After going to Hot Topic yesterday morning to try to buy a Funko Pop! 2021 Fall Convention Exclusive Punchline figure, I stopped by Target to see if they had anything worth picking up. They had three new Target exclusive Demon Slayer figures. I decided to buy them. They weren’t for me. They’re a Christmas present for my niece.
It wasn’t until I got home and looked at my receipt that I realized Target raised the price of Funko Pop! figures.
As the photo of my receipt shows, Funko Pop! figures at Target are now $11.99. Just a few days ago, Funko Pop! Figures were $8.99.
Needles to say, this is a substantial price increase. It’s more than a 28% price increase. That’s ridiculous.
I know there was a letter floating around Funko sent to retailers stating the price of Funko Pop! figures was increasing, but I don’t think this price increase is because of that. The reason I say that is I noticed Target raised the price of Marvel Legends from $19.99 to $22.99.
I didn’t really care, because I don’t collect Marvel Legends figures. I did think it was interesting though. I thought it was an example of the rise in inflation I’ve been hearing so much about. It’s not that. Inflation has risen by 6.2 percent. Target raised the price of Funko Pop! figures by 28% and Marvel Legends figures of 15%. These increases are more than inflation.
What Target did was institute a nerd tax. It has declared an economic war on nerds. Target believes it won’t have to raise the price of flavored bubbly water because it can just jack up the price on the things nerds like to buy.
I wasn’t able to buy that Punchline Funko Pop! at my local Hot Topic. I got there 10 minutes after they opened and their allotment of Punchline figures was already sold out. The salesclerk did tell me they didn’t get a lot of the Punchline figures.
Before I left the house yesterday, I tried to order the Funko Pop! 2021 Fall Convention Exclusive Punchline figure on the Hot Topic website. It didn’t come up when I searched for it. When I got home yesterday, I tried the Hot Topic website again. I was able to pull it up and buy it.
If prices continue to skyrocket, it might be time to find a new hobby.
Update
I stopped by Target tonight. I noticed the price on the shelf for Funko Pop! figures still showed $8.99.
I wondered if it was only the new Funko Pop! figures that got the price increase. I took one of the Bubba Wallace figures that have been sitting on the shelf for over a year and went to a price scanner. It too scanned at $11.99.
So Target jacks the price up on Funko Pop! figures, and doesn’t even have the decency to update the price on the shelf.