On May 5, a man in Glendale, California, met with another man to buy him a pack of two ultra-rare Funko Pops seals for $ 100,000 (A $ 141,000) in cash. This deal, the first recorded six-digit sale of Funko Pop, is believed to be the largest in the history of Funko Pop collecting, and could be just the beginning of bigger deals to come. .
What are Funko Pops? Well, you probably already know what they are. But for those who have been living under a rock or have never been to a store that sells comics, books, or video games, let me help. Funko Pops (often just called Pops) are small vinyl figures with thick heads. Most of the figures are designed to look like various pop culture characters, such as Batman, Freddy Kreuger, Darth Vader, and so on. Some people love them, others hate them, and many people just don’t think about it. because my god is a mess these days and I no longer have the energy in me to judge people who like silly pop culture collectibles.
Anyway, one of the weirdest pops out there is a Willy Wonka themed package that contains two golden figures. In 2016, only 10 of these figures were handed out, and only four of them were handed out to people who also had gold banknotes they had found inside candy bars at a San Diego Comic-Con event. . (The other six sets are believed to have been donated to friends or employees of Funko.) Since then, most of the sets have been locked into private collections, so only two are known to include tickets.
After trying and not finding Willy Wonka’s other golden ticket package known to exist, Frank, better known as Grailmonster Online, decided to contact the only person he knew for sure who had one. So last month, Grailmonster contacted the collector who owned one of these rare golden banknote figures and asked if they were interested in selling it.
“I had long since felt that I would not sell it,” Grailmonster told Kotaku by e-mail. . ”
It took a bit of persuasion, but eventually the two agreed to a deal, with the collector selling his rare figures for $ 100,000 in cash. However, even after the deal was agreed, Grailmonster wasn’t sure if the collector would really break up with such a weird figure.
“I didn’t really think he would sell until he walked in the door the morning of the transaction.”
The two Funko Pop lovers met at a collectibles store in Glendale, California on May 5 to complete the transaction. Everything was recorded and then uploaded to Grailmonster’s YouTube channel. According to him and other members of the Pop collector community, this is the largest and most expensive offering in history.
Grailmonster is well aware that many people, probably many of you reading this right now, will call you an idiot or a fool. He explained to me that while he and others were counting all the money in the store and preparing for the exchange, he joked that he would be “the idiot of the village” online after that. But there is also the feeling between him and many other pop collectors that the community will soon experience an explosion of money and Pokémon-like popularity.
“I’m sure the first purchase of the $ 100,000 Pokémon card looked pretty stupid,” Grailmonster explained. “And the first $ 10,000 comic book purchase, etc. It’s all relative.”
He hopes that this transaction will help attract new collectors while illuminating how “insane” the world of private collectors around Funko Pops has become in recent years, where people will go down $ 20,000 to Pops based solely on rumors and blurry photos. .
“It simply came to our notice then [Funko Pop] The community is really like the Wild West, ”Grailmonster said. There is serious money they want. “
As for what he plans to do now after spending so much money on these two weird figures, Grailmonster joked with Kotaku that he would “look at it” for a long time.
“I have him sitting in the middle of my dining room table like a dizzy bitch,” Grailmonster admitted. “I’ll hold out as long as I can.”
Of course, I asked him what he would say to people who, understandably, find it very strange or even stupid to spend so much money on plastic toys. For him, the hobby is more than toys, and although he understands that some people will not succeed, for him, this is a normal part of picking up anything.
“No one is supposed to understand it. I really like it more than any hobby I’ve ever had,” he explained. “I love the story around weird pieces. Pieces like Clockwork Orange, Freddy Venom, Beatles reject set, etc. have such fascinating stories behind them. There are pieces that are so weird that you don’t see any accounts and there are only a handful of photos (2 pack of Pope, Woody & Buzz, etc.) “.
“As for me, I don’t buy toys, I chase stories.”