It’s 10:00 PM, and I’m stumbling again to my house after a wild evening out in New York Metropolis. On my method in, I practically tripped over an enormous cardboard field sitting close to my mailbox. It’s massive sufficient to carry a PC monitor. I groan. I do know precisely what it’s: A $300+ anime figurine. [Freeze frame, record scratch] You is perhaps questioning how I obtained right here.
I’ve moved across the nation for many of my life, so I’ve beforehand resisted shopping for something that was cumbersome or impractical. However then the pandemic began, and it immediately felt unimaginable to assume forward with my cash. As an alternative of planning journeys, I spent extra time taking part in video video games and shopping for junk that made me blissful. When Good Smile Firm revealed that it was going to provide a ball-joint figurine of Fireplace Emblem’s Edelgard von Hreslveg, I knew that I needed to have a mannequin from my favourite JRPG of all time. She would price $56.
Right here’s the largest downside with Fireplace Emblem: Three Homes merch: In case you stay within the U.S., then there’s not often any. I personal the wall scroll, a handkerchief, and a card holder, as a result of I purchased them from Tokyo. So proper out of the gate, Edelgard’s mysterious Mona Lisa smile had a sure unique attract. In March 2020, I positioned my order on-line after which I waited for a complete yr.
You thought that preordering video video games was unhealthy? Welcome to the world of figurine shopping for. Not like Funko Pops, most collectible figurines are made-to-order. Manufacturing and cargo normally takes round a yr. And identical to video video games, manufacturing could be delayed for any variety of unknown causes. So the technique behind buying collectible figurines is to fork over tens or lots of of {dollars}, after which utterly overlook that you just ever ordered it. By the point that your buy lastly arrives, you might need totally misplaced curiosity in that sequence or character. This isn’t for the faint of coronary heart.
So why put up with all this nonsense? Why not go to the secondary market? Oh, my candy summer time youngster. The preorder interval is when collectible figurines sometimes go for the bottom amount of cash. That’s how I ended up ordering a $301 determine of Shi Huang Di from Destiny/Grand Order in December 2020. They’re the nonbinary antagonist of one of many later chapters of a cellular gacha recreation, so I knew that they didn’t have broad market attraction. I might purchase the determine for a couple of hundred {dollars} now, or look ahead to…$400-$800 now. Yikes.
It was the pandemic, OK. I had cash to burn, and I used to be captivated by their frosted mercury smoke (in actual historical past, the primary emperor of China died from mercury poisoning, and mercury moats shield his stays from trendy archeologists to today). At the moment, I couldn’t get Shi Huang Di within the gacha recreation irrespective of what number of instances I attempted the bi-annual packs. The cheaper choice was dropping a number of hundred {dollars} on a mannequin, so I did. After a number of manufacturing delays and transport points, I lastly obtained them this yr. Now think about my absolute heartbreak when a chrome steel water bottle fell and broke one among their mercury items.
I purchased some glue and “fastened it.” No, I don’t need to speak about it any additional.
But it surely was too late for me. I’d tasted the forbidden fruit of figurine shopping for, and I might by no means return to the times once I scoffed at different weebs’ costly hobbies. However I’ve matured. I preordered a $351 Ningguang figurine as a result of I adored her, and never as a result of she was unobtainable in Genshin Affect. Similar to rolling precise gacha, I noticed that it was a greater determination than ordering collectible figurines out of FOMO. So I branched out to the Nero Claudius determine ($47) and Caster Artoria Nendoroid ($58). When Good Smile Firm launched a Lumine and Aether duo set, I instructed them to close up and take my cash ($65 every). “However wait!,” you would possibly say. “That’s solely $943!” And also you’d be proper, if my excellent order for the Xiao figurine didn’t run me $147. He’s coming in June subsequent yr, and I’m extra excited for him than any summer time gaming launch.
This would possibly seem to be a number of collectible figurines. However actually, it’s not. I might have bought the Silverash Nendoroid or Surtr collectible figurines from Arknights. I didn’t, however one among as of late I really feel like I’m going to buckle. One of many few issues restraining me is the restricted sq. toes I’ve in my New York house. So so long as I stay in a shoebox, I’m protected. I feel.
Like many millennials, I don’t actually have any intention of buying the outdated standing symbols of my mother and father’ technology, like gold watches or high quality china. Whoever inherits my belongings upon my loss of life may even receive a trove of anime collectible figurines. And admittedly, that’s extra significant than being left with some diamond jewellery assortment.
