By Matthew Coker
When I was 15, I dressed like an idiot. Overly-sized baggy pants, long sleeve shirts with holes cut out of the wrists for my thumbs to go through, chains and other odd accessories dangling all over, beanie caps even in the summer, spiked and bleached-blond hair... your typical "punk rock" teenager.
Where did I go to find my fashion sense? Why, Hot Topic of course! 15 years ago, that place was the punk and goth kids’ dream. The first thing you notice as you walk in is all the black, followed by the music playing overhead (which was mainly just fast-paced growl-yelling), and finally the general "screw the mainstream" attitude of the whole place.
Would you like some teen angst with that?
Fast forward to 2016. If you walk into a Hot Topic today, you will still see a lot of black, mainly because they paint everything black to give it that "rebellious" vibe. However, you'll start to notice some things that are just... SO not goth.
First of all, music. Some stores still PLAY the harder stuff over the sound system, but then you check their music racks and you will find stuff like Owl City, Justin Timberlake, and *shutter* One Direction.
Coming to steal your girl AND your goth clothing store.
Beyond the music change, you'll also find that things in there have gotten a lot more... Nerdy. You will find merchandise for superheroes, anime, Power Rangers, Doctor Who,etc., as well as an entire wall of little 3.75" collectibles known as "Funko Pops".
Funko Pops are small collectible figures (some are bobble-heads) that originally featured a basic body shape (the bodies are much more detailed and distinct now) and a giant head with minimalist features, focusing heavily on the eyes.
The Green Lantern Movie: Better than a hundred Deadpool's?
This was the first one I picked up - Hal Jordan from the critically reviled Green Lantern movie (which I still kinda like). I mean, seriously, for an origin story that cramed his entire 60 year backstory into one movie so he would end up ready for the Sinestro Corp War (which happened less than a decade ago), they did surprisingly well. On top of that, why all the hate on the CGI costume? Was that really the biggest fashion faux pas in big screen superhero history?
Bat nipples, anyone?
But I digress.
Funko started cranking out these Pops in 2010 at San Diego Comic Con, originally under the name Funko Force 2.0 (sold in a plastic clam shell), which built off another line of toys they had. When it looked like these were going to surpass everything else they sold in popularity, they renamed them "Pops" and repacked them in their familiar and super stackable white boxes.
Since then, Pops have exploded and were featured just a few months ago on the big morning shows as the "Hottest Collectible on the Planet" or something like that.
When I bought my first one, ol' Green Jeans up there, I thought it was the only one I was going to buy. Green Lantern is my favorite hero, that's all. I'm not a Pop Collector.
Then I saw The Dark Knight Rises and thought, "Well, I could at least get a Batman one too."
When my wife bought me a Spider-Man Pop for my birthday, the addiction finally took hold of me. Within just a few months, my collection increased to a dozen - Iron Man, Superman, Sheldon Cooper, White Ranger, etc. - I couldn't stop.
I still can't.
It's 3 years later now and I've become known as the "Pop Guy" in my social circles. For Christmas, all I get is Pops. For my birthday, Pops. For "thank you" gifts, Pops. I just got back from my buddy's wedding where I was a groomsman. My groomsman gift? POPS.
I have an entire room dedicated to my Pops (and other collectibles, but mostly Pops) and since I keep running out of space for them, I have to expand my displays once every few months. My collection has grown to the point where when people ask me, "How many of these things do you HAVE?", I no longer feel proud to give my answer. I feel embarrassed, like I have a serious problem or something.
Yeah. This.
I'm addicted, and I've successfully infected at least 6 other people I know of, too.
When they first started making these, the only ones they made that really interested me were Marvel and DC. Since they've taken off, Pops have branched out to every franchise known to man. I mean, this year's Funko Toy Fair catalog has concept art for Pops based on the Golden Girls in it. That's right, it has exhausted so many franchises in the past 6 years that it is moving on to TV Land.
There are THOUSANDS of these Pop figures and they keep coming out at a maddening pace. There are rare ones, store exclusive ones, convention exclusive ones, subscription box exclusive ones, and some that are so rare that they are worth HUNDREDS of dollars now.
People on the outside look and see one thing: Beanie Babies.
I don't need a man when I've got 7,000 Beanie Babies to keep me warm in bed.
Sure, Funko can't ride this high forever. The bottom will drop out one day and these figures will stop being made. However, there is a big difference between Funko Pops and Beanie Babies, and that difference is that Beanie Babies were almost exclusively their own thing - their own characters, their own stories, their own gimmick. Funko Pops, however, are almost entirely based on franchises and characters, most of which have already stood the test of time. Funko Pops might not always be popular, but Superman will be - so my Superman Pops are safe. Same with any superhero, WWE wrestler, classic sci-fi series, Disney movie, or Nicktoon. The characters won't die, even if (when) the toy line does. At the rate in which they are burning through franchises, this can't be too far off.
I had to find something to do with the almost 400 Funko Pops in my collection. So, shortly after I started collecting, I created an instagram account - @PopMatt - and I've been taking photos of my collection ever since. In the future, I'll be sharing some of the best shots of my collection with you, showcasing some of my favorite Pops and franchises.
Today, we'll end with sharing just a few of my favorite shots from 2015:
Yes, that IS a tiny, 1-inch tall Ant-man standing on a stack of coins.
To bring this article full circle, let me try to explain to you just how big of a deal Funko Pops are. Hot Topic has become known as the main Funko Pop outlet. The collectible is now their number one selling item. Hot Topic gets dozens of Pops exclusive to their store every year, and they also get to sell some entire series of Pops 90 days before any other store (currently, this is happening with the second series of Doctor Who Pops). Hot Topic employees have even been given exclusive Pops just for them (The Pop is of a semi-generic Hot Topic employee - Hot Topic Guy - which at one time was being sold on eBay for over $300 - I got mine for $30).
Since Hot Topic's big success, other stores have started getting their own exclusives, including GameStop, Target, Walmart, Toys 'r' Us, Barnes & Noble, and Walgreens (of all places). Many online stores and comic shops also get their own exclusives and every year when San Diego Comic Con rolls around, you can guarantee at least a dozen special limited-run convention exclusives.
It is now impossible to walk into a mall and not see them in almost every other store. I've seen them in candy shops, hat stores, sports stores, and even at Kohl's. I don't know why that last one astounds me, but it does.
One thing is for sure: You can't buy just one.
Consider yourself warned.
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