Will Funko's New PLAN Get Rid Of Fake Funko Pops?

Summary

Funko has partnered with Octane 5 to introduce a new sticker system to combat counterfeit Funko Pops. The stickers will feature a QR code and unique item code for product verification, ensuring authenticity. This initiative aims to reassure collectors and increase collectible value. However, some fans question the timing, as Funko is not as popular as before, and there are concerns about potential price increases due to the added security measures.

Takeaways

• 🆕 Funko has partnered with Octane 5 to combat fake Funko Pops by introducing new security stickers.
• 🛑 Octane 5 specializes in brand protection solutions and has worked with major brands like Honeywell and Ford.
• 🔍 The new stickers will include a QR code and a unique item code number to verify the authenticity of Funko products.
• 🚫 Funko's initiative aims to prevent fake products in the aftermarket, such as on eBay and other third-party platforms.
• 💯 Funko claims the new stickers will guarantee the authenticity of products, although the presenter expresses some skepticism.
• 📈 The new measures are expected to increase the value of genuine Funko collectibles.
• 🤔 The presenter humorously notes Funko's history of re-releasing products, questioning the mention of increased value.
• 🔗 The verification process involves scanning the QR code and entering the item code on Octane 5's website.
• 💡 Octane 5 uses micro-optic technology, similar to that used for securing banknotes, making the stickers difficult to counterfeit.
• 📦 The new stickers will replace existing event or retail exclusive stickers and will be placed on the front or bottom of the box.
• 🗣️ There's speculation about whether the new anti-counterfeiting measures will lead to price increases for Funko Pops.

Q & A

What is the new initiative Funko is implementing to combat counterfeit Funko Pops?

Funko is partnering with Octane 5 to introduce QR code stickers on their packaging, allowing collectors to verify the authenticity of their Funko Pops.

Who is Funko partnering with to help reduce counterfeit Funko Pops?

Funko is partnering with Octane 5, a company that specializes in brand protection and secure supply chains to help reduce counterfeiting.

How does Funko's new sticker system work to authenticate products?

Funko's new stickers feature a QR code and a unique item code. Collectors can scan the QR code with a mobile device and enter the unique code into Octane 5’s browser page to verify the authenticity of their collectible.

What technology does Octane 5 use to ensure stickers cannot be duplicated?

Octane 5 uses micro-optic technology, the same technology used in banknotes, to ensure that the stickers cannot be duplicated or altered.

Where will the new QR code stickers be placed on Funko Pop boxes?

For exclusives, the QR code stickers will be placed on the front of the box. For common pops, the QR code will likely be placed on the bottom of the box.

What concerns did the video creator raise about Funko’s guarantee of authenticity?

The video creator expressed concern about Funko’s claim of 100% authenticity, pointing out that anything can be tampered with or faked, and that no security system is foolproof.

Why did the video creator find Funko’s mention of adding value to collections ironic?

The creator found it ironic because Funko is known for re-releasing vaulted and exclusive products, which often reduces the value of existing collections.

What previous technology in the collectibles market is Funko's new sticker system compared to?

Funko's new sticker system is compared to the certification systems used by JSA or PSA, where products have unique codes to verify their authenticity.

When and where will the new stickers be first introduced?

The new stickers will be first introduced at New York Comic Con, with examples shown on shared and official Comic-Con stickers.

Is there a possibility that the new QR code stickers could lead to price increases for Funko Pops?

The video creator speculates that the cost of implementing the new stickers could lead to price increases for both common and exclusive Funko Pops in the future.

Outlines

00:00

🛑 Funko's Fight Against Fake Pops

Funko has announced a partnership with Octane 5 to combat counterfeit Funko Pops. They plan to introduce exclusive stickers with QR codes and item-specific numbers to verify authenticity. Octane 5 specializes in brand protection solutions and has worked with major brands like Honeywell and Ford. Funko's new strategy aims to reassure customers of the genuineness of their products and increase the value of collectibles. However, there's skepticism about the 100% guarantee due to the potential for tampering. The new stickers will also feature micro-optic technology, making them difficult to duplicate, which is a significant upgrade from the easily counterfeited holographic stickers.

05:00

🔍 Details of Funko's New Anti-Counterfeiting Stickers

Funko's new sticker system will replace existing event or retail exclusive stickers on packaging. These stickers will be placed on the front of the box for exclusives and on the bottom for regular Pops. The implementation of this system was showcased at New York ComicCon with examples provided by Hot Topic stores. There's been discussion about whether this move will lead to price increases due to the costs associated with producing the new stickers and the collaboration with Octane 5. The video creator also expresses their opinion that Funko's entry into using tamper-proof stickers is overdue, especially considering their past popularity and the current state of the market. They conclude by expressing hope that this strategy will effectively reduce the prevalence of fake Funko Pops and protect consumers from scams.

Keywords

💡Funko Pops

Funko Pops are vinyl figurines stylized as various pop culture characters. They are highly collectible and popular among fans. In the video, the discussion revolves around Funko's strategy to combat counterfeit Funko Pops, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in the collectibles market.

💡Counterfeit

Counterfeit refers to the unauthorized copying of something, especially for the purpose of deception. In the context of the video, counterfeit Funko Pops are fake products that mimic the real thing, causing issues for both consumers and the brand.

💡Octane 5

Octane 5 is a company specializing in brand protection solutions and securing supply chains. They partner with Funko to implement measures against counterfeit products. The video highlights Octane 5's role in providing tools to increase factory compliance and reduce counterfeiting.

💡Stickers

In the video, stickers refer to the security labels Funko plans to use on their packaging to verify the authenticity of Funko Pops. These stickers will feature QR codes and unique item codes, serving as a means to ensure that the collectibles are genuine.

💡QR Code

A QR code is a type of barcode that can be scanned by smartphones to access information. In the video, Funko's new stickers will include QR codes that consumers can scan to verify the authenticity of a Funko Pop, linking to a verification page hosted by Octane 5.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity in the video pertains to the genuineness of a product. Funko's new plan aims to ensure that every Funko Pop purchased is authentic, providing peace of mind to collectors and potentially increasing the value of the collectibles.

💡Tamperproof

Tamperproof refers to the ability of an item to resist alteration or damage. The video discusses how Octane 5's technology makes the new stickers on Funko Pops tamperproof, preventing duplication or alteration, which is crucial in the fight against counterfeiting.

💡Micro Optic Technology

Micro Optic Technology, as mentioned in the video, is used by Octane 5 in partnership with Crane Currency to secure the stickers. This technology is also used in banknotes worldwide, indicating its high level of security and resistance to counterfeiting.

💡New York ComicCon

New York ComicCon is an event where Funko plans to launch their new sticker system. The video provides an example of how the new stickers will appear on products at the event, indicating a significant step in the implementation of their anti-counterfeit measures.

💡Price Increase

The video raises the question of whether the introduction of the new security stickers could lead to an increase in the price of Funko Pops. This is a concern because the additional security measures come with costs that might be passed on to consumers.

Highlights

Funko collaborates with Octane 5 to combat fake Funko Pops.

Octane 5 specializes in brand protection solutions and secure supply chains.

Funko plans to update packaging stickers to verify authenticity.

New stickers will feature a QR code and item code number for verification.

Funko aims to ensure fans receive official products with every purchase.

The new sticker packaging is designed to bring peace of mind to collectors.

Funko's initiative may increase the value of collectibles.

Octane 5 uses micro optic technology, similar to that securing banknotes.

Stickers will be placed on the front of boxes for exclusives and on the bottom for regular pops.

Funko's new sticker system will replace event or retail exclusive stickers.

The new stickers are launching at New York ComicCon.

Funko's collaboration with Octane 5 is a response to the prevalence of fake products.

The authenticity verification process is similar to that used by JSA and PSA.

Funko is considered late to the game with tamperproof stickers.

There are concerns about potential price increases due to the new anti-counterfeiting measures.

The new stickers are expected to help reduce scammers in the Funko market.

The effectiveness of the new system will be revisited in the future.

Funko's new initiative is seen as a positive step in the right direction.

Transcripts

Funko has finally released details on

how they plan to stop fake Funko Pops

will this work let's check it

[Music]

out hey guys skitt Rampage here welcome

back to a new video I do hope you're

enjoying your day today so today we're

going to be discussing funko's new plan

on combating fake Funko Pops they have

plans for exclusive stickers as well as

regular comons now before we jump into

our topic we do have our question of the

day which is related to the video and

that is have you ever purchased a fake

Funko Pop by accident or maybe something

that was sticker swapped just anything

of the sort all righty guys so let's

goad and jump into things and start off

with funko's article as well as who

they're partnering with to stop these

fakes so as to who Funko is partnering

with they're partnering with octane 5

here so a quick little summary on their

page that says brand protection

Solutions secure Supply chains are a

Brand's greatest asset delivering both

quality products and brand reputation

octane 5 has the tool set to increase

Factory compliance and reduce the

effects of diversion and counterfeiting

so as you can see they deal heavy and

reducing counterfeit products and just

doing a quick Glimpse at their page you

can tell they've worked with really big

companies like Honeywell or Ford

Harley-Davidson Etc so Funko basically

didn't go cheap on this whole collab

here they went with a really good

company now jumping into their article

their first section does read exciting

news Funko fans were making it easier

than ever to verify the authenticity of

your collectibles in partnership with

octane 5 we're updating the stickers on

our packaging to make sure our fans are

receiving official Funko products with

every purchase moving forward you'll be

able to tell exactly which items are the

real deal when buying Collectibles from

a third party and by third party they're

meaning places like eBay whatnot merari

Etc basically your aftermarket so our

next section here reads no fakes here

there's nothing worse than buying a

Funko Pop you've had your eye on for a

while only to receive the and realize

the worst you purchased a with our

new sticker packaging you can be sure

that the items you purchase are 100%

authentic Funko products not only will

this bring peace of mind to Serious

collectors but it will also increase the

value of your Collectibles so when I

read this section two things kind of

stood out to me one was the 100%

guarantee I don't know if I would have

personally stated that if I was Funko

just because anything can be tampered

with or Faked you know we've seen this

many times over and over that's part of

the reason why technology and security

constantly updates throughout time

versus just staying the same because

eventually somebody finds a way around

something but I do understand that

they're just trying to give you

confidence in their product saying we're

doing our best to provide the best

security possible here now the other

thing was that last portion saying

adding more value to your collection

that was funny to me just because Funko

is kind of known for you know

re-releasing vaulted products and

re-releasing con exclusives it's it's

just funny coming from a company that

re-releases like everything and most

things don't even have any value with

their Collectibles these days so to see

the mentioned value made me laugh a

little bit I'm not going to lie but I

understand the sentiment this next

section kind of explains how it works

our new stickers will feature a QR code

and item code number specific to each

item to verify your Funko product just

scan the QR code with your phone or

mobile device then you'll be prompted to

enter the unique code number into octane

5 browser page to verify the

authenticity of your collectible so it's

kind of same thing like places like JSA

or PSA have been doing for years where

you know those little stickers on the

actually I can probably show you guys

give me one second we're going to use

sign nezo here so on the side you'll

probably notice on most sign pops it'll

say PSA JSA or whatever certification

and it has those numbers there and

usually it'll come with the card yeah it

also has like the card there that also

has that same number on it so again it's

basically the same thing you just type

in that code to make sure that product

is actually real this next seg probably

answers a lot of questions we currently

have and that is can the stickers be

replicated this is going to be a huge

question octane 5 uses micro optic

technology in partnership with crane

currency the same technology used to

secure bank notes around the world which

is a little bit of a confidence boost

there for sure on Bank notes this

ensures that stickers cannot be

duplicated or altered unlike holographic

stickers which are easily counterfeited

so I don't know if you guys remember um

a while back I think I think chal

Collectibles was probably the first ever

to do a tamperproof sticker kind of

changing the game for their exclusives

and weirdly enough I kind of thought

more companies would follow ench House's

Footsteps in terms of just spending the

extra money to avoid fake products on

the market I only noticed chalice doing

it for a while so I will say Funko is

definitely late to the game like a lot

of people are saying in terms of having

a tamperproof sticker on their product

now don't get me wrong though I'm glad

Funko is doing something like this it's

definitely going to combat fake Funko

poops however I just feel it's very late

to the game especially when they're not

as popular as they used to be the next

section here features where will the

stickers appear on the box and I'll also

give you guys an inperson example of

that our new sticker system will replace

any event or retail exclusive stickering

currently on our packaging they will

still appear on the front of the Box

just like our current stickers do so

basically what that stated was that

stickers going forward I'm assuming

other places like Hot Topic GameStop uh

box launch Etc will all have this QR

code sticker on their box I'm assuming

based off what that text does say now I

don't even have to go through the next

section cuz I can basically highlight it

here too is the fact that we do know

that these new stickers are launching at

New York ComicCon here's an example of

the shared sticker over at Hot Topic

stores for the ComicCon with matatabi

here you can see that that new con

sticker features the shared sticker as

well as that QR code they were

mentioning and here's an example of the

official Comic-Con sticker where it does

had that same situation going on now

once all this news started coming out I

did have one question because Funko

didn't mention it on their blog post and

that was what about common pops because

some of those are actively faked as well

however that question was answered uh by

Rocko Cyrus over on Instagram they

shared an image with me where it does

show that this new Zoro release later on

will actually have the QR code sticker

on the bottom that you can scan so

basically what Funko plans to do here is

for stickers or exclusives front- facing

on the bot

that's where the QR code would be and

for your regular Commons it looks like

it's going to be placed on the bottom

I'm not going to lie I would personally

rather the QR code be on the bottom

because I do find the new nycc sticker

this year to be really ugly like God

awful ugly I'm sorry I know some people

really like it I just don't really love

how they did it I would have preferred

it on the bottom however here's a quick

little video where it shows you um what

the stickers do actually look like

little ticular feature there and it does

look really nice with that I got to

admit there let me know how you guys are

feeling on new sticker design though do

you like the QR code on the front or on

the bottom so guys so far that's all the

information Funko has put out about this

collab with octane 5 and these new

stickers and QR codes let me know your

thoughts and opinions on this whole

situation do you think this is a good

thing funko's doing do you think it's a

little too late because that's the

biggest thing I've been seeing a lot of

people saying is that Funko is very late

to the game on this this should have

been done years ago and I don't know if

you guys remember about 2 years ago but

big companies like eBay for example

invested a lot of money in Funko they

hold a big stake in Funko and in that

announcement they had big plans to

announce how they were going to combat

fake Funko Pops especially on eBay

because eBay is one of the biggest

marketplaces for fake Funko pops and I'm

assuming this announcement with octane 5

is what they had planned now with this

new announcement another big question

does kind of loom around and that is

will this cause price increases because

as you know recently we've had new pop

Plus or pop premium stuff where

basically they increased the price due

extra features on the pop will they do

the same thing with like Commons or

exclusives for example because it costs

money to produce those new stickers it

does cost Funko a lot of money for this

collab with octane 5 in terms of putting

their technology on every single one of

their Funko Pops so will this lead to

some kind of price increase on regular

Funko Pops I guess we'll see it going

into the future so my final thoughts on

this whole new collab with octane 5 I

think Funko is doing a really great

thing here I'm glad it is finally

happening I'm not going to

took them a while for sure it does seem

like a really solid plan that they have

going on and it does seem like they put

in a lot of time and effort and money

into this so I am really hoping that it

works and I'm hoping it reduces people

getting scammed on fake stickers fake

pops Etc so I'm very curious to see how

this develops in the next year or so and

maybe we'll revisit this topic in the

future to see if this has helped but

we'll also get a first glimpse of this

during nycc next month in terms of how

these stickers work work and

authenticating the products so I'm very

excited to see how it turns out again

let me know your thoughts and opinions

on this whole situation thank you so

much for watching this video hit that

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all right love you guys see you guys the

next one see you guys later bye

[Music]

[Music]