. "Does that look like me?"
The figurine floored LeBlanc who tried to gain official clarification of the toy with a Showtime representative who once worked for Warner Bros., the company that owns the "Friends" franchise.
"This is coming out," he showed the rep. "Phil, were you involved in this?"
The Golden Globe winner played Joey for all 10 seasons of the NBC comedy (and for two seasons on the "Friends" spinoff "Joey"). He now stars on the Showtime series "Episodes."
"Friends" joins a long line of hit TV shows including "Game of Thrones," "The Walking Dead" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that Funko Pop! Vinyl has turned into popular figures.
"It was one of those things where all of us watched the show and knew it very well," Funko VP of creative Ben Butcher told Entertainment Weekly. "It was just a matter of stepping back and [saying], "If you're not thinking about the show and you're walking by the shelf, what's going to make you go, 'Oh my God, that's Chandler!"
The Joey character is carrying the duck while the Chandler Bing figure has the chick in hand. Ross Gellar has his pet monkey, Marcel, and Phoebe Buffet is playing her signature guitar. Rachel Green is dressed in her Central Perk uniform and Monica Gellar wears her chef outfit.
Funko Pop! will release all six vinyl "Friends" characters this fall.
