Why do you buy?

[jahickory]

Sorry if this was a topic covered before but I find it interesting knowing why. So, why do you buy? What got you into it? Do you it for fun? Crazy collector? What is it?

For me, it started after I realized how I'll never get a Legolas because of the price. It was about a year ago, I guess, I saw them at Barnes and Noble. I actually had the box in my hand and said, 'Oh this is cool. But, I don't need it' and I put it back. It was around August, I saw more of these popping up with different characters and Harry Potter ones were coming out. I started to research these things more. Then, I saw the price for Legolas which irritated me cause I could have it already. So, I said to myself, that's not happening again. Now, I've been buying some that I like and don't want to lose out on. But, I stick to buying who I like and not just for collecting. I don't really have many cause I don't have the cash luxury to do so.

My pops include: Hannibal Lecter (from the show), Dumbledore, Mr. Miyagi, Thor(Avengers 2), Robin Hood, The Joker(Dark Knight). Along with two Dr. Brown exclusives from Loot Crate. I won the October box on a giveaway and they sent me two of them by accident. So, if anybody wants one let me know.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your stories on why and how you got started?

[glowfunkofreak]

I collect .. therefore I buy.

[gottcha78]

Someone bought me one... It needed friends. ^_^

[jahickory]

I collect .. therefore I buy.

Why do you collect? What got you into these?

[Pico de Gallo]

The reason I buy is because I relieve my childhood when I buy. My recent buys were the new Woody pop and NYCC Flocked Cookie Monster, and those make it special since I grew up with them.

[SunsetBeauty]

I really got interested in collecting when I saw the X-Files and Doctor Who pop glam art. Then I discovered Funko made some awesome My Little Pony pops/vinyls/mystery minis. I knew I was a goner then!

I only collect sets/figures I really, really like.

[madlost1]

Used to collect sideshow statues and the like for quite a while until it started to get too expensive. Went through a bit of a lull in my collecting and bought my first couple of POPs in September (had a few from Disney Movie Rewards already) and was amazed at the amount of licenses they have and the price point can't be beat so I started collecting POPs and haven't looked back.

[Ben]

Been a batman fan since I was a kid and Pop!s are an affordable collectibles.

[Squird]

Because I like.

[ruxy_100]

I bought an Adventure Time Jake to get signed at a convention. I thought it would be a cool thing to get autographed, and easy to display. But then I couldn't have Jake without Finn... and that was the slippery slope...

[chaenilok]

Gotta catch them all.

[MasterSplyntr]

Because my addiction is Intervention worthy.

[kitana888]

Because my addiction is Intervention worthy.

SAME!!!

[tlaloc666]

I don't have nothing to do with my money !!

[arisensun]

What other company offers collectibles that span so many fandoms in so many different styles?

[JIrish780]

First Pop was a Gizmo. He was the only one for a while, in fact. The two Gremlins movies were childhood favorites of mine, I loved the heck out of a plush Gizmo as a kid, and the Pop was a cute reminder of those days.

Second Pop was Dr. Teeth. As a life-long Jim Henson fan, seeing any merchandise of the good doctor was a sight for sore eyes, and I had to nab it. Good thing I did, too, since he's now long gone and retired.

When the My Little Pony Pops were announced, I took a second look at everything that was available at the time and asked myself "why am I not seriously collecting these?" Pretty soon, I had George Harrison, Gonzo, DJ P0N-E, Fluttershy, Captain America, Jasmine, Gru, Harley Quinn and so on and so on. Haven't looked back since. So many fandoms and favorites of mine all in one cute, unified scale and style, it's the collectibles line of my dreams, and as licenses like Monty Python, Peanuts, Ghostbusters and Hanna Barbera have come into the fold, the dream keeps getting better.

[Mikey1975]

Because for me also it takes me back to my childhood. I have the Sesame Street Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. Charlie Brown, Snoopy w/Woodstock and just recently bought a few GI Joe Pops. These were staples of my youth and reminds me of what it was like to be a kid back in those days.

[perfectflaw00]

I buy because pops are a way to display the wide array of tastes I have across all forms of media without taking up a god awful amount of space. I'd love to collect the hot toys or side show collectibles but honestly I'd need an entire room to house them in. Add to that the vast amount of licenses that are covered across all types of interests and it was a no brainer for me to start collecting, plus at roughly 10 bucks a pop its an economical hobby as well.

[bathtub-tigers]

because it's fun!

[grendelscott]

I was born in the 70s, and grew up with the toys and movies of the 80s. I collected comics for about 30 years until they became WAY overpriced. I collected statues and quit that around the same time I stopped buying comics.

Wrap all of that into an affordable, amazingly fun to collect package and what do you get?

POP!

[Paine1031]

My first pop was given to me last Xmas by my wife. It was a game of thrones pop. After that I got a loot crate,with the Batman dressed as joker. That got me started..... Now I collect things I love! Most of my collection is star wars however, i starting to expanding to my others sets. Only when money allows sadly

[Emma_MK]

My first pop was a birthday present (Iron Man from the first Avengers film) and he was my only one for a while, i then got given Loki as a secret santa gift the following year and i brought the unmasked Winter Soldier to join them. I said i would only collect my favouite Marvel characters unless i could find Renley from GoT in the wild, and after searching at a few cons for him i almost gave up, but then i found him in a shop in Belfast and since then ive been buying my favourite characters from my favourite shows and im up to 85 now XD

[emcee]

The same reason people do drugs.

[clashcityrocker33]

The same reason people do drugs.

Drugs would be cheaper.

[AliCat4004]

I started watching Supernatural the TV show last year and I fell in love with it. I went on to amazon to try find some merch and I found POP vinyl dolls ... I wasn't expecting to find toys or statues, but there was Dean, Sam and Castiel. Tbh it was Castiel that sold me on these. After a failed attempt to find them locally I began to look at the other licences and found The Walking Dead so my first pop was actually Daryl Dixon and not a Supernatural one

I know own every common Supernatural figure and one variant of each character. I also have figures from The Walking Dead, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars and this year with the release of Avengers 2 I started buying Marvel figures. I can't wait until the modern Battlestar Galactica set arrive and I'm honestly tempted to buy some of the Hannibal TV show figures

[Ivan0430]

My girlfriend gave me two pops for Xmas last year, John Snow and Ghost from G.O.T as I am a huge fan.. After that, I started seeing them in different stores and they started to get my attention. I mean, I had seen them before, but it wasn't until she gave me those that i noticed how much i liked them. Chthulu was my third Pop! and the rest is history... Now im on the 240+ mark. I buy them because i like them mostly. I mean, some of them bring back childhood memories (Hannah Barbera, Invader Zim, TMNT, ETC) and some others because they are cool looking and I like them, even though i have no idea who they are or which show they're from (Tim the Enchanter, BMO, to name a few)

[dakook]

Cause there cool

[hawklovespurple]

I started with the first avengers movie. I saw the Thor and Hulk pops and was like...those are cute...and it's just grown from there.

[treswright]

Why do I buy? I'm wondering why you asked this, do you know of a place that is giving them away for free? Because I would greatly prefer that option

[jahickory]

Why do I buy? I'm wondering why you asked this, do you know of a place that is giving them away for free? Because I would greatly prefer that option

I never read it like that. But, that's a good point. I would too.


Also, I love all the responses.

[jahickory]

After going through my dream list, I could see why I'd turn into a collector. How does this list look?

My Dream List:

LOTR- Should be the Fellowship Wave 1 (Bilbo, Boromir, Galadriel, Gollum, Arwen, Elrond)
- Two Towers Wave 2 (Theoden, Faramir, Grima, Saruman, Treebeard, Haldir)
- Return of the King Wave 3 (Smeagol, Witch-King, Eowyn)

Should be in all waves, just vary the versions.
Legolas
Aragorn
Gimli
Frodo/Sam/Merry/Pippin
Gandalf

Jason Bourne
Blade - Wesley Snipes needs some love.
Sherlock Holmes- Robert Downey Jr.
Tony Stark not as Iron Man
Will Turner
Elizabeth Swann
Lara Croft

TMNT- (Movie versions and cartoon versions.)

Mr. Feeny
Cory Matthews
Topanga Lawrence
Shawn Hunter
Mr. Turner
Eric Matthews

Percy Jackson
Annabeth Chase
Grover

Harry Potter:
Wave 3 (Order of the Phoenix hopeful with characters and costumes)
Wave 4 (Half Blood Prince)
Wave 5 (Deathly Hallows)

MLB:
Jose Altuve
Carlos Correa
Dallas Keuchel
George Springer
David Price
Evan Longoria
Hunter Pence

NFL:
Odell Beckham Jr.
Tyrann Mathieu
Patrick Peterson
Jarvis Landry

Doug Funny
Patty Mayonaise
Skeeter Valentine
Roger Klotz
Porkchop
Quail-Man

Calvin and Hobbes (A dream I know will never happen)

Modern Family cast

[ghstR3CON2]

For me, it started with a christmas present! I got the #10 Captain America from my brother for Christmas because he knows I'm a huge Cap fan. Then, I got a few from Loot Crate. Then, I just had the idea to collect all of the Captain America Pops! When I saw the price for a few of the older variants, however, I switched to collecting mainly the Marvel line while buying a few people I liked in between. So, for me it's collecting now and I love it !

[thejosh2010]

It started with being a nerd and a fanboy...I wanted the GOTG represented and I had discovered Funko POPs, so that was how it started. I said to myself, I can't have just the GOTG without the Avengers...then Batman & Superman, then the whole Justice League.. From there every single fond childhood character had to be represented as well, to where I only cared to have my favorite variant available at the time of my desired characters. Unfortunately, that didn't last long and I had to have all incarnations and variants that were associated with my favorite characters from Marvel, DC, Anime, Horror movies, etc.. Now I will buy simply for the fact something looks cool..especially the POP Asia lines!

To me, my Funko items are not just the collectibles, they are incarnations of fond memories of characters, experiences, people, etc...just as memories are stored in the brain, my Funko collection contains so many memories within each and every piece. I buy limited exclusives for pride..take pictures of completed groups for pleasure...& I continually hunt for more Funko items simply for the FUN in the chase

[CyberGhostface]

I'm a fan of the stylized design and I like seeing some of my favorite characters presented in such a fashion.

[Geniusrecluse8]

I've always been a collector. As a kid it was pens and everything Disney, then it was everything Spice Girls and Mary-Kate and Ashley. These were all relatively affordable things. But then I moved on to Buffy and Harry Potter and that led to more expensive merchandise. Real collectables like GG Busts and Sideshow figures, next to the cheaper action figures. Anyway, it got to the point where I could barely move around my room and I just decided to get rid of most of it, mostly because it was getting out of hand (money and space-wise) and wasn't making me happy anymore.

Fast forward a couple of years: I saw the The Hobbit Pops somewhere and thought they were cute. I bought Bilbo and Gandalf, fully intending to stop there. But then I became aware of the GoT line, which really pulled me in. I went a bit nuts with it the first 6 months or so, but I've since learned to be more selective. As long as I can continue doing that I think Pops are a great cheaper alternative to all the high-end collectables out there. All the fun for a fraction of the price. I just need to make sure I exercise self-restraint, and I've been doing OK lately... I think

[brooklyn_geek]

I collected baseball cards, comic books and sticker cards as a kid. When I started out my interest in Pops was as a retailer and I knew very little about Funko as a company, this community etc. I think I sold Funko stuff for about a year before I took to actually collecting. The Game of Thrones Legacy figures drew me in but the first things I started keeping for myself were the GOT mystery minis. When I got a missing hand Jaime Lannister that was pretty much it. Pops was the next natural thing to start collecting. That being said, I don't really have a favorite line or feel the need to get every piece. I collect stricly if I like the character and or the look of the individual pop. And the best part of all this for me is that I have some REALLY cool people through collecting Funko products.

[Billy Witch Doctor]

I've always had an addictive personality, and growing up it manifested in collectible card games and video games (I'm looking at you, Pokemon). Flash forward to last Christmas, when a close friend gave me a Rocket Raccoon Pop, and I knew I had to have all the Guardians of the Galaxy figures. I went a little overboard in the beginning, collecting every piece that I thought looked cool, but now I definitely slowed down and started focusing only on a few series (mostly Star Wars and Marvel).

[Venom80]

i only buy marvel pops and just love anything marvel, thats why i collect these pops!!! but would consider buying lord of the rings and the hobbit pops cause im a huge tolkien fan!!! but they need to expand the middle earth line!!!!!

[Obi Fun Kenobi]

I'm fairly new to collecting these, but I bought one as part of a focus collection unrelated to Pops (BB-8 droid). I liked him so well I started adding to the collection. Now I can't seem to resist adding to lines that appeal to me as I run across them. Bottom line I enjoy them and that's good enough for me!

[HowardTheDuck]

Is "I'm a freak" an acceptable answer? Do consider the fact that I bought one of these three years ago and haven't spent a dime on anything else since?