Prices are often a sore point for figure collectors.
For a normal person, affordable is all it's at. They are willing to spend ten dollars per figure if possible. That's what is often the cut-off pricing is at for a normal person.
Yes, people are willing to get more. Which is why with Funko's cheapness, it adds up to a pretty big collection.
For a diehard, the price can be meaningless. I know diehard Disney Parks fans are willing to shell out a lot of money for the best experiences, even when it's clear Disney is increasing prices every freaking year. While most people either downgrade or chose not to renew their AP, it doesn't change people still want AP because they love the parks just that much. I know this because my brother and probably cousin recently got a Flexpass AP.
Major collectors out there are willing to shell out to some extent to get what they want in their collection. It doesn't matter what you collect as you collect just something. How to consider it a collectible, it had been rare, significant historically, unique, and not sold everywhere that everyone can have it.
I harp a lot about Funko's false collectibility, but I won't deny what made others feel joy. Nobody should deny what others love. People should embrace the cheesiness and love, rather than hate on others simply because they love and would defend their passion for it. People are allowed to dislike and like something, but nobody deserves hate just for disliking and liking something. In a climate, where Americans don't seem to embrace the cheesiness and embrace subversion and deconstruction, people who loves something to go as far as getting a figure of it. Seriously, why can't people love something, cheesiness and all, without pushing it away just because they're 'grownup' now? Yes, you can seek out subversion and deconstruction but it shouldn't be the only thing. It's great to see people embrace their loves wholeheartedly but it's another to say that just because it's cheesy doesn't make it bad. Cheesiness never equals bad and should never be.
People are willing to shell out money for what they love. Given the 80/20 rule...
80% will spend money on casual things like affordable things to a somewhat reasonable degree. 20% will buy what they love, similarly to the other percentage, but will have more merchandise.
Let's get this out of the way.
Figure collecting is not cheap.
If you are a diehard or casual, figures are not cheap in price. In fact, it can get fairly steep. Anybody who is mildly interested in figure collecting or just getting some figures to know that they have to choose.
Depending on the company, the figure they're selling can be god knows what.
For a lack of a better price range, let's compare with Funko.
Funko cost ten dollars commonly. They can throw an extra five or ten in there for good measure if it's a special pop like an exclusive or specially made like Chrome.
This is why people like Funko. It's affordable and offers a wide range of IPs that kept it relevant.
Anime figures are exactly that. Anime figures. Yes, they can have video games and comic books. But for the sake of simplicity, let's just stick with anime figures.
Prize figures and trading figures, especially of the gasha variety, are priced affordably. Preorders tend to be around twenty to thirty dollars area.
That's worth about two to three Funko pops.
That's somewhat reasonable. Since even the eighty percent probably will choose that. A figure for three Funko pops is okay. It's not too hard-hitting like the next category.
Figures that cost around the thirty up to seventy or eighty bucks at best.
Thirty dollars is around a reasonable range for most people. Hell, my cut-off range is 40 dollars per figure and that's because I know I won't collect that many. And I still tend to choose the mid 30 dollar range. Upwards of that and I refuse to buy it. Yes, I will cry when I see a figure I truly love to have but it's just too much.
This would mostly comprise of what most figures people would see of anime figures. Prize figures would still be among them but if you know which is which, then you will know.
The common ones you see in this area is the Nendoroids and Figmas. Some statues too like SH Figuarts are commonly in the higher range. Looking as a Funko, it's probably three to seven pops.
Here, it's a gray area. People will spend at least thirty dollars or so for a figure. Hell, they are willing to spend for a twenty-something merch.
This just depends. It costs way too much for the common people. While some may try to get it, it's still too much for most people.
Again, most people won't try to shell out for a figure that costs a decent chunk of seventy bucks.
But that's not compared to figures that cost in the hundreds.
I won't shell out that much. I cry whenever I see I truly love to see in my collection but it just too much.
Here, the most expensive figures are the best of the bunch. In the quality that it deemed the price range.
It's relatively high-end. It's costly and would put a dent in your bank.
Some people might pay around the hundreds if they pool together money with a relative or significant other. My brother and his girlfriend are doing this for Disneyland AP Flexpass. At least, that's what I heard because I know they pool together to get the damn 200 dollars lightsaber experience. My brother's girlfriend confirmed it herself.
Compared to a figure that might cost around a thousand or more... I'm pretty sure most people would take their chances of buying a figure that cost seventy. I'm one of them since I'm pretty sure I'll see the price tag first before seeing the figure. Like just seeing the figure, hmming about the look of the figure, see the price, gawk at it, and move on.
Most people won't shell out that money. Only the diehards of diehards will shell out that much! And because of this price, they might be rare as fuck.
Listen, I would love the Thanatos figure about to be released next year and unlike the Veneziano figure I'm getting, I draw the line of spending nearly two hundred something for a figure. Even a Perfect Grade is a heck-no no matter how much I would love one.
People want a good deal. I got my first figure for eight to nine dollars so I'm satisfied. While I am getting three preorders - does a Re-ment count as a figure? -, it's not too costly unlike say the 200-something figure of Stars Bless You Sakura Kinomoto figure or Thanatos DX. While it could cause a dent, it's not as much as I would get a two hundred something figure individually.
This is why Funko pops is the popular choice for the common people. Most people would have at least a ten to thirty-something dollars than say a hundred for a figure that would cost little. A good deal is all it's at.
This is why Nakano Broadway and other stores are often recommended for those who wanted cheap nerdy stuff in Japan. Akiba for locals is often called a rip-off. Again, when you're on vacation and you seriously wanted a souvenir, especially from a place you wanted to visit a long-ass time, would you blow money there too? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get an extra suitcase
Let's look at it from a Switch example.
The Switch is hugely popular in America. It's almost a given that people would be shocked you don't have a Switch in your family at the very least. My cousin and her fiance have two Switches in their possession.
People are willing to buy games. Games are around the thirty to sixty upwards variety. And people are somewhat willing to pay. Casual gamers may not go that far but they would prefer good games.
Japanese and Korean products are hugely popular. For a diehard BTS fan, they would rather spend money on concert tickets or merch, preferably the former, than say a bloody plastic surgery to look like their idol...and not even looking close, look more like a poor Jeffree Star knockoff.
People are willing to spend money on what they love. If they aren't collecting figures, they're getting games at either good deals or buying full price.
You could compare figure buying to other prices. While most people want to get games than figures, it doesn't mean people don't want figures. Funko pops are still hugely popular. Japan probably never understood it, especially when they're used to Sofubi and other garage kits. Compared that to Funko pops, I don't think Japan would see the value in Funko pops, especially when WonderFest is incredibly popular. Funkos are still being sold in Japan but Japan is used to quality and better designed than this. Just look at Funko partnering with the Pokemon Center to produce A Day with Pikachu figures which turned out to be quite popular.
People are willing to spend at thirty or so dollars at the very least. Not everyone wants to shell out a hundred for a figure.
While this started as a figure discussion, it boiled straight to other markets.
I'm sure that regardless of whether or not people are willing to pay full price or not, people just want a good deal.
A comic book that costs four dollars a pop with just one story that isn't even complete yet wouldn't compare to a Funko pop or hell a video game. Even an anime figure that costs around the mid-thirty dollar range is worth better than that.
Figure shopping is costly.
Figure manufacturing companies still provide wares of the affordable variety. They have to, especially when not everyone would shell out that much money for them. Preorders are around the twenty dollar range for prize figures generally.
While it is still around the lower end of thirty dollars, Good Smile Company is releasing a new line called Pop Up Parade. Quantum Mechanix released the Q-Figs with around the twenty dollar price tag.
And those are the affordable ones I can name at the top of my head.
A prize figure is the cheapest regular sized figure you could find if you want a figure. While in America, it's sold in retail for thirty dollars generally.
I mean, compared to a Funko pop which is sold at ten and an Amiibo sold at fifteen, it's a lot more but if you know what you want, then you could get it.
The ones I could name at the top of my head that is incredibly expensive would be Kotobukiya, Good Smile, Megahouse, and so forth. Seriously, I would love to have a GEM figure of Ash and Misty.
Those are the ones that people would complain about, price-wise. They are willing to pay at least thirty for not so much for a figure that could be around seventy.
I don't want to harp on anybody willing to shell out that much. They can spend however they like.
It can get difficult. Especially when you're spoiled with choice. Anime Figures does have choices you can choose from even if it's not an extensive list like Funko.
There are many good figures you can get out there. Entire stores are lined up entirely for figures you can pick in Japan.
Regardless of price, anime figures are various and unique to your own taste.
While I have a major preference for Banpresto and Nendoroids, I don't mind Kotobukiya and others. I would like to have them if I can find a figure I truly like and would have in my collection.
Each company offered something distinct and they try to do something different while keeping true to the character they are putting in figure form.
Funko pop offered both stylization chibi and a variety of IPs I don't think Kotobukiya or Banpresto have. I don't think Kotobukiya has Twin Peaks as something they can make.
By measuring things by Funko pops, since Funko pops is something people are willing to buy, a figure might be two to seven Funko pop in one. So one big figure or a figure that cost two Funko pops vs exactly two up to seven pops... Which do you choose?
It's approximately the same thing. With Funko pops, you would have a lot while for anime figures, it's a figure for the price of several pops.
It depends on what you choose.
For example, my cousin focuses primarily on Fire Emblem Amiibo while wanting Joker and Cloud Player 2 Amiibos. She does want other characters besides FE but she wants the characters she's interested in Amiibo forms. She isn't willing to pay 15-16 dollars but only if it's a 'damn the price' moment...
Now while I do have a variety to choose from. I don't want to list them here since there will be many. I just had a hard time picking and choosing what I like since you are basically spoiled for choice from many lines available. While I do focus on certain series over others, that doesn't mean I won't look at other figures and what they have to offer.
Now those are what I focus on, as for figure designs, I choose designs that just make me happy. Just looking at it makes me smile.
I choose figures that brighten my day, something that had my heart in an instant, something that makes me happy just looking at it. When I feel down, just looking at me calms me.
As a rule, I am not planning to get a roomful. While I do like scales and statues, I need to find space for them and I don't. I would love to display at their full capacity, but I don't. At best, I just hope to display the figures I have now without worry.
Figures aren't the only thing that is in this price range. Most figures are in this including companies not in Japan. Again, these companies do have relatively budget-friendly wares you can choose from.
Even Loungefly, which has lots of seventy dollars wares, has more affordable stuff. And their stuff sold in the Disney parks is not the fun kind of money you want to shell out. You can find more affordable prices at the Disney Warehouse Outlet.
If you consider these stuff in Funko pop numbers (and I don't mean the numbering on the box), then it should be better. If people are willing to buy at least a shelf full of them, even those within a budget of a college or high school student, then the measurement should be easier.
Seriously, people kept saying Funko is the more affordable choice for figures. If people are saying that, measuring the price of actual anime figures to the price of Funko pops usually is. In America, they typically cost ten dollars with the exclusives and 'specials' (referring to Chrome for example) so if you want a figure that costs thirty, it's three Funko pops.
I don't want to force anybody to spend money on a figure they don't want. All I want them is to know where they are willing to spend and to give a barometer on how much people are willing to spend.
At this moment in time, people are willing to spend things on what they like. Heck, my brother bought with his friend, a giant Iron Man Miniso plushie, that my brother was the one who kept it. Considering that he gave it a name just like how we often do with our plushes, I don't think he is willing to let things go.
Hell, I preordered a Re-ment Kid perfume bottle, a Sabo OP Mania Produce prize figure, and the Nendoroid Italy Veneziano/Feliciano. I'm not looking at any new figures beyond sighing at the Hetalia Nendos.
People are willing to spend, even preordering stuff. People already preordered games around sixty and statues around 200 bucks and buying exclusives at conventions. People are willing to spend for what they love. It's no different for figure shopping.
If people are willing to spend a bunch on Marvel Funko pops and I do mean there are many to choose from, then they should have no problem having a figure that cost thirty bucks.
Just that they have to eliminate Funko pops and exchange that for a figure that costs the same amount but in one figure instead of multiple.
Again, think of it at Funko pop prices and it should be easier because people are willing to spend on Funko pops. The casuals would spend money on Funko pops since you are more likely to find those than a Q-fig or a prize figure. Seriously in stores I find, there are more often prize figures sold for thirty. And that's not how it is in Japan where prize figures are sold for the relatively cheap, cheaper than their counterparts anyway.
Considering a run-off-the-mill good bowl of pork katsu on rice would sell much cheaper in Japan than in America, I don't hold out much breath considering relatively foreign stuff would sell for a much larger price.
When some people say that anti-Funko pops are elitism, they should think again. Funko may be the more affordable choice, especially if you want more figures in your collection but that is not what people are saying. Most anti-Funko pops are usually about the quality and the horrors of the eyes than anything else. Seriously, James of TRO hates Funko pops and you think he's elitist for saying he loathes the lifeless eyes?
No, since people are willing to buy Funko pops and likely over anime figures or Loungefly which in the most expensive case could go for seventy to hundreds, then whatever they're buying should compute up in whatever they can think of as long as they know what they are doing.
Just to get this out of the way, these figure manufacturing companies do sell other stuff.
They have to, especially when people do want to buy their stuff at an affordable price range.
Funko does this. Aside from keychains and apparel, you find they also have other subsidiaries like Loungefly which is really popular with the ladies.
Good Smile Company does this. While Nendoroids is their most popular item - hell, I would love to have the entire Hetalia Nendo in my collection -, they are well aware they need to have affordable stuff. There are keychains, lines that are in the affordable range, and other stuff like that.
Quantum Mechanix sold affordable figures at 20 bucks called Q-Figs.
To not sell affordable wares especially to a consumer base who might not want to buy a hundred-dollar figure is unreasonable. Seriously, I would not likely buy a crazy expensive figure but prize figures are a go for a lot of people. If there are any anime figures people could get, it's often a prize figure. Even a preorder for a prize figure only goes up to twenty, thirty at the worst. In Japan, you could get a gasha figure for only a hundred or so yen AKA one to three dollars.
They need to spread their consumer base.
Again, if people are willing to buy Funko pops, then they can compute the prices vs what they want.
Because seriously, how else I'm going to tackle the problem of prices when Funko enjoyed a decade of success so far?
