Woman Praised for Selling Ex's Funko Pop Collection To Settle $12K Debt

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A woman who sold her unemployed ex's "funko pops" plastic toy collection to settle the nearly $12,000 he owed her and her parents has been praised by users on Reddit.

According to the woman, who shared the incident in a post on Reddit's TrueOffMyChest forum under username Distinct-Variation44, her ex got laid off from work and she allowed him to move in with her because he claimed he had enough savings from which to live off.

Her "man-baby ex" allegedly moved into her place with at least 200 plastic toys "that any woman would take as a sign to run as fast as f***ing possible," the user said in the post, which received over 9,400 upvotes and more than 900 comments at the time of writing.

Man holding woman leaving with suitcase.
A man on his knees, holding onto the leg of a woman holding a suitcase in one hand and about to walk away. A woman who kicked her ex out and sold his plastic toy... iStock/Getty Images Plus

Over the six months he lived with her, "he racked up over 12k [$12,000] in debt to me and my parents. All while he sat at home smoking weed and buying more plastic figures between all the job interviews he wasn't doing," according to the woman.

The woman said: "The peanut gallery of dead-eyed Marvel superheroes watching me sleep should have clued me in to the fact that I made the biggest mistake of my life by letting the world's largest baby move in with me."

After she "kicked him out" of her place, she told him to either pay her and her parents back immediately or she'd sell his toys. The other option posed was for her and her parents to sue him, so he "tearfully" allowed her to sell all of his "funko pops," which came out to around $11,500.

"He asked about a week ago how it felt to be a soul-devouring monster kicking him while he's down. I told him it felt great," the woman wrote.

Several Redditors have backed the woman for taking the measure she did to get her money back.

User Arc5901 wrote: "holy s*** 12k in six months for some plastic figures, bought with money which isn't even his. Glad you guys got your money back, or at least most of it," in a comment that got 5,600 upvotes at the time of reporting.

Another Redditor, Judg3_Dr3dd, stated: "11.5 k on funko pops. I'll never understand some people," in a comment that amassed 1,100 upvotes.

User f***balls9001 said: "Yeah I came in here ready to call OP [original poster] a monster, thinking he already had these things [plastic toys] and OP sold his childhood collection or something. How the f*** do you let someone spend that much of your money for that long without even trying to pull their weight," in a comment that received 1,400 upvotes.

In a reply to that comment, user Prannke replied: "I should ask my man-baby ex that as well [rolling on the floor laughing emoji]. In everyone's life, you get a free pass to date ONE loser with no judgment you learn from. OP at least got 11.5k back from her experience."

While Male_Inkling said: "God f***ing dammit if you're going to collect anything at the very least make sure you can pay for It. And make sure to know when to stop. Uncontrolled collecting is just hoarding."

And cosmicspectral agreed, noting: "My husband and I collect anime figures but we'd never collect them if we couldn't damn well afford it. What a dude to be bumming off you and your family like that."

According to a September 2019 study by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville published in the peer-reviewed journal Family Process, money is among the topics that even the "happiest couples" tend to argue about.

A report published in October 2021 by the Pew Research Center found "unpartnered adults have lower earnings, on average, than partnered adults and are less likely to be employed or economically independent."

The report said that unpartnered adults also "have lower educational attainment and are more likely to live with their parents."

Newsweek has contacted Distinct-Variation44 for comment.

If you have a similar family dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

About the writer

Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean


Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more