Loot Crate May 2015 Review

Loot Crate: May 2015 Review, 'Unite'

Link: www.lootcrate.com

So guys, my Loot Crate finally made it! The big downside to ordering a box from the US was that it took absolutely forever to get here, which means that this is, unfortunately, a bit of a late review. Still, I thought I would share my thoughts on the box with you anyway. There seemed to be a decent amount in it, but not a lot of it really 'grabbed' me if I'm being honest. The theme this month was 'Unite'. First up:

Green Ranger T-Shirt (Exclusive)

I really like this t-shirt. It didn't immediately 'wow' me, but it looks good and fits well and I'm overall pretty happy with it. I know a lot of people were completely made up with this t-shirt this month, but I guess it's maybe not so much my style? I will definitely still wear it though. Power Rangers are cool.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Car Decal

As much as I love Avengers, these kind of items really don't excite me. I can't think of where I would ever actually stick this, so it really doesn't have all that much value to me. I kind of dread seeing decals in these boxes. Maybe I'll find a use for it - who knows.

Team Fortress 2 Badges (Exclusive)

Again, I can't get overly excited about badges. I honestly don't know where to put them or what use I can get out of them. When I was a teenager I might have put them on my school bag but unfortunately they're not the kind of thing I can decorate my handbags with as an adult. They are cute, but a bit of a useless item for me.

Bravest  Warriors Tales from the Holo John #1 (Exclusive cover)

I love getting a comic inside these boxes, and this appears to be an exclusive cover design. I really like this, and hopefully will get time to sit down and have a read of it soon.

MAD Magazine Loot Crate Edition (Exclusive)

I've never read a MAD magazine before so I have no idea what to expect from this. It seems pretty cool to flick through, but otherwise I'm not totally excited about receiving it.

Marvel Ice Tray

My heart sort of sunk when I saw that I got an ice tray. I've received novelty ice trays in boxes before and they honestly just clutter up my house. There isn't enough room for them in the freezer and, let's be honest, I'm far too lazy to use them to make anything more impressive than ice. That is just my bias against ice trays though - to be fair to the product, it is good quality and looks as though it would make some neat looking ice cubes. I'm just not a fan of novelty ice trays unfortunately.

Marvel Sneaker Laces (Exclusive)

So, I didn't get a picture of these in the packaging - mainly because I forgot - so a picture of them in one of my Converse shoes will have to do. I believe there were two colour possibilities with these, so you could get either full colour comic laces or you could get the greyscale ones that I received. I'm quite glad I got the greyscale ones, just because they do seem to be a little more subtle. These are cool though, and I like that they make my boring black Converse a bit different.

Rick and Morty Jigsaw Puzzle (Exclusive)

I think I mentioned before that my main reason for ordering a Loot Crate this month was the promise of a Rick and Morty themed item. I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it is a unique Rick and Morty item - which is exactly what I was after. One the other...it's a puzzle. I suppose it gives me something to do on the rare occasions when I have an hour or so to kill, but other than that I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't something a bit cooler/more collectable. 

I'm starting to get the feeling that when sub boxes promise to include an amazing item relating to a particular fandom, that item will be one of the smaller and more disappointing things that you will find in your box. Maybe I'm just cynical, but that has been my experience so far. At least this isn't as bad as the small Totoro badge set that NerdBlock included, following the amount of hype they gave that.

Anyway, as you might have guessed, me and Loot Crate didn't gel all that well. I can see how this could have been a really good box for some people; there were a lot of high quality and exclusive items included. Unfortunately, very little of it was to my taste. There seemed to be quite a lot of filler that I wasn't very interested in.

I won't be getting a Loot Crate next month. I may sign up again in the future, although this box has put me off a little. Next month will be themed 'Cyber' (which I already know I wouldn't like at all), so I would expect lots of futuristic, robot type things. If you happen to like the things in this Loot Crate and you like Cyber type stuff, then do get yourself signed up - everything in terms of the customer service and the delivery has been flawless. Don't let the fact that this wasn't to my taste put you off from trying it out if it sounds like your sort of thing.

Next month I will be swapping Loot Crate for a new UK box (started in April), so keep an eye out for updates and reviews on that.

Popinabox May 2015 Review

Popinabox: May 2015 Review (1 Pop)

Link: www.popinabox.co.uk

    My Popinabox arrived on May 21^st and I was so excited to find out which mystery Funko Pop I got this month. I chose to only get one Pop, at £11.99 (including p&p). Once they announced that my Pop had been dispatched it arrived really quickly, so I was happy with that. The delivery man actually came while I was in the shower, so I apologise for the drips on the box – I was too excited to dry my hair before opening:

Obviously there isn’t that much mystery once the box has been opened – you can see pretty clearly who you got! I got Leela from Futurama, which I had given a ‘thumbs up’ because I really love my animated shows.

I’m really happy with her, but I did have a giggle when I discovered that she couldn’t stand up by herself. Her ponytail is really heavy so she topples straight onto her back every time. I solved this problem by leaning her against a photo frame:

A nice addition to the Popinabox is that they always include some popping candy in the box too, so you can get a nice sugar high while you unpack your Pop.

I had a really good experience with Popinabox this month. So much so, that I have increased my subscription to 2 Pops!

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.

MyGeekBox

MyGeekBox: UK Monthly Subscription Box Service

Link: http://www.mygeekbox.co.uk/

    MyGeekBox is probably the most popular UK geeky subscription box that I have come across – so I couldn’t resist getting myself signed up as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they had sold out of May boxes when I went to subscribe and I ended up having to go for the June box instead. This is the only company so far with whom I have decided to go for a multiple month subscription. I signed up for 3 months, at a cost of £47.97 (including p&p). A one month plan is £17.99 and there is also the option to go for a t-shirt only box for £7.99 per month. Each month has a theme, with May 2015 being ‘Respawn’, and every box contains a t-shirt. Other items aren’t guaranteed, but past boxes have shown a good range of stuff. The June box (which I will be reviewing here) is said to be themed ‘Abilities’ and will contain a limited edition mystery Funko Pop, which I am very excited about!

Loot Crate

LootCrate: Geeky Monthly Subscription Box Service (US)

Link: www.lootcrate.com

    The one box that I have ordered from the USA is Loot Crate. It costs $29.95 (USD), which is around £19, and charges nothing extra for shipping - which I thought was impressive for an overseas subscription box. They offer a ‘box of geek & gamer gear’ with a value of more than $40. No particular items are guaranteed in each box, so it truly does have that mystery element to it. Each month does have a theme though, with May 2015 being ‘UNITE’. I’m not too sure what that will entail, but it does suggest teamwork I guess – heroes that work together? Hints have been dropped that there will be items relating to DC, Marvel, Power Rangers, Bravest Warriors, Team Fortress 2 and Rick & Morty. For me, the real draw here is the Rick & Morty item. It will be a pretty big letdown if the item turns out to be a sticker or something equally disappointing.

    I’ll be honest, I’ve heard a real mixed bag of reviews for Loot Crate. They’re one of the most popular geek boxes out there, so they have naturally drawn a great deal of attention. I’ve taken a look at some of their past crates and I agree that they can be pretty hit or miss. Sometimes they do a really great box that has instant appeal, and other times I look at all the items and think ‘meh’. I think I might make this one into a bit of an ‘on and off’ kind of box, where I only activate my subscription of months that really appeal to me. I’ll have to wait and see what this box is like though – I’ll save my judgement.

Lootmonster

Lootmonster: UK Monthly Subscription Box Service

Link: www.lootmonster.co.uk

    My first Lootmonster box will be arriving this May 2015. It is a UK based geeky subscription box and costs £25.99 (with free p&p). This makes it one of the most expensive subscription boxes that I have ever come across, but I’m refusing to write it off on that basis because it also promises a significantly larger number of items. Each box will have 7-10 items, plus a t-shirt every month. This sounds like a really good deal, but with the box being the price that it is then it is really going to have to impress me in order to be worth keeping up with. The worst thing that I could imagine happening with this box would be that the 7-10 items were mostly filler and full of rubbish like sweets. I’m hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised by what Lootmonster has to offer.

    One thing about Lootmonster that really did stand out to me was that the 1 month subscription option doesn’t actually automatically renew. Automatic renewal can be a really useful feature when you’ve chosen a box that you’re confident in and know that you will love every month, but it can be a real pain when you’re wanting to find out what a box is like. A one off box purchase is sometimes really nice when you’re trying to figure out which one to go with. Boxes that automatically renew are weighted with financial obligation, particularly if you are forgetful like me and don’t cancel before the money is taken from you for a second box.

    So really, my Lootmonster box may or may not be a one off. It is expensive, but I’m happy that I can get a single box to try it out and see whether or not it’s for me.