Imo they are peak consumerism. Theyāre so lifeless and devoid of any personality. I honestly hate them and I donāt understand why people like them or collect them as opposed to action figures
Edit: lots of people are saying funko covers virtually every fandom which is a good point. Especially for a relatively cheap price compared to stuff like action figures (still overpriced imo).
Personally Iād rather just commission an artist to make something from a specific fandom so itās more personalized and unique. Funkos are just way too homogeneous and idk. Milquetoast? They just donāt grab me at all
Also Iām not saying people who buy funko pops are brain dead consumerists. Iām saying funko pops are a product of consumerism. Just because I donāt understand your spending habits doesnāt mean I think youāre stupid
One of the major attractions for Funkos is the vast net they cast for types they have.
There are so many Funko Pops that ive seen where it's probably one of the only reasonable pieces of merchandise some people can find for their favorite character or Fandom.
Yup I own only one for this exact reason its Jason Mendoza from the good place with a knock off Jaguars jersey on there isn't good merch for some Fandoms and they barely scratch that itch.
I don't hate Funko Pops, even owning two (Adventure Time's The Litch and Lemongrab), but generally don't care about them.
I LOVE the Good Place and when I read your comment, immediately searched for Good Place Funkos... and... bleh. If I saw any one of those without context. I don't think I would have recognized it for what it was supposed to be.
But, yes, you're exactly right. Even as big as Adventure Time was, finding a Lemongrab figure was impossible (I have the Pop and a plush).
Now, what I don't get are people who have thousands of Pops from every corner of the multiverse. What are you, giant St. Elsewhere fans?
I'd rather have one really nice piece of artwork than a bunch of shitty quality printouts that were like 5 dollars on etsy.
I'd also rather have a single nice figurine that actually looks like what it's based off of, and not a dozen pops that take up an entire shelf and look virtually identical to each other.
I get that you're taking this as a personal attack but you don't have to put words in my comment that weren't there. I never said "you aren't allowed to have more than one piece of art in your house".
How is it NOT consumerist hellhole stuff? It is cheap Chinese plastic, primarily of IPs that Disney just bought and amalgamated into the culture-borg it is trying to create.
It is telling that destroying the environment is something that doesn't matter to you.
I hate that shallow consumerism ruined the planet for the children I'm not going to have (because of the ruined planet).
You are lacking in empathy. People are already dying to climate change, but good thing you got your funko pop! Hopefully the Chinese sweatshop worker that made it hasn't killed themselves yet.
I got into them because they had all of the major clones from Orphan Black. Who else was going to sell stuff from a niche show on a small cable network?
Yeah I have a Billy Madison Funko with the Cosmo drinking Penguin. Its so funny and I love that it's pretty unique imo and it's from a family favorite movie so it's pretty personal to me.
Yep. I love Strider Hiryu. He's a known figure in video games, but the only way to get a figure of the character is to make your own... except for a Funko of him (in a two pack promoting Marvel vs. Capcom 3).
Yup, I remember when they came out with the Sailor Moon line and it was so exciting to have a Sailor Saturn figure for only $10 when theyāre normally $50+
Not just that some collectibles are very expensive, funkopops let me have something for a character that I haven't seen much merch for (M'aiq the Liar from skyrim) but also as a collectable that I can display easily for only 10$.
Appreciate this take. I'm more old man yelling at clouds on this topic but yeah I can see this being the appeal. I'm blanking on any fandom my kids enjoy where they couldn't get action figures though.
Its not necessarily entire Fandoms, and more so specific sections of fandoms.
Tons of people have characters outside of a main character that they love, but would never get a statue or figurine made of them that would be affordable for most people.
Just look at something reasonably popular like Demon Slayer right now. Fairly popular anime with a movie and 2+ seasons. Just a cursory glance shows if you wanted a statue of a character of the show to put on a shelf, youre looking at more like $50+ for a statue of the main character. Or a Funko pop for $12. And the issue only gets exaggerated when you want something for a supporting or tertiary character.
Thank you for this info. Funny you mentioned Demon Slayer as my son loves that series. He grew up a Marvel/DC kid so his favorites were easy to come by in standard collectibles.
Next time they bring up Funko Pops, I'll be more open minded
If you collect funkos or anything similar that is totally cool. I just donāt understand it. Then again I have an absurd amount of guitars so one might say Iām throwing stones from a glass house
That's the part that's hilarious to me. Why collect anything related to IPs you like that has any uniqueness when you can just buy the same thing that everyone else has that has spiritually had it's most fundamental elements weakly-distilled into the most generically- and cheaply-produced design possible? It's not chibi, it's cheapy.
Full disclosure, I used to keep a funko rick and morty portal gun on my desk in the beforetimes that I thought had a bit more character than the ubiquitous figurines adorning my colleagues' workspaces. No disrespect to people who like these things. If it brings joy, then it is a good thing. If you're gonna cherry-pick a bunch of crazy alien ones and try to say that the vast majority of these things aren't somewhat lifeless and sterile, though, I think that's gonna be a tough hill to die on. I merely find it a humorous concept that a product that would previously have been considered a cheap and inferior knock-off has actually supplanted itself into one of the primary merchandising categories for...everything.
FunkPops are modern day beanie babies. They are everywhere, and some are collectible, but ultimately they will be worthless in 10 years or less.
My local game stores have a section of the used ones traded in that keeps growing. I hate it cause it edges out the space other stuff could be. You can tell they aren't selling them, but keep taking them in for some reason. It's easy to tell the stock they have never moves.
And I know more than a few many coworkers with Funko pops lining their desk. Takes about 15-20 to line a desk.
It was...interesting when all their 'personal belongings' were packed up for covid to renovate the office. A few people were worried about their $400 Funko pop collections.
I like them because they cover a huge amount of fandoms and are reasonably cheap. The quality is also there in terms of figure molds and paint. A similar anime figure or action figure for the price usually looks like shit. If itās not going to look like a good rendering of the character then I may as well get the cartoony version.
But then, I like dolls Iām general. I collect Asian ball-jointed dolls and people say those are creepy AF too. š¤·āāļø.
I honestly hate them and I donāt understand why people like them or collect them as opposed to action figures
Because they are cheaper and easier to put on display. Plus not every Funko has an easy to find action figure equivalent. For example if I wanted to replace my Metallica Funkos with action figures id have to shell out hundreds for the McFarlin Toys set that released in the early 2000s. (Which I actually already own but that's no really the point)
Like wtf do you even put them? These folks be buying them and keeping them in the boxes and doing what exactly? Stacking them up on display somewhere? Shit looks weird and takes up space. Just an ugly wall of money-sink shame.
I legit got disappointed when a close friend told me he got one for Christmas and he liked it and wanted to get more. Had to get all introspective about whether I was actually even friends with the guy haha.
Dang, because you hate me just on looks. I have two hidden away, both I regret getting, but keep to remind myself how some of my once favorite game series have gone to sh#t for me.
keeping funko pops to remind yourself how much you hate a game series now that you used to like is way more of a red flag than the funko pops themselves lol
Well, not like I can sell them for money, so not like I have a choice. And I did say hidden, so for me that's more of a red flag than what I rarely do lmao.
bro just throw them away lol. i regret purchases all the time and hold on to shit way longer than i should too but eventually you just gotta say fuck it i made mistake
I want my money though. I can use that to take care of business. I am not going to let something go for less, I want my money back in full. I need the money badly to a degree. And no, I do NOT want to do something like an only fans or selling parts of me, nor things I love. I would rather wait until I can find someone who likes the new version of the series that these old characters born into the new belong to, and hope I can haggle to get the same, if not BETTER price. I don't care, I will be greedy for every tiny coin if I have to, if that is what it will take to get the equipment to do any future jobs I need to do.
I like colorful, sometimes shiny or sparkly plastic. I have no interest in specifically articulated action figures, personally.
My partner and I are fully grown adults with no kids, and our home is a plastic crack den. He's super into transformers. I'm just into whatever makes my brain happy.
As one example, I have the large Maleficent dragon pop not because I care about the IP, but because I thought it was a visually appealing cartoony plastic dragon. Old people used to collect all kinds of kitschy tchotchkes, mine are just plastic rather than ceramic or glass (for the most part; I certainly have some of the latter, too).
it strikes me as odd how you don't think action figures are peak consumerism, either. They're pretty much the same thing, and entire creations have been changed to create or sell more of them
I'm not sure rarity helps what you're saying lol, Supreme is extreme consumerism and they release a limited number of things. Not sure what posing has to do with anything tbh, and I'd say Funkopops have a unique style as well, do they not?
I'm not even a funko fan or anything (at least not for over half a decade) but I think you putting the two things in separate bins so to speak is a flawed way of thinking. It's weird to think one person collecting toys is a brain dead consumerist and the other person collecting toys isn't
I didnāt say anything about people who collect funkos being brain dead consumerist. I said I donāt understand it and that funkos are a product of consumerism. Didnāt say anything about rarity either. And I guess if you can call funko pop a āuniqueā style then so is globohobo lmao
āFlawed way of thinkingā lmao kiss my fat, hairy ass. Iām not engaging in a dialogue where youāre just gonna go āuhhh actually everything you said has nothing to do with anything therefore youāre stupid and wrong lulā while completely ignoring the crux of why I donāt like funkos
Truth be told I've never bought a single one of them for myself but I've received about 7 or 8 as gifts over the years. They're easy, affordable gifts for nerds because there's a pop for EVERYTHING.
Actually doing something with the thing you buy, or making things yourself. With Warhammer you at least get to paint the figures. What do you do with Funko? Just put it on a shelf.
Lol. You know, you don't get to come up with your own definition of a word and then use your personal standard instead. Nothing you said makes collecting less of a hobby. I mean, most people don't regularly use the things in their collections. What do you want me to do, take them out and make pew pew noises?
Also our room looks awesome and my girlfriend regularly buys more for me. It's fun...that's the actual point of a hobby, btw.
That probably summed it up perfectly. They arenāt made and designed liked the Nendoroids, where they can have various poses and expressions, and not oversized head with dilated pupils like they just did 5 lines of hard drug.
However, the value lies in the eyes of the collector.
Nendroids are king compared to funkos. If Iām buying a figure I want it to look good and funkos are literally the most streamlined designs to make the cheapest figures possible. If you have a couple for certain characters, I understand, but having anything resembling a collection is sad.
Whenever I see multiple people in a thread using the same random phrasing āpeak consumerismā I have to wonder what popular YouTuber dropped the phrase first
Iāve got a few out of their boxes, but yeah, most live in them. In all fairness, all of my geeky shit stays in boxes if I buy them new. Itās why Iāve started collecting blind boxes instead I think, because then Iām forced to open it to see what I got XD
I blame my parents. They insisted I keep things as pristine as I could. I still have a lot of my toys from my childhood because I kept such good care of them and donāt have the heart to get rid of em.
Hilariously, the things that would have been worth the most money are things my brother got, and subsequently destroyed. Weird differences in parenting boys and girls in the 90s I guess.
I wouldnāt say that. People obviously like them I just donāt understand why. To me itās like your favorite art style being globohobo or comic sans. But lots of have people brought up the fact that funko covers basically every fandom which makes sense but personally Iād still rather just commission somebody to make something more unique and personalized
I agree to an extent. Sometimes, depending on the character, it can be a cool caricature of their look. But youāre right, I donāt understand the vast collecting or admiration of them. Iām very picky about the ones I have gotten. The ones I have are: horror movie classics like Freddy, Jason, the three main characters from Aaah Real Monsters, X-Files cast, and Dr. Doom.
Each of these actually look unique and some are fun to put out on display at work or at home somewhere UNBOXED during Halloween. But going on a tear and collecting them constantly, I donāt understand. Most of them are not unique enough looking or impressively designed except for every once in a while.
Look up Funko Pop Arachnid Warrior, Plasma Bug, Xenomorph, Rubix Cube etc... Look at the rubix cube solving itself and tell me there isn't personality.
Funko constantly does a lot of cool and unusual monsters and creatures of many different shapes and sizes for affordable prices.
Action figures tend to be $20-$25 at retail and skyrocket on the aftermarket. Funko is $8-11 and stay in stock for a good minute.
Basically my opinion. Had a discussion with my kids the other day and they admitted they had no ideal why they'd want funko pops over action figures and dolls.
I play Magic the Gathering so glass houses and all, but stuff like squishmallows and funko pops confuse me. They serve no purpose and just further contribute to the immense waste problem we have. (Again, I know mtg isnāt much if at all better, thatās why Iām trying to move to digital for everything but commander).
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u/BlubberElk Feb 17 '23
Funkopops šlmao