NerdBlock May 2015 Review

NerdBlock: May 2015 Review, 'Ani-May'

Link: www.nerdblock.com

    So, my NerdBlock for May 2015 arrived on the 19^th – which I found really, really impressive considering that the boxes were only shipped on the 15^th and there was a weekend in between. If a box can reach me from Canada in only two working days, then what on Earth is up with the crazy amount of time that it seems to take for anything in the UK to reach me? But I digress. The box arrived in great condition, though the colour and logo does not make for discreet purchasing – I was relieved that I didn’t get it delivered to work in the end.

    As you can see, the box was pretty full and packed really nicely. The quality of the items was obvious from the first look and I instantly felt that I had made a good choice with the NerdBlock. The only downside for me this month was the theme. I’m not a big fan of anime – or at least I’m not familiar with a great deal of it. My only real exposure to anime was when I spent some time in Tokyo last year, but I can’t say I know a lot about it as a genre. I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan though and was very drawn in by the promise that there would be a ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ item in this box. That item turned out to be this:

Totoro Buttons (Badges)Value - ?

I have no idea how much these badges are worth and I couldn’t find anything similar through a quick Google. It’s nice that they’re quite unique and they are cute, but I was honestly disappointed. I think that if you are going to heavily publicise the presence of a particular show or character in the box, then the relevant item should just be….better than a few badges, you know? Despite that, the bigger items in the box were nicer:

Gundam T-ShirtValue – $10

Before this box I hadn’t heard of Mobile Suit Gundam, so I have definitely learned something new. This guy is a Japanese robot character – I can’t say much more about it but from an entirely aesthetic point of view this is a really nice t-shirt. I love the look of it and the t-shirt is really good quality and a great fit. I can’t wear it in good conscience without knowing the show, so this is a great excuse to get into something new.

Perfect Cell, Funko Pop vinyl
Value - $10

This guy is from Dragon Ball-Z. I was never all that into it, so this isn’t an ideal Pop for my collection, but I love that I got a Pop anyway. He does look really cool, so I’ll be keeping him to display with my others.

    The next two items were nice, but once again missed the mark for me:

Cowboy Bebop BandanaValue – maybe $5?

While cute and good quality, I don’t know the show and I don’t use bandanas (not in any of the ways that they depict on the handy leaflet), so this really fell flat for me.

Attack on Titan Cinch BagValue – again, maybe $5?

Again, I didn’t know the show for this one. The bag’s nice and it is good quality, but it’s really not my style. I honestly can’t imagine a scenario where I would use a bag like this.

The last item brought it all back for me though, and made up for the disappointment with the smaller items.

Evangelion MangaValue – around $10

I had actually been looking into this show recently, so this was a nice addition for me. I love books in basically any form that they are available in, whether it’s novels, comics, graphic novels, manga etc., so I will definitely enjoy this.

All in all, the box was very good for what it was. I knew that it was anime so I was fully prepared to not really get all of the references, but I’m surprised by how much I like the items despite that. Since I wasn’t so familiar with the theme this time round, I don’t feel that I can really judge NerdBlock just yet. I do know though, that I’m going to stick with them for at least one more round.