Johje19
28648
682
17
Aug 18, 2025 12:19 AM
Johje19
28648
682
17
OneUniverse
30 million worth, would be what? A billion of them?
KilroyLichking
something something Atari ET game
Ankylosaur
In a few years they'll release a Funko Pop of a grimy, crushed Funko Pop box salvaged from a landfill.
REOJackwagon
This happened a while back
https://www.reddit.com/r/funkopop/comments/11ducm0/funk_pops_found_at_landfill_to_be_destroyed/
Rufferstuff
Everything old is new on imgur.
NickRivieraMD
'worth'
Shoutrr
they would be worth $30m if they were sold. They didn't get sold, so what they are sending to the landfill is what it costs to make them. There's the expected value, that is entirely imaginary until realised by a sell, and there's the real value: what it cost to make them.
Shaodyn
That's the downside of capitalism. Everything MUST be sold at a profit. If it can't be sold for profit, even if there's nothing wrong with it, it's trash.
PolitiCat
We need to tax companies for disposing of plastic products (instead of recycling) with a rate higher than the product's store price, instead of having them get tax credits for disposing of them.
dontrike
Couldn't they have gotten the same tax write off by donating them to children in need?
Plagen
That's where Funkos belong, to be fair.
RancidSebastian
I thought that was the only reserved for ET on the Atari 2600
ParaspriteHugger
banjostrings
They are kinda ugly. Labubus are ugly too.
adamlstf9
No possible way to melt them down and recycle the material into the next round of useless little shits? Oh wait, that might cost money/time.
RuffyRuffHausen
Should be illegal, just like dumping food past sell date (as long as it's still fit for consumption)
jriley154
Ugh, anyone know which landfill? Dumpster Diving Championship level
lackinglife
You're forgetting what I'm assuming is an integral and important part, the tax writeoff
barnwolf
Might also be licensing. They owe disney like $5 per toy, but no retailer will buy them at $5 each.
Sen7ryGun
We live in the worst timeline. Corps getting paid to trash the place.
IMakeLotsOfReferencesAndRemakes
Wish I could be like "Fuck my car broke down... Welp guess I will just toss it in the junkyard and claim the losses on my taxes so I get paid for it!".... Actually I don't but fucks sake maybe if they were RECYCLING the damn things and the packaging or, I dunno, donating them to orphanages or something I could see a tax break. But absolutely fuck this bullshit.
slinkiisu
Then why not just give it all away
CaptCrobar
Its worth nothing since no one bought it.
Penth13f
Capitalism Carbon Capture
VariantplexRun0109
Aren't they like plastic beanie babies?
mooseablethenok
Beanie babies were kinda fun to play with and toss around, at least. These things are just like, shitty statues that you can't pose or play with.
ChefHannibal
they're a collectable like any other
pak0chu
Labubu will join next year
MAARRS
Seriously, did the morons who 'collect' this crap think they would be family heirlooms??? EVERY FUNKO WILL END IN A LANDFILL You can untwist uour panties now.
SterlingArcherSecretAgent
Then it wasn't worth 30 million, was it?
Billis75
In this case, I'm guessing that they are claiming that they are worth that, and they're dumping them so it doesn't hurt the collectors value of the ones that did get sold. It doesn't mean they really are worth it, but I have to figure if it was just a write-off, they could have been donated somewhere, but by dumping them to "preserve value" it actually makes it worth more on their tax sheet.
LrrrRulerofThePlanetOmicronPerseiVIII
Better believe they’ll write off every penny on their taxes
Smingersdidit
Where they belong
BodgeandScarper
Sadly, the post title is exactly correct. It's not unusual for manufacturers to even decline selling old stock to someone willing to store and sell slowly...no idea why. I'm most familiar with Japanese motorcycle makers doing this in the late 80s, Yamaha in particular.
Someshithead241
Artificial scarcity and fomo
BaldoBandito
Louis Vuitton requires vendors to return unsold stock, then literally shreds the overstock at the end of each season. Then of course you've had GameStop and EB Games snapping/gouging discs and clipping integrated powercords of unsold stock.
emu314159127001
LV stuff isn't really quality, just the name and exclusivity of the release. It's not like you keep such a bag year after year
minant
This is what happens when a company sells conceptual brand exclusivity rather than functional products.
BigN00
We waste so much. Landfills will literally be the new gold mines in the future!
TheCryptid
Literally? No. People are not going to throw out their gold in landfills anytime soon.
Figuratively? Yeah it will be.
vindik8or
Literally yes. E-waste has higher concentrations of gold (and other rare metals) than the ore we dig up for the raw materials.
TheCryptid
fair point
STINKPICKEL
I gotta think if that were true, you'd have no problem getting rid of E-trash. As it stands, if you put it on the curb, you have to tape a note and a $5 bill to it and it still might be there in the morning. But put any scrape metal on the same curb, and it will be gone by night fall . So if it is better than ore, something is wrong as it sits.
mmontour
Around here there are recycling depots where you can drop off e-waste. The program is funded by an environmental fee on the purchase of new electronic devices.
vindik8or
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956053X21006759 I believe the issue is coming up wirh a process to extract it. But as precious metal prices increase there'll likely come a point at which it becomes economically feasible to develop new methods.
InTangier
There are also the rare earth minerals used in those components. Those aren't cheap to refine, I imagine.
NKato
One of our biggest challenges to reusing landfills as a resource extraction site is having a reliable way to actually do so. In the video game, Squadron 42/Star Citizen, there is this race called the Vanduul, and they have ships that basically eat up shipwrecks and spit out resources that were extracted from those wrecks.
If we had some kind of process that wasn't large and cumbersome that would separate out the unusable trash from the actual resources, and then break those down for extraction.
Ggbambi
Its actually less hard to google the new information than to type out your assumptions of reality! https://share.google/CMcsvNks4wTG1lMcv
STINKPICKEL
So this resource more valuable than the ore we get it from originally, is being thrown away because at the present time, it costs too much to reclaim . I understand, "follow the money trail. "
STINKPICKEL
True and agree, I've found you can't find the information you seek if not keyworded with the terms used in the information
Perfzilla
I can imagine funko probably has to per liscencing agreements
lrateyourrig
Which is even worse
Leithoa
Nope. It's to keep the price high & collectable market for plastic trinkets. Just like H&M, Chanel, and so many other companies. False scarcity to protect their brand.
Wolfshead009
No, it is because it is cheaper than the cost of the space to store them.
eion85
Funko pops are made from PVC, which is recyclable.
They could turn it into pipes for subsidized housing.
Just grind that shit up into bits and any contract is satisfied.
Kaetohma
Funko Pipes
Archenteron
Shredders cost more than dumping. Think of the CEOs
Syovere
They get mad when I think about them, for some mysterious reason. Might be my fondness for human composting.
dohcohv
It doesn't, I've worked at several factories and it costs hundreds of dollars per dumpster to throw away this crap vs getting like $0.10-0.20/lb to recycle it. The problem is that most companies don't even care they are throwing away money.
Same with cardboard.
eion85
France solved the problem of good leftover food being thrown out by requiring it be donated to charities or as animal feed. Violaters are fined or possibly imprisoned.
Of course we aren't allowed to do things like that in the US.
BojanglesTheFlyingCar
Wait I can put that bullshit in my recycling?
eion85
Not your regular single steam (aka largely useless and performative) recycling, but PVC is absolutely recyclable.
Check if your local municipality accepts PVC at a recycling drop off center in a special container.
eromitlab
I better not see people forty years from now making a documentary about their attempt to dig those goddamn things back up.
BaldoBandito
A short format video of the future:
"Wassup guys, it's ya boi back again with another MONSTER haul from the landfill! We're up so huge today boys, it's INSANE! THIS is a VINTAGE Funko Pop figurine from 2013!! Twenty THIRTEEN guys, holy cow! Now, it's a little stained, but that *patina* actually helps its value. If I were to put it up for sale, I could snag $2,500 EASY."
Tiggums
REAL QUICK, lemme give a major shoutout to mah bois at NORDVPN, we couldn't have done this without them, and let me tell you what's so good about Nor....
mithiwithi
Mind you, $2,500 will probably buy you about a latte by then.
Totallyscrewedinaustin
In 40 years they might be salvaging/mining the landfills for different materials, so who knows?
DocFunkenstein
I don't understand the fad at all to begin with. They look all but identical to one another, and the base is just dumb looking to begin with.
Beanie Babies 2.0.
quackersforcrackers
Capitalism
FeIineDisrespectFromBehind
Also, they are extremely ugly.
TheSecondPiewackit
My wife thinks they're cute and I can get her favorite characters in them. Under no impression they're worth even what I paid.
ChefHannibal
and all Barbie's look alike, and football jerseys, and coca-cola memorabilia, and whatever you're into also looks like similar shit.
MastersDegreeInTomfoolery
i had family members spend their entire savings on those dumb things because "they're going to be worth something one day!"
Athanar
I think they look okay, and my wife and I have a few. But we're by no means collectors of any sort, just grabbing a few we like.
ebonyfaery
I love them.
Geracht
I always liked the idea of picking up funkos that actually looked good in the style, after seeing codsworth from fallout. The amount of them would be small. Sadly, though, I could never justify the price.
Onebigcanuck
I liked the obscure unusual ones of my favorite characters, but their for me and no one else. Like, I have a Kimg Vultan Funko, but that's cause I loved Brian Blessed in that roll.
forsteri80
DIIIIIVVVEEE
zylokun
there was no fad. That's why shit's going in a landfill
phonoodle415
I like em. I never bought one but was gifted one. If youre a fan of stuff theyre cool! Esp when they make your fav characters from anime, singers, etc. They made TLC for crying out loud. Ill take T-Boz plz.
thepunchline710
I got all the sailor moon ones because I'll buy just about anything related. But like 99% of them I'll never understand who they thought was going to buy it.
Rulesy
Some very rare ones sold for tens of thousands, so people think they're an investment.
DontKnowTheSource
I have a large one I was gifted. It's apparently worth like 250. It gathers dust on the bookshelf. Unlike the books that have use
Sageypie
Sold one recently for a few hundred. Difference is that i never thought of it as an investment. It was a character from a show my partner liked, and it was $5. Turns out she did not care about the pop itself and told me I could sell it or whatever. Turned out to actually be rare. Dumb as all hell that I would've that kind of money off of it still though.
eromitlab
Just like... well, a lot of things, really. Cabbage Patch Kids, Furbies, Garbage Pail Kids... a few years from now, add whatever tf a Labubu is...
Toqom
The best part is, the ones people didn't think to.xollect go up in value but the things people thought to collect never gain anything
PineappleLoopsBrOether
I know someone who has a glass case of them in his living room and had the nerve to not hire me because I said I had a decent time in a theater seeing a movie he doesn’t approve of.
marsilies
Hawk the Slayer is rubbish!
WindowStreetJournal
Everyone who buys those things supports the company and it's environmental malpractice. You are complicit in the crime this post is about.
esopillar34
Naw, that's Labubu. I feel like most people who get Funko know they're dumb little trinkets to rep a niche thing that they like.
DukeDarkwood
I got two, ever. Both bought retail, in store, so no aftermarket pricing. And one was just for a digital code for something in a game I play often; the figure itself is acting as a bookend on one of my game shelves.
The other one I have, is the one I got because I wanted it, and I do indeed display it on my desk, like @kruug states. It's Minsc (and Boo) from Baldur's Gate, and it is the only Funko I need.
Snooj
The Chibi ones, yes. Plenty of them are actual scale models and they're well made for plastic.
Alkatrix
I've been saying this for years it's beanie babies all over again
johnvictor
I bought one to put on top of my computer, it was Toothless because I loved the HTTYD movies. I think it was $8 when I bought it, and I wouldn't pay more than that for them.
LordJebusVII
I have about a dozen of them. I've never bought one and never would. They are a cheap representation of the things you like which makes them an easy gift purchase for friends and family who don't know your hobbies well enough to buy anything you would want but want to show that they know enough to care.
kruug
To me, they're desk trinkets. I like having the Pied Piper crew to use in rubber duck debugging...but I won't pay the scalper rates for them. Hell, I don't even want to pay retail. And I discarded the boxes long ago.
ThisGuyPostingThings
I got a Grunt from Mass Effect 2 that I have by my TV, have wondered about a 2nd to serve as a companion bookend, but not much more.
PocketCleric
I use a rubber duck....well plastic
kruug
To each their own! I've also got a bobble Deadpool that I ask the really outlandish questions, and a Dalek for when we just need to exterminate!
CthulhuCuz
I collected them as a cheap way to show my support for stuff, but couldn't get myself to unbox them until there was a leak and half of the boxes got screwed. Still worried because the keychain ones revealed to me their eyes rub off...
plastikb0y
Featuring a limited version of Mr plastic waste!
kruug
It wasn't made exclusively for me, I was gifted them from people who bought them off the shelf. They either went to the landfill now, or they sit on my desk for 30 years before going to the landfill. At least this route, someone gets joy from them first.
plastikb0y
Thanks imgur that just sent me your reply after 7 days.
andrewgrr1
Yup, I don't get stockpiling them but I probably have 10 or so displayed at home and work
dankenmutt
To be quite frank having to dust them alone is a good enough reason for me not to get them. I have the same thoughts about most decorative items. Terrariums and plants etc... are exceptions.