Loot Crate - San Diego Comic Con 2015 Exclusive - Creature

Heya! Mike here, and you may remember that I mentioned recently that I had cancelled my subscription to Loot Crate. So, what's with this entry? Well, the San Diego Comic Con was earlier this month and it is known for having some awesome exclusive merchandise. This year, one of those exclusives was a special Loot Crate!

Does this mean I went to "SDCC"? The answer is "No". So, how did I get this wondrous little box? As it turned out, Loot Crate has a limited number of the exclusive crates available for sale on their web site for $50 USD plus $10 USD for shipping to Canada! Obviously, I had to get one. LOL

Just in case, for those of you who haven't heard of Loot Crate, it is a monthly subscription box that caters towards "nerds" and "geeks". Each month, subscribers get a themed box of 6 to 8 items. What's interesting is that Loot Crate has different subscription programs. Here's a breakdown:

1 Month Plan - $19.95 USD / $29.95 CAD per month

3 Month Plan - $57.75 USD / $84.00 CAD per 3 months

6 Month Plan - $113.70 USD / $162.00 CAD per 6 months

1 Year Plan - $215.40 / $312.00 CAD per year (includes Bonus Gift)

SDCC 2015 EXCLUSIVE - CREATURE

When I first heard of the theme of the SDCC exclusive Loot Crate, I wasn't all that interested. But, I then heard somewhere that there might be "Ghostbusters" items and I was sold. Obviously, this Crate was more expensive than the usual subscription boxes, but since it was a convention exclusive, I figured I'd be getting my money's worth. Let's see if I was right. Here's what I found in my box:

- Loot Crate SDCC Pin ($1.50 CAD)

- Godzilla T-Shirt ($17.00 CAD)

- Weyland-Yutani Corp Luggage Tag ($10.00 CAD)

- Jurassic World Keychain ($10.00 CAD)

- Loot Crate Creature Cards ($5.00 CAD)

- Ghostbusters Titans Vinyl ($15.00 CAD)

- Ghostbusters Q-Pop ($25.00 CAD)

Loot Crate Items Pamphlet

The first thing you may notice from my items list above is that there is no mini magazine. In case you didn't know, every subscription Loot Crate has a magazine with articles, activities, photos of Looters, items descriptions, and more. It's something I've come to expect from Loot Crate and they didn't include one in the SDCC box. Instead, Looters got a pamphlet showing photos and descriptions of each included item. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed by this since it would have been nice to have a magazine with articles about SDCC and maybe some photos of cosplayers. But, I can understand that with the regular subscription schedule still in place, it's hard to make 2 magazines for July. So, I accept the lack of magazine.

Loot Crate Certificate of Authenticity

What I was surprised to find in my box was this certificate. It's a nice touch and definitely makes up for there not being a mini magazine.

Loot Crate Custom Box

As with the subscription boxes, the SDCC box had a custom design. In this case, you can flip the box inside out to create a cool-looking monster!

Loot Crate SDCC Pin

Something I used to love getting every month was the Loot Crate Theme Pin, so when I got this SDCC one, I was ecstatic. What more, it's of much higher quality than the usual subscription pin. The only criticism I have is that it doesn't have the actual creature theme featured. It's still a cool pin, though, so no biggie.

Godzilla T-Shirt

Oh, come on! Another black T-shirt?! Oh, wait. It has a cool Godzilla design. Never mind. It rocks!

Weyland-Yutani Corp Luggage Tag

This item couldn't have come at a better time as I'm about to fly out to Calgary. This will look awesome on my suitcase. Plus, I love the "Alien" movies!

Jurassic World Keychain

I enjoyed "Jurassic World", but not enough to justify ever using this incredibly heavy raptor claw keychain. Seriously, this thing would rip holes in whatever I'd carry it in. Still, I'm impressed with the overall quality of this item.

Loot Crate Creature Cards

My least favourite item in the box, this pack features 3 cards. There's one of Man-Bat, one of Clayface, and one of Swamp Thing. Honestly, it's not the best trio to put on exclusive cards despite the theming being correct.

Ghostbusters Titans Vinyl

Surprisingly, this wasn't a Funko product. Instead, it's a blind-box figure from a company called Titans. Pretty cool!

Ghostbusters Q-Pop

I had never heard of toymaker Quantum Mechanix before and am extremely impressed with this awesome Peter Venkman "Q-Pop". This is the same company that made the luggage tag above. Combined with what I could find about them on Google, I think it's safe to say they know what they're doing when it comes to nerdy merchandise!

OVERVIEW

Honestly, this box didn't blow me away. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it. Outside of the creature cards, the items were all great. I really liked them. It's just that for an exclusive box of which there were only 10,000 made, I expected something much better than a regular subscription box. Instead, I got a box that had decent value in dollars, but not much "Wow". So, back to the original question: Did I get my money's worth? Technically, yes, but in my opinion, no. Sorry, Loot Crate. You're going to have to do better next year.

Please don't let this review dissuade you from checking out the regular Loot Crate subscription, though. It is honestly the best nerd box on the market. To learn more, please visit their web site by clicking HERE.

And, that's all for July. I'll see you all again in August for more subscription box awesomeness!

~ Mike

ZBox - June, 2015 - Good Cop, Bad Cop

Heya, peeps! Mike here, and I have a special entry for you all today. Back in May, I read a post on Facebook about something called the "ZBox". After looking through the photos in the post, I just had to check out the web site for it. I don't think I lasted more than 5 minutes before I clicked the "Pre-Order" button and you'll soon see why.

For those of you who haven't heard of ZBox, it's associated with a web site called Zavvi, which sells all sorts of media and memorabilia. This isn't really a "subscription box". There's no actual subscription. Instead, each month, you have to go on their web site and pre-order the box for the next month. The advertised price is ₤19.99 with free UK delivery. Being Canadian, this means I had to pay extra for shipping. What's convenient about Zavvi's site is that it allows you to browse in Canadian Dollars, so I could see exactly how much I would be paying before ordering. My order would have cost $33.37 CAD, but I was able to find a discount code online for first time orders, which brought the price down to $30.23 CAD. Sweet!

So, I waited and waited. June came along and I started to get a little worried. Then, thankfully, the shipping notice popped into my inbox on June 25th, stating that my box would arrive on or before July 15th. Fast forward to July 7th and I finally found the following in my mail box!

I have to admit, the people over at Zavvi definitely know how to package a box for shipping. Check out the plastic shipping bag, complete with carrying handle! Colour me impressed.

Opening the bag revealed the ZBox inself. Here it is in all its glory.

I don't know if ZBox copied Loot Crate or if it's the other way around, but for some reason I still don't understand, I felt almost comforted by the familiar black box. So, what was inside? Let's take a look.

JUNE - GOOD COP, BAD COP

The above is what I was met with when I opened my ZBox. Seeing the name "Dredd" was enough to make my heart pound. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. Let's see exactly what I got and whether everything fit the "Good Cop, Bad Cop" theme.

- ZBox Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- 1984 T-Shirt ($20.00 CAD)

- Robocop Keychain ($10.00 CAD)

- Lego City Police Copter ($12.00 CAD)

- Mini Megaphone ($6.00 CAD)

- Whistle Candy ($1.00 CAD)

- Dredd One-Shot Comic ($5.00 CAD)

- Dredd Replica Badge ($40.00 CAD)

ZBox Box

When I was still a Looter, I was really impressed with the custom box I received every month. I'm not sure if ZBox does custom box designs for every single one of their boxes, but the one for this month's box looks fantastic. Plus, the "Point Break" reference was perfect.

Yeah, that's me every single time I play a first person shooter on a console since I can't aim and consistently end up pointing my gun upwards. Very frustrating. :p

ZBox Mini Magazine

Another similarity between ZBox and Loot Crate is this little magazine. It takes a lot of work to put together one of these, so it's nice to see a box program outside of Loot Crate that has a magazine. If you look at the photo of the table of contents, you'll see the kind of articles you'll find inside. Very thematic and fun.

1984 T-Shirt

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the novel "1984" by George Orwell, so this shirt didn't get me excited. However, the design is pretty neat and references something I would never have expected in a box of this kind. I appreciate that Zavvi was thinking outside the box.

Robocop Keychain

I love the original "Robocop", so I was happy to get this fantastic rubber keychain. For those of you not into "Robocop", this item would make a wonderful gift.

Lego City Police Copter

I've received lots of Mega Bloks sets in other boxes, but what I've always wanted to get was some Lego. ZBox delivered. Thank you, Zavvi!

Mini Megaphone

I find that most boxes have the expected "cheapy items". My ZBox had 2, the first of which is this little megaphone keychain toy. I haven't used it yet, so I'm not sure how much it amplifies my voice. Still, it's a cool item and one that I can give to my niece and know she'll enjoy for sure.

Whistle Candy

I love getting candy in subscription boxes, so I was happy to find this item in my ZBox. Plus, it comes with a cap that doubles as an actual whistle. Now, I can go annoy Jess with it!

Dredd One-Shot Comic

"Dredd", starring Karl Urban, is one of my favourite movies of all time. The fact that "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" got a sequel before it is an absolute tragedy. The fact that the sequel for "Dredd" finally showed up as a comic book lessens the blow that we still don't have a frakking "Dredd 2" movie. So, while I'm happy to receive this comic, my face still looks like this:

Dredd Replica Badge

THIS, everyone, is why I got the ZBox. Yes, that is an official "Dredd" replica badge, complete with carrying pouch and stand. It's metal. It's heavy. And, it's DROKKING AWESOME!!!!111OMGBBQ!!!111!!ONE11!!

OVERVIEW

I don't know how long I passed out for, but I'm back, so let's finish this review. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the ZBox. For a program that I had never heard of, even after doing research on nerdy boxes before I got into the subscription game, it sure packed a wallop in the first impressions department. Outside of the "Dredd" badge, which was advertised on Zavvi's site and the reason why I ordered the ZBox, the items were consistent with the theme, of good overall quality, and not overstock or junk. I am thoroughly impressed, which is why I pre-ordered the July "Ghosts & Ghouls" box. Here's hoping for more awesome.

If you're interested in learning more about ZBox, check them out HERE. I was able to get a 15% discount on the July box using the code MDD, so if you decide to pre-order, give that a shot.

That's it for July. Stay tuned for more ZBox and Marvel Collector Corps in August. Thanks for reading and see you all soon!

~ Mike