For about 2 years now i started to collect Funko Pops. At first i simply bought anything that i liked bit i quickly reached to a point where i literally have no more space. At the same time i saw that most of the titles that i collected had 50-300 funko pop each.
I gave it some thought and decided to focus on a specific series of funko pops, which is the Hunter X Hunter franchise, which is my favorite anime. At the same time i am trying to slowly sell my other stuff in order to make some room. I am in no rush so each time i sell something i am buying a Hunter x Hunter Funko Pop with a goal of completing the set.
Now i am also part of different Facebook groups and also watch the news around Funkoverse. The company behind funko pops faces economic issues and due to that, they decided to follow a different method.
You see, their main model for the past years was quantity over quality and over collectors. That led to huge stocks unsold and ofc losing money. For a couple of months now they have decided to limit their quantities to focus on quality and also to make more limited edition (numbered) items.
This means that we get to see a lot of Funko Pops that have from 100 to 10000 pieces worldwide and a sticker saying the number in total. ofc this can be a lead to another disaster, if they make too many of these but this is another story.
So one of the newest let's say "grails" that all the collectors went crazy is the Super Saiyan Goku Limited editon, which only has 1200 Pieces worldwide. The retail price was 50$. There are a lot of collectors out there who like and collect Dragon Ball stuff and it has been a long time since a low-numbered Dragon Ball Funko came out.
At the same time there are a lot of people that collect only numbered funko pops and ofc a lot of people that are in solely for the money. To understand the craziness of this item, just look below some recent ebay sales:
Prices are going crazy and it currently sells for 1500$-1700$. Imagine the profit for someone who bought it for 50$ and imagine the collectors that exist out there who are willing to buy a Funko Pop for that amount.
To tell you the truth a lot of people are whining about the current price but in my mind we are talking for a hobby. If i don't have the money to buy something then i won't buy it. Also, as i don't collect Dragon Ball or numbered pieces, if i managed to get it for 50$ i would sell it also, i don't see the harm in it.
We set the price that is best for us in our minds and based on our budget. If, for example, i would consider it 200$ Pop, i would wait for the price to drop or simply never buy it. There are tons of Dragon Ball funko out there and more beautiful than this one, so we need to stop the excuses and simply be happy that we can see the value of some funko pops skyrocketing!