Loot Crate - February, 2015 - Play

Hey, peeps! Mike here, and I'm extremely excited to be writing about the rather late-arriving February Loot Crate. Why? Because this box was advertised as being partially about board gaming! I love playing board games and card games, so I felt like this would be "the" Crate for me. Now, I could write on and on about that, but instead, I'm going to spare you the agony and jump right into my review. :)

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

FEBRUARY - PLAY

There are so many ways to "Play". Were the Loot Crate gurus able to represent a good variety of play or did they just stick with the one thing they advertised? Let's find out! Here's what I found in my box this month:

- Loot Crate Board Game and Dice ($3.00 CAD)

- Loot Crate Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- Loot Crate Theme Pin ($0.75 CAD)

- Superfight Card Deck ($8.00 CAD)

- Pac-Man Mini Poster ($5.00 CAD)

- Firefly Online Rifle Coupon ($1.50 CAD)

- Hexbug ($15.00 CAD)

- Exclusive Mini Munny ($10.00 CAD)

- Ready Player One ($12.50 CAD)

Loot Crate Board Game and Dice

I can't even properly describe how incredible the custom box this month is. It folds out into a simple-but-fun board game called "Crate Packing Simulator 2015" where you try to get 5 items into your Crate before your friends do. Dice were included to add to the fun, and even the Loot Crate magazine has pieces for this game!

Loot Crate Mini Magazine

As I mentioned above, the mini magazine this month includes game pieces for the board game. Of course, there's so much more, like photos, item descriptions, and a great article about co-op gaming!

Loot Crate Theme Pin

This is my favourite Loot Crate pin so far purely because of the board gaming theme. The design is also really well done and matches the standard orange border, which is a rarity when it comes to Loot Crate pins.

Superfight Card Deck

I've never played Superfight before and have never seen it in stores, but I still appreciate getting a deck with exclusive cards in it. You can learn more about Superfight over at BoardGameGeek. If you can find a copy in Toronto or the GTA, please let me know where, 'cause I can't seem to do so.

Pac-Man Mini Poster

I love retro video games and I love Pac-Man. However, I am surprisingly disappointed with this item. The design is okay, but definitely not one I'd hang on my wall. The worst part, though, is that the poster arrived in pretty rough shape, despite the protective cardboard cover. If you zoom in on the photo, you can see that one edge of the poster did not survive the trip from the US to Canada. :(

Firefly Online Rifle Coupon

I'm a fan of Firefly, and 3 or 4 years ago, I would have been drooling over a MMO based on that short-lived much-loved television series by Joss Whedon. However, now that I don't have the time to play MMO's anymore, I'm sad to say that this awesome coupon that gives me an exclusive in-game rifle is useless to me. Still, I think it's a pretty sweet item for anyone who plays or is looking to play Firefly Online.

Hexbug

Whoa, check out this cool-looking Hexbug for me to play with! I may be at work while I'm writing this review, but I may just take this toy out of its box and scare the receptionist with it. :p

Exclusive Mini Munny

Wait, Munnys are still a thing? Seriously? I think I bought a blank pink Munny for Jess, like, 8 years ago. This exclusive blank white Munny is a little late, but still super awesome.

Ready Player One

My buddy Dan has recommended this gaming-themed novel on many occasions and I was going to buy it after I finished my latest Urban Fantasy book. (Yes, I read Urban Fantasy books.) Now, I just saved a little money and have it ready so I don't have to go to the bookstore! Sweet! (Sorry, Chapters.)

OVERVIEW

If we're going to talk about theming, this month's Loot Crate has it in spades. It covers a very good amount of "play", like board gaming, video gaming, and toys. It even has a gaming-themed novel! I honestly didn't see that one coming. The only problem I have with this Crate is that some of the items aren't up to par. Superfight sounds awesome, but none of the stores in Toronto I've called have the base game. A Hexbug is cool, but probably going to be handed down to my niece after work. The poster had a so-so design and arrived damaged. The custom box board game is mind-blowing, but the reality is that it's going to be played once or twice and then recycled, leaving me with some fancy dice that I can't use with anything else. So, at the end of the day, my feelings are quite mixed. I love this Crate, but am also a little disappointed.

Next month, the theme is going to be "Covert". I love spy stuff, so bring it on! Hopefully, the items will be better than the ones from this month's Crate. If you're interested in learning more about or subscribing to Loot Crate, please check out their Web Site. To get $3 off a new subscription, use this code: SAVE3

And, that's February! As always, thanks for checking out my blog. 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.