Marvel Collector Corps - 2015 - Box 4 - Villains

Heya, peeps! Mike here, bringing you more Marvel Collector Corps goodness. When I first heard that the theme for this fourth box would be "Villains", I was super excited because so far, the main focus had been predominantly on heroes. Here was a chance for the bad guys to shine, and with so many different characters to choose from, I was very interested in finding out who Funko and Marvel would feature.

My box arrived extremely late this time around, but when I saw its external design featuring Venom's face, a part of me knew it was worth the wait. Before I move on to describing what was inside the box, here's some vital pricing info you need to know about if you're new to this program:

Bi-Monthly Subscription

$31.95 USD to the US / $39.00 USD to Canada (Shipping Included)

Yearly Subscription

$191.70 USD to the US / $234.00 USD to Canada (Shipping Included)

As you may have noticed above, this isn't a monthly subscription. Instead, Funko sends a box out every 2 months, thus the higher box price compared to programs like Loot Crate and Nerd Block. If you get the yearly subscription, you get an 8" bonus figure each year on the anniversary of your subscription.

Alrighty, now that we have the business out of the way, on to the good stuff!

Here's a list of what was inside the box, along with approximate pricing:

- Collector Corps Pin ($5.00 CAD)

- Collector Corps Patch ($5.00 CAD)

- Villains T-Shirt ($18.00 CAD)

- Invincible Iron Man #1 Comic ($5.00 CAD)

- Morbius Pop! Vinyl ($17.00 CAD)

- Venom Pop! Keychain ($8.00 CAD)

- Loki Dorbz Vinyl ($15.00 CAD)

Collector Corps Box

As expected, the inside of the custom Villains box has a design made up of comic book panels featuring various Marvel baddies. I feel that this design is definitely better than the one for the Secret Wars box.

Collector Corps Pin

I'm not a fan of Green Goblin, but his face makes for one awesome pin design.

Collector Corps Patch

"Captain America: The First Avenger" didn't do Red Skull justice, but this amazing patch definitely does!

Villains T-Shirt

This shirt has a fantastic pencil and ink sketch design featuring several of Marvel's greatest villains. I am definitely going to wear it quite a bit!

Invincible Iron Man #1

Marvel recently "rebooted" their universe, so I wasn't surprised to see a #1 issue in... Wait wait WAIT... "Iron Man"? Isn't this a box about villains? I guess I'll have to read this comic to find out why Marvel would put such an odd item in the box. However, I do want to note that I absolutely love the cover design. I'm a huge fan of zombies, so seeing the newly redesigned Iron Man fighting some is making me very, very happy.

Morbius Pop! Vinyl

Wow, what an unexpected Pop! figure! Morbius isn't exactly a top tier Marvel villain these days, but he is one that I have a bit of a soft spot for. I'm glad he's being featured so prominently in this box and that he is the first Collector Corps Pop! to have 2 versions. As shown on the back of the box, subscribers either get regular Morbius or Zombie Morbius. As I mentioned above, I love zombies, but I personally like the non-zombie design more, so I'm really happy to have gotten it. Booyah!

Venom Pop! Keychain

Because of the design of the outside of the Villains box, I was definitely expecting a Venom item and I was not disappointed. Jess and I each own a Pop! keychain already, so I can tell you that they're sturdy and look great with our keys. Venom here will be switching on and off with John Snow every few months. :)

Loki Dorbz Vinyl

I don't collect Dorbz, but this Loki one is just too cute not to put on display. In fact, Jess has already claimed it for herself to put next to the Ulton Dorbz she took from a previous box!

OVERVIEW

The team of Marvel and Funko has been quite consistent in giving Collector Corps subscribers great combinations of products and this Villains box is no exception. Despite the Iron Man comic being potentially outside the theme, I felt that I received incredible value and just all-around awesome items in this box. After 4 hits and no misses, I can now confidently recommend Marvel Collector Corps if you're looking for a nerdy program to subscribe to. For more information, check out their web site HERE.

Annnd, that's all for now. Thank you for reading this entry and I hope to see you again soon!

~ Mike

Marvel Collector Corps - 2015 - Box 3

Hey, peeps! Mike here, and I'm very excited to be bringing you another Marvel Collector Corps review. So far, the collaboration between Marvel Comics and Funko Toys has given us two superb subscription box offerings, so I was simply ecstatic when the third one showed up at my door, albeit rather late compared to the previous ones.

Yes, that is indeed the new Thor on the box! But, before I move on to what was inside, here's some vital pricing info about this relatively new subscription program:

Bi-Monthly Subscription

$31.95 USD to the US / $39.00 USD to Canada (Shipping Included)

Yearly Subscription

$191.70 USD to the US / $234.00 USD to Canada (Shipping Included)

As you may have noticed above, this isn't a monthly subscription. Instead, Funko sends a box out every 2 months, thus the higher box price compared to programs like Loot Crate and Nerd Block. If you get the yearly subscription, you get an 8" bonus figure each year on the anniversary of your subscription.

Now that the business side of things is out of the way, on to the goodies!

Here's a list of what was inside the box, along with approximate pricing:

- Collector Corps Pin ($5.00 CAD)

- Collector Corps Patch ($5.00 CAD)

- Secret Wars T-Shirt ($18.00 CAD)

- Secret Wars #1 Comic ($5.00 CAD)

- Spider-Man Pop! Vinyl ($17.00 CAD)

- Thor Pop! Vinyl ($17.00 CAD)

Collector Corps Box

I'm a huge fan of the Collector Corps custom boxes, but I honestly didn't find the choice of comic panels to be as dynamic as the ones in the previous boxes. But, I admit that I haven't read "Secret Wars", which is the theme of this box, so maybe it's a lot cooler than I know.

Collector Corps Pin

That is one awesome-looking Iron Man pin! It's definitely going to be a fine addition to my growing collection on my cork board.

Collector Corps Patch

I love the design of this Falc... err... Captain America patch. As I've said before, I don't really collect patches, but I'm sure I'll find some way to display this beauty.

Secret Wars T-Shirt

I cannot express how much I love this shirt. It's definitely the most obvious Marvel / Funko shirt to date, which I really appreciate since this is a Marvel / Funko subscription program after all. But, more than that, I think the design is just amazing! You'll definitely see me walking down the street with this shirt on.

Secret Wars #1 Comic

After giving subscribers an eyebrow-raising #5 in the previous box, the Collector Corps gurus smartened up and gave us a #1. As I haven't read "Secret Wars", this will certainly be a good place for me to start. Plus, I love the cover!

Spider-Man Pop! Vinyl

Oh, man! Way to deliver, Funko / Marvel! Yes, this is Miles Morales Spider-Man. Yes, it's awesome!

Thor Pop! Vinyl

And, yes, this is the new Thor immortalized as a Pop! figure and officially my favourite item of this box. Now, please excuse me while I drool all over my keyboard.

OVERVIEW

I have to say, this third Marvel Collector Corps offering was a home run. It had fantastic items and was definitely worth the price of admission. If you haven't signed up for this program already, I highly recommend that you give it a shot. You can do that by visiting their web site HERE.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and see you again soon!

~ Mike

Garlic Snow Crab Fries - Jake's Lobster - CNE

Hey hey! Mike here, and this entry is going to be something a little different. As you know, we normally talk about subscription boxes and toys. But today, I'm going to talk about food... in a box!

Jess and I just went to the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada the other day and it was a blast.

The main attraction for us has always been the food. Every year, we go with our friends to try the latest crazy creations, like deep fried butter, deep fried Oreos, chocolate bars baked into croissants, hamburgers with grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns, red velvet waffle pulled pork sandwiches, cocoa chicken, and much, much more.

This year, one of the popular items comes from Jake's Lobster, which is beside Epic Burger.

For $11 (tax included), you can get their Garlic Snow Crab Fries, which is essentially a poutine-like box of fries with snow crab and garlic mayonnaise. Here, take a look.

That looks delicious and, honestly, it was. The crab was tender and went really well with the garlic mayo. This could really give Smoke's Poutinerie a run for their money.

However, something really bothered me as I worked my way through my meal. Take a look at the box. Considering its size and the associated price tag, one would expect a decent portion size. After a few bites, though, I noticed something. Here's a photo from when I was close to finishing.

That there is a tray at the bottom of the box. What it means is that while the box looks to be three quarters full when you get it, it in actuality is closer to only half full. In other words, Jake's Lobster is ripping people off.

Look, I get that vendors want to make money. But, $11 is NOT cheap. And, as much as I have come to appreciate that gourmet items at the CNE aren't cheap, I do expect to be satisfied. This is the first time I was left not only still hungry, but also with a bitter taste in my mouth.

If Jake's Lobster didn't want to give that much crab, that's fine with me. Give less crab. But, fries are not expensive at all and neither is garlic mayo. Filling three quarters of the box (or even the entire box) with fries really isn't going to put a dent in their profit. So, why not do it?

Because the owners of Jake's Lobster are cheap douchebags.

If you want good fries at the Ex, I highly recommend you go to Dutch Frites instead. Jess and I shared an order of their Indo Frites for dinner, which had garlic mayo, green onions, and crunchy fried onion bits. The price was good, the fries tasted amazing, and we got almost double the amount of food compared to the Garlic Snow Crab Fries. Here's a picture of the Indo Frites.

So, please stay away from Jake's Lobster at the CNE. And, if our review doesn't deter you, then please also consider that the wait time for your food is 10 to 15 minutes when there is NO lineup and they serve expensive clam chowder in a tiny cup, but don't have any spoons for you to eat it with. Yes, they are that bad.

If you go to the Ex this year, please share your food exploits with us by leaving a comment. We'd love to hear about what you ate.

And, that's all for now. Stay tuned for my Marvel Collector Corps review coming soon!

~ Mike

ZBox - July, 2015 - Ghosts & Ghouls

Hi, hi! Mike here, and I couldn't help myself after receiving the awesome June ZBox, so I ordered the July one as well. Today, I finally received my long-awaited shipment! Here's a first look at what's inside:

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 came to $36.57 CAD with shipping included.

JULY - GHOSTS & GHOULS

I know the photo above looks awesome and you're just dying to know exactly what was in the ZBox, so I'll get right to it. Here's a list:

- ZBox Mini Magazine ($2.50 CAD)

- Lost Boys T-Shirt ($20.00 CAD)

- Ghost Rider Keychain ($10.00 CAD)

- Pac-Man Magnets ($10.00 CAD)

- Build Your Own Zombie ($12.00 CAD)

- Rivers of London #1 Comic ($5.00 CAD)

- Ghostbusters Postcard ($1.00 CAD)

- Ghostbusters Titans Vinyl ($15.00 CAD)

- Black Jack Candy ($0.25 CAD)

ZBox Box

This is my second ZBox and it has a custom box like the first one I got. I love the Bram Stoker's Dracula quote in it. I rate this box 5 Keanus out of 5.

ZBox Mini Magazine

As you probably know, I love getting themed magazines in my nerdy subscription boxes. This little guy has some great articles, including one about vampire movies that don't suck. There was a lot of hard work put into this magazine, so I thank the ZBox peeps for that.

Lost Boys T-Shirt

I admittedly have never watched the movie "Lost Boys", but I know it's supposed to be good. This shirt's design I definitely like. It's subtle, so one wouldn't know it's a nerd / pop culture shirt unless they knew the reference. Plus, I love that the shirt is grey.

Ghost Rider Keychain

This is a very cool old school Ghost Rider keychain. I love the design! Apparently, it's a ZBox exclusive based on the sticker on the back of the packaging, which makes this even better.

Pac-Man Magnets

"Hello, my sweet, little boy. Look how big you've grown." ^_~ I can't wait to put these magnets on my freezer door!

Build Your Own Zombie

Okay, wow. This is something new and unexpected. Inside the box you get some "dough" with which to build a zombie, or whatever else you may think to make with the stuff. It's basically like Play-Doh, except that when the stuff dries, it hardens. Extremely cool and one of the best items in this box.

Rivers of London #1 Comic

I have never heard of this comic before and that's great! I appreciate being introduced to something new. Oh, and is that an exclusive cover? Why, yes. Yes, it is. Thanks, ZBox.

Ghostbusters Postcard

I love postcards and this one rocks. Sure, it's simple, but I like that.

Ghostbusters Titans Vinyl

You may recognize this from the San Diego Comic Con edition of Loot Crate, but there is one very big difference. Whereas the Loot Crate figure was just a random one, ZBox was able to get us an exclusive red Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! This is easily my favourite item in this box and one that I am happy to display on one of my bookshelves.

Black Jack Candy

Ah, what a great way to cap things off. If you like black licorice, you'll love this candy. If you don't, just pretend you didn't get one. :p

OVERVIEW

I have to hand it to ZBox. I thought their June box was going to be a one-off in terms of awesomeness, but they hit another home run with this Ghosts & Ghouls box. Every item fit the theme well and was something worth getting. Plus, several of the items were exclusives. Even better. I'm really impressed with ZBox and can definitely recommend it. So, if you're interested in learning more about or signing up for ZBox, just head on over to their site HERE.

And, that's it for ZBox for now. Unfortunately, my budget really can't allow me to keep ordering from them. But, if a theme comes along that really calls out to me, I'll be sure to pre-order and then let you all know what I get.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for my upcoming Marvel Collector Corps review! And, as always, thanks for reading!

~ Mike

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