My first Funko Pop was Harry Potter that my mom gifted me when I was seven. My mom started collecting pennies and stamps at an early age, so this drive for collecting was passed down to all the women in the household. I started to become more like her when we went to collectible stores and she would say, “Pick out your favorite characters.” Now, I have around 130 to 150 different Funko Pops.
One of my favorites is Matt Murdock from Daredevil, who is rare because Funko Pops stopped producing it. For my 18th birthday, I went to a Funko Pop collection near my house, and I saw Matt Murdock, and I started screaming. I had to get him. And there, he was like $50 so I was, like, snag!
I love what Murdock fights for—underdogs. He stands up for POCs and other marginalized communities, against police corruption in the show, which inspires me to go into becoming a forensic scientist.
Another favorite character is Edward Scissorhands because I love gothic things, and it was one of the first movies my older sister and I bonded over. We are seven years apart and I barely knew her. During Covid she came home from college, and for Halloween we binge-watched Tim Burton films.
The character I relate to the most is Doctor Strange. Coming from a Dominican family, spirituality wasn’t just limited to religion but woven into the ways of life. There’s a saying that translates to “there are things you can’t see but feel them.” Just as Strange had to let go of Western logic to tap into the mystic arts, I had to learn that intuition is just as valid as science.
I see them as a pop-culture museum I’ve curated myself. Each box feels like a gallery label, and each figure tells a story—not just of its origin, but of why I chose it. I collect them to remember, to feel connected to the cultural moments that shaped me as a person.