Took my 8-year-old nephew to his first comic shop last weekend, he was only interested in the Funko Pops.

I brought a stack of old X-Men issues to show him, but he just wanted to look at the vinyl figures. Has anyone else had this happen when trying to introduce someone new?

4 comments

4 Comments

dianam192mo ago

Honestly, is it that deep though? Kids like toys. Funkos are basically action figures for this generation. My little cousin has a whole shelf of them and it got him into the actual characters from the movies. Maybe start there instead of expecting an 8-year-old to get excited about floppy old comics they can't even play with.

finley_shah642mo ago

Nah, @dianam19, you're missing the point. Funkos just sit there. An old comic book is an actual story you can get lost in, not just a plastic thing to look at. My nephew found my old X-Men comics and now he's trying to draw them himself. That engagement beats just lining up a bunch of identical looking figures on a shelf. It sparks imagination instead of just collecting dust.

patricia_carter2mo ago

My nephew's funkos just gather dust now, but he still pulls out the beat up Spider-Man comic I gave him. There's something about holding a story that a plastic figure just doesn't have.

colethomas27d ago

Funkos are the gateway drug, not the destination. Let the kid enjoy his plastic figures and he'll find the comics on his own time. Forcing old issues on him just makes it feel like homework.