My relationship with Funko
As a seasoned Funko collector, I have been through the ups and the downs of collecting these 3.75” vinyl figures. Honestly, a lot of the feelings you experience while collecting Pops are similar to the ones you experienced during your most recent love-hate relationship. One day you look at your collection and think “Wow! This is amazing!” and the next day it’s “I feel overwhelmed and don’t want to collect anymore”. The song “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry could easily be about collecting Funko Pops by replacing a few key words.
My husband gifted me my very first Funko Pop back in 2014. My celebrity crush is Chris Hemsworth (obviously), so he gave me Thor from the first Avengers movie for my desk at work. Over time the number of pops grew slowly, and they became a conversation starter at my desk.
At first when I started collection Funko I would buy whichever ones felt nostalgic to me or I just enjoyed in general. In what seemed like no time at all I had 200+ Pops from random sets and lines. I then decided to switch my focus to only Disney Funko Pops as I quickly realized that the amount of space they take up is enormous and I didn’t have unlimited space to display my collection.
Disney has always held a special place in my heart, and they were the ones who brought me the most joy. After spending some time focusing on collecting some of the older vaulted Disney Funko Pops, I realized I was only collecting some of them because others had them in their collection. I ended up with a collection that I wasn’t super in love with and didn’t bring me as much joy as it should. I admitted to myself not only do I love Funko, but I also love other Disney collectibles and there are some truly amazing pieces that I wanted in my collection. I decided to downsize my Funko Pop collection to make room for a variety of different collectibles that really brought a smile to my face.
There are plenty of new Funko Pop releases that I pass on now as they do not fit into my personal collection. It isn’t that I don’t think that they aren’t amazing or like them. I am able to admire them through the Funko Community I am lucky enough to be part of on Instagram. If Funko keeps releasing characters from movies that I have in my collection, I will still be a customer because they have an awesome product. I actually have some that I am super excited about on pre-order and can’t wait to see in person.
Funko Pops are a very affordable collectible, and they have great details. My advice to a newer Funko Pop collector is to be picky about what you decide to purchase. The number of Pops you have in your collection can become overwhelming very fast. Do not get caught up in the hype of new drops and buy them just because you see others doing so. Buy them because they represent something that you love and will cherish in your collection.