Granted, it was not an anime waifu, but it was still a statue. When the Wii was still new I had won the collector’s edition of Alone in the Dark and it came with a statue of the hero. It was nicely done, but my reaction was pretty much the same as yours: WTF am I supposed to do with this? I figured that maybe I was missing something because on the internet people were wetting themselves over the collector’s edition, so I put it on my shelf and thought that maybe I would get it eventually. In the end I was so embarrassed of the dumb thing I put it back into the box and stored it away hoping that it might grow in value over time. Hah, fat chance! Never invest in video games, in the end I was glad to just get rid of the thing for 10€; I’m not too pissed since I didn’t pay money for it, but I could have flipped it for more when it was still a new game.
I think you are right about the user experience. These statues just scream “nerd”, and I guess some people take some weird sense of pride in that image. Over the recent years there has also been the rise of fake geek culture with shows like The Big Bang Theory and the rise of pop science YouTube channels, so there another factor. You just buy the statue for the sake of having bought the statue. Kind of how kids will buy trading cards or stickers where the only purpose of the card is to own the cards. That’s really all I can think of on that topic, my personal curiosity about owning statues (and collector’s editions) has been satisfied.
OK, I get the statues for other things like a cool character and all. But that Pyra character wasn’t exactly *that*. Putting up that Pyra statue in your home and other people see it, they will they of you something other than ‘nerd’.
Let me put it this way: I get why people watch porn. But those people do not put model size versions of the pornstars in their house (or do they?). Statues like Pyra are like Sexy Amiibos, almost like wifey amiibos. The statues keep selling so it is more than the consumer just losing his head and buying it. Is it an attempt to make a tangible Pyra, a tangible waifu outside of the game?