Minecraft Mini-Figure Netherrack Series 3

Hi! Mike here, and for the past few months, I've been seeing cute little Minecraft figures for sale at Walmart that come in blister packs and blind boxes, the latter of which are definitely of interest to me since I'm a fan of the game and I certainly love blind boxes. But, the $3.49 + tax price tag made me hesitant... until today!

I bought 2 of these suckers and brought them to the office with me to take photos during my break. Here are a couple more pics of the box, showing what figures are in Series 3... Wait! There were 2 other series before this? Wow, I definitely didn't pay close enough attention to these toys.

Based on the non-random 3-packs they also sell at Walmart, I already knew the size of the figures in these blind boxes. Considering their size, I honestly wondered how many figures there would be in them. I mean... they're kind of big. They wouldn't use such big boxes for single figures, right?

Yes. Yes, they would. Here's another shot of the Iron Armor Zombie I got in front of the large-ish box.

Despite the wasteful size of the packaging, I have to admit that the box design is very nice. I also like how, according to some web sites I found, you can tell what figure is inside the box if you look at the code underneath...

Yeah, that's apparently the code for an Iron Armor Zombie underneath the bar code numbers. Just Google "Netherrack Series 3 Codes". It's ridiculous how these are false blind boxes.

Moving on, the Mini-Figure itself is pretty nice. I like that it's designed as a "chibi" version of Minecraft. The plastic feels sturdy. The paint job is mostly good with some smudging on the helmet. I'm impressed.

In my second box, I got a Skeleton Horse.

I love the details on this figure, especially the vertebrae.

I also like putting the Iron Armor Zombie on its back.

Adorable! I'm having a cuteness overload right now!

The thing, though, is that in the end, I honestly don't feel that the toys, cool as they are, are worth the price tag. LEGO Minifigures are just $0.50 more and you get multiple pieces, articulation, and... It's LEGO. I know Minecraft is super popular right now, but I feel like they're charging $1.75 for the figure and $1.75 for the box. These Mini-Figures should cost $2.00 plus tax each at the most.

All in all, the Minecraft Mini-Figure Netherrack Series 3 blind boxes are pretty awesome toys, but a big waste of packaging and not worth the price. Get them on sale or if you don't mind spending that kind of money.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon with more reviews!

~ Mike

Loot Crate - March, 2015 - Covert

Hey, hey! Mike here, and this month, my Loot Crate showed up much earlier than usual! In fact, I got my shipping notification in my inbox after my box showed up! Wow! Admittedly, despite the quick shipping, I'm not as big a fan of spy stuff compared to other nerdy genres, so my excitement level wasn't as high as usual. However, once this Crate showed up, I couldn't wait to open it! So, without further ado, here begins my review of this month's Loot Crate written from work! (Bad, Mike, BAD!)

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 - $19.37 USD / $29.95 CAD per month

3 Month Plan - $55.11 USD / $84.00 CAD per 3 months

6 Month Plan - $105.99 USD / $162.00 CAD per 6 months

MARCH - COVERT

Loot Crate has always been very good with theming, and "Covert" had so much potential. Let's see if they were able to live up to their reputation. Here's what was in my box:

- Loot Crate Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- Loot Crate Theme Pin ($0.75 CAD)

- James Bond T-Shirt ($15.00 CAD)

- Blink Time Stealth Watch ($10.00 CAD)

- Paracord Survival Bracelet ($12.00 CAD)

- Agents of SHIELD Lanyard ($10.00 CAD)

- Spy Mad Libs ($5.00 CAD)

- Orphan Black #1 Comic ($4.00 CAD)

- Field Notes Notebooks ($5.00 CAD)

Custom Loot Crate Box

Since their first custom box last year, Loot Crate has continued this treat month after month without fail. I really appreciate it and love this month's spy computer box. The finger print scanner design was extra cool.

Loot Crate Mini Magazine

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love the Loot Crate magazine. It takes effort to do this every month and effort is what I ask for when it comes to designing subscription boxes. This month, there are some neat articles, including one about Metal Gear through the years and another about spies in movies.

Loot Crate Theme Pin

This is a very cool-looking pin based on the cover design of the mini magazine. I will have it proudly mounted on my cork board at home.

James Bond T-Shirt

When I was in university, my residence had a super awesome James Bond club where the members were given codes names based on characters from the series. Oh, how I wish I had this shirt back then!

Thanks go to my buddy Tom for modelling the shirt. And, yes ladies, he's also a Looter!

Blink Time Stealth Watch

When you think of a stealth watch, I honestly don't think a fancy rubber band is what you'd have in mind. But, a fancy rubber band is technically what this watch is. Sure, it looks kind of cool and lights up with the time when you press the face, but it's really cheap and flimsy, plus attracts dust like a static-y balloon. Oh, and the non-branded version from China costs $3.25 USD compared to the more expensive branded versions I found on Amazon. Still, if you can ignore the dust, the watch does look pretty cool and is a great timepiece to have on vacation when you don't want to bring your expensive Casio G-Shock. :p

Paracord Survival Bracelet

I gotta say, this parachute cord bracelet is both very cool-looking and extremely useful. It's getting attached to my travel bag for sure!

Agents of SHIELD Lanyard

I love the show "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD", so this lanyard is a very welcome addition to my collection of Disney lanyards. Yes, I said "Disney" lanyards. ;p

Spy Mad Libs

Favourite item, hands down!

Orphan Black #1 Comics

I've only watched a couple of episodes of the show this comic book is based on, but Jess loves it. I appreciate that Loot Crate chose to give us the first issue since, as I've said before, it sucks coming into a story in the middle.

Field Notes Notebooks

I'm a fan of cool notebooks. There are so many times where I've gone to Chapters or Indigo and seen a notebook with an awesome cover design and wanted to buy it. Jess has an even greater love of pretty notebooks than me, so these cool little items will probably end up on her desk. :)

OVERVIEW

For a theme that is only moderately interesting to me, it sure allowed Loot Crate to provide me with some top-notch items, except for the Blink Watch, of course. I'm extremely impressed, especially with the coolness factor of items like the Paracord Bracelet and SHIELD Lanyard. The theming and effort shown in putting this and every other box together is why I keep my subscription active.

I received my Loot Crate so early this month that they have yet to announce the theme for next month! Nice! Still, if you`re interested in learning more about Loot Crate, please check out their Web Site. And, if you want to subscribe, use the following code to get a $3 discount: SAVE3

That's all for March! Thanks for reading In Box with Mike & Jess! See you again soon!

Nerd Block (Classic) - December, 2014

Heya, peeps! Mike here, and I bet you're looking at this entry and going, "WHAAAAAAT?!" I mean, I did say back in March that I was Nerdvorcing Nerd Block, right? Right. So, what's this madness, you ask? Well, my buddy Ryan just HAD to tell me that the December Nerd Block Classic had an autographed item that I could not pass up since it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for Jess (which is why she isn't allowed to read this entry until after Christmas, ha ha). Yes, I was swayed to give Nerd Block a booty call because of an autograph. Sigh.

A lot has changed since the last time I was a subscriber. The overlords over at Nerd Block HQ apparently thought it was cool to create a bunch of different Blocks, so now there's Nerd Block Classic, Nerd Block Jr. Boy, Nerd Block Jr. Girl, Horror Block, and Arcade Block. It blows my mind that they think this is a good idea. What's next? Sci-Fi Block? Fantasy Block? Nerd Block Baby? Nerd Block Teen? Nerd Block Young Adult? I can kind of understand why they're splitting everything up, but for me, one simple Nerd Block should be enough. Adding a Jr. was okay, but now it's just too much.

Anyway, in case you didn't know, Nerd Block is a monthly subscription box and each month, people receive all sorts of products from "nerdy" franchises. Here is some information:

- $19.99 USD plus shipping per month

- $30 CAD total per month in Canada

- arrives around mid-month in Canada

DECEMBER, 2014

Like I said above, I came back to Nerd Block because of a stupid autograph. Of course, when I clicked the "Subscribe" button, I was still hoping to be wowed by the other items in the Block. So, what did I get? Here's a list:

- Harry Potter Butterbeer T-Shirt ($15.00 CAD)

- Firefly Peanuts T-Shirt ($15.00 CAD)

- Tetris Notebook ($10.00 CAD)

- Gremlins Gizmo Plushie ($15.00 CAD)

- KRE-O D&D Figure ($2.50 CAD)

- Autographed "Willow" Poster ($10.00 CAD)

Harry Potter Butterbeer T-Shirt

OMG! WHY?! Had this shirt arrived one week earlier, I would have been able to wear it to my friend's Harry Potter birthday party! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Still, I love this shirt. Great design, good colour combo. It's a keeper!

Firefly Peanuts T-Shirt

This month's Nerd Block is special because Shirt Punch gave subscribers 2 shirts instead of one. The second shirt in my Block had the above Firefly design drawn in the classic Peanuts style. It's nice, but not for me. My only complaint is that the shirt was stained, as seen in the second photo above. It's worse because the shirt is white! I'm gifting this item, so I hope my buddy I'm giving it to won't mind washing before wearing.

Tetris Notebook

I like and don't like this Tetris notebook. It's cool and all, but when I first saw it in the box, I wasn't really blown away. When I showed it to Jess, however, she immediately wanted it, so it's hers now.

Gremlins Gizmo Plushie

I loved the Gremlins movies growing up, so getting this plushie was pretty awesome.

KRE-O D&D Figure

I love Lego and Lego-like toys, but for some reason, I've never been able to bring myself to actually buy any of the KRE-O Dungeons & Dragons random figure packs I've seen in stores. It may have something to do with the poor quality of the KRE-O Transformers toys I've bought in the past. Or, maybe they just don't look very good. I mean, check out the figure I got. Lego Castle totally kicks its butt...

Autographed "Willow" Poster

We now come to the reason why I subscribed to Nerd Block this month. That above is a poster card of the movie "Willow" featuring a real deal autograph of Warwick Davis. Nerd Block had stated that the poster could have his autograph or that of Val Kilmer. Jess loves both actors, so I  just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get her this poster. I admit that the size of the poster was smaller than I expected, but I'm still happy with it. I'm sure Jess will be delighted when she finds this under the Christmas tree!

OVERVIEW

I'll be honest - I was completely underwhelmed by Nerd Block. Sure, the combined value of the items was more than worth the price I paid and I'm happy to have an awesome poster for Jess, a cool T-shirt for my pal, and a shirt for myself. However, as a whole, I generally feel "blah" about this Block. Others may have been blown away, but I just didn't get the feeling of joy and excitement that I normally get from unboxing a Loot Crate. So, this December Nerd Block shall forever be known as my One Month Stand.

I'm sorry for cheating on you, Loot Crate.

Loot Crate - November, 2014 - Battle

When I went to get the mail yesterday, I was expecting to find a bunch of bills, some flyers, maybe a few coupons, and potentially something from Amazon that I ordered. What I didn't expect to find was a Loot Crate. But, that's not the most surprising part of this story. What was more shocking to me was that the tracking information was sent to me a couple of hours after I picked up my box! But, apparently, that wasn't enough for Loot Crate. No, they had to put this on the side of their box:

It took every bit of willpower for me not to stand there in the freezing cold and rip the thing open to see what the notice was all about. I also had to stop myself from running home since dress shoes and icy sidewalks do not get along. After a slow, slippery walk back home, I finally cracked open my Loot Crate and this is what I was met with:

Yeah. I know. I drooled a little, too. Now, 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 - $19.37 USD / $29.95 CAD per month

3 Month Plan - $55.11 USD / $84.00 CAD per 3 months

6 Month Plan - $105.99 USD / $162.00 CAD per 6 months

NOVEMBER - BATTLE

When Loot Crate announced their November theme on their Facebook Page last month, I was ecstatic. "Battle", to me, had to involve "Street Fighter" in some way, and that is my favourite fighting game series of all time. I made the conscious decision to not visit their Facebook Page after the announcement because I really wanted to be surprised by what I found in my box when it arrived. So, what did I get yesterday? Here's a list:

- Loot Crate Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- Loot Crate Theme Pin ($0.75 CAD)

- Pirates vs. Ninjas T-Shirt ($15.00 CAD)

- Loot Crate Exclusive MegaMan Mini Helmet ($12.00 CAD)

- Mega Bloks Halo Drop Pod Figure ($5.00 CAD)

- Assassin's Creed Unity Coin ($15.00 CAD)

- Loot Crate Exclusive Street Fighter Headband ($10.00 CAD)

- Free Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Coupon ($20.00 CAD)

- Free MegaMan Digital Comics Coupon ($5.00 CAD)
- 50% Off Lichdom Battlemage Coupon ($22.00 CAD)

Custom Loot Crate Box and Loot Crate Mini Magazine

Once again, Loot Crate sent its subscribers a box with a custom design. But, this month, they added a little message on the outside that got me super excited. When you first open the box, it looks simple. However, as the exterior note mentions, the Mini Magazine holds the key to what makes this Crate so special. Behold!

Yes, that's right. The Loot Crate box turns into a diorama for the cardboard cutout Ryu (from "Street Fighter") and MegaMan figures included in the Mini Magazine! Whaaaaaat?! The box and magazine are a fantastic one-two punch combination that truly makes this month's Loot Crate a thing of beauty. I really appreciate the thought and effort put into designing the diorama. Absolutely fantastic! Oh, and here's the Mini Magazine's awesome cover.

Loot Crate Theme Pin

The pin design this month is colourful and fun. Plus, this is the first time that the orange ring around the pin actually matches the rest of the design. Very nice.

Pirates vs. Ninjas T-Shirt

Ah, the never-ending debate over whether Pirates or Ninjas are better finally arrives at Loot Crate with this month's spectacular T-shirt design. I love that it's not just a bunch of words making two characters, but also a Yin-Yang symbol. It's incredibly creative. In addition to this, Loot Crate took the design process one step further by including a post card with exclusive art on one side and a description of the whole Pirates vs. Ninjas thing on the other. Check it out.

Loot Crate Exclusive MegaMan Mini Helmet

This MegaMan mini helmet is one of four randomly packed in this month's Loot Crate. Subscribers could get blue, red, this green one, or black, each of which represents a different power in the game. I think it's a cool exclusive Crate item, but I personally find it to be kind of boring. Don't get me wrong. I love MegaMan, but I think a MegaMan figure would have been a better item. I do appreciate that it's different, though. You definitely wouldn't expect a MegaMan mini helmet, kind of like how you wouldn't expect a MegaMan air freshener (see August, 2014).

Mega Bloks Halo Drop Pod Figure

I'm a huge fan of Mega Bloks' series of "Halo" figures and building sets. I have a relatively impressive collection, though I've stopped adding to it for over a year now. A few months ago, I saw these Drop Pod figures start appearing at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us stores, but never bought one since the price is, in my opinion, too high for a figure with a pod. Still, I wanted one and I'm very happy to receive one in my Loot Crate. It's super cool!

Assassin's Creed Unity Coin

I have never played an "Assassin's Creed" game before, but I think this coin or medallion from their latest game, "Unity", is pretty awesome. It doesn't look very large, and it isn't, but the thing is weighty! When I checked online for pricing information on similar coins, they were selling for anywhere from $15 CAD to $40 CAD! Whoa! I love the pouch this coin comes with, too. It's a nice addition to an already great item.

Loot Crate Exclusive Street Fighter Headband

Ryu is my second favourite character from the "Street Fighter" series of games. He's so awesome that I cosplayed as him several years ago. With that said, you can probably imagine how loud I squealed when I found this Loot Crate Exclusive Headband in my box. Yep. I'll leave it at that.

Free Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Coupon

Giving us great items from a game is one thing. Giving us the actual game is something else altogether. I was blown away by this coupon card. I own "Street Fighter IV" on PS3, but now I can get it for free on Steam! This item is also great for introducing or re-introducing people to the "Street Fighter" series. Good on Loot Crate for teaming up with Capcom and Valve like this.

Free MegaMan Digital Comics Coupon

On the back of the "Street Fighter" coupon card is a promo code for 2 free digital issues of the "MegaMan" comic book series. Way to make both sides of the same card epic, Loot Crate!

50% Off Lichdom Battlemage Coupon

I'm not familiar with the game "Lichdom Battlemage", but I checked out the game page on Steam and 50% off the price brings it down to around $22 CAD, so it's definitely more affordable if I decide to buy it. I like that Loot Crate gives us these kinds of discounts. I may not buy any of the items the discounts are for, but some people definitely will, and saving people money is pretty awesome in my book.

OVERVIEW

The November Loot Crate was quite possibly the most impressive subscription box I've received. Every single item, even the mini helmet, was fantastic and the overall value of box blows the price of entry out of the water. I especially liked the incredible amount of thought that must of have been put into making this month's Crate truly unique. The box-diorama-magazine-figures combo is epic on so many levels and giving people a game to allow them to fully experience the inspiration behind current and maybe future items is plain awesome. All-in-all, this is the kind of box that keeps people coming back for more. I'm one extremely satisfied customer!

So, what's coming up next month? Christmas is fast approaching, so will Loot Crate put together something that will fill our hearts with Yuletide spirit? I don't know! Why? Because my Crate arrived so early that both the Loot Crate Web Site and Facebook Group are still talking about the November "Battle" box. Heck, right now, you still have 1 day to subscribe, and if you use the code BATTLE, you get $3 off your new subscription. Don't worry, though. When the peeps over at Loot Crate HQ finally reveal December's theme, I will be sure to update this entry. So, stay tuned!

As always, thank you so much checking out my blog. See you again soon!

~ Mike

UPDATE: The December Loot Crate's theme has still not been revealed, but there is now a new savings code! Use SAVE3 to get $3 off new subscriptions. I'll update again once more information about the December Crate becomes available. Cheers!

UPDATE 2: The peeps over at Loot Crate HQ finally announced their December theme, which is Anniversary! On their Facebook page, they mention an exclusive Marvel item that has me extremely excited. Their new code to save you $3 off a new subscription is ANNIVERSARY. Happy Holidays!