Every hobby builds its own language, and Funko collecting built a particularly dense one — equal parts auction-house jargon, forum shorthand and inside joke. Here's the whole dictionary in one place, alphabetical, in plain English. Bookmark it, search it, send it to the friend who keeps asking what a 'stickered GITD chase' is. No gatekeeping here: every collector learned these one confused forum thread at a time.
A – C
- AP (Artist Proof) — an ultra-limited early or hand-finished production piece, typically 24–36 per release, identified by an AP marker. Famous in the SODA line, infamous for being faked.
- BST — Buy/Sell/Trade, as in the Facebook groups where much of the secondary market actually happens.
- Bitty Pop — Funko's miniature line: tiny versions of classic Pops, sold in multipacks. The pocket-sized cousin in the size family.
- Chase — a rare variant randomly packed among regular figures at roughly 1 in 6, marked with a gold sticker. Full breakdown in our chase guide.
- Common — the standard, unstickered retail release. The honest backbone of every collection.
- Con sticker — marks a Pop sold at a specific convention (SDCC, NYCC, ECCC). The premium version of the sticker system.
D – F
- Drop — a timed online release, usually limited, occasionally heartbreaking. See also: refreshing the page at 5:59am.
- Dorbz — a discontinued Funko line of rounder, cuter figures. Collecting's reminder that whole product lines can end.
- ECCC — Emerald City Comic Con, one of the major convention-exclusive events.
- Exclusive — a figure sold only through one retailer, site or event, identified by its box sticker.
- Flocked — coated in a fuzzy, velvety texture. A common chase variant flavour.
- FOMO — fear of missing out; the force behind most collecting regrets. The antidote is in our beginner's guide.
- Freddy Funko — Funko's crowned mascot, whose own ultra-limited figures are some of the most chased in the hobby — see Fundays.
- Fundays — Funko's annual party event, home of the rarest and most numbered exclusives Funko makes.
G – L
- GITD — glow-in-the-dark. Four letters that reliably add a multiple to a figure's price.
- Grail — the figure you want most; short for holy grail. Personal by definition — one collector's grail is another's shelf-warmer.
- Hard stack — a rigid acrylic case for premium box protection. The top tier; soft protectors are the everyday version.
- In the wild — found in an actual physical shop, as opposed to ordered online. Spotting a chase in the wild is the hobby's purest dopamine.
- ISO — In Search Of. How trade posts say 'I want'.
- LE — Limited Edition, usually with a number: LE 3000 means 3,000 pieces exist, ever.
M – P
- MIB / MIMB — Mint In Box / Mint In Mint Box. The second one means the box itself is flawless too — and yes, the box is most of the value; our grading guide explains why.
- Mystery Minis — small blind-boxed figures: you don't know which one you've bought until it's open.
- NYCC / SDCC — New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con, the two biggest sources of convention exclusives.
- OOB — Out Of Box: displayed free, box optional or gone. A lifestyle, not a downgrade.
- Pop Protector — a clear plastic sleeve (soft) or acrylic case (hard) that shields the box from shelf life.
- Proto — a prototype or pre-production piece, often unpainted. Genuine ones are rare; claimed ones are everywhere — authenticate accordingly.
- Pull — what you got from a blind box, case or pack. 'Good pull' is the hobby's highest casual praise.
R – S
- Restock — new inventory of an existing figure arriving at retail. The chase hunter's favourite calendar event.
- Shared sticker — marks the retail-partner release of a convention exclusive ('Summer Convention' rather than 'SDCC'). Same figure, lower premium — the distinction that catches every new collector once.
- Shelf-warmer — a figure that sits unsold at retail for ages. Affectionate, mostly.
- SODA — Funko's figures-in-aluminium-cans line, with mystery chases inside. A whole saga, told here.
- Stickered — carrying an exclusive sticker, and therefore worth more. The sticker guide decodes them all.
- Swapped sticker — a real sticker moved to a different box to inflate its price. Treated as fraud by collectors, because it is.
T – Z
- Unvaulted — brought back into production after being vaulted. Rare, and consequential for prices.
- Vaulted — officially discontinued; supply permanently fixed. The full economics are in our vaulted guide.
- Wave — a batch of figures from one franchise released together. Wave 2 is where they hide your favourite character.
- White whale — the grail you've hunted longest. Named for the Melville energy of the pursuit.
Spotted a term in the wild that isn't here? It will be — this glossary grows with the hobby. Meanwhile, put the vocabulary to work: start with the beginner's guide, master the sticker system, and browse the full catalogue with fresh eyes.