I know I never should’ve checked social media because I’m trying to avoid doomscrolling, but I did. We have felt it for several weekends now, for usually every weekend meant visiting our local comics shop for the newest release and picking up of pre-order since we were done scouring the shelves for any gems.

The culprit: blind boxes.

Home to not only comics and graphic novels but also toys and figures - most especially Funko Pop and Soda, our local comics shop was a franchise and we’re able to visit around seven of their branches already. It wasn’t until around early this year that we noticed that the folks inside the store were not the usual. First was the explosion of otakus due to the expansion of Funko products to the anime sphere (much like how Netflix does it). Then came the blind boxes.

The blind boxes I’m particularly pissed off about, because I collected them too, before. I was very particular about my blind boxes, particularly those from Pop Mart. I choose those considered “commercially available art toys”, meaning they have this certain style, creativity, and execution to them. I ignore the rest. I was able to gather a considerable collection on account of taste. For each blind box set, I’d also choose the one which it won’t matter to me which style I would get because I liked them all regardless - the decision of every sane person who has their finances in check.

However, nothing really comes good when consumerist capitalism meets influencer marketing. I feel really protective of the vibe of the place, but I also understand that our local comics shop is a business; they need to earn profit. They have utilities and employees to pay. Thus, riding the waves of trends in TikTok regarding blind boxes like Labubu would more than do that for them.

But this is where the mask of my maturity falls off: I’m sick and tired of capitalism and conspicuous consumerism ruining nerd spaces and hobbies. Can’t they just leave us alone? Instead, what you get are normies going in and asking store clerks if they have Labubu in store, the keychain one, or if they can pre-order. The second kind of annoying people that we encounter would be those treating blind boxes like a gamble. They’d come in, look at the side of the box, and pick which ones they wanted. And then they would weigh the boxes on their hands, deciding which ones to get. Finally, they would joke at the store clerks if they could return the one they didn’t want in exchange for an unopened one. The others would buy an entire box.

Putting my mature mask on again, I wanted to say that I’m happy for all the artists who found fame and fortune through blind boxes - we all deserved to gain patronage from the masses either through selling merch or doing commissions and earning a living through what we would do for free (but in this economy, who would?). What I don’t feel comfortable with is the mindless consumption cranked up to 11 brought on by TikTok and other social media platforms.

I guess my only hope for this is that when the trend finally dies down (which it eventually will), people will look at other similar art and support them too, not just what they see famous people have or are collecting. As for our local comic shop, I’ll try to mind my own business and ignore the normies talking at the shop.

Our local comics shop is now famous and I don’t know how to feel about it.

10/23/2024