A Funko Pop as a comfort item?

[Coupe]

CW for ableist language/terminology and self-harming stims, anxiety, sensory overload
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A month ago, I bought a Funko Pop figurine of Migo, the main character from the movie Smallfoot (a very cute animated movie about Yetis who think it's humans that are mythical creatures, with lessons about open communication and accepting differences ), and he is the first Funko Pop I've become emotionally attached to. I don't buy Funko Pops very often (although I do love Funko merch, like their blind boxes/bags and plushies) but I liked Migo so much that I wanted a small version of him that I could easily take places with me, the way I do with my other comfort items and stim tools. My Migo Pop figurine (or "Mini Migo," as I call him) filled that role perfectly!

Since Mini Migo arrived, I have, as I said, grown very fond of him. I love his wide, toothy smile (with rounded, slightly uneven teeth, not the sharp, gnashing fangs often associated with Yetis), his friendly, eager eyes, and how his left hand is always waving as if he is saying "hello" to everyone he sees. The huge smile and waving hand are very important to me, since I often find myself alone (even though I live with family)and usually feel like I'm just in the way even when other people are around. As evinced by the photos I uploaded, Mini Migo is also quite adventurous!

...What I've been wondering since I got Mini Migo is...have I finally found a comfort item that others would consider "cool"/socially acceptable now? I know lots of people like Funko Pops - collect them, leave them in their boxes and stack them against the wall, arrange them in different positions and take photos of them, etc. When I went to have a hearing test done at an audiology clinic two months ago, I was in a testing booth right across from a doctor's office, and they had two rows of different Funko Pops all lined up in front of a window. I've always kind of resented the fact that I cannot openly carry a small stuffed animal or toy that I feel emotionally bonded to and safe with around simply because it isn't "age/workplace-appropriate" or some ableist garbage, leaving me to soothe my anxiety/sensory overload by picking at my fingernail cuticles and hangnails until raw and bleeding. Then, of course, it's "Oh, that looks so painful, what's the matter, you shouldn't do that" when if they genuinely cared, they'd allow me to practice self-care and stim (I love to stim with soft fuzzy things) in ways that are most helpful to me and allow me to process sensory input without hurting myself. What I want and need should matter, too.

.....But I digress.

Does anyone else have a Funko Pop figurine(s) as a comfort item, take photos of them or have a collection of them because they make you happy?

 

[the_tortoise]

I don't have a Funko Pop anything, but I think yours is really cool! And I hope the movie Smallfoot appears on Netflix so I can watch it.

I completely agree with you that it's stupid and harmful for you to not be allowed to carry around soft fuzzy comfort items. It doesn't hurt anyone so (if it doesn't somehow interfere with your job or workplace safety, in employment environments) there's no good reason to prohibit it.

 

[TheFreeCat]

I do not know what this is, but I agree that you should have whatever you need. Do it anyway. I do it and I just block people out. I can disassociate if I need to. What would be the worse if you just did it and then blocked out the world and never even looked up to see if anyone was looking askance? You'd be happy and the curious would move on.

 

[Kyou Nukui]

I don't have anything I carry around, but I have things to stare at, to help me escape stress and negative thoughts (into maladaptive daydreams). I have posters, and (tasteful) character images on cushions and a couple of pillows that I can cuddle, but only at home. I do have one figurine (Yui from K-on!), but that isn't a plush toy, it's an ornament and a useful daydreaming aid that I stare "at" for hours every day up on the high shelf, her stage.


I think it should be perfectly acceptable to carry a small plushie around and no one has any right to criticise. I'm starting wonder if I too would feel better with something soft in my pocket, to play with when I have to be out of the house.

 

[Fino]

Were you told you can't? Or do you mean you can't without being judged or possibly harassed or something like that?

 

[Ezra]

I live close to Funko HQ. It's fun place to visit.

There are a few objects I am attached to. When I was little I had a set of plastic animals and I still have the little warthog. Idk why but it's an object I want to hold on to. And there's my little carved wooden duck, like a small decoy. Mr. Quackers is also likely to stay with me for life.

I like your friend a lot. He's very unique. Idk maybe I will go back to Funko and see if anything there calls to me. They also have bins where I can assemble my own figure.

But anyways, carrying such items is easily justified when they're referred to as a "good luck charm".

 

[Sofi]

Hi! I love your photos of Mini Migo! I don't have any Funko Pops myself but I think they are cool and I know a lot of "nerdy-cool" people collect them so it's possible it is a cool comfort item!
I would like the Fluttershy Funko Pop

 

[GrownupGirl]

I have a few Funko Pops of cartoons and video game characters that I like, such as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Ren and Stimpy, and some Disney characters. But I don't really carry any of them around with me. If I was seen playing with them in public people would be nasty for sure to me.

 

[Moomin]

Does anyone else have a Funko Pop figurine(s) as a comfort item, take photos of them or have a collection of them because they make you happy?

I don’t necessarily have my funkos as a comfort item. I do collect them. Although it’s a little messy since I’m currently in cleaning mode.


My comfort item are my dog tags. Being obsessed with mass effect, I pretty much ended up with the N7 dog tags.i wear them every day.

Don’t worry about what others think. You have something that you feel helps you.

 

[Coupe]

Hi, everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to return to this thread, but I really do appreciate every one of your supportive, encouraging responses!

ETA: Ho lee smokes, I sure didn't mean for this to turn into a novel! CW for ableism, meltdowns, self harm, ABA/behavior mod and shaming.....
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I do carry small plushies in my pockets (like my mini Tsum Tsum of Dory, whom I call "Little Dory"), but it would be great if I could actually have them out in the open to stim with if I need to without feeling like I'm being judged (there have been occasions in which I've experienced sensory/overwhelm meltdowns that would not have been as intense if I had felt safe enough to openly stim/self-soothe with one of my small plush friends as needed). Of course, people judge me for having meltdowns too (if I end up experiencing them where people can see), so it's a lose-lose scenario either way. My stepfather is aware (to an extent) that I carry small plushies in my pockets, and once dissuaded me from doing so on one occasion by condescendingly referring to my plushies as my "fantasy friends,"(bold of him to assume that I even have friends who aren't mostly fictional, inanimate, plastic/vinyl or stuffed with fluff, but anyway.....)

....At the job skills training program I attended for a month, in a break from the ordinary, I was actually encouraged to bring Little Dory with me (the staff told me, "bring whatever you need to feel comfortable," and Little Dory fell under that umbrella). For the first week or so of the program, Little Dory stayed in my pockets, and I did what I usually do and bit/picked at my fingernails/cuticles for the solace found in pain-stimming. The facilitators noticed this and would say to me, "Use your fidget if you need to," and so I began taking Little Dory out of my pocket and stimming with her whenever I needed to, and not only was I not made fun of, shamed or criticized for it, I was actually praised for stimming with Little Dory instead of biting/picking at my fingernails. Another participant always had two paperback books, her phone, Beats headphones, and always wore a hoodie and two of her favorite necklaces, so I soon realized that I was not the only one in the program who had favorite objects that kept them calm.

When I returned to the program as an intern, however, I was told by the main facilitator that one of my goals during my internship would be "to utilize a workplace-appropriate fidget" (where my gripe about that term in my original post comes from). A workplace-appropriate fidget, by their definition, was something like a pencil, a paperclip (the regular-size ones and the heavy-duty ones), rubber bands, an eraser or a tiny pom-pom...basically office supplies, not much that satisfies actual sensory/psychological/emotional needs. Upon hearing this, I tried bargaining, "I have some other Dory Tsums at home that I keep as backups for Little Dory - they're very clean and haven't been fidgeted with at all...would one of them work?" while at the same time knowing that wasn't the issue. No, one of my internship goals still maintained that I was to find a workplace-appropriate fidget.

...I feel that it's also worth mentioning that after the session I attended had drawn to a close, I had donated several different stim/fidget toys (foam squeeze toys, a marble maze, a Tangle) to be used by future participants, and as an intern, I loved seeing participants choose different stim toys (ones I'd freely donated with them in mind) from a basket, decide on their favorite ones, carry them around, use them as alternatives to unsafe stims/behavior, etc. After returning from a week's vacation about a month into the session, however, I was greeted with a display of "workplace appropriate fidgets" set out on a plate in the same spot with the sign "Choose a workplace-appropriate fidget here!" posted above. I knew it had to come eventually, but the fact that I had managed to be instrumental in bringing about something that brought people happiness and calm, only for it to be taken away by forces outside my control, was still wounding.

I suppose I could have also made do with one of the pom-poms (at least they're kinda fuzzy), but I didn't want a pom-pom, a paperclip or an eraser...I wanted Little Dory. Oh well...it wasn't the first time I'd been lured into believing that what I want/need actually matters to people, and it probably won't be the last.

.....You must understand, though, that other than the unsettling undercurrent of ABA/behavior mod principles present in the atmosphere, I really got a lot out of the program and felt mostly safe and comfortable in that environment, people commented on how much more confident and well-spoken I seemed in situations where I normally would not be, I was praised for my manners and how willing I was to try new things and step outside my comfort zone...and during the time I was allowed to have Little Dory with me, I didn't even bite/pick at my nails as much. It'd be great if people realized that as long as I have what I need to feel comfortable and practice self-care (even if it's a plushie or a Funko Pop) then I do pretty well for myself....and I'm sure that if Little Dory could talk, at some point during my job skills training she would have said, as politely as she could, "Excuse me, but my name isn't "Your Fidget," it's "Little Dory!"

 

[Coupe]

@Moomin I also love your Funko Pop collection! The Baymax one is really cute.

@Ezra That's so cool that you live near Funko HQ and have been to visit! I heard about Funko HQ in a NetFlix documentary called "Making Fun: The Story of Funko." It looks like a really cool place!

 

[Owliet]

CW for ableist language/terminology and self-harming stims, anxiety, sensory overload
...............................................................
A month ago, I bought a Funko Pop figurine of Migo, the main character from the movie Smallfoot (a very cute animated movie about Yetis who think it's humans that are mythical creatures, with lessons about open communication and accepting differences ), and he is the first Funko Pop I've become emotionally attached to. I don't buy Funko Pops very often (although I do love Funko merch, like their blind boxes/bags and plushies) but I liked Migo so much that I wanted a small version of him that I could easily take places with me, the way I do with my other comfort items and stim tools. My Migo Pop figurine (or "Mini Migo," as I call him) filled that role perfectly!

Since Mini Migo arrived, I have, as I said, grown very fond of him. I love his wide, toothy smile (with rounded, slightly uneven teeth, not the sharp, gnashing fangs often associated with Yetis), his friendly, eager eyes, and how his left hand is always waving as if he is saying "hello" to everyone he sees. The huge smile and waving hand are very important to me, since I often find myself alone (even though I live with family)and usually feel like I'm just in the way even when other people are around. As evinced by the photos I uploaded, Mini Migo is also quite adventurous!

...What I've been wondering since I got Mini Migo is...have I finally found a comfort item that others would consider "cool"/socially acceptable now? I know lots of people like Funko Pops - collect them, leave them in their boxes and stack them against the wall, arrange them in different positions and take photos of them, etc. When I went to have a hearing test done at an audiology clinic two months ago, I was in a testing booth right across from a doctor's office, and they had two rows of different Funko Pops all lined up in front of a window. I've always kind of resented the fact that I cannot openly carry a small stuffed animal or toy that I feel emotionally bonded to and safe with around simply because it isn't "age/workplace-appropriate" or some ableist garbage, leaving me to soothe my anxiety/sensory overload by picking at my fingernail cuticles and hangnails until raw and bleeding. Then, of course, it's "Oh, that looks so painful, what's the matter, you shouldn't do that" when if they genuinely cared, they'd allow me to practice self-care and stim (I love to stim with soft fuzzy things) in ways that are most helpful to me and allow me to process sensory input without hurting myself. What I want and need should matter, too.

.....But I digress.

Does anyone else have a Funko Pop figurine(s) as a comfort item, take photos of them or have a collection of them because they make you happy?

If it works for you, why not? I used to have a small elephant that was pocket sized. I still have the elephant but I don’t need it much anymore and take my ipod with me.