Showing posts with label Funko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Funko. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Funko POPs | My Growing Collection

Those of you who follow me know I've posted a few reviews of Funko's POP!Vinyls in the past, and that they've been showcased on my "Hobby Highlight" page from time to time. My initial reviews were somewhat critical, but when you are reviewing collectibles the quality matters. I'm thankful to say though that with passing time the product has been shown more care for the price that is asked, and I have personally seen the paint jobs improve. Case in point the three new POPs I picked up including the Fallout76 Mothman, and the Devil & Angel Betty Boop were all painted well. No out of line paint, over-spray or poorly painted details. It's what you'd expect from a collectible that costs upwards of $12 each. To put it in better perspective the paint jobs on a Hotwheels car that costs the buyer only 99 cents was previously more impressively applied than the POPs. That's a huge disparity in possible quality per dollar. I do imagine though that there may be some corner cutting with stencil & airbrush application via machinery on POPs which could explain some of the paint over-spray in the earlier toys. That being said I think it's been sorted out for the most part, and with POPs becoming more & more detailed in build it's only fair that the toys should reflect a more appropriate per dollar quality presentation.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

The Funko Fad ~ Is it Failing?

Everywhere you go shopping, from the local Walgreens to Walmart and even Gamestop you'll find Funko's POP! Vinyls stocked on store shelves. To some extent. You'll find store exclusives, limited editions, and even plastic casings for these budget priced collectibles. Oddly though that availability has somewhat slumped along the way for some reason or another. Lately in the midst of this craze that I call the "Funko Phenomenon" stores have begun to discount the toys, and even offer bundle prices in what seems like an attempt to get rid of stationary supplies. The kind of Pops that stay shelved for quite some time without much customer interest. It is slightly concerning seeing what could be possibly one of the last great toy innovations come to a crashing halt. There's no doubt in my mind that toys and collectibles are being lost among an audience who is more easily snared by the various entertainment offerings.

As a toy collector I've followed the Funko fad from it's start years ago to it's current day status. I've had the privilege to review some of the toys for Funko, and have even done some showcasing on my own dime, and my own time. What I've noticed is a continuous support of the brand by the company, and continued release of hyped "got to have" items that are definitely hard to get your hands on. The question that begs to be answered though is whether or not this hype is having any true influence on sales. Sure, the limited editions, exclusives, and giveaway editions have no doubt captured collectors' attention, and money, but with the sought after Pops being hard to find that leaves a less than desirable variety that no one really cares for or wants. The bulk of what it is Funko obviously hopes to sell.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Weekend Blog Log (July 26, 2015)

For those of you who have followed me this past week on Twitter you'll know that I had a sort of emotional meltdown. For the first time in a long time I had hit rock bottom in my life, and openly so. I think it was a combination of things building up to that point, and not particularly one simple thing. My life is chaos. I endure family drama on a daily basis, and life in general has begun to collapse around me. When a certain friend started making judgmental tweets indirectly about something I had tweeted earlier it sent me even further over the deep end. I felt bad for having lost her friendship, but at the same time knew the ties must be broken. What you have to understand is that I go to Twitter for an escape. Each time I log in I look forward to the positive things my friends have to say whether it's game related, or whatever. For a long time gaming had been that escape for me, but with the quality of online gaming, and gaming in general going downhill I can no longer depend on that hobby to brighten my day. Twitter has once again become my last hope at happiness. Even that is suffering from drama though.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Pop! Vinyl #43 - Mad Moxxi

I have decided that I am going to try, and pick up at least one 'Pop! Vinyl' toy each month for review, and collecting purposes. The fact that Gamestop has a large, and unique supply of them now in-store really makes them easier for me to find. I have seen some that I'm definitely going to get in the coming months including some 'X-Files' figures as well as some MARVEL/DC ones. With each POP I pick up I'll also share some details about said figures in regards to their quality, and out-of-box nature. I have realized after having picked up a few retailer POPs on my own dime that not all are as perfect as the figures which the PR send out. Some are sloppily painted while others won't stand on their own two feet. The flaws do vary, and as a display type toy this is kind of bothersome especially if you aim to display them outside of the box. With all that aside though let us talk about what FUNKO's Mad Moxxi has to offer you as a collector ...

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

MTG Legacy Collection - Chandra Nalaar (FUNKO)

Funko toys have been super busy branching out, and capturing various video game, film, and book related characters with their noteworthy toy molds. This ever growing list of quality toys includes, but is not limited to "The Ghostbusters", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Diablo", and "Magic the Gathering" amongst many others. It's hard to keep up with all that's offered, but there is definitely a lot to choose from in regards to standard, and limited edition variations. As for me I've picked up a figure here, and there that interest me. I've bought Batman POP! Vinyls, Attack on Titan POP! Vinyls, and even have some Hatsune Miku POP! Vinyls. Upon seeing the MTG Funko POPs, and their action figure spin-offs in the Funko Legacy Collection though I knew I eventually wanted to pick up some up for my growing collection as that is collectible that greatly accents a game I love. For those of you who do not know of the "Legacy Collection" figures they are basically Funko's answer to the McFarlane line of toys. They are well crafted, and usually sport a decent paint job. While the figures don't span as many subjects, or characters as McFarlane's has Funko is building upon what they have to offer, and will no doubt be a mainstream action figure brand in no time. Currently I know of the "Game of Thrones" figures, and the "Magic the Gathering" series which features well known Planeswalkers.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Attack on Titan - "Colossal Titan" POP! Vinyl (FUNKO)

Recently while at Gamestop I noticed they had stocked a side shelf with the harder to find 'POP! Vinyl' toys. This was a pleasant surprise in that the adjacent Walmart super store only carried the same old boring Funko toys that nobody wanted. Things like the "Game of Thrones", and "My Little Ponies" were always on the Walmart sub-section shelves. Seeing that Gamestop had a budget priced giant version of the 'Attack on Titan' Colossal Titan though I could not help, but buy it. I'm a fan of horror themed toys, and the anatomical nature of this grotesque giant really stood out to me. Mind you I've never watched the "Attack on Titan" anime series, but something about the horrific titans found in that series is really cool. I figure that's probably why the series is as popular as it is. Anyways, I'd like to share with you some photos of the toy, and some thoughts, and opinions of it's design. The descriptions will be basic, but will give you an idea of the quality of these larger, and slightly more costly giant 'POP! Vinyl' figures.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Funko Mystery Minis - "1 Rare & 1 Common Variant!!!"

Just recently the local Walmart began carrying a different variety of Funko toys including different types of the usual 'POP! Vinyls' as well as some newly introduced 'Mystery Minis', and 'ReAction' adult figures. Being the Funko 'POP! Vinyls' fan that I am I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some new review material, and collectibles to add to my growing collection. This time around I decided to take a gamble with a couple of Funko's Mystery Minis figures/bobble heads, and an 'Alien' ReAction figure which I'll be reviewing a little later on. I picked up a series 2 "The Walking Dead" Mystery Mini, and a "Guardians of the Galaxy (the title reminds me of Destiny ^.^)" Mystery Mini bobble head figure. What you have to understand about these types of Funko toys, and my purchases aside from the fact that they are a "mystery" is that the toys are randomly packaged. You could score a common figure, an uncommon one, or even a rare one. Surprisingly enough I scored one of the rarer Mystery Mini figures you could get for the "Walking Dead" series, and a common one from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series. In "The Walking Dead" box I got the glow-in-the-dark bloody zombie, and in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" box I got the common 'Ronan' figure. It was a truly pleasant surprise to get the glow-in-the-dark zombie, and is one that will go down in pure luck history ... for me anyways.

Friday, July 4, 2014

POP! Vinyl / POP! Rides - "Batmobile"

Recently, while out shopping at Walmart I decided to buy a 'POP! Vinyl' figure for review. I liked reviewing the Vocaloid figures, and wanted to start collecting some of them on my own. One thing you have to understand about Walmart, and my trip there for the 'POP! Vinyls' though is that there's slim pickings in regards to 'POP! Vinyl' figures within the store. Unfortunately my options were severely limited, because of this. Most of the figures on the store shelves were of 'My Little Ponies', 'The Walking Dead', 'Game of Thrones', and 'How To Train Your Dragon 2'. Stuff that nobody wanted to buy, and figures that have been on the shelves for months now. The only figure that caught my attention amongst the lot was the classic Batmobile plus classic Batman combo. I had on my mind many other 'Pop! Vinyls' I'd rather have had, but the Batmobile package was an alright choice. So I bought it.

Monday, June 30, 2014

POP! Vinyl / POP! Rocks - "Kagamine Rin & Kagamine Len" (FUNKO)

In December of 2007, as the Vocaloid phenomenon continued to evolve Crypton Future Media, Inc. decided to take their Vocaloid2 engine a step further, and introduce a new musical concept using two voicebanks instead of the usual one. The concept was to combine both a female, and male voicebank along with the usual synthesized sounds. Ultimately the Kagamine twins, as they have come to be known were created, and given the names "Rin (Female)", and "Len (Male)". These names were inspired, and given accordingly in regards to their Vocaloid voice actress Asami Shimoda's fond childhood memory of two similar characters' names (Ken & Rin) which originated from the "Hokuto no Ken / Fist of the North Star" anime/manga series. The "Kagamine" portion of their namesake came from the code development terms "Kagami (Mirror)", and "Ne (Sound)" which also kept true to Len, and Rin's twin-like nature. As with prior Vocaloid traditions the twins were also given an age, amongst other life details. Their age which was mutually shared was '14', and reflected their young appearances. The original illustrator of Rin, and Len (KEI) incorporated details that are seen on both "POP! Vinyl" versions of the characters. These details include a YAMAHA KX5 on the back of Len, and their boots which sport a YAMAHA EOS inspired design amongst other things.

Friday, June 27, 2014

POP! Vinyl / POP! Rocks - "Hatsune Miku" (FUNKO)

First off I'd like to take a moment's time to thank Allison of Funko for entrusting me with these toy reviews. I feel extremely privileged to be able to deliver my thoughts, and background history on each of the three POP! Vinyl "Vocaloids" that were sent my way! Domo arigato! ...

At first glance I can tell you that I was personally beyond impressed with what I saw in regards to these latest FUNKO toy offerings. They looked absolutely stunning to say the least. Without giving away any early spoilers though I will simply state that in total I received 3 Vocaloid 'POP! Vinyl' figures. There are only three in the series (with possible exclusives), and they are each allocated to the "POP! Rocks" listing. Included in the trio are "Hatsune Miku" (which is probably the most recognizable of the group), "Kagamine Rin", and "Kagamine Len". As with all 'POP! Vinyl' figures each of the Vocaloid figures are brought to life in a super deformed way which is very similar to the "Chibi" art style that is featured in some anime series.

For those of you who do not know what the "Vocaloid" phenomenon is in relation to the anime aspect of each offered figure you'll find that it was originally a music synthesis program made to mix human vocals with synthesized sounds from various electronic instruments. It wasn't until a little later on into the early 2000's that the project expanded upon it's conventional use to include promotional characters such as "Hatsune Miku (originally, "Hachune Miku")" which were each made known by various artists through video game adaptations, virtual concerts, and specialized Japanese Vocaloid magazines. It is this pop culture phenomenon known as "Vocaloid", and the combined anime inspiration that come together collectively through artistic means in the form of these three very special 'POP! Vinyl' figures.