Yesterday, Funko unveiled the Baskin-Robbins exclusive “Stranger Things” Pop! that was released this month at participating Baskin-Robbins locations. The exclusive figure of Steve in his Scoops Ahoy uniform holding a bowl of Baskin-Robbins ice cream is definitely a unique addition to any “Stranger Things” Pop! collection, but fans looking to buy the Pop! figure have run into a bit of sticker shock when they visit their local Baskin-Robbins.
Many fans are reporting online that their Baskin-Robbins stores are charging upwards of $60 each for the Pop! figures. I personally hit up my local Baskin-Robbins last night in hopes of purchasing the Pop! for my daughter, but my local Baskin-Robbins is selling the figure for $24.99, which sadly was more than I was willing to pay for the exclusive Steve Pop! After all, a non-exclusive Scoops Ahoy Steve is being released as an open edition.
We called around to other locations in the area and it seems most of them were selling the figure for $24.99. One location refused to give us the price over the phone, but said they were limiting sales of the Pop! figures to three a day and they had already sold the day’s limit.
In researching this story I found that the prices seem to vary drastically by location. The only consistent price I saw was $12.99, which leads me to believe this may be the suggested retail price. An Instagram user in San Diego, CA reported paying $16.99, one in Los Angeles reported paying $19.99, and another user, whose location wasn’t disclosed reported paying $37.50. While prices this high for an individual Pop! figure are common on the secondary market, especially for an exclusive, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the store selling the exclusive jack up the prices this high.
I reached out to both Baskin-Robbins and Funko! for comment on the reports of Pop! price gouging. Baskin-Robbins had the following response:
“Baskin-Robbins restaurants are independently owned and operated, and pricing is at the discretion of our franchisees. The brand has provided franchisees with suggested retail prices that are line with typical Funko pricing.“
It’s unclear why the cost of the figures is so high. On one hand, store owners may be doing it to thwart resellers from buying up all of their inventory, but on the other, it could just be greedy store owners looking to make a buck off of collectors.
Funko had not responded with comment at the time of this writing.
Have you found the Scoops Ahoy Steve Pop! at your Baskin-Robbins? How much was he? Let me know in the comments or on social media.
I got mine at the retail price from a friendly neighborhood store, they limit the purchase to one per customer, WHICH IS FINE, in my opinion. I have seen ebay simply saturated with Steves. I think Baskin Robbins is being greedy and I think the flipper people are making this fun promotion a terrible experience. I saw a video of one Baskin Robbins saying “If they’re willing to pay it, we’re going to make money”. Does it go to the hourly wage pockets? Or back to the upper level?
I found one store on Central Avenue, Yonkers New York selling the POP for $19.99. I also felt that they had made up a price to boost there profits margin. The worker behind the counter told me that they were being sold for $100 on line, so $19.99 was a bargain. I did buy one.