Funko Pops - My Story of Collecting

In October 2010, my eldest sister gave me the start that would become an obsession for me in the form of Batman and Robin bobblehead figures.

That same year for Christmas, he gave me an entire set of Star Wars figures from the same company, Funko.

Lightsaber not part of the Christmas gift.

Something that my loyal readers may or may not have already deduced is that I have a bad habit of picking up things to collect. From comic books, action figures, trade paperbacks, tabletop role playing games, collectible card games and the like, I have an obsession with collecting... for better or for worse.

I would look all over town for new Pops for my collection. At one point, I obtained a credit card from Hot Topic just so that I would be able to get exclusive Pops easier (in my opinion at the time). To get an idea of how bad my obsession is, please feel free to take a look at my photo album on Facebook to see.

Initially, I tried to limit myself to specific types based on the things that I follow and collect. I was wanting to stay primarily with Star Wars, but that went off the rails real quickly.

Back before there were shared exclusives that could easily be purchased at local stores, you would actually have to go to specific events to obtain them. I remember going to Emerald City Comic Con one year with one of the goals to acquire the Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in Stormtrooper  Pops. They originally sold for $20 each, which I gladly paid.

ECCC Exclusives from 2011

While attending comic cons, I would occasionally bring Pops to have people sign them. My favorite was when I had "Weird Al" Yankovic sign the exclusive Pop I had of him in his costume for the Fat video.

As you can tell from the FB photo album, I still collect these... but have become very selective. When I originally started collecting, I was living by myself in a 1 bedroom apartment. I had room to display them... but soon I ran out of room to display them all and I began packing some away in storage bins to keep them safe. When I eventually moved in early 2016, I had room to store these totes in a garage. Unfortunately, after so many years of collecting, I had to make the decision to actually rent a storage space to keep my growing collection. The new storage also included my comic books and actions figures as well, but the bulk of what was being store seemed like they were Funko Pops.

From November 2018, before being moved into storage.

It didn't take too long before 2 things happened after moving my collection to storage:

1. The rent for the storage unit was raised to a level I felt was overpriced for the size of the unit I was renting. This unit was a 5' x 10' unit and the location was not the best place nor was it maintained very well... IMHO.
2. The collection was getting bigger than the space I had available.

Fortunately, I was able to find a larger storage unit for around the same price I was already paying, and it was not only much closer to my home, but also a brand new location that was established during Covid. Easier to get to and a better maintained site. The downside to this was that it now gives me an excuse to expand my collecting habits... and I have been going on more action figure hunts since moving to the new unit.

Over the years, I have thought about the reasons why I actually collect so much. When I was a child, I had collections of Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures that I loved... so I don't feel it was for lack of having toys. My parents also supported my love of comic books by not only giving me subscriptions to some of my favorite titles, but also gave me the opportunities to work to earn money so I could continue to grow the collection. They also supported by growing interest in role playing games and gave me my first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book for Christmas one year.

The same book that I received as a gift is still in my collection to this day.

When I worked at The Book Bin, I learned that books would not only keep a value, but it would increase over time for several. I knew this was true about comic books, and later realized the same about action figures. When I first got into collectible card games like Magic the Gathering, I knew the single cards had value, but I don't think I appreciated them as much as I had comic books because I sold my collections a few times at a considerable loss for what I put into them and based on the actual value of each of them at the time. I started collecting Magic the Gathering again when Wizards of the Coast announce they were doing a Dungeons & Dragons set. I am still collecting, but also continue to play.

All of that and I think I finally landed on a primary reason for my collection obsessions. They have value that can be harnessed in a time of need. There were a few times over the years where I was out of work and needed to find a way to get money. I was able to sell parts of my various collections to help with that. I have made some very poor financial decisions in my life, and I don't know that I will have enough money saved to be able to actually retire from working, so my collections have become a kind of safety net.

While I don't have any idea of how much money is invested in my comic book, role playing game, action figure or collectible card game collections, the Funko app gives me a glimpse into how much that collection is valued at based on the current market.