How I Became Funko Pop! Vinyl Collector! by Guest Blogger Brandon Popper
It is a safe assumption that nearly everyone has some sort of collection: trading cards, American Girl dolls, Tsum Tsums, or even Alex and Ani jewelry. I collect an amazing product called Funko Pop! Vinyl. Pop! Vinyls are collectable figurines and bobble heads made by Funko, a company based out of Everett, WA that was founded in 1998. Their official website boasts that Funko “currently holds more than 150 licenses including, but not limited to; Lucas Films, Marvel, Hasbro, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, DC Comics, NBA, Sanrio, and Disney. Funko’s Pop! Vinyl is the number one stylized vinyl collectible in the world with over 10 million units sold in the last three years.”
Some of Funko’s most sought after Pop! figurines are Disney characters. However, they do produce a variety of other characters, such as Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Ghostbusters, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit and Super Heroes from the DC and Marvel Universes.
Although Pop! Vinyls have been around for about 10 years, they have grown in popularity in the last 3 to 4 years and have become available at more and more stores. Pop! Vinyls can now be found at most big box stores like Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble and Hot Topic. Local comic book and collectable stores may also carry them. There are store-exclusive special edition figurines, and these tend to be offered at places like Barnes and Noble, Hot Topic and select conventions around the country throughout the year.
Figures have an average price of $9.99, but that can vary depending on where you buy them and what size they are. Funko Pop! Vinyls are normally 3” tall figures, but some special releases can be 6” and 9” tall and typically are sold at a higher price, the same is true of store-exclusive special editions.
I began collecting Pop! Vinyls this past September. A few weeks after our beloved Genie, Robin Williams past away, I was in a local comic/gaming store and happened to look at the pop vinyls, and came across the Genie Vinyl. I picked him up and looked it over and after mere minutes I decided I had to get it. Aladdin is my all time favorite Disney movie, so getting Genie would just help build my Disney collection and I told myself, its only one, as I told my wife Courtney that I would never get any pop vinyls as I have looked at them before in Hot Topic.
Seven months later I now have a collection of 55 Pop! Vinyls, that consists of Marvel, World of Warcraft, NFL, DC, Star Wars, and The Hobbit figures.
The pride of my collection is my Disney Pop! Vinyls. Out of the 55 Pops that I currently own, 29 of them are Disney, are the only ones that are out of their boxes. My favorite Pop! Vinyl in my collection has to be my first one: Genie, although my Stitch trio is a close second.
The following pictures are my Disney collection:
Recently I found out a few members of the TMSM Fan Nation were POP! Collectors as well, including our amazing admin Autumn Barnes and member Bryan Rose, both of whom discussed their collections with me.
Autumn has been collecting for about a year, and has amassed a collection of 24 Pop! Vinyls jointly with her loving husband Drew. Stitch was the first Pop! Vinyl she purchased with her favorite is Hipster Ariel which is a Hot Topic Exclusive.
Bryan and I both started collecting Disney Vinylmations and Pop! Vinyls at about the same time. Bryan was mainly a Disney Vinylmation collector before he found Pop! Vinyls, and he usually would only buy Vinylmations he liked and would on occasion buy the limited edition ones (such as the ones sold for Food and Wine, MNSSHP, etc). He started following his local Hot Topic on Facebook and while on a Disney trip he saw they had put up information on Pop! Vinlys and when he got home he took a trip to the store and that’s when it all started. He purchased Rafiki and a Hot Topic Exclusive flocked Simba that trip. (Flocked means it feels fuzzy like is has fur on it.) Since he started collecting, Bryan has amassed a whopping 95 figures, he says this is because he still lives at home and is single so he is able to afford his Pop! habit for now. Collecting Pops! is his way to get his Disney fix when he is home. Right now his favorite pop is one from the highly under rated live action Disney films the Rocketeer.
About Brandon:
My name is Brandon Popper and I am a Disney addict. Living in Southern Indiana relocated from the Windy City. Been into Disney pretty much my whole life, favorite movie is Aladdin. In 2004, I had the pleasure to work for Disney as a College Program cast member working at the emporium. I even got engaged at Disney’s Artist Point to my lovely wife Courtney who supports my love of Disney. We moved to Orlando for a few months back in 2008 and became AP for the time we were there. We became DVC members in June 2014 after moving back up North. Courtney and I share of love of Disney with our 3 year old son Franklin and are we are expecting our second Disney addict in October 2015.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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