Funko is a nerds best friend
/Aside from comics, I have a few collections. My biggest definitely has to be my collection of Funko Pops. For those who doesn’t know, Funko is a company that makes collectible figures and other such toys. Their motto is “Everyone is a fan of something,” so they have a very broad selection, especially in pops.
Nothing is off limits for pops. Cartoons, movies, comics, anime, video games, even real-life people. You name it, odds are there’s a pop of it. Seeing as I’m a fan of many things, I have many pops.
The pops themselves are fairly basic: little chibi-like figures with little beady eyes. Nothing fancy, but they’re so simple that maybe that’s part of the appeal. That simple design allows anything or anyone to be adapted into one. Plus, there are variants for even more variety.
I didn’t think too much of them at first, but then I bought La Muerte and Xibalba from The Book of Life at a con, and the rest was history.
the ones that started it all
It’s honestly impressive how big Funko has gotten, especially the pops.
At the time of writing this, I have…
and it keeps getting bigger every time I go to comiccon!
…a lot.
Cough understatement cough!
And I guarantee there’re plenty more on my wish list! I’ve been thinking of getting Ickis from Aaahh Real Monsters. Of course I’ll have to wait till November’s ComicCon since he’s harder to find, being a retired pop…
…which brings me to the downsides of collecting Pops, or anything really.
Price and availability.
(BOOOOOO!)
Yeah, yeah, I hate those too.
First, price. I should probably mention first how much pops go for. On average they’re about $14, keyword average. Some places charge differently. For example, Hot Topic tends to charge more (shocker) while EB Games charges less, and that’s just for regulars. Like I said, there are too many variants of too many characters to count, and some are exclusive to certain retailers. So, not surprisingly, they usually jack up the price for these.
Second, availability. Ignoring the exclusives for a bit, pops do eventually, as Toys on Fire puts it, “retire.” Simply put, after some time they stop making certain pops. Why? I have no idea. Maybe to focus on the production of new ones? Of course, once they’re retired, they become harder to find. On top of that, the rarer they become, the more both vendors and online shops will charge for them.
Which brings us back to price, joy.
Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. Around the time I began my collection the Regular Show pops had been discontinued for a while, but I still wanted to get Mordecai and Rigby.
You see where this is going.
The webpage I used had only about two Mordecais left for about $80 each. The problem was that it was an American site so, on top of the initial price and shipping fees, there was an exchange rate that brought the pop to around $100 Canadian.
And if that wasn’t enough, I screwed up my shipping information and they charged me to reship it. So now this little pop is one of the most expensive things I own.
I have a limited edition teen titans beast boy statue that cost less than this! (granted, the statue was on sale.)
I should point out Funko does more than pops. They have other products like Mystery Minis, Dorbz, and plushies. These plushies vary, but the main brand seems to be Supercutes which I kind of binge bought this summer. What can I say, they live up to their name.
they’re so cute! aaaaaaahhhhhh!
Like I said, Funko is like a paradise for any and all fans. Their selection and talent for making their products continue to grow, which promises a lot of good things to come in the future. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to continue waiting impatiently for that new Hot Topic exclusive Invader Zim pop.
You will be mine, Zim!
(And your Tallest too…IF THEY EVER MAKE THEM!)
Alanna Larabie
Alanna Larabie is a student in the Professional Writing program. She also has a diploma in General Arts and Science and a certificate in Pre-Animation.
