Dear god please no... I swear every time I go to the local toy shops, the pop section gets bigger and bigger. Pushing out the other toys.
Is it because Hasbro relaunched Mighty Muggs in 2018 and decided not to lease out their property to a competing company anymore?
To me they feel like the new beanie babies, but lazier. They are almost all the same basic shape/style. And like I said they keep overtaking the other toy sections in local shops here in Vegas. I swear the one store here in town will be nothing but pops one day at the current rate. And then there was Lastbyears SDCC. I wanted the Galactic Man shockwave. I stood in line for five hours and do you know what everyone else in that line was buying? Pops. Pops cost me five hours of my life while my wife roamed the vin and got everything she wanted within an hour. My wife has several, I think just to taunt me.
Funko Pops are the single worst excuse for a collectible since stamps. At least you can use the stamps if the need arises.
Yeah, I was wondering about that myself. I wasn't originally a fan of the Funko Pops, but then a friend got me the Godzilla one and then...problem. I DO like that I can have all of my favorite franchises represented in the same aesthetic. I do also like that they're getting more and more detailed, unlike the Mighty Muggs. I think those KidRobot/Dunny/Phunny things take the cake there.
Exactly! IM IN THE SAME BOAT I GOT THIS GIRL INTO TO STAR WARS AND SHE USED A DARTH VADER ONE TO GET ME INTO THEM!
I think they're great for things otherwise unmerchandisable. Nobody's going to pay for likenesses for action figures or much of anything really for the The Good Place or Community or most sitcoms or crime procedurals like The Blacklist. Likewise, there's a FAIRLY LIMITED market for things like ad mascots or The Disney Afternoon. If you want merch of something niche and not terribly action oriented that's no longer on the air nd which features actors whose faces are cost prohibitive for merch, Pops are ideal for that. Pops are also fairly logical to me for franchises which have a TON of characters and limited toy potential. The only way Pops from viable action franchises make sense to me is if you work a desk job and you can decorate a corner of your work area. If you're a college professor or whatever and you want to say, "I'm a geek" then Pops are a way to start that conversation with students and coworkers. I knew a psychiatrist once who had a big Pez Dispenser display of Star Trek characters for the same reason. My dad has a display of coffee thermoses as his office decor. Same idea. I mean, if you're making THE BIG MONEY and have a geeky office with building security then maybe an Infinity Gauntlet or Ghostbuster Neutron wand or PKE meter is tasteful decor. You'll be out a lot of money if somebody steals that at a low paying office job with virtually no building security though. Pops are a decent way to say, "I like toys and fun things but I also know this office could easily get robbed so I won't put anything valuable out." Except when Pops become super-valuable but then Pez Dispensers and Hummel figures and Precious Moments figures or whatever carry the same risk. Generally, though, it's a cheap display piece that's less FOR YOU and more for OTHER PEOPLE to see.
And that's on them. I have my share of Pops, but I think anything that doesn't transform is a terrible representation of a Transformer.
I like Pops. They have a certain charm to them. They're not for everyone, I get that, but we have Transformers and people don't understand it/us/our desires. We all have something.
Well the topic has more or less changed to whether or not you like Funkos as opposed to why we don't have my Transformers Funkos beyond the AOE set. Anyone know the answer? I'd rather them over the Loyal Subjects and Mighty Muggs stuff. As for Funkos themselves, I'm a fan. I like having the ability to collect a bunch of different franchises in a more uniform style. I've got a bunch of DC and horror movie characters while my wife has a bunch of Disney. And they all go together. It's fun and an easy way to collect.
No transform no buy, but I would probably buy a whole line of G1 styled Funko Pops. Missed opportunity.