I'm doing a little segment within my blog on where best to purchase items if you live in Australia like I do. I'd do a broader version, but I'm a little unsure as to where best to go internationally. You can forgive me, I'm sure - I've never actually been out of the country.So, here goes! Hope someone gets something out of this!
Buying in-store
This is probably the best way to go if you're looking for Pop!s without
design or manufacturing flaws, and you want to check it out yourself
before buying. You can examine the stock in-store and make an assessment
through the packaging as to whether or not the product is suitably
constructed for your liking. If you live in Australia, you just don't
find these in run-of-the-mill department stores, so you generally have to go to gaming or specialised stores for your Funko Pop! needs. Here are my recommendations for stores.
EB Games
To check in store, probably the biggest contender is EB Games. If you live here, you've definitely heard of EB Games, and I think there's even a few in New Zealand as well!
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| EB Games Store, Perth, WA - Lakeside Joondalup. |
The store's really great, and the staff as a general rule are super nice and friendly, and really helpful too! They're pretty invested in making sales, so you're guaranteed assistance if you need it. I've never really needed to ask, but I'm pretty sure you can go up to them at the counter and ask after a particular franchise or character Pop! you're looking for; if they don't have it I think store policy is either to ask to order it in for you or direct you to the nearest store that has what you're looking for. My city is practically crawling with these stores, they're seriously everywhere, and I live in the far west of Australia. I can only imagine how many of them are concentrated within a square kilometre of Sydney.
The issue with this store is that they really only sell kid-friendly stuff; their main demographic is young children and adolescents, so they don't typically have some of the more specified Pop!s in-store, especially in the smaller stores. For example, they don't have things like Outlander, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who (yes, this is kid-friendly, but I think people who are a little older appreciate this more). If you expected to find anything by way of those categories, you'd likely have to pop into the city and take a look at their stock. And, good luck sifting your way through the copious levels of Marvel and Adventure Time figures!
A really great store I came across in Midland a couple months back was Games World. It is a chain store, but there aren't very many; they're mostly concentrated in Western Australia/Perth, with about three or four in Victoria. Their range isn't as broad as EBG, but they definitely cater to some of the more specialised collections of Pop!s. For example, I found heaps of Outlander and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Pop!s there last time - I was going through a massive Outlander kick at the time and Claire was pretty much my hero, so I had to get a little Pop! of her. I'll probably do a video review of it at some point. The staff are also pretty great - I should say is, because it's a one-man store. I was really trying to find a Jamie Fraser Pop! to go with my Claire, and I just couldn't find it anywhere (still haven't found one) - the guy there was super helpful, and even checked through his arriving stock for me to see if he could place one on reserve for me! It was pretty great, so I do really recommend this store.
I love JB HI-FI. My dad calls it the 'devil shop' because every time he drives past it on the way home from work, it tempts him to come in and buy something. He quite often does. It has a really great range of entertainment media, accessories and the like. None of my local stores actually stock Pop!s though, which is a little annoying - but I've had a little look interstate and I'm pretty sure they stock them in-store over there. Correct me if I'm wrong!
A lot of people I know who love these figures always tell me how iffy they are about buying them online. Understandable; it's easier to make a decision about a product when you've seen it up close, or at least a more thorough view of it. Photo lighting is always flattering, and sometimes you just can't be sure until you've had a little look-see at the product itself. Many just take the risk - they click that 'buy now' button and hope for the best. And those people are quite often disappointed, because - unfortunately - Funko production is fairly uneven, and you're really likely to get a figure with some kind of visible flaw. What a lot of people don't seem to realise is that you can contact the web staff from whatever site you've purchased from to ensure they select a Pop! that has the lowest possible number of flaws as they can find in the warehouse. You just go down (or up) to the contact information - sometimes they'll have a specific order inquiry section there, or if not just go to general inquiry and place your request for this there. Make sure you put in your order number and name/account name! They are always really obliging, and obviously they expect to get these sorts of requests a fair bit, so don't be afraid to ask!
It may seem kinda weird, given the next site I'll be putting down, but I actually favour JB HI-FI the most. I've ordered about three Pop!s from them now, and not one of them has had any noticeable flaw in them. I put in the request for a flaw-free set of Pop!s and they definitely delivered.
My biggest issue with this company, though, is that it seems like they physically open the packaging and check the Pop! itself. I'm not personally bothered by this, but I know there is that obsession about keeping them in mint condition, and my Dany Targaryen Pop! came to me half out of the inner plastic packaging. When I removed it from the box I noticed some white chalky dust on the sides of her head, and it made it really obvious it was handled and placed back incorrectly. This was a pretty big fail, especially if I as a customer had been an OCD mint-condition collector. However, none of the other Pop!s came to me like this, and the dust was wiped away super easy. All three Pop!s were in brilliant condition (especially the GoT one, which are notable for their inconsistencies), so I was really happy with this. For mint-condition junkies, I don't recommend you use this site for Pop! quality checking as they do handle them out-of-box, but for everyone else, this is the sure way to go to find the best-quality Pop!
Popcultcha.com was a really recent discovery of mine. It's mainly operated online, but I think there's a store over east somewhere. It has the self-proclaimed biggest range of collectible items in the country, and I think that's pretty true; they have an absolutely huge stock list, and purchasing from them is pretty fun. The Pop!s on the site are comprehensively categorised, and they don't have the entire range of every Pop! in existence, but that's to be expected, I think.
I recently ordered a couple Pop!s from them, and while they were absolutely amazing, a part of me niggled a little at the flaws they displayed - it isn't like they were incredibly noticeable, in fact I'm just being picky, but the quality just wasn't as good as the ones from JB HI-FI. Not at all complaining about the service though - they were shipped to my place within two days of me placing my order. Coming from a warehouse on the other side of the country from where I am, that's pretty impressive. And the packaging they came in was really sturdy; a thick cardboard box with green tape sealing all the cracks. Bloody hard to open, but at least you know it'd take a lot to tamper with it or have the weather get in.
EB Games also has an online presence - the shipping price is pretty good and the Pop!s are priced reasonably well at $19 AUD. They have a pretty large range too, so I definitely recommend giving this a try. I can't give a statement as to the quality of the product shipped out, but I'm sure it could be guaranteed.
That's all for tonight. For all my readers who don't live in Australia: what stores, both physical and online, do you buy Pop!s from?
Thanks for reading!
The issue with this store is that they really only sell kid-friendly stuff; their main demographic is young children and adolescents, so they don't typically have some of the more specified Pop!s in-store, especially in the smaller stores. For example, they don't have things like Outlander, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who (yes, this is kid-friendly, but I think people who are a little older appreciate this more). If you expected to find anything by way of those categories, you'd likely have to pop into the city and take a look at their stock. And, good luck sifting your way through the copious levels of Marvel and Adventure Time figures!
Games World
A really great store I came across in Midland a couple months back was Games World. It is a chain store, but there aren't very many; they're mostly concentrated in Western Australia/Perth, with about three or four in Victoria. Their range isn't as broad as EBG, but they definitely cater to some of the more specialised collections of Pop!s. For example, I found heaps of Outlander and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Pop!s there last time - I was going through a massive Outlander kick at the time and Claire was pretty much my hero, so I had to get a little Pop! of her. I'll probably do a video review of it at some point. The staff are also pretty great - I should say is, because it's a one-man store. I was really trying to find a Jamie Fraser Pop! to go with my Claire, and I just couldn't find it anywhere (still haven't found one) - the guy there was super helpful, and even checked through his arriving stock for me to see if he could place one on reserve for me! It was pretty great, so I do really recommend this store.
JB HI-FI
I love JB HI-FI. My dad calls it the 'devil shop' because every time he drives past it on the way home from work, it tempts him to come in and buy something. He quite often does. It has a really great range of entertainment media, accessories and the like. None of my local stores actually stock Pop!s though, which is a little annoying - but I've had a little look interstate and I'm pretty sure they stock them in-store over there. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Buying online
A lot of people I know who love these figures always tell me how iffy they are about buying them online. Understandable; it's easier to make a decision about a product when you've seen it up close, or at least a more thorough view of it. Photo lighting is always flattering, and sometimes you just can't be sure until you've had a little look-see at the product itself. Many just take the risk - they click that 'buy now' button and hope for the best. And those people are quite often disappointed, because - unfortunately - Funko production is fairly uneven, and you're really likely to get a figure with some kind of visible flaw. What a lot of people don't seem to realise is that you can contact the web staff from whatever site you've purchased from to ensure they select a Pop! that has the lowest possible number of flaws as they can find in the warehouse. You just go down (or up) to the contact information - sometimes they'll have a specific order inquiry section there, or if not just go to general inquiry and place your request for this there. Make sure you put in your order number and name/account name! They are always really obliging, and obviously they expect to get these sorts of requests a fair bit, so don't be afraid to ask!
JB HI-FI
It may seem kinda weird, given the next site I'll be putting down, but I actually favour JB HI-FI the most. I've ordered about three Pop!s from them now, and not one of them has had any noticeable flaw in them. I put in the request for a flaw-free set of Pop!s and they definitely delivered.
My biggest issue with this company, though, is that it seems like they physically open the packaging and check the Pop! itself. I'm not personally bothered by this, but I know there is that obsession about keeping them in mint condition, and my Dany Targaryen Pop! came to me half out of the inner plastic packaging. When I removed it from the box I noticed some white chalky dust on the sides of her head, and it made it really obvious it was handled and placed back incorrectly. This was a pretty big fail, especially if I as a customer had been an OCD mint-condition collector. However, none of the other Pop!s came to me like this, and the dust was wiped away super easy. All three Pop!s were in brilliant condition (especially the GoT one, which are notable for their inconsistencies), so I was really happy with this. For mint-condition junkies, I don't recommend you use this site for Pop! quality checking as they do handle them out-of-box, but for everyone else, this is the sure way to go to find the best-quality Pop!
Popcultcha.com
Popcultcha.com was a really recent discovery of mine. It's mainly operated online, but I think there's a store over east somewhere. It has the self-proclaimed biggest range of collectible items in the country, and I think that's pretty true; they have an absolutely huge stock list, and purchasing from them is pretty fun. The Pop!s on the site are comprehensively categorised, and they don't have the entire range of every Pop! in existence, but that's to be expected, I think.
I recently ordered a couple Pop!s from them, and while they were absolutely amazing, a part of me niggled a little at the flaws they displayed - it isn't like they were incredibly noticeable, in fact I'm just being picky, but the quality just wasn't as good as the ones from JB HI-FI. Not at all complaining about the service though - they were shipped to my place within two days of me placing my order. Coming from a warehouse on the other side of the country from where I am, that's pretty impressive. And the packaging they came in was really sturdy; a thick cardboard box with green tape sealing all the cracks. Bloody hard to open, but at least you know it'd take a lot to tamper with it or have the weather get in.
EB Games
EB Games also has an online presence - the shipping price is pretty good and the Pop!s are priced reasonably well at $19 AUD. They have a pretty large range too, so I definitely recommend giving this a try. I can't give a statement as to the quality of the product shipped out, but I'm sure it could be guaranteed.
That's all for tonight. For all my readers who don't live in Australia: what stores, both physical and online, do you buy Pop!s from?
Thanks for reading!
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