There are thousands of Star Wars fans around the world who love to show their appreciation for the series by collecting figures and merchandise based on the universe in which it takes place.
Each character from the movies has its own figure that can be bought and sold for some serious cash depending on how rare and desirable an item it is to certain collectors.
However, the world of Star Wars figure collecting is also rife with some pretty confusing terminology that can make it pretty difficult to break into.
If you’ve only just started collecting these items, you might have noticed a stamp marking on some figures which says ‘LFL’ and wondered what it means.
When it comes to Star Wars figures, LFL simply stands for LucasFilm Limited.
It is a way to show the trademark copyright of the company that authorized the production and sale of the figure.
If your figure has an LFL stamp, it means that it is Official Star Wars merchandise, authorized by LucasFilm Limited themselves.
In this guide, I’ll be teaching you everything you need to know about the significance of this stamp as well as all the other confusing labels and terminologies that exist in the weird world of Star Wars collecting.
Why Is There An LFL Stamp On Star Wars Figures?
So, we know that the LFL stamp on Star Wars figures is a reference to LucasFilm Limited (the company that produces them) but why is it there at all?
Essentially, the reason boils down to official merchandising laws. LucasFilm Limited prints these stamps on all of its figures to prove that they really have been produced by them.
The idea is that if you have a figure with the LFL stamp on it, you know that you don’t have a fake, knock-off version of the genuine, official merchandise.
This practice is used throughout the collectibles world and plenty of other companies use similar methods to verify that their products are genuine.
However, while the stamp is a symbol of authority for LucasFilm Limited products, figures that don’t have the LFL label aren’t always fake imitations of genuine products.
The absence of this label simply means that the figure wasn’t produced by LucasFilm Limited.
There are also a few other companies that produce Star Wars figures and collectors still recognize some of these manufacturers’ products as valuable.
Other Labels On Star Wars Figures
Interestingly, LFL isn’t the only label you’ll find on some Star Wars figures and there are a couple of others that have a few different meanings.
One of these alternative labels is GMFGI, which stands for General Mills Fun Group Incorporated. This label is very similar to the LFL tag because it simply refers to the trademark copyright of the company that produced the figure.
Similarly, CPG is another label you’ll find on a specific Star Wars action figure. It stands for Consumer Product Group, which is the name of the company that produces the Boba Fett action figure.
This means you’ll only find the CPG label on a Boba Fett figure but it means that that product is genuine merchandise.
Does The LFL Stamp Increase The Value Of Star Wars Figures?
Based on what we now know about the stamps you can find on Star Wars figures, you might be wondering whether the LFL label is valuable and can earn you more money for a sale.
Sadly, the answer is no. LFL is such a commonly used stamp on Star Wars figures and so it’s certainly not rare enough to be considered particularly valuable.
The same is also true for the GMFGI and CPG labels that you can find on some figures. These are also not rare enough to make a figure much more valuable.
The main purpose of these stamps is to indicate that the figure was made by a valid, authoritative source like LucasFilm Limited so they only make these figures more valuable than the fakes.
Unfortunately, though, this stamp won’t earn you thousands of dollars more than other figures, just based on the stamp alone.
Other Key Terms For Star Wars Figures
The stamps I’ve talked about already aren’t the only things you need to know about if you’re getting started in the world of collecting Star Wars figures. There are plenty of other confusing terms and initials to get your head around:
Movie Initials
In the Star Wars collectibles community, each movie within the Star Wars series is commonly referred to by its initials, rather than the full title.
With that in mind, these are the initials you need to keep in mind when discussing figures from a certain movie:
- A New Hope – ANH
- Empire Strikes Back – ESB
- Return Of The Jedi – ROTJ
- The Phantom Menace – TPM
- Attack Of The Clones – AOTC
- Revenge Of The Sith – ROTS
- The Force Awakens – TFA
- The Last Jedi – TLJ
- The Rise Of Skywalker – TROS
MIB And MISB
These two initials stand for ‘mint in box’ and ‘mint in sealed box’, respectively. These are common terms within the collectibles community and they are very important considerations for determining the value of an item.
For example, a Star Wars figure is much more valuable when it is still in mint condition and in its original packaging.
If both of these things are true, it is considered to be ‘MISB’. MISB figures tend to be more valuable than MIB figures, which are themselves more valuable than figures that have been removed from the packaging.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about LFL and other common stamps and labels on Star Wars figures.
While all of these initials might seem a little confusing at first, they’re pretty easy to understand once you know what each one stands for.
Also, Star Wars figures tend to have a lot of similar terms to other kinds of collectibles so you won’t need to learn too many extra terms to collect your favorite Star Wars merchandise!
Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming
