#a lot are bootlegs but it’s Funko | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thesoftboiledegg · 1 year ago

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A couple of people wearing matching Rick and Morty sweatpants walked into the coffee shop where I'm sitting, signifying that it's time for the merchandise roundup!

When I checked out the mall last week, Rue 21 had new undergarments:

I learned today that the Rue 21 near my place is closing. Nooo! I hope I don't lose the one in the mall because those are the only two in my area. Rue 21 and Spencer's are the backbone of merchandise roundups!

No longer in mint condition, Gearhead was trapped in the clearance section at one of the "nerdy" stores. Meanwhile, Balthromaw watched from the top of the glass case.

Spencer's had a new bowl so that you can enjoy ramen (or spaghetti) while watching season seven.

New tumbler. This design appears on a lot of merchandise, but I enjoyed seeing it up close because the colors are so vibrant.

And yep, those are dick-shaped shotglasses in the background. Stay classy, Spencer's!

Pickle Rick peeked at me from the bottom of the pile. When is he going to get out? He's been trapped there for a few weeks!

That same weekend, I decided to check out a couple of head shops that I hadn't visited. One of them had a rolling tray that appears normal at first, but the more I look at it, the more it bewilders me.

...who are those characters? I recognize a few, but most of them are a mystery. Are they all background characters? Somebody's OCs? Am I missing something?

Head shops are a lawless wasteland, further proved by these pipes.

I guess nobody's tired of that IT crossover. And they're not tired of Mr. Jellybean terrorizing Morty, either.

On a more positive note, the holiday season has arrived--and when I visited the mall today, people were breaking out the bootleg gifts. For $70 each, you can own these Rick and Morty engravings:

And while you're at it, add Phillip J. Fry to your collection!

I never saw Futurama merchandise in person before the past year, so the Hulu revival must've brought it back to the public consciousness. I don't know why it never had the same marketing blitz as The Simpsons. Same with Disenchantment. Maybe they're just too niche?

The same booth had a couple of tumblers:

Plus, a new shirt at Rue 21:

What really surprised me was when I checked out the nerdy store again and found...Artemis Fowl! I don't think I've ever seen Artemis Fowl merchandise before, not even in grade school when the series peaked.

I didn't buy it because I don't care for Funko Pops, but I thought about it. Forever my favorite hyperfixation 🖤

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #futurama #rue 21 #roundup #head shop #cannabis culture #cannabis

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loudestcloud · 11 months ago

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💥 Fandom battle jacket tour 💥

👇🏻Explanations and details👇🏻 please forgive spelling mistakes, it's midnight n I'm tired n need to be up at 6 tomorrow

The back is a custom t shirt I ordered of official Pokémon card art of my top favourite Pokémon. Doduo, Sandile, Aipom, Sandshrew, Heracross and Pichu but specifically THE brothers. My Doduo are always called Finn-lee and my Sandile is Harrison Wells.

The blue numbers side is full of things that I can talk about for days on end / talk about a lot on here, more of a super fan side. 1: Official button of Yuu Kamda from D.gray man. 2: Thousand sunny from One piece pin brought at an irl shop. 3: Pride pin brought at my first pride years ago. 4: Official Tumblr pin I brought when looking at the store while getting my free One piece stickers. 5: A light house pin I brought at a museum, this one represents my favourite game To the moon although I am a huge fan of the museum I got it from. 6: The love of my life A bootleg Sanji from One piece pin I brought from AliExpress because I wanted to see how bad they are to talk about the differences honestly. 7: Franky from One piece pin, also from the AliExpress test. 8: Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist doing the rosie riveter pose?, idk why maybe it's like 'disabled ppl can do it too'?, I got him in a give away from The Fullmetal. I misplaced my Bakugo pin but he'll be on that side alongside my huge funko pop Kirishima, I may update this as it goes along.

The red side is more of a chill vibes side, I love the content, they did change my life a lot but like, I couldn't tell you much about the actual fandom and the inside jokes or whatever. 1: This is the exception to the rule, Lenalee Lee from D.gray man badge. She's on this side because I am new to the fandom but also I have made edits for Kanda and she's only partly on one edit not about her. 2: This is not a fandom, this is an anti diet culture pin that says 'Donuts forever, Diets never', I got it from Candy Doll Club along with the same pin but in brown for my Katakuri jacket. I am very anti diet culture, even more so now that I have been on one and GAINED ON IT?? anyway. 3: Stranger things Hawkins High badge I bought in 2017 at an irl shop & 4: Stranger things Eleven Eggo pin brought for me as a gift from a family member I no longer speak to. 5: Official Tom Nook from Animal crossing pin! It came with my siblings pre order of New Horizons & I love and care for him still to this day like he is a medal. 6: Anxious the Elephant from the Haven Holidays mascot team. Like I said yall, I was a Holiday park kid and I stan my girl. 7: A Slush puppy pin from Candy Doll Club, on this jacket to represent Heathers the musical. I do like the movie but the musical was my everything as a young teen. 8: The danger days spider from My Chemical Romance. Bro is my favourite album, has been since a young child but I cannot tell you the law around it.

Lastly we have a Fairy tail necklace charm on a keyring loop, specifically Gray's guild mark, this pocket is on the 'blue' side. A clown a friend got me for Christmas because I love silly little guys, on the red side because he isn't anyone, he's just fun. Ace from One piece, blue side obviously and lastly this hidden Big foot, temporarily representing The Adventure zone: amnesty because I do own the patch and that will be going under the gap, i think I'll probably move Big foot over to the red side when that happens cos i know jack shit about actual cryptids.

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mysticdragon3md3 · 2 years ago

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Been trying to find figure collecting channels to watch on YouTube. But I can't really find many that completely hold my interest.

Most figure collectors are primarily focused on static scale figures. I like articulated figures.

Most articulated figure channels focus almost exclusively on Nendoroids. Nendoroids are my favorite too, but I also like S.H. Figuarts, Figma, Chibi-Arts, etc.

If I look for channels that focus specifically on Nendoroids, the collectors' tastes tend to be so different from mine, that I eventually drop off from their channel. Like, I used to watch nendokittychan a lot. But then an increasing number of her consecutive Nendoroid reviews were characters I wasn't interested in. So I kind of stopped watching.

Then there are figure accounts I liked, but were abandoned. I used to watch NendoNow on YouTube, until they abandoned their channel. And I Followed ohnoraptors on Tumblr, and found out they even started a podcast on their own YouTube channel…but that got abandoned after a few episodes too. ;_;

And so many Nendoroid channels suggested to me are about bootlegs. I don't agree with that, and I don't want to be reminded of the people who have left hostile comments on my personal YouTube channel, trying to excuse their bootleg buying. But YouTube keeps suggesting Nendoroid vids to me, specifically about bootlegs. x_x; I can't even remember if Jenny Supremo advocated or warned against bootlegs, but the algorithm keeps making the fist 5+ Nendoroid video suggestions to me from her channel's bootleg comparison vids---when I didn't even search for "Nendoroid bootlegs".

I just want to watch people fanboy/fangirl over figures that I also like, and sometimes also give tips on shopping, rearranging, etc.

…Without being creepy or slipping in toxic masculine or homophobic language in every other sentence. For instance, the top vid that keeps getting suggested to me, when I search for comparisons between Nendoroids and Funko Pops, is a guy who talks in that painfully insecure and toxic manner. The video is made well, but the way he talks just ruins it. x_x;;;; Why do I keep finding videos that seem fine, but then devolve into people talking in problematic and mean-spirited ways? ;o;!

I guess if I listed the channels I've found to like recently, the pickings would feel so slim.

Kyoko & Saphira Selena is Akane Mokenchu TV Blanks

Still undecided on: The Ando Experience Gwyn Collects

#youtube #figure collecting #processing thoughts #personal preferences

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ectonurites · 2 years ago

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(in response to this)

@babybirbb i can tell ya! now just the where isn’t particularly helpful for most of ‘em if you’re at all wanting to look into getting them for yourself (bc i either got them at local places in person where they were the only one or i got them secondhand/via online reselling) so i’ve also included the actual names/brands & pictures of what they look like in the original packaging for each, which might make looking up places they’re currently available easier 👍

ok so the Tims:

Going from left to right i got them:

Imaginext DC Super Friends Red Robin: From the Target toy department (I got the one that’s part of a larger set but they do sell him on his own too)

Diamond Select Toys Robin Gallery Statue: i got him at a small collectibles store in a nearby mall

Bootleg Lego (Lebq) mini figure: my friend Aaron (theastonishingantman on here) gave it to me a million years ago after he’d ended up with a ton of different ones (he also gave me a Nightwing and a Wonder Woman)

Eaglemoss DC Comics Superhero Collection #053 (Chess Piece): Harrison’s Comics in Salem, MA

Kotobukiya ArtFX+ Red Robin: this was a christmas gift from my mom but I believe she got it on ebay

The two action figures that look nearly identical (they are a little different though mostly in coloring, specifically based on my research the one standing with brighter colors is Mattel Batman Battle Board Robin [possibly from this other set from that 2003 Batman line, but it’s the same figure] and the one sitting with darker colors is DC Super Heroes Mattel Select Sculpt Series 3 Robin): i got these together on ebay (sans any original accessories) and i shit you not getting the lot with two of them was (at the time i got them) cheaper than just getting only one of either from a different seller 🤷‍♂️

DC Direct Batman and Son Robin & Damian (this is a set, they’re individual figures but share a base): also a gift from my mom, I once again believe from ebay

Funko Pop Heroes DC Universe #02 Robin: this was also Aaron’s that he gave me

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atomic-rena · 2 years ago

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8, 27 & 40!

> do you have any grails (figures you want more than anything)?

Yes!! My Rei and Asuka nurse figures specifically the 2006 ones!! I got them from Amazon so for months I was stressing out about if they where gonna be bootleg or not, but nope they are genuine!! ^_^

My other grails are pretty modest I guess, they're mostly nendoroids which I know is kinda silly but I love them so much :,3 Here's a MFC link to my list of obtained grails and a link to my list of not ever (probably) obtained grails :,)))

Although it's funny I don't usually set out to buy specific figures hah- most of my collection is second :P

> what is your favourite character out of all the figures you own?

Hrmmm??? That's tricky! I would love all the jjba characters I have but also I have the most Mikus, quite a few Reis as well hmrmrm- I'm gonna say Miku because she has fun outfits but rei is a close second tho ^_^

(if you're curious list of all my Miku and Rei figures and merch!!)

> do you have any controversial figure opinions?

Other than explicit or suggestive loli/shota figures are bad and Funko pops suck I do!

So I fucking hate online shopping and it kinda pisses me off because everyone assumes I get my shit online but I don't!!! I rarely do!! I understand that if you live in an area with no stores, online shopping is sadly your only option if you want stuff. I'm not trying to say that it's explicitly bad but just personally I really hate it and I'm fortunate enough to live in a area with good stores.

So adding to that opinion is I loooooove to buy second hand figures because 1. It's a lot cheaper 2. I can find a lot of older and more niche ones that I would never know exist if I didn't shop second hand (my Prier fig is a great example!!) and finally 3. I just genuinely enjoy the cleaning process.

Nothing brings me more joy than dissembling a figure that has dust all over it and some smudges and just going in and making it look the best I can. Bonus points if it's broken in any way!!! This is why I love the demon squeezer figure I was gifted cuz she had like broken parts n shit and I got to fix her! That's so cool I love it so much!! I have my hot glue technique where I just put a shit ton of hot glue on a stuck peg and stick a hot glue stick on it then wait for it too cool off and yank it out, so much fun!!!! Do it with my old nendoroids whenever their parts snap (which I'm sad that they do but I like to yank the stuff it's fun)

I think I'm just really crafty and feel like I always need to be making something but I don't always have the ideas or motivation to draw so this is a nice outlet. That and Kandi bracelet making that's fun too.

But yeah tldr; old second hand figures with broken parts are fun to fix

#thank you anon!!#ask #anon #rena.text

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dekusheroacademia · 3 years ago

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Collecting figures: how to start (or just buying some figures without actually getting into collection)

I just wanted to add some information and mistakes I did when I started buying BNHA figures.

In this post I summarized my favorite BNHA figures and here you can see the ones I have if you prefer some specific info (and pictures!)

This post will be organized in:

1) Types of figures (cute and small, realistic and static, action figures) 2) Counterfeit and how to best avoid it 3) Where to buy and how 4) No need to buy merchandise: you can make your own!

Let's start!

1) Differences between figures

There are different types of figures around! The main ones, when we think of an anime figure, are (I am gonna add a linked youtube video bnha example for each type. I chose random videos, but I chose video because it shows the figure better than a picture):

CUTE BIG HEAD

Funko pops, they are usually the cheapest and they do a lot of characters (Ex. Nejire) so if you are on a budget and you like secondary characters this is the one for you

Nendoroid, they are articulated, so they move in different positions! They are super cute and around ~30 or 50 dollars usually or a but more, depending on the character. (ex. Bakugou and Deku, but mainly Bakugou with details on parts. Nendos usually have these separate faces and hands you can add)

World Figure Collectable: these are minis and I admit I don't know too much but I know they are relatively cheap. They come in volumes, ex v1 has character A to F etc etc. (ex. volume 1). I admit I am not a fan, because the head is bigger than the body but not in a cute way

Q Posket is a recent addition to BNHA. They are usually very elegant and cute, with a very big head and eyes and made for a character in two version of colors (ex. Hawks).

SCALED SIZE

Prize figures are pretty cheap figures that are usually around 20 euro or little more. Even if they are cheap, I think the quality is still good! For BNHA they are usually made by Banpresto, and the main two series are Amazing Heroes (ex. Bakugou from Amazing heroes) and Age of Heroes (ex. Uraraka). There is also the series texture that focuses on adding texture on the clothes (ex. Todoroki). There are also some new series like Break Time which is the one where the characters are sitting (ex. Deku)

Prize by Goodsmilecompany. Goodsmilecompany makes series of relatively cheap figures of the same quality of prize figures and they are called Pop Up Parades (ex. Bakugou and Deku school uniform)

Ichiban kuji figures. These are prize figures that can be usually won through lotteries. They are usually then resold on auction for a little higher price than other prize figures. These are organized in a lot of different series (ex. Begin the Heroe AM, Deku, Bakugou and Todoroki)

Scale figures. These are the more expensive ones (~more than 100 euro each). They are usually of better quality and they come with an indicator for scale. If you see 1/8 nearby a figure name, it's probably a scale. (Ex. Bell Fine series, which made only female characters, here Tsuyu)

Statues. Prohibitive prices... who is even buying these? These are enormous resin statues, with a lot of details and are usually more than 1000 dollars... ex. Bakugou and Deku.

THEY MOVE?? (ACTION FIGURES)

Nendoroids (already explained above, but in case you missed it, here's a Toga example)

Figma: these are articulated action figures by goodsmilecompany, and they have a cuter aspect than other action figures (but the nendoroids). Of these, I know the bootleg are actually not to bad! (ex. figma Deku bootleg comparison)

Revoltech: these have a less cute look but more articulation. (My pics here of Bakudeku!). They are among my favorite because of the articulations and they come with accessories and faces (ex. Deku)

McFarlane action figures. These are... not my favorite, but cheaper action figures. Somehow, they always manage to mess up the faces, but they are also bigger (ex. All Might, Deku, Bakugou and Shigaraki)

(Of course there are other figures around, but these are the main categories)

2) Bootlegs

Bootlegs are counterfeit figures. There are plenty of reasons to not buy them, from quality to the damage on the industry and sometimes the dangerous materials they are made with. Bootlegs are pretty common for the most popular figures, for example nendoroids and some prize figures, and figmas.

While not all of them have bad quality (ex. I found the bootleg figmas pretty good for the price, but the nendoroids were so bad) it is still a gamble and you'd risk loosing your money. Also because if you find the review of a good bootleg it does not mean that the one you will buy will be of the same quality.

Giving for granted you want to avoid bootlegs, the best way is:

Buying from certified sellers or preordering (list here)

If buying on ebay or amazon or aliexpress: distrust the low prices, if the price is low, it's probably a bootleg

If buying on ebay or other auction websites, ask for pictures, especially of the box

Myfigurecollection has a warning under each figure if a counterfeit exists. I find it safe to buy from amazon or ebay if the price is not too low and no counterfeit exists of the figure

More on how to spot fake/bootleg nendoroids

For articulated figures (ex. nendo or figma) the pieces cannot be used from a bootleg to a real figure (often)

Here's an example of poor Nendoroid Deku where the neck doesn't even fit:

Shiny face, ruined hair and green eyebrows:

3) Where to buy and where

The best way to avoid bootlegs is buying from trusted sellers. These are usually Japanese websites (English version- the asterisks is for websites I used):

Amiami

Hobbysearch

Solaris Japan

HobbyLink

AitaiKuji*

Amazon Japan* (but be careful to only buy on amazon, any amazon, figures from the actual brand and not bootlegs)

Or US websites:

Big Bad Toy Store*

Nin Nin Game

Or European websites:

Figuya

Yorokonde

Archonia*

All Blue World

Shiritori

Or Australian websites:

Critical Hit*

Minotaur*

Japan Toys

I added an asterisk to the website I used

that distribute official merch. Some companies, like goodsmilecompany (that makes Nendoroids, Pop Up and Figmas) list their own partners shops around the world. The cheapest figures (prizes) sometimes are also in more common shops like Toy R Us and Game Stop.

Of course, you can find second hand figures on ebay and Yahoo Auctions Japan, and you can find figures on Amazon and Aliexpress too. To avoid counterfeit, make sure to check the policy of each seller, the photographs they send, if a bootleg exist (you can do that on Myfigurecollection in the description of each figure) and keep in mind that if it's too cheap it is probably counterfeit.

Also, make sure to keep in mind that you might have to pay additional customs fees if you buy from outside your country/area. So if you make big orders from Japan, you might save in expedition fees but pay a lot of import fees.

I personally buy on amazon when I know no counterfeit exist and the price is more or less the one I expect, otherwise I use Bigbadtoystore mainly because it lets me add the figures in a "pile" and send them together later on. I also used Myfigurecollection before, as people will sell their figures through ads, but if you do that make sure to follow the recommended steps here.

4) Make your own merchandise

I am a big fan of making my own merchandise! It's easy, cheaper and unique!! If you don't have a lot of money, if you want your Izuocha badge or your Todobaku bag or decor, then making your own merchandise is the best way!

There are different methods, but the easier ones, in my opinion, and the fun ones are (from easiest to hardest):

A) Shrinky dinks. This is usually for children, but who said you can't use it for yourself?? It's basically plastic sheets where you can draw with sharpies (or copy, as they are pretty transparent) before putting them in the over for a few minutes (or seconds). The cutout of your drawing will harden and reduce in size, becoming a plastic... anything! Earrings? Necklace? Keychain? Whatever you want.

You will need: Shrinky dinks (there are different colors and brands), sharpies to draw on them, an over, a hole puncher to make a hole, keychain rings or chains/earrings/jewelry making stuff if you want to turn it into something else, a drawing to copy or trace. Additionally, you can finish it with some resin (buy one that hardens at the sun or using a UV light for nail polish), as otherwise the color, sometimes, might wash away.

Here's some examples: Baku earrings, more Baku earrings, Todoroki keychain

B) Glass painting. This is similar to shrinky dinks as you can copy, but you will need a bit more painting ability. I am very very bad at it, so I gave up immediately. Basically you'll just need a plexiglass sheet (like the glass for photography) and acrylic painting colors! You can trace the drawing with sharpies and then paint inside (or just leave the lineart).

C) Hama beads. I call hama beads (or fusible beads) the cross stitch of the lazy. With these beads you can create plastic decor or badges or whatever you want, really! These beads are small colorful beads that you can put on a pegboard (they have a hole) to compose a picture, following (usually) a pattern. Once it's done, you'll use an iron to use them together (look up for the "fusible beads tape method" for some tricks).

You'll just need: hama beads (or other brands, they are called fusible beads, and they are in two sizes, I use the 5 mm ones), a pegboard (for the 5 mm if you use those beads), a pattern, and an iron to fuse them together (and some tape to help you, paper tape!).

Here's some patterns I made (you can use for cross stitching too):

patterns I made (BNHA, different ships and characters).

And here's some examples: Nana Shimura, fantasy BNHA

D) Polymer clay. This is just sculpting! You can sculpt anything you want with polymer clay, and then you can put it in the over and it will harden. Here's an example of Bakudeku earrings.

You will just need polymer clay of different colors, some jewelry making kit if you make earrings or necklaces, a lot of ability (which I don't have), an oven and, if you want, some resin to finish it with the glossy look you saw in that example.

D) Cross stitching. This is my favorite hobby, and it's really not as hard as it seems! You'll just need threads (embroidery threads) of different colors, and some aida cloth and you can start by following a pattern. You can start small (I made some ships badge on that pattern page, if you scroll down). If you decide to decorate a bag or clothes you can then buy some soluble canvas and a hook, so you can put the canvas on the bag and once you are done with the cross stitch you can put it in water and the canvas will disappear, leaving your work on the cloth of your choce.

Here's some example: kiribaku and bakudeku badges, BNHA rainbow flag, Todobakudeku bag.

ENJOY!

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha #bakudeku #todobaku #izuocha #figures #meta

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glassprism · 4 years ago

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Do you have any new/different opinions on the restaged tour looking back on it now to when you were able to see it? I find my opinions change more on things I've seen in person than boots so was wondering if you had anything similar! Also, what are you currently doing in your free time? I'd love to see any new /different collection you have

For the restaged tour, not really? It was pretty much what I expected, and I didn’t find my opinion increasing or decreasing noticeably. I did see some things I had not seen in bootlegs, but overall, my opinion remained unchanged. I think it changed more once the tour actually closed; again, not drastically, but I did have a sort of wistful, “well, they tried something new, I guess” kind of feeling. I didn’t like much of the actual ideas they had... or their execution of it for that matter... but hey, A for effort?

Weirdly, it was seeing another show live that did change my opinion a bit: Love Never Dies, when I went to see the national tour live. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, which I chalk up to three things: 1) the magic of my first live experience glossing over a lot of flaws, 2) a very high-energy cast, and 3) my very lowered expectations. I mean, I still think much of the themes and plot and characters of LND are terrible, but the experience was fun. And I think my more ambivalent feelings even after watching the restaged tour live can be explained by the fact that: 1) it was my first live Phantom experience but not my live show ever, so some of the magic had worn off, 2) my cast was a little less energetic (and I got the understudy Christine on her first day), and 3) I’d just watched a bootleg of a very good production and cast the day before and boy did the restaged tour compare unfavorably to it. So yeah, maybe not with Phantom, but with LND, seeing it live improved it a fair bit.

Anyway... I actually don’t have a lot of free time at all now! The school I work at does summer school, and they’ve re-opened offices for teachers (though not students), so I’ve been back at work for a month now. (Which may have been noticeable, as my posts and questions to asks are now all coming in a mass wave at a certain time, rather than the more gradual flow that was the norm when I was at home.)

As for collections, nothing much new, though I did finish my collection of Batman Cubeecraft (almost all of them downloaded from this guy - go check out what he’s made!), and they’re now set up in my office, so it looks different from the photo below. I tell anyone who comes by that they serve as my barrier to keep students six feet away from me:

Added a couple of Funko Pops over on the right (the Cersei Lannister one, so now my three favorite characters from ASOIAF/GoT are all accounted for, and also the Lisa Simpson one hiding in the back):

And my pride and joy, a new Michael Myers figure, from the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween; the left is what I have him as my file cabinet, but I took a picture of him with the more iconic mask just to be more recognizable, and placed him next to his Funko Pop counterpart for fun:

#when I'm bored I place the Myers figure on my horror-hating coworker's desk just to see her reaction #Anonymous #GP gets asks

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pespillo · 4 years ago

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If Scott really was getting sick of this crap he’d take away their license, so yeah I agree this is probably a marketing scheme rip, though the first time was probably more likely a slip up. Personally I think Funko is kinda...meh, they’ve proven to take no care at all in what their selling. I’ve seen multiple plushies that look either off, or simply deformed. They seem to always use the wrong colouring too. I just fed if Scott really cared, he’d of dealt with Funko already

i do think the first slip up (the calendar with concept art) was definitely just a slip up because it was clear the product wasnt that polished to showcase yet, but this? eh, funko is obviously reusing like a lot of molds in the announcement, they are known for that, but this just stinks of fake outrage, n like, i dont care, rlly, i dont consume fnaf merch, cuz im not american, i only own one bootleg bonnie plushie n bootleg fnaf cards

#asks #Anonymous

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dengeki-gs · 4 years ago

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my last reblog made me think about this

When I was in high school and I worked at the mall, at the bootleg anime figure/ toy/ various plastic accoutrements store, I spent a lot of time there scared out of my mind, watching the toys watch me, and every time there was a clang or clatter on the first floor I could hear it up on the second, echoing much louder.

There were a lot of times the fire alarm got pulled, a lot of people having drama on the first floor, and sometimes people yelling and playing. It was chaotic! (It is the mall.) Being the only one in the store most of the time and being frightened by the smallest things didn’t help very much. I was so paranoid.

Every week, sometimes a couple of times a week, my bosses would haul merchandise in a drive that was 2 hours from one store to the next and bring roller-carts full of plastic bags. They smelled awful, like the most plastic, chemical scent you could imagine. All this shit, and for what? (Oh, and the slime was the worst. It was so putrid, it was like chemical plastic fragrance with farts). It never got bought.

I spent so much time there catastrophizing about the place getting shot up (This was like right after parkland?) and what other damage could be done to the store and to the mall and how I would perish in the break room (which was less break room more funko pop assortment). I locked up dutifully and *ran* down the stairs in the concrete back every night I worked, and triple-checked, cause if I forgot, I would get fired!

Looking at those pictures, I saw the store I used to work at, I saw how there was nothing left except soot. I imagined starting a fire from the register, in the middle of the square store, and letting it eat up all the cheaply mass produced garbage until it was gone, and just remaining in the middle would be my 17-year-old self, remarkably braver, and free from all that crap.

It felt so good.

#I have plenty of stories about this place #So if you have questions about that shoot me an ask #And I really like this tbh I might submit it as a writing sample for college apps...hrmmm

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thesoftboiledegg · 1 year ago

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The dawn of another new Rick and Morty episode is upon us. But before "Rickfending Your Mort" airs, I went to the mall to see what new merchandise awaits.

Toxic Rick: now on boxer shorts!

The bootleg canvas sign store had a new illustration, complete with marijuana leaves that make me suspect that it's adorned a few head shops. And Rick's favorite thing: crystals! 💎

Spencer's had a new shipment of Rick and Morty blankets waiting to hit the shelves. One day, I might buy one.

Mini lanyards! I love it when merchandise leans into the trippiness.

Spencer's also had a new hoodie that I nearly missed because they'd piled it on a shelf with other black hoodies. I feel like you need 3D glasses to see the design.

When I visited the other mall today, I saw a Rick and Morty air freshener hanging in someone's vehicle in the parking lot. I took that as a good omen!

Sure enough, Rue 21 had a T-shirt with a twist: two views of Rick and Morty from the front and back. Rick looks pretty agitated!

More pajama pants. This is probably my favorite design yet. They're SO soft and snuggly, too.

The "nerdy" store had a beanie decorated with Rick's electrocuted skull. He looks a little like a pot leaf, which might be the idea.

Some of you might remember that I found tiny Rick and Morty figurines in the clearance section, doomed to a life outside the original packaging:

I browsed the shelves and found a collection of tiny people! Tiny Jerry, tiny Beth, tiny Summer, tiny Mr. Poopybutthole, tiny Arthricia: the season two gang's all here.

I wonder which brand manufactured these. Seems like somebody dropped off their whole collection like they did with the Funko Pops.

Anyway, this Spencer's location had what's now one of my favorite T-shirts:

I didn't buy it because white T-shirts stain easily, but that design is so perfectly bizarre. Everybody gather 'round for Rick and Morty Show! It looks like the best kind of bootleg merchandise.

Pickle Rick was crammed at the bottom of the cage. Tough break.

Who knows, buddy: the leg might become the new Pickle Rick. Dudebros might start screaming "I'm a leg!" at McDonald's employees. Spencer's will stock Rick leg pillows. Has Pickle Rick finally met his match?

Eh, let's be real: the pickle is here to stay. 🥒

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #spencer's #rue 21 #roundup

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