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Welcome back alliance members, in this week’s episode the team discusses how Funko Decided to kill the short-lived Queue software. Apparently, Chris Hardwick sold 10,000 items of a 1000 piece limited edition Pop! of himself, Toys R Us loves to send Pop! in bubble envelopes, and the team will be LIVE on Facebook SUNDAY 12/17 @ 630 PM CST / 730 EST for our FIRST Cost Plus Shipping Event. The team closes the podcast with Finders Series Vol 4: FYE, Rick’s emotional rant on an unnecessary witch hunt in a Facebook group, and TONS of Funko items releasing in the collector’s corner.

Finder’s Series Vol 4: Finding Pops at FYE

Overview and Rating

• Disclaimer – When we rate these stores they are out of our experiences, our friends and people we see online in the groups where we are members. This is not singling people or store out for their good or bad treatment of Funko Products.

PROS

• FYE has and a HUGE selection of Pop! Compared to the size of the store often makes up anywhere from 20-30% of shelve space. EASY TO FIND.
• Exclusives tend to be average, but FYE tends to have a great selection of convention exclusive Pop!
• Online sales of exclusives are great here primarily because you almost always get a chance before it’s released in-store.
• Employees are very familiar with the product and take great care of items. Unfortunately, they have to deal with the mail / UPS and often get damaged Pop!
• FYE also sets up booths at local conventions and often hold select stock for these events. Pennywise and GITD Reptar note.

CONS

• Organization is typically sloppy and you have to dig for Pop! you are looking for.
• Exclusives consist of a large number of two-packs that are just bundled common Pop!
• Inventory tracking is non-existent forcing collectors to rely on store employees and waiting outside of store for exclusives.
• Online store is also sloppy tons of items have no images and site is not well maintained.
• Release dates are sketchy and you never know when Pop! will hit shelves.
• Rarely offer deals on exclusives and can be expensive compared to other stores.
• Select number of stores and unless you are located in a larger area stores maybe hard to come by.

RATING

• FYE is a surprisingly good retailer when it comes to Pop! With a large selection of Pop!, availability to pre-order exclusives in store and online, and a larger than average exclusive selection FYE gets a good amount of positive points here. However, poor organization of the product, a below average website, and with little or no deals on exclusives FYE receives a total score of 6 out of 10.

FYE: Where to Find Them

• Store layouts vary but generally, they are located in the same areas at the front and left side of the store.
  • Most stores also place Pop! on the sales floor in dedicated sections ie Harry Potter, WWE, Horror, or Dragon Ball Z.
  • Convention Exclusives are often placed at the front of the store on release days with customers waiting outside.
  • Mystery Mini’s / blind boxes are typically kept on a display on the sales floor typically adjacent to the register or spread throughout the store in dedicated sections.

Hunting Tips

• HUNTING TIP: Get to know your FYE employees and rely heavily on Facebook groups and friends here. With the limited amount of stores, you may need to phone a friend when you need something.
• HUNTING TIP: Cover the ENTIRE STORE. FYE likes to put Pop! everywhere mainly because it makes up a large portion of their products. Always remember to check everywhere even in the discount bin.
• Expert Hunting Tip: Get to know the delivery schedule. Most stores in the mall receive daily deliveries this means you should try and figure out what time items arrive each day (most of the time it’s between 11AM and 3PM). This shortens the window and increases your chances of getting the item you want.
• Online Hunting Tip: Use placeholders from groups. FYE’s website is a mess and we at PCA rely heavily on placeholders to find the products we are looking for. Searching is never enough because you rarely locate the items.

FYE: Where are the Deals:

• FYE has great BOGO deals on common Pop! but rarely have deals on their exclusives.
  • Don’t forget about their loyalty program. Backstage Pass, Platinum Membership $25 you get 10% in-store and online, 20% off on your birthday bonus discount days, and emails for upcoming releases.

Join us next week when we put the Finders Series on Hold to Discuss WAFFLES/RAFFLES and its impact on the Funko Pop! Community.

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Website: Popcollectorsalliance.com

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