With conventions and events going online, so are the items that are exclusive to them. We understand the frustration and disappointment when you're excited to get a new item for your collection but aren't able to add it to your set because it runs out of stock in a short amount of time. Many of us at Funko are collectors ourselves, and even we experience this too. With most exclusive releases, there are more people wanting to purchase the exclusives than there are available to be sold. Which leads to the big question: how can I improve my chances of getting the exclusives I'm looking for? Let's run through some of the best practices for purchasing online so that you, the fans, can hopefully get the exclusives you're most excited to add to your collection.

Follow the Updates

For each convention and large special release, Funko publishes a detailed blog post about what items are exclusive to the event, reminders about the checkout process for the event, and the date and time as to when the items go live for sale on Funko Shop. Along with the blog post are social media posts directing Funatics to check out the newest updates about the convention. These social posts go up on Funko's official Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages and link to the blog post. These posts are made well in advance to when the event items go up for sale so that fans have time to see what will be available and prepare.

Preparing for the Release

Some convention and special event releases take over Funko Shop in order to streamline the website traffic due to the large number of Funatics and event goers visiting the site all at once. Only convention exclusives will be available during this time, although we may put additional related items on the site to help you complete your set. Please be aware that during these convention exclusive sales you will not be able to log on to your Funko Shop user account. This is an extra measure help with website traffic to Funko Shop. Since you will not be logged on your user account, make sure to have your necessary information ready to the side to improve your check out speed . Leading up to the convention exclusive sale, Funko Shop will go into maintenance mode. If you are still worried about missing the launch, try setting an alarm for 15 minutes before launch time as a reminder.

Common Misconceptions

While it may seem that there are lots of bots (because of users bragging on social media), most orders come from regular purchasers and fans like yourself. Our Customer Service and eCommerce teams work hard to put our products in the hands of those that want to add them to their collection. Part of this process includes blocking bots from ordering to begin with in addition to canceling duplicate orders after they appear. Many of the 3rd party sellers will list that they have multiples of exclusives to sell, only to end up getting all or most of their orders canceled after they receive their confirmation emails. Why don't you hear about those cancellations more often? Simply because they just don't brag about that part and it ruins the illusion that they can get the items they say they can.

At present, adding items to your cart in Funko Shop does not secure or guarantee that you'll be able to purchase the items you've selected. When you place an item in your cart, the site checks the availability of the product at that moment. Product availability isn't checked in the background while you continue to shop, but instead it is checked a second time just before you complete your purchase. There are most likely a large number of customers who have the same items in their cart at the same time you do. Which means if you continue to shop, whereas others add the same items and check out immediately, the product is likely to run out of stock before you complete your purchase.

Our site checks for availability at two times, when you put the item in your cart and then again before your purchase is completed. This means that when you put the item in your cart, it was not sold out, since other funatics had not completed their purchase yet. If you are unable to complete your purchase because the item is sold out, that's because by the time you reach the end of your checkout process, those people who had started the process ahead of you had completed their purchase and it was at that point sold out.

We know it can be tough to try and get your hands on some of these exclusives and we are working on ways we can improve releases in the future. Funko always collects feedback after exclusive sales and takes those comments into consideration when making improvements to the fan experience. If you're curious about what older exclusives are still available, go to Funko Shop Convention Exclusives.

We love to see your collections, and photos as you participate in events and add to your sets. To share more photos with us, post to Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and tag us with @OriginalFunko!

Thank you to all our Funatics and customers! Good luck on your hunt to collect them all.