Funko pops - How are they still a thing?

[melty]

It's a good question, as a survivor of the beanie baby craze they just started to seem... dated after awhile. The appeal faded.
I think funkos will eventually die, but they certainly seem to be sticking around longer than one would think. I wonder if the internet community is part of it. Even if all your friends stop collecting them, there is a big community of enablers online at all times.

 

[jje100010001]

It's a good question, as a survivor of the beanie baby craze they just started to seem... dated after awhile. The appeal faded.
I think funkos will eventually die, but they certainly seem to be sticking around longer than one would think. I wonder if the internet community is part of it. Even if all your friends stop collecting them, there is a big community of enablers online at all times.

The thing is that I think that Funkos have a mutualistic relationship with modern pop culture. Everytime a new piece of media comes out for the consoomers, there'll be a relatively affordable Funko for it, usually marketed alongside said media. And on top of that, there's 70+ years of pop culture history for Funkos to mine through for those really obscure figures.

So for the die-hard fan, you accumulate Funkos because you want more of the media you like, not just because you like Funkos. You'll see most people choosing the Funkos that focus on the media they like, instead of blindly collecting them all- at least that's my interpretation of it.

Beyond that, I think everyone in this thread has already pointed out how ugly and cheap looking they are. $500 anime figures they are not.

 

[FruitFighter]

Beyond that, I think everyone in this thread has already pointed out how ugly and cheap looking they are. $500 anime figures they are not.

I agree. Funko pops don't even fit into mason jars either.

 

[naaaaiiiiillllll!!!]

Beanie babies at least make simple toys that you can POSE and otherwise play with (when they hit rock bottom and cost pennies, they made excellent toys in my childhood). Funko Pops are lifeless, cannot pose, and kids can't even play with when they eventually become worthless. The only use I can think of was some farmer here mentioned if there was a way to melt/dissolve them and use the plastic in a 3D printer. That would be awesome but I don't think Funko Pops are made of the correct plastic.

 

[King Koalemos]

funkos are like the worst.

even fuckin Amiibos have some function. Nendoroids are better looking, and high quality figurines are worth the price.

hell, the series or franchise you're into has got to be incredibly obscure if the only merch for it is a Funkopop. I genuinely can't think of any at that level of obscurity.

I don't think it's a big deal if someone has a couple of funkos. I do think it's going too far if it's an obsession. A lot of grown ass adults with nintendo stuff have a few amiibo for the fun of it. A lot of people have star wars or comic book related doodads in their offices. I can't think of why you'd want to say, buy a shitty Funkopop of something like Darth Vader instead of a normal action figure or bobblehead for the same price.

 

[Dom Cruise]

even fuckin Amiibos have some function. Nendoroids are better looking, and high quality figurines are worth the price.

Nendoroids is what I always compare to them to, why can't Funko Pops be a cuter design like Nendoroids?

hell, the series or franchise you're into has got to be incredibly obscure if the only merch for it is a Funkopop. I genuinely can't think of any at that level of obscurity.

Oh, I can think of plenty of animes and video games without Funko Pops, but I have seen a few Pops based on stuff that surprised me in a ", they made a Pop of that?" way although I struggle to remember specific examples off the top of my head.

I don't think it's a big deal if someone has a couple of funkos. I do think it's going too far if it's an obsession. A lot of grown ass adults with nintendo stuff have a few amiibo for the fun of it. A lot of people have star wars or comic book related doodads in their offices. I can't think of why you'd want to say, buy a shitty Funkopop of something like Darth Vader instead of a normal action figure or bobblehead for the same price.

It isn't a big deal if someone has a few Funkos at the end of the day, no.

I have not seen one though that I personally thought was worth the money and shelf space, but like, I'm not going to look down on anyone that has a few of them, it's only really dumb if it's a big obsession and you have tons, like you said.

 

[King Koalemos]

Nendoroids is what I always compare to them to, why can't Funko Pops be a cuter design like Nendoroids?


Oh, I can think of plenty of animes and video games without Funko Pops, but I have seen a few Pops based on stuff that surprised me in a ", they made a Pop of that?" way although I struggle to remember specific examples off the top of my head.


It isn't a big deal if someone has a few Funkos at the end of the day, no.

I have not seen one though that I personally thought was worth the money and shelf space, but like, I'm not going to look down on anyone that has a few of them, it's only really dumb if it's a big obsession and you have tons, like you said.

honestly the difference between collecting and consooooooming is the former actually has an appreciation for what they get and can have a story behind the item. Yeah even if it's something mundane like the backstory of a character or sth. Consooooomers don't give a shit and just hoard. It's why certain amiibos are so hard to find bc nintendo consooomers are tards.

 

[Cyclonus]

They don't even do anything. If you're going to collect toys at least collect ones you can transform into vehicles or use to stimulate your clitoris.

 

[Dom Cruise]

They don't even do anything. If you're going to collect toys at least collect ones you can transform into vehicles or use to stimulate your clitoris.

Nah, nothing wrong with a figurine you're just supposed to look at and jazz up your living area a bit, same as any other purely decorative thing.

But that figurine should look either cool or sexy (or both!), Funko Pops are neither.

 

[Vingle]

Oh, I can think of plenty of animes and video games without Funko Pops

I'm not going to look down on anyone that has a few of them

They only make Funko's for mainstream anime, like Boku no Hero Academia. Which is shit anime.

I feel like the ones who rather buy Funko's instead of anime figures. Are the ones who watch dubs instead of subs.
You are inferior by then, for being a wannabe.

 

[Dom Cruise]

They only make Funko's for mainstream anime, like Boku no Hero Academia. Which is shit anime.

I feel like the ones who rather buy Funko's instead of anime figures. Are the ones who watch dubs instead of subs.
You are inferior by then, for being a wannabe.

Yeah, it's almost always the most normie shit ever, but it is interesting that anime is included at all, I wonder what the most obscure anime to have Funko Pops is? I wonder what's the most obscure thing overall to have a Funko Pop? Probably something fairly recent that got ones as promotional material but the movie flopped and is basically forgotten now, like Crimson Peak being one example I can think of, but I'm sure there's something old and obscure that has them too.

I don't mind dubs and with some shows prefer them but for quite a while now most of what I've watched has been subbed, it's ok to prefer dubs but if you flat out REFUSE to watch something subbed then you are definitely a wannabe.

Generally my rule of thumb is the more distinctly Japanese something is, it's better to watch it subbed (ie almost anything very focused on a Japanese high school), if it's not something real distinctly Japanese then it's fine to watch it dubbed (ie Cowboy Bebop)

That's not a ironclad rule though, it really sometimes just depends on my mood, like I said dubs are fine but one shouldn't flat out refuse to watch with subs and should on occasion do so even if a dub is available depending on the series.

 

[Syaoran Li]

I know that there are a shit ton of them in Barnes and Noble to appeal to Otaku.

Most otaku/weebs hate Funko Pops and prefer Neondroid if they're going to blow their money on plastic figures.

Funko Pops are more for the soyfaces, beardos and dangerhairs and appeal to the capeshit and "CalArts" crowds.

They’re ugly as sin and look like something you’d buy out of a 25 cent toy vending machine. I have a few horror figures from McFarlane toys made in the late 90s and those actually have detail to them. I don’t understand why people are so crazy for Funkos.

I think at this point Funko Pops are kept going entirely due to the effects of corporate astroturfing. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of woke bearded soys and blue-haired dykes are buying them just to "trigger and own the chuds" at this point.

 

[Vingle]

I wonder what the most obscure anime to have Funko Pops is?

I don't mind dubs and with some shows prefer them but for quite a while now most of what I've watched has been subbed, it's ok to prefer dubs but if you flat out REFUSE to watch something subbed then you are definitely a wannabe.

Not anime, but vocaloid. I would say the Miku Funko's are pretty cursed, and the real versions aren't even expensive.
The only dub that is acceptable is Ghost Stories, but that's because they could fuck around with it however they wanted.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Not anime, but vocaloid. I would say the Miku Funko's are pretty cursed, and the real versions aren't even expensive.
The only dub that is acceptable is Ghost Stories, but that's because they could fuck around with it however they wanted.

I did a little research and there are Junji Ito Pops, which certainly isn't Star Wars or Marvel.

Ghost Stories is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about when I say sometimes the dub is preferable, but I don't think that's the only example, but still, we can agree to disagree because there's absolutely nothing wrong with being sub only, especially as the US dub scene has gone Woke.

 

[Vingle]

I did a little research and there are Junji Ito Pops, which certainly isn't Star Wars or Marvel.

Ghost Stories is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about when I say sometimes the dub is preferable, but I don't think that's the only example, but still, we can agree to disagree because there's absolutely nothing wrong with being sub only, especially as the US dub scene has gone Woke.

That's horrifying, but Junji Ito is kinda mainstream. The anime is quite uninteresting and sort of mystical.

Tried to watch My First Girlfriend is a Gal-dub, because "haha, she's has a valley girl accent". Wasn't funny at all, and dubs being woke is another reason for me to hate them.

 

[naaaaiiiiillllll!!!]

Remember, having a cheap/affordable way to play out who is the best EVA waifu (continue the multi-decade battle) is a big draw:

At least give us Misato in these dumb pic collages...

 

[Dom Cruise]

That's horrifying, but Junji Ito is kinda mainstream. The anime is quite uninteresting and sort of mystical.

Tried to watch My First Girlfriend is a Gal-dub, because "haha, she's has a valley girl accent". Wasn't funny at all, and dubs being woke is another reason for me to hate them.

He is if you're talking anime fandom, not so much outside of that, it ain't exactly DBZ or Sailor Moon.

In doing a little research online I can't really find a Funko Pop I would call genuinely obscure, it seems like they're all based on things anyone with any interest in "pop culture" could realistically be expected to be familiar with, with one exception and that's there's Pops based on the 1970s Disney movie The Black Hole, that right there might be the most obscure ones.

Remember, having a cheap/affordable way to play out who is the best EVA waifu (continue the multi-decade battle) is a big draw:
View attachment 2069551

At least give us Misato in these dumb pic collages...

I actually didn't know there were Eva pops, once again, not at all obscure if you're talking anime fandom, but definitely a bit obscure if you're talking mainstream culture.

I wonder if there's literally even a single anime based one that could be described as obscure to an anime fan.

 

[Carlos Weston Chantor]

"And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his thigh: go, and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and friend, and neighbour. And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men."

Remember that when the Hebrews constructed a golden idol to worship, Moses ordered 3,000 of them killed. In a just society the punishment for collecting funko pops would be death

 

[Friendly Futa]

Remember, having a cheap/affordable way to play out who is the best EVA waifu (continue the multi-decade battle) is a big draw:
View attachment 2069551

At least give us Misato in these dumb pic collages...

How hard was it to give Rei red eyes...

I wonder if there's literally even a single anime based one that could be described as obscure to an anime fan.

Maybe the FLCL ones.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Just looked at what is probably a mostly complete list of anime Pops and the closest thing to obscure would be Gigantor and Saint Seiya.

That does bother me a bit that they haven't picked just one obscure anime thing, but of course it's Funko Pops were talking about, so whatever.

How hard was it to give Rei red eyes...

Maybe the FLCL ones.

Yeah, I was surprised to see FLCL, that is sooooomewhat obscure, at least for very normie anime fans and definitely very obscure as far as Funk Pops overall goes.

There's some that might be obscure solely based on what someone's age is but we're a big deal at one time, like Fruit's Basket and Ouran Host Club, FLCL kind of falls under that bracket.