Dollars and Sense #19: Pop! Vinyls
Back in May, Disney graced us with another vinyl for the collecting masses: Pop! Vinyls. They are produced by the company, Funko, in conjunction with Disney, of course. Funko is based in Lynnwood, Washington, and are most well-known for manufacturing and producing a wide range of pop-culture licensed toys. They are most well known for their bobble-heads that have sold more than 10 million units world-wide. They have major licensing deals with Lucas Film, Marvel, Hasbro, Elvis Presley, CBS, FOX, Warner Bros and Microsoft. Now that the Disney Pop Vinyls Series 1 have been in stores for almost 4 months and a few characters are starting to get somewhat scarce, the big question is whether Pop! Vinyls are the next big Disney Collectible.
Will a Stitch Pop! Vinyl be worth $600 in 3 years like the Balloon Chaser?
To answer this question, let’s take a look at the similarities between vinylmations and Pop! Vinyls.
Similarities
- Price—Pop! Vinyls are sold for $12.50 each. This is very similar in price to vinylmations, which typically range in price from $9.95 to $12.95. They are just barely in the price range for a Disney Store impulse buy for most people.
- Size—Most Pop! Vinyls are 3-4″ in height.
- Creativity–While Vinylmations are limitless in their subject matter, they are limited by their shape. Pop! Vinyls are strictly character-driven at this point, but the shape itself varies.
- Limited Release and Limited Edition–The bulk of Pop! Vinyls are released as 3-4″ figures in Disney stores. The understanding is that once a series is gone, it will be gone for good (I have not seen this writing, however, but it appears a safe assumption). A few are released in limited known quantities at special events (San Diego Comic Con and D23, so far) like the 9″ vinyls. It appears that Pop! Vinyls will be released every few months, which is a similar interval.
Differences
- Window Box–You always know what Pop! Vinyl you will get. Common consumers will like this, while vinylmation junkies may find it a turn-off after a while due to the lack of excitement.
- No chaser–The chaser is what hooked our family. You rip open a box in hopes of hitting the jackpot. People buy more and more and more in hopes of getting that green apple chaser. This also drives the secondary market as people sell/trade their duplicates. This does not exist for Pop! Vinyls.
- Availability–Pop! Vinyls are pretty available, while many Vinylmation series are only available in the parks. This can be an advantage in reaching new fans, but it also makes them feel less special.
- Lack of diversity in what’s being represented with Pop! (all character based). This could change with time.
- No natural incentive to collect them all. With Vinylmations, a chaser is present in every case which encourages people to buy in bulk to not only get the chaser, but the entire series.
- Lack of initial scarcity. The fact that Pop! Vinyls have been present at so many Disney Stores, one would wager a good guess that MANY, MANY, MANY more Pop! Series 1 vinyls were made in comparison to Park 1 vinyls.
eBay Comparisons
- If you search for vinylmation on eBay, you will come up with over 10,000 listings. If you remove the words pin or pins from your search, you will still get almost 8,000 listings. Pop! Vinyls (which are in their infancy) have about 110. Most of these listings are related to the SDCC and D23 releases. Currently released non-exclusive Pop! vinyls are pretty rare in the completed listings.
- Currently, the following exclusives are selling for the listed prices. All 3-inch exclusives had a $15 price tag and 9″ exclusives went for $50.
- SDCC Maleficent 9″ LE 360–$100
- SDCC Buzz 9″ LE 360–$95 (very few of these have sold despite listings for ~$100)
- SDCC Metal Mickey LE 480–$30
- SDCC Glow in the Dark Mike W LE 480–$35
- SDCC Retro-suit Mr. Incredible LE 480–$34
- SDCC Flocked Sulley LE 480–none have sold with listings at $35
- D23 Steamboat Willie LE 360–$120
- D23 Flocked Lotso LE 480–$50
3. Since Disney Pop! Vinyls are relatively new, I also wanted to look at what the market holds for older Funko items. Currently, there are over 5,000 items listed with the word funko in it’s title. By looking through the completed listings, it appears to be pretty rare for items to sell for over $50 if it is not one of the Disney releases.
Observations and Speculation
Will Pop! Vinyls create the same craze on the secondary market once certain series are out of print? Doubtful. I do think popular characters will increase in value, but not to the extent of a Park 1 or Urban 1. Currently, there is no allure to collect ALL of them. The “chase” is currently missing (which will change to some extent once series 1 is sold out). With the built in fan base of Disney, I do think people will become interested in retired figures if they hooked later on, but the fan base would have to swell quite extensively to cause prices to jump.
My perception of Pop Vinyls has changed. At first I just wasn’t that interested but they have grown on me. I’ll never worry about collecting them all. I don’t see a point. I do like the four I have. They won’t ever be as popular as Vinylmations but they are a nice complement to the market.
these are just a little too “out there” for me. Maybe its because i’m older and these are for you young kids.lol
what drew us to Vinylmations was the Mickey canvas.:)
They have really grown on us and it looks like we will be collecting about 4 per series. Our kids like them a bit more than VM’s right now because they are different. With so many VM’s coming out, they (we) are feeling a little burnt out. These are fun and spice things up a bit.
I just collect the ones that I like. I have all the 3 inch Comic Con Pops. They are cool to me. They are on my desk at work. And Underdog, haha, I’m 37.
Pop Vinyls Series 2 are up at disneystore.com
Funko has been around for many years. They are most famous for their bobbleheads. As far as quality, they usually sit in the middle, not the best, most detailed bobble, but nowhere near the bottom. Funko bobbleheads have had hot streaks as well as cold. There have been bobbles that sold on the secondary market that went for as high as the low $100 range. Most older ones average $5-$30. All in all, with Funko bobbleheads, I observed that, like most collectables, when they are new and have a growing following, the prices rise to double or triple, but then cool way down once the characters have been around awhile or the desirability of the collectible had waned. I just searched “bobblehead” on ebay and came up with 2200 hits. 5 years ago, that was 6-8000. People still collect them, but not to the extent of when they peaked in the early 2000s. I can see Pop vinyls doing the same, but the wave is just growing, so they may catch on. It’s still early, so, stay tuned!
37?? yeah i was 37 once too..about 18 years ago.hahaha
I was always aware of the POP! Vinyls at stores like FYE and Newbury Comics (up here in the Northeast at least) and always loved the designs. The Disney line came out, however, and I have yet to begin with these collectables. The local Disney Store near me has ‘em all the time, but like the article says, it’s just outside the range of an “impulse” buy for me when most of my spare change is occupied with Vinylmations. So many that I want tho!
I am a big fan of these. Not sure what the future holds for them but I think that they are fun. Not in the same way that vinylmation is, but enjoyable none the less
DO I need to get me a Stitch? LOL
Fun speculation: 6 series are mapped out at this point. If these come out every 4-6 months, Pop Series 6 would be released in the ball park of the release of Monsters University. Might be a little extra interest in a couple lovable monsters from series 1. Just saying…
My fiancee and I just saw the pictures of the second series which include Jack, Sally and Belle…suddenly we’re 100% on board w/ these and will be hitting a Disney Store asap. I just love how they give it a “comic book” edge/feel to them and aren’t entirely kiddish, much like the appeal of the Vinylmations.