My first Funko Pop was Harry Potter that mymom gifted me when I was seven. My momstarted collecting pennies and stamps atan early age, so this drive for collecting waspassed down to all the women in the household. I started to become more like her whenwe went to collectible stores and she wouldsay, “Pick out your favorite characters.” Now, I have around 130 to 150 different Funko Pops.

One of my favorites is Matt Murdock fromDaredevil, who is rare because Funko Popsstopped producing it. For my 18th birthday,I went to a Funko Pop collection near myhouse, 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 andI bonded over. We are seven years apart andI barely knew her. During Covid she came home from college, and for Halloween webinge-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 hadto 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’vecurated myself. Each box feels like a gallerylabel, and each figure tells a story—not justof its origin, but of why I chose it. I collectthem to remember, to feel connected to thecultural moments that shaped me as a person.