Hope you all had a happy holiday season and got some Funko-related items from your loved ones. May 2017 be good to everyone, except for those darn flippers.
As 2017 is officially underway, a thought popped into my mind when it came to collecting.
Are we or can we truly be happy when it comes to collecting?
For me, 2016 saw a dramatic surge in Funko collecting for me. Instead of one display, my living room area expanded to 4 displays and two bookcases. My hunting was helped by helpful threads on the Funko Fanatics board, Reddit, and the sometimes reliable Brickseek. Both eBay and Mercari became big tools for me to find store exclusives and elusive grails.
I would say that the happiest I was this year in terms of collecting was working out a deal for the 2016 NYCC Thanos XL Dorbz. After the bitter taste of not being selected for the Funko booth lottery, missing out on the online shop, and then seeing the flippers sell them for inflated prices, it was a huge sigh of relief when I scored a reasonable deal for it. As you might have seen in the past column, Thanos proudly stands in the middle of one of my bookcases.
However, due to my 2016 collecting, space is now become very limited. Adding another display case might be tricky. The bookcases are also becoming full.
There’s also the “problem” of many cool items coming out in the New Year. I preordered the entire Stranger Things Pop! line when it was announced this past Halloween. And then, there were the 12 Days of Christmas announcements that had Sonic the Hedgehog, Parks and Recreation, and Metallica capturing my attention the most.
But at what point are we satisfied? Will it be after all of these items are in my possession and displayed? What if the 2017 SDCC produces even cooler Conan O’Brien Pops! that I’ll have to hunt down? What if the Spider-Man Homecoming Pops look even cooler than the past Spider-Man releases?
First world problems, I guess.
My resolution when it comes to collecting is to take a step back and relax. Maybe I don’t need that Chase version or some store exclusive that’ll be at least 10 miles away. Maybe I won’t spend one of my days off searching all the usual mall shops for commons that I might or might not like.
Then again, most resolutions are broken very quickly. Check back with me at this time next year.
Matt Norris