I don't hate Funko Pops. There are lots of problems I had with the figure, especially since sometimes it just doesn't look good overall.
My cousin really hates them. She doesn't think the chibi design is well done. Unlike something like Hello Kitty which she bore no ill to, hell she even grew up with it being exposed to it during childhood, she hates Funko Pops in every fiber of her being.
I mentioned improvements in my first post of Funko Pops.
Here, I'll mention the price range.
Common Funko Pops are typically within the range of ten dollars. Certainly, they'll be some be fifteen or twenty or even running up to the expensive.
Compare that to anime figures which typically cost around fifteen dollars range with Nendoroids costing about seventy to eighty bucks. The most expensive figures are really valuable from the hundreds to the thousands.
Look, I get it, anime figurines are bloody expensive and would break the bank if you weren't careful. I was only lucky to get my Usopp figure for nine bucks. Hell, I donated loads of textbooks so I could have space to display my Gunpla and get a tax deduction.
Funko Pop is supposed to be the easiest collector's toy out there. As a rule and probably why Funko is popular:
- affordable - it's really cheap for a common one. This is one of the main appeals really. Unlike the anime figures which cost a bunch, this is inexpensive. If anybody wants to compete with them, they need to be a low-cost alternative which Funko unfortunately cornered. Not everybody will shell out a hundred for a figure. I know this, any anime figure collector knows this, the entire world knows this. Although getting Funko Pops will add up if you aren't careful... At least anime figure collectors understand they have to be careful. I'm pretty sure getting thousands of Funko Pops will head up to the thousands pretty quick.
- accessible - not every franchise will have a figure, especially for some obscure work or some work that doesn't demand a figure to be made. There could've been a better alternative than Funko Pops but in most people's minds, a Funko Pop figure which is the cheapest they could find for any figure that isn't vintage or cost a whole lot more.
- don't require that much care - pretty obvious. Whether you leave it out or not, at least you don't have to care that much for it. You can leave it on your shelf in the box. All you have to worry about dust on your shelf.
But its general quality doesn't hold a candle to even a gacha or a prize figure. And those are probably the cheapest I could think of. And the prize figures are given to winners of Ichiban Kuji or crane games.
I love Gunpla because aside from cleaning, it's therapeutic once I got into the rhythm. Now, unlike others who can complete theirs within twenty or thirty minutes, I took typically two to three hours if it's an easy one but two days - but when I calculate the hours, it would be half a day - to complete a relatively normal one. When I go at my own pace, especially since firstly I have to follow directions and see how much I can complete within a time frame, it's satisfying, especially when the final product looks decent.
Even when looking at my precious anime figures, it just gives me a sense of happiness. When my cousins see her Amiibo that she personally put on her desk so she can see it at all times, she's genuinely happy.
Now, Funko wouldn't make her happy. While there are sculpts that she can see is well and good, she just doesn't like the eyes. I'm pretty sure people would agree with her on the eyes that just seem to lose any light or joy. She especially hates the Pokemon Funko Pops and thinks some of the poses made it look like it's going to pounce on her or stare into her soul.
If Funko Pops make you happy, you do you. I honestly don't care about what you collect or like as long as Funko itself finds some way to sustain itself rather than pumping out pops every single day.
Look, I understand Funko is a business, a public one too. The point of their marketability is affordable and accessibility. But when does common becomes too common and when will oversaturation will become too oversaturated that people feel like they wouldn't be caught dead with one and it doesn't help the black expressionless eyes unnerve people...
Some pops do look good and those pops have to change radically from the pop template. That's what I prefer.
As much as I like the Zoro and Brook Funko Pops, I refuse to put a single Funko Pop on my shelf because I can't play with them or display them with the grandeur. Seriously, I can play with my Nendoroids but I can't play with a Funko Pop because it's too stationary.
*sighs*
The prices depended on the store and the pop's exclusiveness. It's a far more reasonable price. Which means it loses some of its collectability and rarity. There are Funko common for a reason.
No anime figure is the same as the other. They have their unique poses. I have seen many Luffy figures and none have I seen are the same as the other. Similar in poses certainly like the Gear poses but I never heard the complaints from the anime figure collecting community much. From what I seen of the Luffy Gear figures, they are small, large, expressions similar but different enough from each other because the figures are sculpted with care.
As for Funko Pops, due to its accessibility, it can be a curse and a blessing.
Not only is it everywhere. You can find the same figure twice in stores, sometimes just because the only difference can be as minuscule as holding something or a streak of color. The supposed difference is the sticker stamped on the box. Sometimes, they'll overlay with something like glitter or scent or metal. Yet it's the same figure. Lego Minifigs have more features than Funko pops!
Better yet, anime figures have the thrill of the hunt AKA rarity in the numbers sold. That means anime figure collectors can sell/resell their figures. There is a reason Good Smile re-release Nendoroids. I know the feeling, especially when seeking out figures. Even before I started collecting figures and Gunpla, I did like looking at the figures because they are unique regardless of price.
Even Amiibo gets this with the lowered number getting out.
Funko is having too many of the Commons, Flocks, Chases out there, getting rid of the thrill of the hunt. Now, I understand the selling in various shops but for the love of Mew, there is no fun in getting the figures if you can find it easily.
Please, I'm pretty sure the common folk can get a common which would lose its value pretty quickly because it's not unique.
A common is not going to worth much unlike a Flocked. You can literally pass a common off to a younger kid without any thought because it's that basic.
For better or for worse, anime figures' prices and their low numbers made figure collecting, especially since this type of collecting can be restrained due to the figures' prices.
Anime figure collecting does not force you to get every single figure regardless of price.
It means a certain allocation of which figures you want and if you truly want it. It means understanding what figures you want and if you are willing to shell out the money for it.
It means you must really like the figure.
Anime figures are only in anime shops or anime designated places such as thrift shops. Not every shop shares the same prices or the same figure. Akihabara is a goldmine of anime figures. There are exclusives to Ichiban Kuji, shops, etc. Gunpla is the same where there is Gunpla available only at Divers City. Because it's only sold in anime-related shops or in geeky spots, anime figures are highly sought after, especially given its high quality and uniqueness.
As for Funko, you can have the liking for the figure, yes. I won't dispute that.
However, because it's everywhere, it loses its collectibility quickly. It forced you technically into collectibility because it's often in series and lines. Especially if it's not the only line of Stan Lees, Deadpools, and Batmans out there. Seriously, if you are only collecting just one of the aforementioned three, Funko Pops pumps out more. And the only difference is something as small as holding something or just different clothes despite the same squatting beady-eyed figure.
If the serious collectors aren't getting it, then the common folk aren't getting it either.
The anime figure community is relatively niched. It's not like people can easily get it unless you want it. It's available through many means but you have to want to get it.
Funko Pops...
They are making mistakes and in a bubble that could kill or at least cripple them.
The anime figure collecting has not died down anytime soon nor had the Gunpla which had been going on since its conception. For Godoka's sake, nobody can dispute that Gunpla is something people can just snap build. And you don't have to collect every single one either.
The reason why anime figure collecting is so huge is that each figure is unique and there are various ways to get certain figures from claw machines to winning a fucking lottery. And when I say each figure is unique is not a joke.
It's not something as small as holding a detail that differentiates it. It's an entirely new pose and face and feature. There's a figure with squishy breasts for the love of Godoka.
As for Funko, you could collect what you want.
What you should be doing is being careful, especially if something might lose its value pretty quickly precisely because of shady business practices and the loss of the thrill of the hunt.
Funko Pops should not be everywhere. Just like anime figures are only in anime shops, Funko shops should only be designated in particular shops and low numbers so that their cost and rarity would actually count. That way, it would not lose its value quickly as soon as one jot down the number.
Funko must not continue doing this, not when their figures aren't typically unique from one other, too common that it loses its value, and don't require much care or creativity.
I understand Funko Pop is supposed to be the everyman's collectible. However, it's a double-edged sword.
Collecting is a niched hobby ranging from model ships to antique toys.
The difference is its rarity and uniqueness in its history and/or numbers. I'm pretty sure not everyone would have the figures I have and quite literally everyone who collects anime figures has different figures in their collection. It shouldn't be the same old pop just with different coloring. It should be just different enough so that it was worth buying and collecting.
Yes, I do love the details in certain Funko Pops. Zoro is the first to pop in my mind alongside Spider-Ham.
But I refuse to have a Funko among my collection. Regardless of its detail or sculpt, it's just too common when I have differences among my Gunpla and anime figures. Seriously as much as I love the detail on that Zoro Funko, I would rather have an actual anime figure of Zoro who looks cool.
It just wouldn't look good in my collection, especially given just how samey Funko figures ended up looking.
Funko, as a figure, has a problem right now, probably in a bubble that could burst sooner or later because of their business practices.
If Funko must survive, they have to change up their strategy.
Unlike anime figures or Gunpla which I recall never having been called a fad, Funko Pops are called a fad, whether it is by the people who dislike or just critical of it despite their love for it.
Regardless of your stance on Funko Pops, Funko would be in trouble if this short-term plan vanished.
Even Loungefly has a better chance of survival because they offer variation in their merchandise and I love them for it. Really, even looking through their catalog alone, I think Loungefly would still do well.
As for Funko, there's a probability the figures wouldn't even survive in the climate of figure collecting when it's just everywhere.
While I don't think Funko will fail completely, I do think the only reason it hasn't fallen off of relevancy is because of the IPs. The IPs will keep it relevant or at least be its mainstay, no matter how samey the figures ended up getting.
Seriously, the details on certain Funko Pops like the Zoro one I just mentioned have so many details go into it like the scars and the swords.
But as much as I like that Zoro Funko, I want an actual Zoro anime figure because I want my Zoro to look awesome. I love my Zoro to be that demon as much as I love him dorky.
I am not hating on Funko. Yes, I don't like Funko Pops on a variety of issues while my cousin truly hates it.
What I do want Funko and their fans are to worry about the business practices and why the figures just aren't unique with pumping out news and pop every freaking day without consideration of the space and money of the customers.
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