Chases are blind box figures with a ratio of 1/32 or rarer. They're called chases because collectors chase after them. They're the rarest and most valuable figures in a set.
Exclusives are special figures that weren't found in blind boxes but are still considered part of the set. For instance, sometimes manufacters create one additional figure that is given away for free with purchase of an entire case of blind box figures. Exclusive figures are often rare and valuable.
Golden tickets are Willy Wonka style prizes included in random blind boxes. The tickets could be mailed in, or the code on them entered into the manufacturer's website to get a rare figure not available in the regular set.
Build-a-figures are special toys made up of smaller parts randomly included in blind boxes. Each blind box, in addition to a normal figure, also contains one body part (arm, leg, head, etc). Collect them all and connect them together to build the specialty figure. Sometimes these figures are hard to complete, other times not.
Canceled figures never made it to stores. Sometimes production samples have bad quality control, poor sculpting keeps figures from standing up properly or designs have legal/copyright issues, so manufacturers decide not to release the figures. Most often, these figures are destroyed, but occasionally they find their way into the hands of collectors.
ABS plastic - A plastic that's stronger and cheaper to produce than vinyl, but less pliable and lower quality. Clear figures are easier to produce in ABS plastic.
Resin - Stone-like material made of natural ingredients (more environmentally friendly than vinyl). Resin is heavier and more fragile than vinyl, but is also more commonly used for fine art sculptures. Usually used for small runs of 50 to a few hundred figures.
Polystone - A mixture of resin and stone that has a higher quality, porcelain-like texture that allows a lot of detail in sculpts. Polystone is heavy like resin, but even more brittle.
Sofubi - A Japanese plastic whose name translates to "soft vinyl". Like vinyl, sofubi is a mixture of PVC plastic and plastisol, but with much higher plastisol content. It's therefore much softer and lighter than vinyl, and allows more detail in figures. It's also more expensive to produce. Sofubi figures are usually made in very small runs of 10-50 toys.
AP - Artist Proof. Figures provided to an artist as an example of the final product. These figures are usually signed, numbered and sold to collectors. Often these figures are the payment for the artist.
ATC - Art Toy Culture. Figures provided to an artist as an example of the final product. These figures are usually signed, numbered and sold to collectors. Often these figures are the payment for the artist. A designer toy convention held annually in Seoul, South Korea.
Blind box - Similar to baseball cards, vinyl toy sets are often sold in sealed packaging where the buyer doesn't know which design they're getting until they open it.
BB - blind box.
Bump - Bring Up My Post. Replying to a forum topic so the thread (often a sales thread) returns to the top of the list of topics.
Chase - A rare, hard to find blind box figure. Chases usually have a ratio of 1/32 or higher, but that's open to interpretation.
Colorway - The same figure is often released in different colors. Each color variant is referred to as a colorway. Toy factories often have minimum production runs for each toy mold, and if a manufacturer knows it won't be able to sell 1,000 (or whatever the minimum may be) of a single figure, they'll produce multiple colorways of the same mold to reach the factory's quota.
Common - The easiest to get, least rare figures in a blind box set.
Custom - A one-of-a-kind figure, hand-painted by an artist. Some customs are also hand-sculpted.
Detolfs - Glass door display cabinets from IKEA used to display and protect figures.
Flipper/Flipping - Someone who buys rare figures just to sell them on Ebay or forums for a ridiculously high price after they've sold out. Calling someone this is seen as very harsh and offensive.
Flocked - "Fuzzy" figures covered with tiny nylon or polyester fibers, creating a surface similar to velvet or suede. Sometimes flocking is used over the entire figure, and sometimes just in certain spots.
FS - For sale.
GID - Glow in the dark.
GT - Golden ticket. See the "AllVinyls Guide" at the top of the page.
HP - Hand-painted. This abbreviation isn't used very often.
Ish - Stuff or shit. Generally a positive term used to describe great figures. "Look at all this great ish." This started because forums with swearing filters sometimes change the word "shit" into "ish".
Kitbashed - Custom toys made by combining random parts of other toys (arms, legs, head, etc). This phrase originated with model kits, which is why it's also sometimes referred to as "model bashing".
LTB - Looking to buy.
LTT - Looking to trade.
MIB/NIB - "Mint in box" or "new in box".
NYCC - New York Comic Con. A pop culture convention held annually in New York.
OBO - Or best offer.
OG - Original gangster. The original version or colorway of a figure.
One-off - A custom, one-of-a-kind figure, hand-painted by the artist. Some one-offs are also hand-sculpted.
Open run - A figure that is produced based on demand, and isn't limited to a certain number of pieces.
OSCON - O'Reilly Open Source Convention.
Popcorn Asia - A pop culture convention held annually in Jakarta, Indonesia.
PP - Printer's proof. Same as artist proof, but the test samples were for manufacters rather than artists. This term isn't used much anymore.
QC - Quality control. Refers to the quality of the factory paint job on a figure.
Ratio - The rarity of a blind box figure. If a figure has a 2/20 ratio, that means on average, you'd get two of these figures for every 20 blind boxes you open. The second, higher number of the ratio is often the number of blind boxes in one case, or a multiple of that number.
SDCC - San Diego Comic Con. A pop culture convention held annually in San Diego, California.
STGCC - Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention. A pop culture convention held annually in Asia.
Stripped - A vinyl toy that has had the paint removed by acetone. This is a common practice amongst artists who make custom figures. They'll strip the paint off an existing figure and repaint it.
Toycon - A toy convention in Hong Kong that helped launch the careers of artists like Michael Lau and Eric So, and companies like Kidrobot. This convention was last held in 2004.
TTF - Taipei Toy Festival. A toy convention held annually in Taiwan.
TT/TTT - To the Top. Same as bumping. Replying to a forum topic to send it to the beginning of the list of topics. These acronyms aren't used very often.
Window-boxed - Figures displayed in a box with a window on the front, so people can see which design they're buying.
WonderCon - A pop culture convention held annually in Anaheim, California. Considered a less popular, but also less expensive alternative to San Diego Comic Con.
WTB - Want to buy.
WTT - Want to trade.