Mangas, video games… Figurines are like “characters jumping out of the artwork”

COLLECTION These resin or plastic statuettes are hugely successful

At conventions, figurine sellers are taken by storm. Here at Paris Games Week. — N. Bonzom/Maxele Presse

• The market for figurines, designed in resin or plastic, is booming.
• There is not a geek fair today, devoted to video games or manga, where retailers are not invaded by fans. “It’s art, for me, says Enora, passionate about manga. It’s like I own a piece of art. »
• But collecting figurines comes at a cost. About thirty euros, for the cheapest. Or several hundred euros, for high-end statuettes.

“Do you have Son Goku left? And Bulma, have you ” In geek fairs, figurine sellers are taken by storm. Lots of visitors, fans of Dragon Ball, Pokémon or Harry Potter, leave these conventions with their arms full of statuettes, sometimes larger than life. These high-end figurines, “it’s a bit of a way to have your favorite characters at home, as if they were leaping from the work,” explains Thaïs, fan of Me, when I am reincarnated as a Slime. “”&Cedilhas added a little something extra to our libraries. Instead of only having manga, there are also figurines. In addition, some have details that you do not necessarily notice in the works.””

”“It’s art, for me, says Enora, passionate about One Piece and My Hero Academia. It”s like owning a work of art.” Latil, crazy about Fairy Tail, he “even has friends who have made hotels in the city. their figurines!”, he smiled. But there is no question of playing with these plastic or resin heroes. “No, no, and no!”, alerts Logan, a young man who has snapped. for a “huge figurine of Mewtwo”, one of the Pokémonthe most popular. “It”s decoration only!” It’s over, the time when children carried around Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles without really taking care of them, to make them fight at high speed. recess time. Today, we expose them, and we pamper them.

“”If I resell some, I will win pennies!”

“A wipe from time to time to remove the dust,” said one collector. “One brush stroke,” prefers another. To highlight them, there are “the psychopaths of the game”, laughs a fan of Japanese anime, who put them at risk. sheltered, behind a completely airtight showcase. Logan buys furniture. “Lots of furniture, he laughs. Because figurines, I buy plenty of them!” “My room,” me, she is incredible, boasts Aurélien, one of these friends. I have figurines all over the place. Some come from Japan, or are limited editions. If I resell some of them, I’ll earn some money! But I don’t want to! I keep them!”

Figures, on a specialized stand, at Paris Games Week, in November. – N. Bonzom/Maxele Presse

Collecting the figurines has a cost. Some are “very beautiful, and to a rather affordable price, 30 to 30%. 35 euros, continues Enora. Inevitably, if you want very, very beautiful figurines, you have to spend a little more money.” Sometimes several hundred euros, for high-end statuettes. Or more, even, for the most sought after. In recent years, however, a thriving American business has managed to democratize these derivative products: Funko. With its “ Pop” big heads, sold for fifteen euros, she boosted the market. On November 3, Funko announced record third-quarter sales of $365.6 million, up 36.6%.

“No convention without vendors of figurines”

These funny statuettes, which are snapped up all over the world, are the stars of the stands that Oyoo deploys in trade fairs. “We started to selling figurines about ten years ago, we knew çit was going to work,” says Sébastien, one of the bosses of Oyoo. “When we felt it, we were selling DVDs. We have known the golden age of the DVD. Then, its decline. We added merchandising,” mainly figurines. “And it completely flipped. in the other direction. We let go the DVDs, we started to background in figures.”