Shortly after the Ghostbusters Pop! Vinyls released at the end of April, this awesome guy started showing up at Hot Topic locations.
What was especially interesting with this “Burnt” Stay Puft was the sticker, which reads “Hot Topic Exclusive Pre- Release”. Almost instantly, people were questioning what that meant. Answers varied, but general consensus was that it meant this particular vinyl would eventually come to other stores after appearing for a time exclusively at Hot Topic stores. No official answer was coming from Funko, but things were self explanatory, right? Wrong.
This past week, rumors started surfacing from “people in the know”, along with snapshots of emails, stating that “Burnt” Stay Puft would actually be a Hot Topic Exclusive… not Pre-Release, but rather permanent. Of course this did not make sense. Rocket Raccoon from the Guardians of the Galaxy line and Harley Quinn from the Arkham Asylum Batman line also appeared in Hot Topic stores recently with the same Pre-Release red sticker, and they are assuredly part of their respective regular line. Other Hot Topic Exclusives, like the Glow in the Dark Lumiere from the new Beauty and the Beast Pop!s, came in with a different exclusive sticker. To say that we here at PopVinyls.com were confused would be accurate. However, a message sent in to Allison from Funko has hopefully cleared everything up.
“Burnt” Stay Puft is indeed a Hot Topic Pre-Release and will be eventually available elsewhere.
Allison confirmed this today, stating that this Hot Topic Pre-Release “will be opened up as a regular Funko item”. As a regular item, any Funko buyer will be able to order it for their store. Still having a hard time tracking him down? Just take a breath and relax… all will be okay.
Now, some of you are wondering: “How long is the Pre-Release?” No official word has been given from Funko. There was strong talk at one time that it was 90 days, which would mean that they would start appearing the beginning of August. However, today it was announced by Funko that another company’s Pre-Release, Amazon’s “Blue Dress” Game of Thrones Daenerys (as part of one of their special bundles), will be 150 days, or roughly 5 months. So, Pre-Release exclusive vinyls do not have a pre-determined length of exclusivity, but they will become a regular release eventually. Basically, the only reason someone would need to freak out over them is if they are a “sticker collector”. I do know a few of you out there are, but as for me… I will be patient and wait if I have to. All will be okay.
Okay?
Okay.
Matt Norris