Merchandising

What are your thoughts on anime/manga related merchandise? Would you ever buy any? Do you have any of your own? Do you judge people who buy? If you ever did start buying, there something you would never buy?

I think it's neat that there's so much merchandise, but a lot of it is stuff I won't ever buy. Keychains, pillow covers, tiles (???), and a whole bunch of other useless items...

I highly prefer plushes and figurines. I am very picky with those and only have a few things; for instance I only get my favourite characters and things I know I'll like 100%, otherwise I regret the purchase very soon. The only pieces of merch I have are a Saber figurine from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, a big plush from Monomi from Dangan Ronpa, and a Master Ball plush (not really anime merch but w/e). I have a few posters from magazines and a few Weiss Schwarz cards (which I only have as merch and not as playcards), and I am looking for specific ones.

I do kinda sideye people who buy very sexualised figurines; I find them tasteless.

IMO it's the same as buying merchandise of anything else you like - harmless and shows your support. Whether it's a show, film, comic, band, etc.
I lean towards shirts and keychains tbh, since there's really no space in my room for figures or plushies. Even then, I don't buy anime merch that often - all I have are a few Love Live keychains attached to my bag. I would never buy body pillows or half-naked figurines though, since I'm not a fan of sexualisation.

I like the idea.

But I think it's one of those things that perpetuates a lot of behaviors in the whales of the industry- in Japan, Western whales don't really matter in this context- to the point that I can't say I'm all too keen on how it's advertised and what can be among what's published.

Especially when you get something like Super Sonico which was literally just this multi-media merch machine that really didn't do anything other than have a cute girl. Compare this to a multi-media merch machine like Love Live which actually seemed to have heart even if it was made with similar intent. Basically like comparing a hollow wall to a concrete one.

For the most part, though, merch to me is just showing support to the things I like. Figures are my goto for support but really I'm a much bigger fan of artwork because I feel that its actual appeal tends to involve a lot of factors that figures don't. Though hell, if figures started getting produced at the speed, cost, and quality of amiibos (though not the numbers, c'mon Nintendo), I'd probably have a fair few of them right now.