At six feet, three inches tall, someone might think Brandon “The Truth” Vera is the biggest thing in his house.
But think again. That title is reserved for his giant collection of tiny toys called Funko Pops.
Funko Pops are vinyl figures with exaggerated eyes plastered onto even more exaggerated heads and likened after icons from sports, movies, music, animation, and pop culture in general.
The ONE Heavyweight World Champion never intentionally set out to amass such a collection of nostalgic characters. It happened accidentally while the self-proclaimed “super nerd” was at a convention.
“I was at a Comic-Con. It was back when the parking lot was so empty because no one even went to those things,” the 42-year-old Filipino-American recalls.
“I was inside, and I saw this thing – I thought it was a bobblehead. But when I looked closer, it was something else.”
That something else was Boba Fett, a feared galactic bounty hunter from the Star Wars series.
“I picked up a Boba Fett Funko Pop first,” the heavyweight king continues. “He was a bad guy in Star Wars, but he was misunderstood, kind of like how I was growing up.”
Soon after “The Truth” found a home on his shelf for that specific toy, he became infatuated with the tiny vinyl figures.
Vera often put his name on waiting lists for the latest releases, and when he missed his chance to snatch a new-fangled character, he would rely on inside connections to help him out. He even made appearances when new Funko Pops were released.