My largest collection are my Funko Pops! I was first introduced to Funko Pops in elementary school when I was at a bookstore and instead of looking for academic books, I lingered in the toy section. One Funko Pop particularly caught my attention because it was a uniquely shaped bobblehead figurine of a character I often played in a game, and it was so endearing that I put it on my Christmas wishlist that year. I was given my first Funko Pop that year, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
As a huge fan of pop culture, particularly TV/book series, Japanese anime, video games, and more, I found that collecting figurines of these characters was most enjoyable as I loved having little trinkets and it connected to who I am as a person. I believe that experiences shape who we are as people, so the content we indulge in contributes to our personalities, interests, and it also expands our perspectives. On the surface, I don’t tend to show most people my personality revolving around my interests and hobbies as these elements are deeply significant to my personal life and outlooks, so in order to compensate for that, I reflect how I perceive myself through my collections. Others may think it's silly to spend copious amounts of money and time on searching and collecting these figurines, but to me, it is a valuable passion that I am proud of, and something about collecting things just helps alleviate the struggles of my mental health. My addiction to collecting Funko pops and other figurines became much more serious after I got my first job, as I had my own income to spend without feeling guilty for using birthday or Lunar New Year money.
Although I own around 300 pops, my largest sub-collections include the Harry Potter series, Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Demon Slayer. If I had to choose an all-time favorite pop, it would be Undertaker from the Black Butler anime series, as I spent the most time, effort, and money searching for it. Some other favorites from my extensive collection are Hatsune Miku (metallic version), Chun-Li (red-outfit) from Street Fighter, Kitana from Mortal Kombat X, Ashe & Miss Fortune from League of Legends, Mitsuri Kanroji from Demon Slayer, Sailor Moon (crisis-outfit), and Tomie from the Junji Ito Collection. I usually buy Funko pops second-hand both in-stores and online because of cheaper prices and the higher possibility of rare/exclusive pops, however, I do keep up with new releases from the Funko company itself! With every Funko Pop I purchase, especially when I find the rare-ones I’ve been looking for, I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment and happiness. In the case of my collections, I do believe in the saying that money buys happiness.
