Comments How big is MFC? Is anime figure collecting community growing?

Considering the fact that more and more figures are being released every year, I'd say the collecting "community" is growing. I put community in quotes because it really does matter how you define it. People buying figures is one definition, and I'd say that's growing. People participating in public forums is another, and that's a bit more tricky.

For as much as people love to praise the community here, there really is a lot of toxicity, just like in any large group. It makes many afraid to actually post anything for fear of the responses that will be made. No one wants to be told there opinion is stupid or wrong, or that their collection is crap because it does or doesn't contain a certain thing. They don't want to be called a pedophile or pervert or disgusting or racist or x-phobic because they like something or don't like something. Sure, none of those comments may appear, but it only takes one to turn someone off to the entire idea of figures completely.

kin • 11 days ago • #89992547For me, it feels the community on MFC used to bigger. Even I left for a year or two and only recently got back. Back then the doujinshi community was bigger and more active vs now almost nonexistent here on mfc.

I have seen a few older users say the same as well! I wonder if it is due to the rise of other social media platforms (and possibly the rise of prices). That's what happened to a lot of niche anime oriented platforms like Gaia online

One thing I noticed is that there are definitely less user pics than before.

I have the same question too. I wonder why the community seems to have gotten smaller when compared to that of a few years ago.

For me, it feels the community on MFC used to bigger. Even I left for a year or two and only recently got back. Back then the doujinshi community was bigger and more active vs now almost nonexistent here on mfc.

I would guess that the numbers of active collectors compared to people that watch anime is pretty small.
When i have been to Japan i see a lot more places that sell general merchandise rather than figures, so plenty of places that sell Manga, Art Books, CD's, Key rings etc

I would guess actual figure collecting is a pretty niche hobby

Looking here on MFC it indicates there are about 170,000 registered users, but if you take a bit of a look you can see very few are either still active or regularly active.

I guess most people that buy figures buy one or two for some favourite show and don't spend a lot of time actively looking to add to their collections.

Exact numbers would be very hard to tell

MFC could be more niche than say facebook groups

victorviper • 11 days ago • #89992458Really all you have to do is look at the number of hits on blog articles, particularly readers selection ones. 5-6 years ago, it would be rare for a readers selection blog to garner less than 1000 hits during its first couple days of life. These days, it's not uncommon to see a readers selection with 600-700 hits even after 2 days on the main MFC landing page.
I've thought about trying to do some sort of statistical (regression) analysis to see if there was a clear point where there was a sharp decline in the number of hits the blogs were getting, but alas that is about item 297/300 on my list of things to do...That actually sounds super interesting, I would love to read an analysis like that!

2B9S • 11 days ago • #89992333This has actually been on my mind as well. As a newb I'd really love to get some insight into how the community was back in the day. I would notice on old items and pictures that there'd be quite a bit of traffic and everyone just seemed more... tight knit perhaps? I suspect it's because this hobby was much more niche back then so people who shared similar interests were very vocal about their love for collecting. Not to say that it isn't lively these days as it seems Myethos Miku really brought a lot of people out of the woodwork (myself included :P)

Really all you have to do is look at the number of hits on blog articles, particularly readers selection ones. 5-6 years ago, it would be rare for a readers selection blog to garner less than 1000 hits during its first couple days of life. These days, it's not uncommon to see a readers selection with 600-700 hits even after 2 days on the main MFC landing page.

I've thought about trying to do some sort of statistical (regression) analysis to see if there was a clear point where there was a sharp decline in the number of hits the blogs were getting, but alas that is about item 297/300 on my list of things to do...

2B9S • 11 days ago • #89992333This has actually been on my mind as well. As a newb I'd really love to get some insight into how the community was back in the day. I would notice on old items and pictures that there'd be quite a bit of traffic and everyone just seemed more... tight knit perhaps? I suspect it's because this hobby was much more niche back then so people who shared similar interests were very vocal about their love for collecting. Not to say that it isn't lively these days as it seems Myethos Miku really brought a lot of people out of the woodwork (myself included :P)

As someone who's been here 12 years (apparently) but no longer actively collects figures, partially I would blame this on the rise of other social media, and partially I think 2009 really was like a great peak in the time of figure collecting? Like when GSC was releasing items like this Saber ITEM #5769 or BRS ITEM #6588 These were super impressive figures back then and the prices hadn't gotten totally ridiculous either. The quality seemed amazing compared to early 2000s figures and for me it was impossible to imagine they could get any higher quality, haha. Figma were way cheaper and sometimes had more accessories, depending on the character. When I first started collecting, yeah there was already plenty of Fate figures (but not the amount there is now), but Miku was getting her first figures. So that was something exciting, as well as if wondering and waiting if some other Vocaloids or Utau would get figures. So there wasn't a feeling of "Ugh, another Miku" in 2009.

This has actually been on my mind as well. As a newb I'd really love to get some insight into how the community was back in the day. I would notice on old items and pictures that there'd be quite a bit of traffic and everyone just seemed more... tight knit perhaps? I suspect it's because this hobby was much more niche back then so people who shared similar interests were very vocal about their love for collecting. Not to say that it isn't lively these days as it seems Myethos Miku really brought a lot of people out of the woodwork (myself included :P)