Funko Funatics!

Congratulations to Victor J. of Mississauga, Ontario for being the latest K-Dog & Fish Funko Funatic of the Week!

Here is Victor's Story: 

In 2014, I received my first Funko Pop as a gift. I had not considered Funko a hobby at that point and did not know much about it, but it was the start of something great!

Fast forward to 2018, while I was out Christmas shopping with a friend, and I saw 3 Pops for $25 at EB Games. Around this time, Kingdom Hearts 3 hype was starting to build around the video game, and I started searching for merchandise/something to celebrate this 13-year wait of a game. Lo and behold, I came across the Monster’s Inc. Sora Pop at EB Games & the Soldier Heartless Pop from the Kingdom Hearts 3 game. My friend walked away with Jerry Garcia as our third Pop.

Then somewhere around the start of 2019, I realized what my newly built studio needed… inspiration.  So I went looking around my house near my books and Family Guy DVDs; and sitting on top of the shelf, there was the Pop that I received as a gift in 2014. This Pop is a vaulted Maggie Rhee #98 from The Walking Dead, which was hidden behind a headphones box on top of my shelf. I wondered what other figures I could fill my studio with and decided to do more research. I would later come across the Funko App, which let me browse Pops that I wanted to fill my studio with, and decided to see the current value of my Maggie Pop and well… I suppose you could say I became a value collector that day!

In 2020, when the pandemic arrived, I considered selling the Maggie Pop while scraping for cash to buy Christmas gifts. But around this time, Funko Fair ads started popping up, so I decided to keep Maggie Rhee as my sentimental Pop and invest in the hobby further by placing a few Funko Fair pre-orders.

It was only this year, 2021, that I became a Funko Funatic, as I started looking on YouTube for what collectors look for when buying Pops and that is when I learned about (Chase) Pop hunting from a Top Pops video. I subscribed and eventually learned about K-Dog and Fish from one of his videos. I was feeling experimental with shopping different retailers during this time, so I thought hey why not try out K-Dog and Fish, they look like they ship with a lot of care from the video I saw. I went on their website and saw a Pop that I had not seen offered anywhere else close to retail; the Naruto (Sixth Path Sage) Glow In The Dark POP!

After receiving my Naruto order in mint condition, I was so happy that I decided to look at what other Funko products K-Dog & Fish offered. Well, I got my answer when I realized they are a Funko-based collectibles store. I decided to buy some Funko Sodas as well and I never thought Funko Sodas would snowball like the Pops did, but then I learned the value of the mystery factor trying to find the Soda Chase through more YouTube videos and my hunt for Sodas basically took a life of its own! I eventually bought 21 Funko Sodas throughout this year leading up to my birthday, to see how many I could save up for up until the day of my birthday without opening any. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the results recently but here’s an updated version of my Funko Soda collection, including the 2 distributed exclusively in Canada by K-Dog & Fish; Kobra Khan and Man-At-Arms.

I would also like to share with you my Deadpool shelf which is my newest section of Pops for 2021 that I’m most proud of! I always loved the sword katana aesthetic as one of Deadpool’s primary weapons (he even wasted Wolverine with them back in the day!). One of these Deadpool Pops came with my first (Naruto) order from K-Dog and Fish.

Anyway, I am a collector of just about anything for in-box Pops except for sitcom, ad icon, and horror. My favourite Pop lines being Rocks, Heroes and Animation. I have a small out-of-box collection from thrifting Pops the last 2-months, next to my Chase Wall that is a work in progress.

I especially enjoy the current Black Light Funko Pops, both DC and Marvel. But the grail Pop for me would be Glen Rhee #35 from The Walking Dead as it has the same OG Pop stance as the Maggie Rhee #98 I have in my collection.

Though I have never visited the K-Dog & Fish flagship store, their commitment and dedication towards getting Funko Products you want is tremendously admirable and that is enough for me to want to continue buying from them. Plus, they offer so many opportunities to find Chase figures through their Monthly Mystery Boxes and Virtual Garage Sales! I will commit a day to visiting the store soon, probably listening to one of their podcasts on the drive up!

Cheers to the K-Dog & Fish team behind the scenes too that makes every collector’s day, when we see that K-Dog & Fish sticker on a parcel knowing it was packed with love and passion for the hobby!

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WOW! Victor! We are blown away by your kind words and the incredible story of your journey into Funko. Your Chase collection is super impressive! We're thrilled to be able to help you chase down those hard-to-find Pops and appreciate the support when you tune in for our 4 O'Clock Fridays and Virtual Garage Sales on Instagram Live. We're glad you found us through our friend Tristan (Top Pops) and look forward to when you make the trip North to come for a visit! Congrats again on being our new Funatic of the week!

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Would YOU like to be featured as a future K-Dog & Fish Funko Funatic? Send us an e-mail with photos of you with your collection and tell us your story! And be sure not to miss the best time of the week, our 4 O'Clock Friday Show on Instagram Live every Friday at 4:00 PM EST with Giveaways!

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