Greetings and salutations everyone! My name is Jonathan Leung and I’m thrilled to be part of the new crop of writers here on PopVinyls.com.
Here’s a little bit of background on me. I currently reside in New York and have ramped up my Funko collecting in the past year, to the point where I have 3 IKEA glass display cases and 2 bookcases to hold everything. Most of my collection is “out of box”, although the more valuable figures are kept and protected in the bookcase area.
On a more personal level, I have a pet hedgehog named Pancake who I’ve attempted to get excited about collecting Funko products. As you might have seen before reading this, that project’s been unsuccessful as she just sniffs the boxes and leaves.
The Pop! line is by far my favorite, but I also like Dorbz as well. A lot of my collection revolve around Movies, Television, Marvel, Heroes, and WWE.
To me, Funko collecting brings me back to my childhood when I collected a bunch of figures ranging from Hasbro WWF and Starting Lineup to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men. There was always a sense of excitement whenever I went down the toy aisle with my parents or sister and an even bigger sense of accomplishment when I found something I was looking for.
Recently, I’ve experienced the same excitement about finding a new Pop! in-store and then displaying it in my home. It’s brought back a lot of great memories, ones that I never thought would come into my mind again.
These days, toys are amazingly detailed, but also more expensive. Just a few months ago, I took my oldest niece Clover to Target and was kind of astounded by the price of some of the toys and figures she pointed out.
That’s why I love Funko. There are a wide range of lines so that almost everyone can find something that they like. The price is also reasonable, to the point where you don’t feel like your wallet has been assaulted after buying a shopping bag full of Pops, Dorbz, or Mystery Minis. Several stores, including online, offer deals like “Buy 1, Get 1 Free” or “Buy 3, Get 30% Off” which makes it even easier.
There’s a lot of news on here, but I would like to dig a bit deeper in my future postings. Here are some topics I’d like to cover:
-“Out of Box” collectors vs. “Boxed” collectors and why there’s such a divide
-Are we expecting too much from Funko Subscription Boxes?
-The difference between ordering online and finding Funko products in-store
-What are the lengths we’ve gone to find Funko products, i.e. help, driving for miles, etc.
-Are store exclusives a good thing or just feeding our urge to collect everything?
My goal is to initiate healthy conversation within the ever-growing Funko community and maybe understand other points of view regarding certain subjects. Of course, if there are topics you’d like to see covered, please don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment below.
Again, I’m glad and humbled to be aboard here on PopVinyls.com and I hope you will join me in discussing Funko even more in-depth.
Matt Norris