Loot Crate - December, 2014 - Anniversary

Heya, peeps! Mike here, and this month, I wasn't sure if I would be writing a Loot Crate entry or not since Canada Post is notoriously bad during the Christmas season. To my surprise, I found my box at the front door yesterday, which was a Sunday. Either the postal service actually worked on a weekend or my Crate was accidentally delivered to someone else earlier in the week and then they left it at my door. Either way, I'm just glad I got it! :)

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

DECEMBER - ANNIVERSARY

This month, Loot Crate went with a theme that is a little out of the ordinary. Instead of something "nerdy" like dragons or space, they decided to celebrate the anniversaries of nerdy franchises. 30 years of Ghostbusters. 25 years of Simpsons. 30 years of Tetris... I'll stop there 'cause now I'm feeling old! Ha ha! Anyway, Looters were promised some sweet items, including an exclusive Pop! figure, so I was really excited for this box. What did I get? Here's a list:

- Loot Crate Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- Loot Crate Theme Pin ($0.75 CAD)

- Ghostbusters Door Hanger ($3.00 CAD)

- Tetris Stickers Set ($17.00 CAD)

- Simpsons Mighty Wallet ($12.00 CAD)

- Captain America Air Freshener ($5.00 CAD)

- Groot Socks ($13.00 CAD)

- Batman #36 Comic Book ($5.00 CAD)

- Joker-Batman Pop! Figure ($15.00 CAD)

- Crunchyroll Coupon ($7.50 CAD)

- Candy Cane ($0.15 CAD)

Custom Loot Crate Box

I guess it's no surprise that we Looters got a custom box yet again. Seriously, Loot Crate rocks in this regard. What I love about this month's box is that not only is it the Batcave, it's a Funko Pop! Batcave! It's official - This is my favourite custom box so far!

Loot Crate Mini Magazine

This month's magazine is one of the best I've seen. I was blown away by the cover designed by Josh Mirman, who is known for his art style of using words to create characters. Inside, there is an interview with none other than Stan Lee! Wow! A definite treat for True Believers!

Loot Crate Theme Pin

I want to criticize the simple design of the pin we got this month, but I can't because I actually like it. Sure, it's just the Loot Crate logo with a couple of stars next to it on a gold background, but it looks good. Thumbs up over here.

Ghostbusters Door Hanger

This is honestly not the best Ghostbusters item they could have given Looters, but it's still very cool. Plus, it's 2-sided and exclusive to Loot Crate. I'm not really a fan of the Slimer side, but the Ghost Bustin' side is definitely being displayed on one of the doors in my house.

Tetris Sticker Set

This is cool. Really, really cool. I love stickers and this Tetris set is just awesome. I can't wait to show them to my niece, who I'm sure will have half of them all over her stuff in a matter of minutes!

Simpsons Mighty Wallet

I love the Simpsons and I've always wanted to get a Mighty Wallet. Now, I have a Mighty Wallet with an awesome Simpsons design on it! Sweet!

Captain America Air Freshener

Apparently, Captain America smells like vanilla. Let the jokes begin!

Groot Socks

This! THIS! This is the kind of item that keeps me coming back for more Loot Crate month after month. Easily my favourite item in this box and one of my favourites from Loot Crate so far!

Batman #36 Comic Book

I love the Loot Crate exclusive cover on this comic and the fact that it comes with some bonus digital comics. However, I will say that I would have preferred a #1 or #0 comic over one that puts you right in the middle of a story arc. If you Google "Batman 36", you'll see that this issue is actually the second part of the Endgame arc. I understand that DC probably hopes that people will buy #35 in order to be able to read the story arc as a whole, but I feel that a better way to get people into a comic series is to get them in from the start with a #1 or a #0.

Joker-Batman Pop! Figure

Now, we come to the most talked-about item that was announced for this month's Loot Crate - The exclusive Funko Pop! figure! I admit that this is not even close to anything I would have expected. Batman is awesome, but I honestly don't know what to think of this figure. It's so... weird... I'll just leave it at that.

Crunchyroll Coupon

I had never heard of Crunchyroll until I received this card and I really appreciate the 30-day trial. I love Anime, so I'm hoping to take full advantage of this trial.

Candy Cane

A December subscription box wouldn't be complete without some nod at the fact that it's Christmas month. It's why Nerd Block is such a disappointment. They don't even acknowledge the fact that Christmas exists. I understand not everyone celebrates Christmas, but why be PC about it? Christmas is fun! So, this candy cane? It's awesome. Thank you, Loot Crate.

OVERVIEW

My first December Loot Crate was wonderful. I was blown away by not only the amount of items, but by how awesome most of them were. I even have a new item added to my all-time favourites list! The thought and effort put into making this box and all the ones I've received before it are what are keeping me on as a subscriber. I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!

Speaking of 2015, in January, the theme is going to be REWIND. I'm super excited since I love retro stuff! If you're interested in learning more about Loot Crate, please check out their Web Site. And, if you would like to subscribe, you can get $3 off using the code REWIND

This concludes my final blog entry of 2014. Here's wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and very MERRY NEW YEAR! See you in 2015!

~ Mike

Nerd Block (Adult) - March, 2014

Heya! Mike here, and what a month this is for Nerd Block! Not only did they gain a new partner in Ubisoft, but they also launched their new kids boxes under the Nerd Block Jr. banner and 20% larger "adult" boxes. As a subscriber of the adult box, I was excited. I've been disappointed for the past two months and the bigger box seemed like a great opportunity for Nerd Block to fix things and give its subscribers better stuff. Here, check out the e-mail I was sent:

Who wouldn't be excited by that, right? Plus, I figured that with the kids boxes coming out, the somewhat cheaper, smaller items found in previous boxes would end up in those, leaving room in the adult box for some hefty real deal nerd awesomeness. Did Nerd Block live up to their own hype? I received my new, 20% larger Nerd Block yesterday, so let's find out!

The New, 20% Larger Nerd Block

Now, 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

MARCH, 2014

New Box (Bottom) compared to Old Box (Top)

Bigger box. Ubisoft. Two consecutive previous months of disappointment. Did Nerd Block break out of the slump? Here's a list of what I received in my box this month with approximate Canadian retail prices in brackets next to each item:

- Darth Vader T-Shirt ($15.00)

- Assassin's Creed Action Figure ($16.00)

- Topps Wacky Packages Stickers 8-Pack ($2.00)

- Legend of Zelda Capsule Figurine ($5.00)

- Star Trek Skele-Treks Miniature Figure ($2.00)

- Simpsons Guest Stars Miniature Figure ($2.00)

DARTH VADER T-SHIRT

Wow... Just... Wow... When I saw the colour of the shirt, my heart sank. You've heard me criticize Nerd Block for its lack of variety in T-shirt colours and now, I will do it again. I get that black is probably the most "universal" colour, but getting a black shirt almost every month is unacceptable. As I've stated before, other possible "universal" colours / shades are white, light grey, and dark grey. But, no. Nerd Block has once again chosen the lazy route and given its subscribers a black shirt. Oh, and the design? I personally find it to be plain and uninteresting. This shirt is by far my least favourite shirt I've received from Nerd Block and it's now going in my "rag shirts" pile.

ASSASSIN'S CREED ACTION FIGURE

As mentioned, Ubisoft has joined the Nerd Block family, and its first offering is an action figure from the game "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag". I got the character Edward Kenway, but although I own the game, I haven't played it yet, so don't know who he is. I like action figures, and I especially like action figures that come with perks like the free in-game item that comes with Edward Kenway. I'm sure some could argue that the inclusion of such a figure is not a good thing because not everyone is into "Assassin's Creed", and making the most expensive item in a Nerd Block game-/brand-specific would make the box less worthwhile to some than to others. They aren't wrong, but at the same time, when it comes to subscription boxes, I think the risk of getting such an item is part of the game. I mean, the T-shirts are usually the most expensive items, and not everyone is into what's on them, right? This should also apply to a non-T-shirt item.

TOPPS WACKY PACKAGES STICKERS

When I received a pack of Topps Wacky Packages stickers in the first Nerd Block, I wasn't interested in them. Now, 7 months later, I still have no interest in them. I'm sure others may like Wacky Packages, but they are just not my kind of thing. What bothers me, however, is that the pack I received from Nerd Block is from Series 7. After some digging, I discovered that Series 7 came out in 2010... That's almost 4 years ago! It seems Nerd Block is trying to sell off overstock from Topps. Ridiculous!

LEGEND OF ZELDA CAPSULE FIGURINE

The final three items in my Nerd Block are all a bunch of cheap plastic miniature figures. The first of those is from the "Legend of Zelda" series. Something I've noticed at my local dollar store lately is that they are receiving Nintendo-themed capsule miniatures. Right now, they have "Mario Kart" cars and "Super Mario Galaxy" figures. I honestly won't be surprised if the Zelda-themed capsule figures start popping up a couple of months from now. The thing about these toys is that I have never seen them for sale anywhere else in person. I can find them online, but never in the stores I shop at. What this tells me is that they aren't all that popular, so they're likely in the same boat as the Wacky Packages - Overstock that needs to be sold off quick. Apparently, that's where Nerd Block comes in. Sigh.

STAR TREK SKELE-TREKS MINIATURE FIGURE

Oh, boy. This one's bad. A couple of weeks ago at the comics and collectibles shops I visit, I started seeing 5" figures of Star Trek characters whose heads were designed to look like the skull decorations from Mexico's Day of the Dead. They were called "Skele-Treks" and I thought they were cool. Not cool enough to pay $15.99 for, but still cool. When I found a Skele-Treks package in my Nerd Block, I got really excited. Sure, it said that the figure was a miniature and the packaging was definitely smaller than the $15.99 ones. But, it couldn't be "that" small, right? And, its quality "should" be good since it's a Skele-Treks figure, right? Right? As Lex Luthor said in "Superman Returns"... WROOOOOONG!!! Here, have a look:

Ridiculously Tiny Figure

You see that? That's a 2" figure in a 5" package. Do you know where I've seen this kind of thing before? You guessed it! At the dollar store! Remember the extremely disappointing "Hunger Games" figure Nerd Block gave its subscribers not too long ago? This is the same thing. I find it absolutely ridiculous that NECA made these cheap, wastefully-packaged Skele-Treks figures and even more ridiculous that Nerd Block has included them.

SIMPSONS GUEST STARS MINIATURE FIGURE

The last of the three cheap figures is from the "Simpsons: 25 of the Greatest Guest Stars" series. Just like the Skele-Treks miniatures, these Simpsons figures are based off of larger, higher quality 5" figures. Also like the Skele-Treks miniatures, these Simpsons figures are tiny 2" pieces of plastic that are misleadingly packaged. This is yet another item I expect to find in dollar stores soon. Ignoring the packaging issue, I can understand why such figures exist. Not everyone can or want to pay $15 to $20 for a collectible. Smaller, cheaper figures based on larger ones are a decent solution. However, I personally don't feel they should be placed in subscription boxes with a price tag like that of Nerd Block. I'd rather get a single $15 figure over getting 3 dinky, poorly-made toys. Quality counts more than quantity for me, and I feel Nerd Block is sacrificing the former for the latter.

OVERVIEW

I am severely disappointed and somewhat ticked off with Nerd Block. What started out as a great subscription box with mostly high-quality and relevant products has degenerated over the months into what I honestly consider to be a place for companies to dump their unwanted / overstocked items. Bargain bin products, in my opinion, have no place whatsoever in a subscription box. But, there's more to the problems that are plaguing Nerd Block. Let's take a look at their "bigger" box, for example. You saw the size comparison above. Well, let's take a look at this month's items inside the new box:

My items in the new bigger box.

That's what my box looked like when I opened it. I was really surprised to see so much empty space. But, wait! The products are bigger, right?

My items in the old smaller box.

Uh... Are those... Are those this month's items fitting perfectly inside an old, smaller Nerd Block box? Why, yes. Yes, they are. Oh, and here's a photo to drive home just how bad the situation is:

Yes, those are my items inside an old Nerd Block box placed inside the new Nerd Block box. This is the kind of B.S. that has made Nerd Block such a colossal rip-off. They are so focused on "looking" like a good product that they have completely lost sight of what it means to actually be good. They exaggerate and sometimes even lie, like when they claimed that an item worth over $40 would be in their December box, yet the watch that was that item was actually being sold in most stores at around $25. They hype themselves up and fail to deliver. And, what they do deliver is mostly piles of bargain bin trash.

I cannot justify continuing to subscribe to Nerd Block. Neither can my friends. So, we have all cancelled our memberships and are moving over to the competition - Loot Crate.

Loot Crate is a subscription box that costs around the same as Nerd Block, but instead of throwing in a bunch of random nerdy items, they have a theme each month and include items based on the theme. I think it's a grand idea and something worth at least checking out. Here's a LINK.

Thus, we come to the end of what is the final Nerd Block entry from us. Moving forward, we hope you will enjoy our thoughts and comments on Loot Crate! Thanks and cheers! :)

~ Mike