Funko Pops! are hot collectibles

FREMONT - Only time will tell if Funko Pops! will go the way of Beanie Babies and Longaberger Baskets, which brought in huge profits for early collectors before practically dropping off the radar. But for now, the popular Funko Pops! collectibles are making some people a lot of money. And for the rest of the people lining their shelves with the figures? They are still having a lot of fun.

Funko Pops! are vinyl figures depicting the cartoonish images of a variety of real people and fictional characters, from sports stars to movie characters. Most of them stand about 4-inches tall, and they are big sellers for both kids and adults.

Liz Bartish, an employee at The POP! Shop in Sandusky, said the shop sells both new and used Pops! that have been traded in.

“Ours are mostly trade-ins. If they get tired of the ones they’ve collected, they trade them in for something new,” Bartish said. “Our biggest selling Pops! are super heroes.”

A new Pop! usually costs around $10 each. Like any collectible, some hold their value, some lose value, and, for some, the price skyrockets. According to the online Pop Price Guide, a glow-in-the-dark Green Lantern that was released in 2010 is now valued at $1,140. A Star Wars Shadow Trooper released in 2011 now sells for $1,630.

One feature that made the Green Lantern and Shadow Trooper valuable was that both were San Diego Comic Con exclusives. Comic Con exclusives can be purchased at the event, and a limited number are sent to stores nationwide.

At GameStop in Fremont, the store’s biggest sellers fluctuate with what is going on in pop culture at the time, but Comic Con exclusives are always in demand, when they are available.

“It all depends on what is coming out. Comic-Con ones are very popular,” said Micah Lawson, manager at Fremont GameStop. “They are very exclusive and very hard to get a hold of.”

Lawson said she has more adult customers looking for Funko Pops! than kids.

“We have more adults, because they know the value they can have,” Lawson said. “And, of course, we have the casual kid that spots one that catches his eye.”

Lawson said she has some customers that own over 100 Pops!. Those diehard collectors rarely sell any, and they are careful about which figures they buy and how they display them.

“They have to be perfect, right down to the paint. If they see a scratch on the costume or face, they won’t pick that one,” she said. “If they are hardcore collectors, they keep them in the original box. We sell protectors. They are plastic cases, and they can put in the box and all to keep the dust out.”

In addition to the regular size Pops!, customers can also buy small Pocket Pops! key chains, and a few special figures come in larger sizes. Last Christmas, Funko came out with Mystery Boxes, which included one regular size figure, one or two small ones, and other items like lapel pins. Customers purchased the boxes not knowing what was inside, with the hopes of choosing one of the few that contained exclusive figures.

“People would take the chance and see all the different stuff you can get from Funko,” Lawson said. “They would get excited about trying to get an exclusive one. It was like playing the lottery.”

For collectors looking for specific figures, GameStop offers free lists of upcoming Pops! releases. Customers not only know what will be available soon, but they have the option to pre-order any of the figures.

“Sometimes we get exclusives ones. The only way for a collector to guarantee you’ll get one of our exclusives is to come in and preorder it with us,” Lawson said.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheri.trusty@gmail.com or 419-639-0662.