I had heard the news of Funko Pop’s demise and felt a little sad for all of the collectors out there. It made me reflect on all of the figures I collect, and none of them are Funkos. I find Funko Pops to be kind of dead-looking (the eyes!) and also ugly…I collect what I consider to be the highly superior Japanese collectibles called Nenderoids.

This is a relatively new thing for me. I bought my first Nenderoid in Japan at Lashinbang (one of the best stores for anime fans ever). It was a high-quality used figure of Yuri Lowell from the game and anime film Tales of Vesperia. I shipped him all the way to the USA to build and put on my bookshelf when I moved back from Japan, and…I kinda broke him. So I tossed him aside in a fit of anger for messing him up.

Then there was at least a year that passed in the United States where I didn’t order figures, and then, all my algorithms on social media started filling up with Nenderoids on pre-order…and dear reader, I lost my damned mind.

It’s really easy to hit a button to buy something that you can pay later on and not in the moment. And with some of the manufacturers, they don’t let you cancel the order once you place it.

I started ordering figures November of 2024 and they are only just now starting to become listed as ready to ship by December of this year. I have orders going all the way to December 2026 with deliveries.

And I love all of the figures I ordered! The only problem is, my employment as an adjunct has been tenuous, so I’m terrified I agreed to orders and might not actually have the money for them when the time comes for them to ship. This is a huge character flaw of mine, this preordering obsession (I do it with books, too, d’oh!).

I have vowed to stop preordering Nenderoids because my financial future is uncertain, but also, there might not be enough room on my shelves for them (I have my figures themed per shelf) if I keep ordering.

What about you, readers? What figures do you collect? Anybody out there buying Nenderoids?