January Loot Cate

The January Loot Crate theme was "Invasion" and cost $28 USD or about $43. Lets look at what we have.

The contents:
X-files shirt
X-files torch (including batteries)
5th Element Multi-pass
Space Invaders figure
Aliens facehugger plushie
Two retro movie poster prints
Looter pin (unlocks a free digital comic)

The shirt is pretty nice, its a soft material and is officially licensed. Its also just generic enough to wear as I am not very familiar with X-files...

The facehugger plush is pretty nice and includes a rubber band to hold it to your face, should you wish. The multi-pass is a movie prop replica, looks to be reasonable quality. The space invader figure is awesome. I like that Loot Crate are doing pins now, hopefully that stays as they are way nicer than the badges. This pin also unlocks a free digital comic book!

Last up are a pair of art prints based (or replicating, I'm not sure) a pair of old school invasion movies. They are printed on a nice card stock too.

So this was a very solid offering. Now I'm not an X-files fan (I was a bit young for that when it was first out!) but the items are all decent, the paper items are high quality and the bonus digital item was really good. These last two crates have made me reconsider cancelling my subscription, the next one will really help me choose one way or the other. It has also made me realize what I am passing up with the Marvel crates as these last two Loot Crates beat the pants off the Marvel one and cost me about the same.

The next theme hasn't been spoiled just yet, but there will be a shirt in every crate for 2016.

Get your own here and save $3.

December Loot Crate

The December Loot Crate theme was "Galaxy" and cost $28 USD or about $43. I signed back up to take advantage of some extra discounts, lets look at the haul this time.

I lost the boxed photos like in my last post so just the one here too.

The contents:
'Ugly sweater' print shirt
Han Solo Pop! vinyl
Halo tin and game item
Star Wars socks
Galaxy Quest patch
Badge

The shirt is pretty cool, it is nice to have something not tied to a show or game. The socks are awesome and I'm not one to wear anything other than black socks. The Han Solo pop is nice and an exclusive. The Halo tin is okay as is the Galaxy Quest patch.

So this was a pretty good box, lightly holiday themed shirt but otherwise normal. Compared to the Marvel box there just isn't any contest, Loot Crate was way better. The January box should be arriving in the next day or so and the theme is "Invasion."

Get your own here and save $3.

December Marvel Collector Corps Crate

The December Marvel Collector Corps crate theme was "Guardians of the Galaxy" and cost $45 USD, or about $70 NZD. This crate has been slammed pretty hard online and I'm posting it up pretty late but lets see what we got.

The contents:
Scarf
Comic
Star Lord mug
Groot and Rocket bobble ornaments
Pin and patch

So I accidentally wiped my camera memory card before pulling the pictures of everything still in boxes so this photo is all I'm going to do. If you have seen the past crates I've posted I'm sure you can guess why the internet was furious with this one...

Lets start with the big item, the mug. It is a 3D mug, an exclusive version to fit in with Funkos mug range (like this.) I said this with the Venom mug I got from Loot crate, I hate this kind of mug. They are hard to use, ugly and have to be hand washed. At least this one has a passable paint job, but a simple printed mug would have been WAY better. A lot of nerd-rage was around this replacing an actual Pop! figure, which everyone would have preferred, myself included.

Replacing the shirt this month is a winter themed scarf. It is a nice scarf, feels like it is good quality and the pattern is good. Its a shame that this arrived in the middle of summer and that it doesn't get cold enough for me to ever wear scarves. Would have preferred a shirt, much like most other people not living in the colder climates.

The two ornament figures are the high point of the box but I am unsure as to who thought making bobble heads into ornaments would be a good idea. As it stands, the figures can't stand by themselves so I will have to hang them to display them, making them no longer bobble...

That leaves the comic, pin and patch. The cover on the comic is nice, but the actual content of the comic is a bit poor. Half of it is about Thing, with cameos from Rocket. Pin and patch are good and will add to the pile.

So this was a huge letdown of a box. It furthers my stance that holiday themes are a bad idea and that Funko/Marvel had a good formula to the boxes so why change it? After the feedback they have had I imagine things could go back to the old formula pretty quickly, but it may not be soon enough. The next box theme is "Deadpool" which leaves me in a sticky situation. I could drop the subscription because of this box and miss out on some cool stuff (assuming they learnt their lesson), or choose to keep the subscription and end up with more junk (because Deadpool may already have been finalised). It is a lot of money to gamble with and I have to figure it out before I am billed in February. Or forget and have it decided for me, whatever works!

Week 3 - One Goal Down

So I'm gradually picking up momentum on the painting front. I've finished up the commissions from last year which gives me another 3 models complete. The client dropped off another 7 models to do though, so I will be cracking on to them fairly soon. At least there aren't any runes on these ones!

I should be able to get on with some of my own stuff while I sort out the assembly on the new commissions so there is the possibility that I will actually catch up on my painting target.

Day 17
5/17 Painted/Days passed
Goals:
Commission models - 3
Finish painting Infinity Morats - 0/1
Paint remaining Zombicide zombies - 2/19
Paint all DZC Scourge - 0/45
Build and paint remaining KOW Elves - 0/15
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew - 0/4

Week 2 - A Slow Start

10 days in and I am already behind. I usually try to be ahead by about a months worth at this stage but instead I have finished just 2 models. This is largely because I have been focusing on finishing my commission models, which are large and high detail so require quite a bit of attention. All things considered I hope to finish them up next week. Here are the two zombies I finished.

These are the opening steps to the year and at least I am working towards completing last years goals. Onward and upwards, at least I can still catch up my deficit.

Day 10
2/10 Painted/Days passed
Goals:
Commission models - 0
Finish painting Infinity Morats - 0/1
Paint remaining Zombicide zombies - 2/19
Paint all DZC Scourge - 0/45
Build and paint remaining KOW Elves - 0/15
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew - 0/4