You bought it for fifteen dollars at Hot Topic in 2014, gave it to your kid, or grabbed three off a shelf because they were cute. Now it's sitting in a storage bin or on a dusty shelf in a teenager's old room. Before you bag it up for the donation pile, check the box and the number. Some of those little vinyl figures are worth serious money on the secondary market, and a surprising number of them are pieces ordinary people bought at Target, GameStop, or a comic convention years ago without giving it a second thought.
The Funko Pop collector market is active and large. Prices are tracked in real time on Pop Price Guide (now part of hobbyDB) and through completed-sale data on the secondary market. The figures that command real money share a few common traits: they're vaulted (officially discontinued), they were released in limited quantities as exclusives, or they carry a chase variant sticker. A standard mass-produced figure usually doesn't move the needle much. But the right figure, in the right version, with an intact box, can be worth more than you'd ever expect from a three-inch piece of vinyl.
Box condition is everything in this market. A pop with a crushed, water-stained, or sticker-damaged box can lose 50 percent or more of its value compared to a mint example. If you have one you think might be worth something, do not stuff it in a box or stack other things on top of it before you find out what you have.
Holographic Darth Maul #23 (SDCC 2012, glow in the dark, LE480)
This is the one Star Wars Pop that genuinely haunts collectors. Released at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012, this translucent blue glow-in-the-dark Darth Maul was limited to 480 pieces. At the time, most people thought it was a cool novelty for twenty dollars. It is now one of the most valuable mass-circulation Funko Pops in existence.
Clean, sealed examples in box bring $2,500 to $4,000, with some listings considerably higher depending on box condition and whether the SDCC sticker is present and pristine. The sticker is critical. Without it, value drops substantially. If you attended SDCC that year, picked one up, or received one as a gift from someone who did, you want to confirm whether the original convention sticker is still on the box before you do anything else. There are later glow Darth Maul releases (including a #740 Specialty Series version from 2024) that are not the same thing and trade for a few dollars. The number on the box matters: you want #23 with the original SDCC 2012 sticker. Counterfeits and sticker swaps exist, so compare against photos in the collector databases before deciding anything.
Planet Arlia Vegeta #10 (Toy Tokyo/NYCC exclusive, 2014)
Dragon Ball Z Pops from the early days of the line have aged extremely well, and none better than this one. Released at New York Comic-Con 2014 through Toy Tokyo, this Vegeta in his Planet Arlia color scheme was a retailer exclusive with limited distribution. Most people who have one picked it up at the convention, bought it through a specialty shop in the years after, or received it without fully understanding what they had.
Clean, sealed examples in good box condition consistently bring $3,000 to $3,500 on the secondary market, with signed or PSA-graded copies pushing considerably higher. The value comes from the combination of a beloved franchise, a genuinely unusual colorway that differs from every other Vegeta Pop, and a limited distribution window that has never been repeated. The NYCC/Toy Tokyo sticker is the first thing to verify. Without it, you may have a standard Dragon Ball Z Vegeta, which is a very different situation.
Headless Ned Stark #02 (SDCC 2013, Game of Thrones, LE1008)
Game of Thrones Pops from the early run have held strong, and this one is among the most recognizable. Released at San Diego Comic-Con 2013 with a production run of 1,008 pieces, it depicts Ned Stark exactly as fans remember him from the end of season one. It was a hot item at the time. Plenty of dedicated fans grabbed one, stashed it somewhere safe, and may have lost track of what it represents now.
Sealed examples in solid box condition bring $600 to $900, with the average skewing around $700 depending on box quality. High-grade examples have gone considerably higher. The SDCC sticker needs to be present and undisturbed. Reproductions of this figure circulate, so if you're looking to sell, any buyer of consequence will want confirmation of authenticity. Check the number, the sticker placement, and compare the box print quality to reference images before listing.
DC Superman (metallic, Target exclusive, #07, 2010)
Samus GAMEWORLD via eBay
This is the figure that surprises people the most. It looks like a basic Superman Pop. It came in a standard retail box. You could have bought it off a Target shelf in 2010 for ten dollars. It is now worth a significant multiple of that.
The metallic blue bobblehead variant was a Target exclusive in the very early days of the Pop line, and the combination of the early production date, the limited retail window, and the fact that most people had no idea it would ever matter means very few have survived in good condition. Clean examples in solid box condition bring $3,500 to $4,000. Condition is ruthless at this price point. Any denting, creasing, or price sticker residue on the box knocks a substantial amount off. The figure itself should show no paint defects. If someone in your household bought Superman Pops in the first couple of years the line existed, it is worth checking whether the box says “Vinyl Bobble-Head” rather than “Vinyl Figure,” and whether the finish is metallic rather than standard. That distinction is the entire ballgame.
Daryl Dixon #14 (Series 1, Walking Dead, vaulted)
The Walking Dead Series 1 figures were released in 2012 and have been vaulted for years. Daryl was always the fan favorite, and the #14 standard version with the crossbow is the most sought-after of the set. These were widely sold at retail when they came out. A lot of them ended up in boxes, donated to thrift stores, or passed between households without anyone checking the number.
A clean, sealed #14 Daryl in good box condition brings $100 to $160. That's not life-changing, but it's a meaningful return on what was originally a twelve-dollar figure. The bloody variant, which was a Harrison Comics exclusive, trades significantly higher. Condition does the heavy lifting here. A Daryl with a damaged or missing box drops to ten or fifteen dollars regardless of how nice the figure looks. For the complete original Walking Dead Series 1 set in solid condition, the combined value is meaningfully greater than the individual pieces.
Daryl Dixon bloody variant #14 (Harrison Comics exclusive, vaulted)
This is the version that separates casual walking-dead buyers from the people who knew what to collect. The bloody splatter version of the same Series 1 Daryl was an exclusive to Harrison Comics with a print run of around 750 pieces. It looks nearly identical to the standard version from a distance, but the red blood splatter across the figure and box is unmistakable up close.
Sealed examples in clean condition bring $200 to $300 on the secondary market, with particularly sharp examples going higher. If you have a Walking Dead Daryl from the early series and the paint job looks spattered with red, look closely at the box for any Harrison Comics branding or exclusive sticker. Many of these circulated through secondary sales and collector trades without people realizing the value. Fakes of the bloody variant exist, so confirm the paint is original rather than hand-applied before drawing conclusions.
Steve Harrington with bat and nails (Stranger Things SDCC 2017 exclusive, #14 in the line)
Stranger Things Pops have a strong secondary market, and this is the one serious collectors actually want. The San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive depicts Steve Harrington with his iconic nail-studded bat from season one, and it came in two versions: a true SDCC exclusive and a shared convention version. The SDCC sticker version commands considerably more.
The SDCC stickered version brings $300 to $350 in clean condition. The shared summer convention version, without the SDCC-specific sticker, brings $140 to $190. Both are worth real money to a Stranger Things collector. Fakes of this figure are well-documented in the collector community, so sticker placement, box print quality, and figure paint need to line up with known genuine examples. The Stranger Things line is still active, which means there's sustained collector interest in completing early runs.
Bicycle Girl #16 (Walking Dead Series 1, vaulted)
The Bicycle Girl is the legless zombie from the very first episode of The Walking Dead, and as a character design, it's genuinely strange and memorable. The figure reflects that. She's been vaulted for years and as one of the original series figures, she holds a collector premium that the later main-character Pops do not.
Clean, sealed examples in decent box condition bring $80 to $120. That puts her firmly in the “worth checking” category for anyone who collected Walking Dead Pops in the early years. The bloody Previews exclusive version of Bicycle Girl, with a print run of 1,000, trades considerably higher at $150 to $200. Both were sold through retail and specialty shops widely enough that they surface at estate sales and thrift stores with some regularity.
Michonne with her pets 3-pack, glow in the dark (PX Previews exclusive, vaulted)
Three-packs and multi-figure sets tend to get separated over time, which is why finding this one intact is genuinely uncommon. The glow-in-the-dark Michonne with both her zombie pets was a PX Previews exclusive, sold primarily through comic and specialty shops. The glow treatment makes it visually distinct from the standard version, and the three-figure completeness requirement means a lot of sets have lost a piece somewhere.
A complete, sealed set in solid box condition brings $150 to $200. The completeness is everything. A Michonne alone from this set without the pets is worth much less than a third of the set value. If you come across what appears to be this set at an estate sale, verify that all three figures are present and that the glow-in-the-dark treatment applies to all of them before pricing it as a complete set.
Biker Daryl Dixon #96 (bloody variant, PX Previews exclusive, 2013)
The biker suit Daryl from Walking Dead Series 4 already trades above its original price as a standard figure. The bloody variant, which was a PX Previews exclusive, has a much smaller circulation and brings meaningful more. This one is easy to confuse with the standard version at a yard sale because both have the same box number and the red splatter is subtle until you look closely.
Clean, sealed bloody Biker Daryl examples bring $150 to $200 in solid condition. The Previews exclusive sticker on the box is the confirming detail. If you have a Walking Dead Daryl in a biker jacket and the box appears to have red paint spatter, pull it out and check the box carefully for the exclusive marking. The standard non-bloody version is still vaulted and worth $30 to $40, but it is not this.
Steve vs. Demodog “Moment” 2-pack (Stranger Things, vaulted)
Funko's “Moments” sub-line captures specific scenes rather than individual characters. The Steve Harrington versus Demodog scene from season two of Stranger Things was one of the earlier Moments releases, and it's now vaulted and off shelves. These were sold at specialty retailers and major convention exclusive drops, meaning they never had wide national retail distribution.
Sealed examples in solid condition bring $100 to $175. The box on this one is larger than a standard Pop due to the two-figure scene format, which means it's more vulnerable to damage in storage. Any crushing or significant corner damage reduces the value considerably. These are more likely to show up in a collector's box than at a thrift store, but estate sales are a genuine source if the previous owner was a Stranger Things fan.
Dwight (burnt face) #544 (NYCC 2017 exclusive, Walking Dead)
Dwight with his burnt face from the later seasons of The Walking Dead was a New York Comic-Con 2017 exclusive and represents a very specific moment in the show. The limited convention distribution means relatively few circulated, and the vaulted status has let the price drift upward over the years since.
Sealed examples in good condition bring $150 to $200. The NYCC exclusive sticker is the key identifier. Standard Dwight figures without the burnt face variant exist in the line and are worth essentially nothing by comparison. If you have any Walking Dead Pops from 2017 in unopened condition with convention stickers, check all of them against the collector databases before assuming they're common.
Zombie Merle Dixon #71 (Hot Topic exclusive, Walking Dead Series 3, vaulted)
Zombie Merle is a fan favorite for two reasons: Merle's death hit hard for Walking Dead viewers, and the zombie design is genuinely unusual compared to the more standard characters in the line. This was a Hot Topic exclusive from Series 3, which means it moved through a single retail channel and disappeared when that stock ran out.
Sealed examples in solid box condition bring $200 to $260. The Hot Topic exclusive sticker should be on the box. Without it, the figure is still vaulted and worth something, but not this. People who bought Walking Dead Pops at Hot Topic in the 2013 to 2015 window should check the full series numbers against the vaulted list. Several from that era have become genuinely collectible, and most owners have no idea.
16. Daryl Dixon 9-inch bloody variant (Gemini exclusive, LE300)
Most collectors are focused on the standard 3.75-inch Pop format. The larger 9-inch figures tend to get overlooked, which means the rare editions are systematically underpriced when people find them. This Gemini Collectibles exclusive was limited to 300 bloody variants and represents one of the more unusual Walking Dead pieces outside of the SDCC runs.
A sealed example in clean condition brings $250 to $300. These are physically larger and harder to store, which is exactly why many have been kept in places that introduce box damage. Any significant damage to the oversized box reduces value considerably. The Gemini Collectibles branding and the blood splatter treatment together confirm the variant.
Most Funko Pops sitting in boxes right now are worth exactly what they sold for. But if you have older figures, convention exclusives, or pieces with a Chase sticker, it costs nothing to check.
