I feel like Disney innovated taking the relationship to the next level, though. Japanese Otaku buy stuff and go to cons (where they get sold more stuff), and aside from that the anime companies are kind of ashamed of them. Disney goes to the next level of telling them that their consumption habits makes them a good person and part of a community and really stoking the culty fires.
Disney also makes a lot of effort to get kids hooked on their tentpole franchises really early. Look at the Spiderman and Star Wars shows they've put out for preschoolers
looks at table covered in mecha models you don't have to call me out like that lol.
at least its not from Latest Media Slop Fad #42069, i have some Special Armored Battalion Dorvack (shitty show, cool power armor, lame transforming mecha, kinda based writing for the 80's) power armor models and Maschinen Krieger models as well (the Strahl Democratic Republic did nothing wrong)
i like the original gundam designs because the show reminded me of ww2 movie cinematography and design aesthetics, and also the Iron-Blooded-Orphan robots are cool even if the show glamorizes a pretty gross mafia harem owner. 30 minute missions are also cool, but i prefer larger scales than 1/100 or 1/144, but those can be expensive compared to gunpla. most of my gunpla/30MM models have been under 20 american biosurvival tickets while maschinen krieger models at 1/20 scale are usually around 40 or 50 for power armor. Dorvack is neat because the show sucked was unpopular so the models are mostly not very valuable and you can find them on ebay for like 30 american biosurvival tickets sometimes. plus they are 1/24 scale which is the same for a lot of model cars and tanks and planes and also the same scale as the Hexa Gear series of models.
at least model kits give you something to build and sometimes articulate/pose unlike funko pops lol, even the SD (super-deformed, chibi proportions) series of gundam models retain a hint of the original art style unlike funko which digests every IP into an indistinguishable bolus of media slop.
It's 1000% the same thing. Even the collections of plastic toys that you just look at.
I feel like Disney innovated taking the relationship to the next level, though. Japanese Otaku buy stuff and go to cons (where they get sold more stuff), and aside from that the anime companies are kind of ashamed of them. Disney goes to the next level of telling them that their consumption habits makes them a good person and part of a community and really stoking the culty fires.
American capitalism baybeeeeeeee  
Disney also makes a lot of effort to get kids hooked on their tentpole franchises really early. Look at the Spiderman and Star Wars shows they've put out for preschoolers
looks at table covered in mecha models you don't have to call me out like that lol.
at least its not from Latest Media Slop Fad #42069, i have some Special Armored Battalion Dorvack (shitty show, cool power armor, lame transforming mecha, kinda based writing for the 80's) power armor models and Maschinen Krieger models as well (the Strahl Democratic Republic did nothing wrong)
i mostly have gunpla but i also have a scopedog and a few other miscellaneous kits
i like the original gundam designs because the show reminded me of ww2 movie cinematography and design aesthetics, and also the Iron-Blooded-Orphan robots are cool even if the show glamorizes a pretty gross mafia harem owner. 30 minute missions are also cool, but i prefer larger scales than 1/100 or 1/144, but those can be expensive compared to gunpla. most of my gunpla/30MM models have been under 20 american biosurvival tickets while maschinen krieger models at 1/20 scale are usually around 40 or 50 for power armor. Dorvack is neat because the show
suckedwas unpopular so the models are mostly not very valuable and you can find them on ebay for like 30 american biosurvival tickets sometimes. plus they are 1/24 scale which is the same for a lot of model cars and tanks and planes and also the same scale as the Hexa Gear series of models.at least model kits give you something to build and sometimes articulate/pose unlike funko pops lol, even the SD (super-deformed, chibi proportions) series of gundam models retain a hint of the original art style unlike funko which digests every IP into an indistinguishable bolus of media slop.
The most Funko-adjacent thing in my house is an SD Char’s Zaku Hello Kitty lol
i should get one of those…
Or at least watch the stupid crossover shorts they made lol
 Couldn't be me lol
I'm going to break into your house and replace that deep cut stuff with Loki® Season 2 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore® FunkoPop!s 
NOOOOOOOOOOO I NEED AESTHETICALLY CONSISTENT TREATS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I HATE FUNKO POPS! I HAVE A PARASONIC C3 DNA SCRAMBLER AND A BASIC IDEA OF HOW TO USE IT!  🍖
Leave me and my star trek toys out of this!
Who the fuck are those guys?
Call yourself a trekker and you don’t even recognize them?
spoiler
Big Bang Theory cast dressed in Star Trek TOS uniforms as funko pops lmao
I’ll have you know I call myself a Trekkie cause it sounds less dignified.