These pops should never have been widely released. There are tons of Buffy fans out there, they just aren't as into Funko collecting. However for fans like myself, we still love these characters and are willing to spend as much money as we need to in order to get these Pop characters. The Buffy line worked so well in convention exclusives because the limited numbers were able to provide for all the fans and not have any extras. With the common releases there are far too many made and not enough fans. Funko could have solved this issue by releasing the entire line as exclusives in the same way they did for the Pixar movie "Coco". Those pops weren't exclusive to 1 store but instead 2 which made it so that fans of the movie would be able to readily buy them but also keeping the numbers down. Hot Topic and Boxlunch would have been perfect avenues to release Buffy pops as these stores already carry other Buffy merchandise. Funko should keep this release idea in mind as they expand their licenses as not to overcrowd the marketplace and put themselves out of business. Despite the mass amount of Pops made even causal fans probably will only end up picking up just Buffy because these pops just aren't that interesting.
At no fault to Funko the decision to make Characters such as Giles and Xander were understandable as they are main characters and fan favorites. However, for fans who are not as into the series these pops might not be on the top of the list because they just look like average people. Wave 1 combated this issue by creating pops like "The Gentlemen" and Vampire Spike to offset the less interesting pops like Oz and Angel (Sorry Angel, the Angelus pop was so much better.) Wave 2 also should have taken this approach by creating interesting characters such as The Master or even the Mayor in Snake form. As much as I would love to see a wave 3 explore characters like Anya and some of the interesting demons from the show, I understand that as it stands it probably is unlikely. I would be happy still seeing new Buffy pops appear through Conventions but after SDCC and if we don't see one for NYCC I think that may also be unlikely. We did get a fantastic series of Pops for the show and I'm just glad it happened.
Please share your opinion on what you think Funko Should do about Shelf warmers, why or why not you picked up the new Buffy Pops, and characters you would like to see be made in wave 3!
) I would love some more characters as limited releases. Idk why they didnt do Cordelia, Anya, Tara would be cool too. Also the master, he was such a huge part of the first season. There are so many that I need!
Oh man I would be all over that. I was skeptical of the casting choice at first (Kristy Swanson to Sarah Michelle Gellar) but it worked out just fine =D I need to get the comics that still continue after the show XD And even though I appreciate that most of the Pops are easily accessible aka commons, I am a little saddened that these are still around. If we place a sticker on them, I think it will definitely move some inventory. Weird how that works huh?
Does that mean we probably won’t get anymore? I loved the second wave. I was really hoping for Cordelia, Anya, Tara, Dawn, Drusilla and Darla, and then some Angel characters as well. Cordelia, Fred, Wesley, Lorne, Gunn, Illyria, Angel as a puppet..
