HIkari hard catching on?

[xwindowuser]

How long have the HIkari style been out and is it me, or are they taking a while to catch on with other collectors?
My personal favorite is the Creature from the Black Lagoon. My favorite old school monster.

[kevinbuddha]

Hikari is not a $6.99 piece of vinyl (like POPs), so they appeal to collectors who are willing to spend a little more to collect them. They will not appeal to everyone, but Funko reveals a new piece every Friday, so I do not think they are having a hard time catching on and they only premiered at CC2014, so they are going on just under 6 months.

[xwindowuser]

Ahh I didn't know they premiered at CC 14...

[agentaa]

Hikari is not a $6.99 piece of vinyl (like POPs), so they appeal to collectors who are willing to spend a little more to collect them. They will not appeal to everyone, but Funko reveals a new piece every Friday, so I do not think they are having a hard time catching on and they only premiered at CC2014, so they are going on just under 6 months.

My thoughts exactly, well said

[swind15]

I remember a few years ago Pop were no where as popular as they are right now. It takes time. The new Marvel and Star Wars Hikari coming out in 2015 will only help it gain in popularity.

[xwindowuser]

where do you hear news of the releases coming up?

[funkystark]

where do you hear news of the releases coming up?

Here on the boards is a fantastic spot to find out. Every friday Funko makes a "Hikari Friday" announcement of 1-3 different new pieces. Which is quickly put on this board!

[Mauison]

I'm waiting on the Disney Hikari!

[Squird]

I think they'll take off over the course of 2015, especially with Star Wars and Marvel coming out.

[TheJobaFett]

I think they'll take off over the course of 2015, especially with Star Wars and Marvel coming out.

No one cares about Star Wars...not even worth bringing up.

[funkystark]

I think they'll take off over the course of 2015, especially with Star Wars and Marvel coming out.

That's what I keep saying what until the big lines come out.

You need Marvel, Star Wars and Disney, that will bring people in and then they will start crossing over into other licenses.

Then we can claim to be "old school" hikari collectors

[BigM]

I really enjoy the hikari line. The details, colors and quality are top notch and it's expanding into bigger territories. I understand the pricepoint is high which is a turn off for most though but I feel like most people getting asked this question are the pop collectors who expect to pay $10. I'd like to hear some opinions from other sofubi collectors and even non funko collectors.

[Squird]

I think they'll take off over the course of 2015, especially with Star Wars and Marvel coming out.

No one cares about Star Wars...not even worth bringing up.

Right...sorry. With Marvel and MLP coming out.

[Squird]

I really enjoy the hikari line. The details, colors and quality are top notch and it's expanding into bigger territories. I understand the pricepoint is high which is a turn off for most though but I feel like most people getting asked this question are the pop collectors who expect to pay $10. I'd like to hear some opinions from other sofubi collectors and even non funko collectors.

I collect other vinyl, and I'm liking what I see so far. I think the line needs to be kept in the same scale (Premium Spiderman I'm looking right at you!) mostly for display purposes. I don't want to see the same colorways for every release, but I would like to see a cap on the total number of figures released. A run might be 5000 pieces, but it's spread out over 5 -10 colorways. Just a thought.

I can't wait to see more lines. Because of the price point it'll be cherry-picked for sure. It's not for everyone, and I think the vast majority of Pop collectors will look the other way.

[Poncho Pete]

5000 per mold would be great.

[funkystark]

5000 per mold would be great.

That might be the way to go, do like a LE 2500 for your most character resembling piece, a couple 750 variants, a 500 and 2 very exclusive 250s or how ever you wanna break it down. I could certainly get behind that idea!

[Squird]

There's three votes for a per mold cap.

And only one pallet of scrap per piece to be sold on ebay.

[Poncho Pete]

I think we are on a roll here!

[hpellot]

A mold cap would be awesome I mean did we really need 8 variants of thr same mold on some??

[funkystark]

A mold cap would be awesome I mean did we really need 8 variants of thr same mold on some??

I'm all for the mold cap but I will say if it's the right character, in my case Astro Boy, keep em' coming I'll buy them all.

I've got 2, 4 on preorder, 2 more that I'm waiting to be released on this side of the world somewhere and based on different pictures floating around the interweb I can see atleast 8 more versions I would love to see made!

[eastWOLF]

I really enjoy the hikari line. The details, colors and quality are top notch and it's expanding into bigger territories. I understand the pricepoint is high which is a turn off for most though but I feel like most people getting asked this question are the pop collectors who expect to pay $10. I'd like to hear some opinions from other sofubi collectors and even non funko collectors.

Since my friends came over today I asked them what they think some of my hikari figures, out of 6 people only one collects pops and the others aren't collectors of anything.

In case anybody is wondering I showed them my physical collection and glam shots courtesy of forum

The one who collects pops likes my hikaris but not the price point.
2 think they look cool but wouldn't spend money on them
2 think they are ugly and not worth the money
1 likes them and would buy a few

For non collectors I think the price point does deter some people. One of my friend's saw all the turtles at B&N but didn't like they all cost $40 (because if you get one turtle you need the whole set) but also the licenses matter too.

6/6 think the transformers look ugly
6/6 like the turtles
4/6 like stay puff
3/6 like skeletor
1/6 like astro boy
2/6 like batman

My friends have never seen/indifferent to classic universal horror movies and therefore don't care about creature, mutant and Frankenstein. Also indifferent to the marvel ones, just got shrugs all around. They didn't like the Asian ones either, but thought the dragon king looked cool. Not being familiar with the culture these are based upon made them unable to connect with the figures (if that makes sense).

Personally I think certain licenses work as hikaris and some don't, turtles work but Transformers don't. 2015 will be interesting can't wait to see which Disney characters will be picked for this line but the designs have to stand out; same goes for Star Wars.

Crap, long post is long sorry about that. I swear this only took me a few minutes to ask my friends what they thought.

[Poncho Pete]

THanks for sharing Kai. I would expect Funko to learn and evolve as they develop the hikari line. They seem all in with it and definitely seems to be the line with most buzz since the onset of Pop! to the scene.

[funkystark]

Thanks Kai, that's a neat little poll you did.

[h3wi3]

The Star Wars Hikaris should sell better than most of the current lines. The two main problems with the line have already been addressed in thread ...price point and having 10 variations of each. I like the cap idea. I would like to see 500 regular and limited runs under that because of the price point alone.

[funkystark]

The Star Wars Hikaris should sell better than most of the current lines. The two main problems with the line have already been addressed in thread ...price point and having 10 variations of each. I like the cap idea. I would like to see 500 regular and limited runs under that because of the price point alone.

Ya currently I'm picking up some "good" deals on 3000 runs, in a year from now could I get them even cheaper?? Probably.

[h3wi3]

The Star Wars Hikaris should sell better than most of the current lines. The two main problems with the line have already been addressed in thread ...price point and having 10 variations of each. I like the cap idea. I would like to see 500 regular and limited runs under that because of the price point alone.

Ya currently I'm picking up some "good" deals on 3000 runs, in a year from now could I get them even cheaper?? Probably.

Same here. I still holding out. The will drop under $20 pretty soon.

[AbelBeja]

The Star Wars Hikaris should sell better than most of the current lines. The two main problems with the line have already been addressed in thread ...price point and having 10 variations of each. I like the cap idea. I would like to see 500 regular and limited runs under that because of the price point alone.

Ya currently I'm picking up some "good" deals on 3000 runs, in a year from now could I get them even cheaper?? Probably.

Unless they blow up like the early Pop!s from 2012/2013 and double/triple in price.

[h3wi3]

The Star Wars Hikaris should sell better than most of the current lines. The two main problems with the line have already been addressed in thread ...price point and having 10 variations of each. I like the cap idea. I would like to see 500 regular and limited runs under that because of the price point alone.

Ya currently I'm picking up some "good" deals on 3000 runs, in a year from now could I get them even cheaper?? Probably.

Unless they blow up like the early Pop!s from 2012/2013 and double/triple in price.

I just don't see it, unless they reduce the price and more people can hop on and start collecting them.

[homietrav]

Sometimes I think its better that something you like is a little less popular. It makes it cheaper, easier to find, and less DRAMA.
I hope these are currently profitable for Funko and they continue down the Hikari path, I love what they are doing with this line!
What I don't understand is how people complain that these are too expensive but will drop $200-$500 on a single POP! or proto. If you like it, the price is worth it. If you don't like it, you're probably not buying it anyways, then why bother complaining about the price?

[Squird]

What I don't understand is how people complain that these are too expensive but will drop $200-$500 on a single POP! or proto.

Yeah...but those are very hard to find 10,000+ piece editions. Hikari are small run, individually numbered editions. Everyone knows HT exclusives are bank!

(Excellent point, BTW)

[BigM]

Sometimes I think its better that something you like is a little less popular. It makes it cheaper, easier to find, and less DRAMA.
I hope these are currently profitable for Funko and they continue down the Hikari path, I love what they are doing with this line!
What I don't understand is how people complain that these are too expensive but will drop $200-$500 on a single POP! or proto. If you like it, the price is worth it. If you don't like it, you're probably not buying it anyways, then why bother complaining about the price?

Some protos for $200 is fine but a lot, no. I agree there are some pieces going for absurd prices.

I think some people look at a hikari piece with a $50 price tag and say "I can get 4-5 POP! for that price" so it can be a quantity vs quality scenario. We all collect differently.

[funkystark]

I think some people look at a hikari piece with a $50 price tag and say "I can get 4-5 POP! for that price" so it can be a quantity vs quality scenario. We all collect differently.

That's how I made the decision to switch over, I saw a Hikari I liked, initially thought I can get 4-5 pop for that price. Then I started thinking are there 4-5 pops that I would like to have in my collection as much as this? That's when I realized Hikari was for me

[jandkstuff]

That's how I made the decision to switch over, I saw a Hikari I liked, initially thought I can get 4-5 pop for that price. Then I started thinking are there 4-5 pops that I would like to have in my collection as much as this? That's when I realized Hikari was for me

I am in the same boat as you. I collect(ed) Pop!s that meant something to me, usually some connection from my childhood but if it came right down to it I could usually easily walk away. I bought some Hikari from some lines I don't even collect just because I LOVED how they looked and then when I saw the Asian ones I was HOOKED! Now, I'm all about Hikari figures and have a room full of boxes of them because I just haven't figured out how to display them yet.

I agree that it'd be better if they did a mold cap. The price point deters many but if each variant was more limited then that would justify the price to most collectors.

Either way, I'm sure when the Star Wars Hikari come out they are going to sell like crazy. Darth Vader should look pretty sweet as a Hikari figure and I'm really hoping there's a preview at Toy Fair.

[kevinbuddha]

What I don't understand is how people complain that these are too expensive but will drop $200-$500 on a single POP! or proto.

Yeah...but those are very hard to find 10,000+ piece editions. Hikari are small run, individually numbered editions. Everyone knows HT exclusives are bank!

(Excellent point, BTW)

10,000+ runs.. POP runs go up into the 500,000 to the mIllions on some figures.

[NESSNODDER]

IS THERE PLANS FOR MLP HIKARIS?

[Reverend]

IS THERE PLANS FOR MLP HIKARIS?

Yes

[NESSNODDER]

OH OH, MY WALLET IS TREMBLING.

[dakook]

OH OH, MY WALLET IS TREMBLING.

My wallet is happy

[a99kitten]

I love the Hikari line but do admit to only collecting a few characters/lines. I am pretty done on all things Batman (have the SDCC ones an a few others but they must stop at some point) and won't begin on Spiderman or Transformers. The monsters are unique and cool though! And obvs I pre-ordered Stay Puft and Groot.

BEYOND excited for Star Wars (and will likely own all of them because I simply must) and want to see what Disney and ponies we get!

I like the idea of a cap on the mold. And I also like that not everyone collects them...yet.

[xmaldigolax]

I just ordered my first Hikari...this is seriously not something I should be doing...i need money for rent.