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Acronyms Regarding Stores, Online Shops and Websites

BNM or Brick-And-Mortar. This refers to physical retail stores, as opposed to online stores. Some larger chains, such as Walmart, Toys 'R' Us and Target, have both physical and online versions.

LCS or LCBS. Local Comic Shop or Local Comic Book Shop. Basically the local mom-and-pop stores that sell comic books and other associated merchandise. Usually, they sell a wide variety of toys as well.

WM = Walmart

KM = K-Mart

TRU = Toys 'R' Us

HTS = Hasbro Toy Shop (Games, Toys, Action Figures, Collectibles, and Gifts - Hasbro Toy Shop)

Matty or Matty.com = Mattel's online store (MattyCollector.com Online Store - Welcome)

HLJ = Hobby Link Japan (HobbyLink Japan Home Page)

BBTS = Big Bad Toy Store (BigBadToyStore.com - Toys, Action Figures, Vintage Toys, and Collectibles)

EE or The Earth = Entertainment Earth (Action Figures, Toys, Bobble Heads, and Collectibles by Entertainment Earth, the Action Figure Company)

TFW = Transformers World 2005 (our TF sister site, Transformer World 2005)

The Tank = Hisstank.com (our G.I. Joe sister site, HissTank.com - G.I. Joe Toy and Movie News and Discussion)


Miscellaneous Acronyms and Forum Shorthand

BAF or Build-A-Figure. Used mainly when referring to lines where a part is included with each figure in a specific series or wave, and when all the pieces are put together you have a unique figure that is unavailable otherwise. Marvel Legends, DC Universe Classics and Star Wars Droid Factory are examples of toy lines that have had BAF waves. For DC figures, they are known as CNC or Collect-N-Connect and for Star Wars they're known as BAD, or Build-A-Droid.

LAM - Live-action movie, as opposed to an animated movie.

MU (Marvel Universe)/FF (Fury Files). Both refer to the same toy line: Hasbro's 3.75" Marvel figures. The Fury Files moniker comes from an accessory included with figure from the first two series, known as a Fury File. It is a miniature manila envelope containing a small trading card of the character with a picture on one side and vital stats on the other, a “Top Secret” document from the S.H.I.E.L.D./H.A.M.M.E.R. Database about the character, and a code to enter on the now-defunct website www.furyfiles.com. The code unlocks additional information in the form of another “Top Secret” document. Some of these unlocked versions continue the story that begins in the file with the figure.

ML – Marvel Legends. Hasbro’s 6 inch Marvel figures. Known for their high levels of articulation, they also began the current trend of BAF in action figure lines (under previous company, Toy Biz).

DCUC – DC Universe Classics. Mattel’s answer to Marvel Legends, they are 6 inch figures of the DC Universe characters. Recent waves have contained BAF parts for some of the larger DC characters, such as Atom Smasher and Giganta.

DCIH – DC Infinite Heroes. This would be Mattel’s version of Marvel Universe. DCIH figures are less articulated than MU, but there are still some great figures in the line, especially if you’re a DC fan.

TF - Transformers. Hasbro's line of shape-altering robots from the distant planet of Cybertron, first released in 1984. The current TV series is Transformers Prime (also known as TFP, TF:P, TF:Prime, or simply Prime, though the last one creates some confusion considering the various characters to bear the Prime name/title). The deluxe and smaller size classes go by the subtitle of "Robots in Disguise", so those are generally referred to as PRiD, to separate them from a previous line with the same name (see below).

Other Transformers series acronyms
G1 (Generation 1), G2 (Generation 2), BW (Beast Wars), BM (Beast Machines, RiD (Robots in Disguise), Arm or TF:A (Armada), En or TF:E (Energon), Cyb or TF:C (Cybertron), Ani or TFA (Animated), TFTM or TFTM:86 (cartoon theatrical film from 1986), TF:TM or TFTM:07 (Transformers LAM from 2007), ROTF (Revenge of the Fallen, second LAM from 2009), DOTM (Dark of the Moon, 3rd LAM from 2011), GEN (Generations), WFC (War For Cybertron), FOC (Fall of Cybertron), WWI (War Within), TI (Titanium), RH (Robot Heroes), MM or Muggs (Mighty Muggs, in the case of Transformers; as opposed to Minimates). Armada, Energon and Cybertron are also known collectively as the Unicron Trilogy (or UT), due to his prominence in all three series, and that they are (officially) a trilogy.

MTMTE - More Than Meets The Eye. Originally the premiere 3-parter of the original Transformers series. Now also references comic series by both Dreamwave and IDW.

MLP - My Little Pony. Hasbro's toy line about ponies, unicorns and other equestrian animals. Debuted in 1983. The current TV series is called Friendship is Magic (FiM).

CB - Care Bears. Hasbro's line of plush bears with a symbol on their stomach indicating their personalities or other attributes. First released in 1982.

HW - Hot Wheels. Mattel's line of primarily 1:64th scale vehicles and playsets. First released in 1967.

MB - Matchbox. Another brand of 1:64th scale vehicles and playsets. First released in 1953. Though once a long-time competitor of Hot Wheels, now they both owned by the same company (since 1997). Not to be confused with Milton-Bradley (M-B or M/B), a board game company bought by Hasbro and known for games such as Twister.

JL - Johnny Lighning. An independant company also specializing in 1:64th scale and larger vehicles. First released in 1969.