Gather ‘round and give a warm welcome to our first Funatic of the Week for this month, Oscar! 

When and how did you first learn about Funko? Were you a collector before you encountered Funko? 

I first came across Funko Pop! figures back in 2017. I saw them and loved the artwork on the box, the artistry of the Pop! vinyl itself, and just remember being blown away by how detailed and great they looked. At the time, I was heavy into collecting sports and Pokémon cards. After looking up Funko Pops! for about a month or two, I was reluctant to get any because I wasn’t really trying to get into a new hobby, but temptation won, and it has truly been my best decision ever.  

What Funko lines and fandom(s) do you collect? What was the first Funko piece in your collection? 

My Funko Pop! journey started with my all-time favorite cartoon character, Marvin the Martian. I’ve always been a fan of the Looney Tunes and classic cartoon line-ups from the 90s and early 2000s. My collection then grew from 1 to 50, then 100, and so on and so on, and now, I’m at a total of 500+ Funko Pops! and Funko SODAs, and it’s growing more every day.  

Is there a particular Funko art or figure style that you enjoy? (Examples: Black Light, Street Art, D.I.Y. designs) 

Throughout the years I’ve been collecting Funko Pops!, I’ve been a huge fan of the OG Metallic Pops!, black-light series Pops! and glow-in-the-dark Pops! They will always be favorites to go to when I’m Funko Pop! hunting out in the wild. Personally to me, there’s no better feeling than finding a glow, metallic, or black light chase when you aren’t expecting it.  

What’s your favorite Funko memory? (Or perhaps your top 2 if there’s a tie.) 

My favorite Funko memories so far, happened at New York Comic-Con 2022. Since early 2020, I’ve been really active on Twitter/Instagram and speaking with a lot of people within the Funko community. All I can say is, WOW! I’ve been so fortunate to have met such great people within our great community. I can truly say I have Funko Family. Well, with this said, at NYCC2022 I actually got to meet a lot of fellow collectors I had spoken to online. We had a lot of fun Pop! hunting and talking about past and future Pops! at NYCC, which to me, these are the precious memories everyone is talking about when they say you have to feel “That Comic-Con experience”. The last day of NYCC2022, I was soo lucky to meet Fun Maker Mike (Mike Becker) and the whole social media team. Fun Maker Mike was more than happy to take a photo with me, and I don’t know if he could tell how nervous I was, but this was/is my all-time favorite Funko memory. I shall forever cherish that special moment! I want to give a huge thank you to Funko and all the hard work they do. I am truly grateful. I can’t wait to create many more Funko memories. Thank you to the whole Funko Famz!  

When and how did you first learn about Funko?  

I learned about Funko when I started seeing Funko Pops! on the store shelves. I honestly thought Mighty Muggs got a glow up at first, but quickly stood corrected when I saw the Funko brand name on the package.   

Were you a collector before you encountered Funko? 

Yes! I’ve been a toy collector since the early 1990s. My collection ranges from action figures, to dolls, to plushies, and statues. 

What Funko lines and fandom(s) do you collect? 

I am a fan of A LOT of things! BUT…I will purchase anything Funko that has to do with Jim Henson, Darth Vader, Hello Kitty, Harley Quinn, and She-Hulk. Those are an automatic NEED! I also collect any Funko Pops! where the characters are eating ramen, drinking coffee, have a gaming controller in their hands, and are wearing a space helmet. I collect those particular Pops! because they pretty much represent my favorite things.  

What was the first Funko piece in your collection? 

My Darth Vader 01 Funko Pop! and that is what jump-started my Funko collecting, haha!  

Is there a particular Funko art or figure style that you enjoy? 

I absolutely love the flocked and diamond edition Funko Pops! and SODAs. When Funko announces new products, I anticipate and hope for fuzzy or sparkly things! 

What’s your favorite Funko memory?

When my family and I visited the Funko Store in Hollywood for the first time. WE HAD A BLAST! The staff was super nice and helpful, and we loved all the photo opportunities. The Disney Villains Throne is EPIC and my favorite! Creating our own Funko Pops! was the highlight of the trip. We acted like kids in a candy store. It was such. A. Good. Time!  

Additional Details/Stories: 

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the person/people in charge of the Funko Photo of the Week Challenges. They truly helped me find my love of photography again. I put my camera down when life wasn’t going as planned many years ago, but that changed in October 2019 when y’all announced a photo challenge, and I had PLENTY of Funko products to take pictures of! I’ve been participating in them since then, and I actually won one! So, thank you for your dedication and hard work putting the challenges together. I appreciate it!  

When and how did you first learn about Funko?

"Back in 2016, I was looking for something to put on my desk at work and ended up finding a Dalek Pop and a Dead Pool Pop! that I liked. I added a few more to my desk after that and really started collecting when I got a new home office with shelves to display my pops on. Before that I was collecting comics for a while. The largest of things I had collected were video games from different consoles. I am an avid gamer that enjoys all types of different games."

What Funko lines and fandom(s) do you collect?

"I usually grab what I like when it comes to Funko. But for the main lines I am into Dr. Who, Anime (One Piece, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, etc) and Horror. Funko SODA figures have been taking over my collection the most lately. Really looking to put the Social Media Freddy SODA in that collection. They are fun to collect, especially when I pull the unique well-designed chases, and they take up less room. I also have a set area of the random Pops! I enjoy that are not main fandoms I collect on the regular.

First Funko would be between the Dalek, 223 from the Pop! Television line, or Deadpool, 20 from the Marvel Pop! line. I ordered them at the same time. But I think the Dalek wins since it was the first one I displayed."  

Is there a particular Funko art or figure style that you enjoy?

"I tend to like the Flocked or Glow in the Dark variants, depending on the figure. I like a good Glow in the Dark Pop!. When you charge it enough and it shines just right it can make the Pop! just stand out so much more. But Flocked takes it all the time with me. A good, flocked SODA or Pop! will just elevate it so much more."

What’s your favorite Funko memory?

"Every time I look back, it started with the Christmas when my wife and kids bought me a couple of Funko Pops! as presents. The excitement of my son talking about the Mewtwo Pop! and wife explaining how it was a whim and thought they were a cool thing to get. From there we all really started to get into collecting them more. Our kids enjoy trying to open the SODA figures to pull the chase. And the Cons we attend meeting new collectors and friends. All from Pops! that were gifted during the holiday.

The other would be how we got into getting Pops! signed. We were attending Collect-a-Con in Dallas a few years back with the kids. My wife had a couple of Power Rangers Pops! she wanted to get signed and I hadn’t thought that far ahead. But we came across Ricco Fajardo booth, and I saw he had a stack of Mirio Togata Chalice Exclusive Pops! there to sign. My wife encouraged me to get in line and buy the Pop! and get it signed. He was the most enjoyable person to meet and geek out with. He even showed us the hidden Mirio face in the inner flap of the pop and added a quote to it. I think from there I have just enjoyed meeting all the voice actors behind the characters we buy the Pops! for. Each time is always just a different story. Like talking with Luci Christian about how far we are in One Piece, or watching Sonny Strait draw his characters’ faces on the side panel, or just enjoying a chat with Monica Rial as she made an amazing, multi-color quote. And you can tell the ones that are part of the Funko Family by how well there are prepared with their paint pens and fans. 

I enjoy sharing my collection and more on Instagram @wise_lordship."