I am not a collector's type. I would just pick out figures of what I like and don't care about what others have to say. I like my Gunpla and my figures. I like them because they present a good look and make me happy if my books don't give me a sense of joy.
For collectors, each toy must look good and have enough differences among them like say interchangeable parts like Nendoroids or paint primers like Gunplas or poses like scales. Hell, you can adjust the angle of the scale models to make it look great for display or photography. They have fucking incredible details on it that looks utterly fantastic. Gunplas have so many different models that it is great for collecting and building!
Yeah, I really like Figmas, Nendoroids, and Gunplas.
They seem to fit the title of a collectible because they allow poses and that you can fucking play with them in some form. Even scale models have enough of a splash that it makes an impression.
Yes, all of these need great care for it to continue to look good.
For my opinions of each, let's just start with the one I have mixed opinions about.
I don't hate Funko Pops. It's the eyes that stared into me with unholy eyes of an abomination. I like it when I have seen it in drawing and transition well enough into a figurine. See, Deadpool and Spider-Ham.
But even then, it's not enough for me to get even one Funko Pop.
Why don't Funko Pops allow some sculpture making competition in the same line as Banpresto World Figure Colosseum or Gunpla Builds World Cup?
It would be awesome!
I'm hard at work, trying to care for Gunplas and I know I am nowhere that motivated to participate in a worldwide tournament.
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| My very first figure! |
There are already bootlegs for Funko just like the figures I just named. It's nothing new. Heck, you allowed painting for a blank Funko Pop.
So why not have your own competition? You could sell the finalist figures as part of your collection. That's what Banpresto did. The Gunpla World Cup displayed the winners at Gundam Divers City.
Yes, it would motivate more bootlegging but at the same time, you could push for creativity and imagination.
Like, there's a thing called Wonder Festival. right? I'm pretty sure you should at least heard about it with people selling their own sculptures there without any risks of legality?
Yes, I am fully aware that the Banpresto allowed PVC, which in itself is a cheap product, and for Gunpla models, they, among other things, melt their old runners for new parts entirely.
And Funko is made entirely of plastic.
But it doesn't have to be made of plastic. Anything nonlethal is great like clay or even PVC itself. The competition could allow adjustable parts like joints or bobbleheads to be made. It doesn't have to stick with a single design of a plain Funko pop with blank eyes. It could have glistening eyes or more expressions. Not only would this be great for collecting, but it also required care. As long as you decide on a theme, you can do it. Gunpla World Cup doesn't have a theme nor does BWFC. BWFC actually has categories like DB and OP as categories to build from but there would be potential for more categories if something had made just as great as an impact as those two shounen mangas I just mentioned.
Even Legos have their own competitions!
Not only it would greatly help spread the name of Funko but it would be awesome to see creativity.
There are already bootlegs and people do order Funko in their own image and let's not forget Funko HQ has a built your own pop!
Make it much more than just collectible. Because at least I can play with mine and happily pose my figures that look beautiful.
Okay, fine, it's partly my frustration with Funko that I couldn't with them exactly.
I would like the top more if it had a more complete sculpture with the bottom.
There could be so much potential with a Funko...y'know acting like actual toys instead of taking up space. I kept my Gunpla and figure boxes because one of these days, I think I could pack them up and move somewhere.
Funko doesn't justify much collectibility. The template is literally the same. Yes, the Nendoroids have similar but at least it's interchangeable that I could dress up and pose my characters however I wish. It offered so much for that fact along you play with them.
Even for scale models, you can do so much with them, photograph them or display them in a way that looks visually marvelous.
As for Funko, it just sits there on the bookshelves or desk, not wanting to be played. If anything, Funko seemed to push collectibility over playing it. Heck, most people would list it as a toy. It's listed as one in Amazon!
Whether or not I start playing with even a single Funko, it wouldn't do a thing for Funko's pushing for collection over playability. From what I can find, only the common Funko are used as toys. I just want Funko to justify its status as a fucking toy. Even Arin Hanson called his figures in his office toys! Amiibo served more function than Funko and I can't get Amiibos because my cousins and I don't even know how to use it.
Look, I know people collect stuff that wasn't meant to be played like antique coins or stamps. But at least, those served a function of y'know display when cleaned up. Hell, stamps could be placed in a photo album and be shown off.
But Funko... nobody is playing with it. It's still plastic and plastic toys do exist. Gunpla is plastic after all. And even Gunpla allowed more playability with the posing!
Every now and then, other than cleaning up my figures every week, I adjust posing and I'm having fun with it. Heck, even I am happy to play with my Going Merry and Thousand Sunny.
Funko, I repeat, is something nobody is playing and the company is not helping that fact with their push for collection purposes than playing.
Which makes me wonder how the hell the Funko Pop movie would play out if it wants to be the Lego Movie?
Because Lord and Miller know the potential of Legos while playfully satirizing our society.
What is the appeal of Funko Pops? The eyes? The IPs? The sculpt? The design? The paint job? It's still a plastic toy, no matter how they try to posture it as some kind of collectible when it's actually not. There are customs that can be made and painted but it's still the template used.
Just what? I can name the appeals in Nendoroids, action figures, and anime figurines.
What is the motto of Funko Pop? Let me paraphrase, everyone is a fan of something.
Just... Ugh...
Yes, there is something for everybody with all your IPs. I only adore your Deadpool and Spider-Ham figs but do you see me going my way out to buy them? I'm pretty fine, seeing them in pictures just as the Perfect Grades of Gunplas which I would love but can't have. That's a bad analogy since I would love a Perfect Grade but having a Funko pop, even just one, even if it's something I like, is something I don't want on my bookshelves. I would feel awful, just placing it next to my anime figurines, books, manga, anime, doujinshi, Gunpla, and Grand Ship Collection. It just seemed to take up space when I can't do anything with the posing or make it look glamourous.
Funko, my issue with you is three things:
- Your fucking bead eyes, regardless of color or design. It doesn't have a reflection. Something there's no proper mouth when it's supposed to be a trademark smile or something! Sometimes, your figures don't look like it's should've been done that way. There is so little creativity with a little template and when you do make something marginally decent, you have to change your template just enough. Just do something different than just stick to the template and pumping it out! The point of a collection is having something different yet similar.
- Your figures can be too normal that would dissuade actual collectors because a collector wants something different for each thing they get. No matter how many stickers you stamped on a fucking box, no matter how many differences you managed to achieve from your template, it doesn't justify collecting. Nobody is collecting every anime figurine in the goddamn world and even they have far better restraint than you do.
- No playability! As a toy, that's dismaying. You push collection above playing when even Amazon listed it as a toy! I play with my Gunpla and most of those time, I spent those for posing for a great look on my desk! Just make me cry because this isn't a toy that is supposed to be used!
Speaking of which, you really aren't going to get the IP of Glee, aren't you? Because I don't think you will because the general opinion of Glee exempting fans is pretty bad. Gleeks, I don't think you would get your own Funko pop of Sue.
Look, I can't tell the future of whether or not this Funko Pop is a fad or not.
It's difficult to say because our current world is rather cynical and of course would believe the worst of our situation. We can't tell the future.
If Funko has only a few years left of this popularity, I don't know. I don't care to know because I'm not likely to collect Funko any time in the future or even just buying one.
Nendoroids have been around since 2006 and if anything, its popularity had only grown due to its incredible playability and posing in its chibi form.
I don't hate Funko Pops. I will only get Nendoroids, Scales, Prize, Gashapon, etc figures that are actually different and playability!
Hell, I don't even have to worry about collecting pieces when everybody in the anime figure community collects what they like and show them off rather than y'know not having something too stationary and doesn't look good.
My cousin, again a gamer, is an Amiibo collector, specifically of the Fire Emblem series. She only has five but she loves them, particularly two that she puts on the desk. There is nothing wrong with her collecting Fire Emblem figures since she's a major fan of it.
I don't want Funko on my shelves but I won't dissuade others for doing what they love and in this case, collecting their favorites. People like stuff that they would have in a collection such as movies. So it's nothing new. It's something people loved and if something they need to take off such as dusting and cleaning respective products for longlasting display.
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