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!

Ba-Da-Boom Box

So at Auckland Armageddon it came to my attention that a local company was throwing their hat in to the 'block' arena. I'm not one to shy away from trying something out so gave them a looksie. The company is My Pop Culture and the blocks are called Ba-Da-Boom box. They offer three 'themes;' Gamer, Hero and Mixed for $50 shipped, or a $25 mini version. I picked up a Hero version.

The contents:
Spider-man Pop! vinyl
Riddler beer mug
The Hulk scalers
Iron-man cufflinks
Batman Heroclix blind bag
Superman comic
X-men 2 DVD

A Pop vinyl is always good and spidey is a welcome addition to my shelf. Now I'm not a drinker but I can certainly appreciate a decent piece of glassware. This is a welcome addition as my gaming garage is going to be finished soon and suitably geeky glassware will fit in nicely.

There were some nice small items in the box as well. The Hulk Scaler is nice, I'm not one to wear headphones (mine are wireless) but I have got a little key ring display that he will fit with nicely. The cufflinks are very nice and the Wife is particularly keen on me having some which is a plus. I've already got most of the Batman Heroclix set (I'm missing two rares) so an extra chance to get one of those was great (no such luck though).

Lastly were a couple of almost nostalgia pieces. There is an X-Men 2 DVD and a Superman comic from 2003. Now there is nothing wrong with the DVD except that I already have it, so all good. The comic is pretty weird as it really is old, very good condition and shipped in a bag though. Superman is my least favorite hero so maybe I'm just biased, a batman comic I probably would have loved.

So what is the verdict? I think there is a lot of potential here:

• There is a solid quantity of items
• The items are all good quality
• There was a good mix of toys, apparel and entertainment

I will probably check out the other variations in the coming months. The value of this box came in at about $83 (they claim 'up to $100' value) which is in just the right spot. The items I like are more than the base cost and the box arrived within 4 days of ordering, which are all big positives.

I would recommend checking this out, with xmas coming up in particular. Geeks can be hard to buy for at times and this would really up your odds of getting something they like, without having to be a geek yourself.

Available here. (So you don't have to scroll back up to the link above...)

Arcade Grab Block

As part of signing up for the Arcade block in the last post I had the opportunity to get a half price 'grab block.' These are boxes containing a random assortment of items from recent-ish blocks. I figured I would give this a go and post about it, for those on the fence. Bear in mind that these are only available when you sign up for a new subscription (for the time being) but the new Sci-fi block is out very soon... Which is obviously why I've been checking them out again. This set me back $23 USD, or around $35 NZD.

The contents:
CounterStrike shirt
Evolve Pop!
Portal 2 magnets
Street Fighter key chain
Blue Shell on Board sign
Sonic comic

The shirt is from Shirtpunch but is quite soft, which is good. The print is reasonable and I have nothing against more grey for my wardrobe.

A Pop! vinyl is always welcome, I've not played Evolve but the concept sounds pretty cool. This adds to my set nicely but I'm probably not going to add the others any time soon. Too many other cool options on the list first!

Now for the rest, the portal magnets are cool and look to be reasonable quality. The street fighter key chain lights up and plays the hadoken sound bite. This is pretty cool, hopefully it will survive regular use. The comic will prove to be a nice read I'm sure but I have no idea what I'm going to do with the blue shell sign...

As far as pseudo-random packs are concerned this one turned out pretty well. Between the Pop and the shirt I've not lost any investment and I only got one item of little to no use. Given the reduced price I'm pretty happy all up.

Value: The shirt and Pop cover the costs, everything else is a nice bonus.

Get your own here.

October Arcade Block

The October Arcade block just came through and cost me $33 USD, or about $50 NZD. I got a bit sucked back in with all the Fallout 4 hype, I've already stopped the subscription as the next set of spoilers don't really interest me.

The contents:

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 shirt

Atari cap

Fallout Funko blind box figure

Titanfall K'nex set

Retro City Rampage computer game

The shirt is the usual fare from Shirtpunch, it feels a little rough but the print is actually pretty cool, which can be a bit hit-and-miss from these boxes. I'm happy with this one.

Next up is the Atari cap. I'm not much of a hat person but it is reasonable quality and has both print (the rainbow stripes) and embroidery (Atari logo) so with summer upon us I'm just as likely to wear it as any other hat.

This box also came with a Funko Fallout blind box figure and a K'nex Titanfall set. Luckily for me I got one of the figures I wanted out of the blind box. I hadn't looked too closely at that set as there are quite a few 'odd' figures in there. The K'nex set is interesting, it didn't take long to do and it all seems to be made of thinner stuff than the normal sets. This isn't something I would usually get for myself (I prefer Lego) but it was nice to see what else is out there. I'm not going to get more though.

Lastly the block came with Retro City Rampage DX. I've not had a chance to load it up yet but it looks like it will be a nice little time waster. It comes in a old style box, with an old floppy disk style CD cover but has a download code as well. Solid effort all up.

So I've had a couple Arcade blocks in the past that weren't so great. This one is certainly a step up from those, all of the items are real, solid, pieces unlike some of the paper heavy ones in the past. If Nerd block keep this up I may be back on a more permanent basis.

Value: There are 5 items in this block and they are all worth at least $10 each so there isn't anything lost. No complaints from me, I'm content with this one.

Get your own here.

October Marvel Collector Corps Crate

The October Marvel Collector Corps crate theme was "Villains" and cost $45 USD, or about $70 NZD. This crate had a lot to live up to after the last one, lets see what we got.

The contents:

Shirt featuring several villains sketches

Comic

Morbius Pop!

Loki Dorbz

Venom keychain

Pin and patch

The shirt isn't too bad but is lacking colour. It is still a high quality shirt though and the grey is a nice change from the more common black ones from other boxes.

The comic is another variant cover. It seems like they were going with a Halloween theme a bit with this box as the cover incorporates zombie villains. The pin is of Green Goblin and the patch has Red Skull.

The figures on offer this time are a Morbius Pop, Loki Dorbz and Venom keychain. This is a pretty solid haul, 3 figures is pretty much what I want out of every box. The Loki and Venom are pretty cool, Morbius is a pretty odd choice though which points more strongly to the Halloween theme. Morbius is also the random drop in this box, he comes in zombie and normal forms.

I've spoken to a couple other people and the vibe around this box wasn't great. Some videos online say the same thing. I think this is definitely down to the Morbius Pop. If either of the pin or patch characters were swapped with Morbius I think people would have been much happier. As I said above, 3 figures is awesome, so I'm pretty happy anyway.

Value: A Pop and a Dorbz come in at $50, so with a shirt the value easily rises over the $70 spent.

The next theme is "Guardians of the Galaxy" which is awesome...

If you want your own you can subscribe here.

August Marvel Collector Corps Crate

The August Marvel Collector Corps crate theme was "Secret Wars" and cost $45 USD, or about $70 NZD. This is the first Marvel crate not tied to a movie release so makes things a bit different.

The contents this time:
Shirt featuring 4 Pop! vinyl style characters
Comic
Spiderman Pop! figure
Thor Pop! figure
Pin and Patch

The shirt is another official Pop! product and is very nice. The print is really cool, much better than the Ant-man one as it is more prominent.

The comic is an exclusive cover of the Secret Wars #1, featuring a Pop! Thor. Nice, but as the comic has been out for a little while I already have a copy. From the May Comic block, with an exclusive cover as well. This is a shame and with the theme as it is, not surprising. It was at least bagged and boarded this time, so an improvement. The badge and patch are both cool, I'm liking my little collection.

Last up are the figures. Not one, but two Pop! vinyls this time. This is excellent. The Spiderman and Thor figures are both great, the Thor doesn't balance very well, all the hair at the back means it doesn't really bobble either though. Not a big issue (most people seem to keep these in box anyway, weirdos... *Joking*) so I'm really happy.

This is yet another solid offering from Marvel Collector Corps. I feel like this is what Loot Crate and Nerd Block set out to be in their infancy but have since deviated. For me, I want cool figures, shirts and pins/badges/patches. Comics are a bonus. By sticking to this formula Marvel Collector Corps will keep getting my money. As long as it is spare anyway.

The pattern is looking pretty clear now: Shirt, Pop!, Comic, Pin, Patch and a wildcard figure. Nothing wrong with that in my books!

The value of this crate: for a Pop! shirt, 2 Pop! vinyls and a comic you would expect to pay $90-$100. For any given geeky shirt and 2 Pop! figures you could pay around $70. Either way you slice it you are still getting a little ahead, definitely not losing money.

The next theme is yet to be revealed, it should be in the next few days though...

If you want your own you can subscribe here.

August Loot Crate

The August Loot Crate theme was "Villains 2" and cost $30 USD or about $45 NZD.

The contents this month:
A mug (either Venom or Carnage, I got Venom)
A Breaking Bad apron
A Joker wooden toy
A Hydra pin
and the lootcrate mag and badge

There are just four items in this crate and three of them are fairly large. The first one is the mug. I think this was supposed to be the jewel of the box but unfortunately it is pretty rubbish. It would be very hard to drink out of, the paint job is pretty sloppy and worst of all, its ugly. The wife hates it. I think the best use for it will be as a pencil holder, and only just barely.

Next up is the apron. This is pretty nice, includes some pockets but is a little short. It is nicely made though so will find some use around the house.

Last of the big items is the Joker wooden toy. This is nice but more of a young child toy than a collectible. It does come with an alternate head and can be posed to some extent. It looks like this is a custom paint job not normally available though.

To finish out the box was a Hydra pin, a replica of the ones used in the Winter Soldier movie. This is really nice, something I would buy for myself and the highlight of the box.

So the verdict this month: Meh. The best item was also the smallest. I think the box could have been much better just by changing out the mug. A normal mug with a nice print would have been way better and quite possibly allowed for another small item to be put in the box too. I know of at least a couple people who have dropped their subscriptions after the last two boxes and I am one of them. I may yet return but for now I'm happier spending that money on other things, even just a Pop vinyl, comic and patch would make me happier than the last couple boxes.

Thinking of subscribing yourself? Use this link and you get a discount and I get credit too! Win-win!

June Marvel Collector Corps Crate

The June Marvel Collector Corps crate theme was "Ant-Man" and cost $45 USD. (About $69 NZ.) This crate was a little late due to some payment issues with my initial subscription but is still available if you start a new subscription.

The contents this time:
Shirt
Comic
Pop! figure
2 blind box figures (with 4 possible figures)
Pin and patch
All of which are Ant-man themed

The shirt is nice quality and is from Pop! vinyls new clothing range. It gives me high hopes for that range as it is nicer than any shirt from Nerd Block and on par with several of the Loot Crate ones. The print leaves a little to be desired, it is cool and clever but that doesn't always make for the best of geeky apparel.

The figures this time are really good. I'm all for boxes that are mostly figures so I was bound to be happy. We get an unmasked Pop! Ant-man with exclusive mini Ant-man and two blind figures. The full sized Pop! is great and the mini figure is cool but it is claimed as a bobble head, which doesn't work very well. On the other hand the blind box figures are really good. It helps that I really wanted Yellowjacket and got him but they are also bobble heads and work great.

The last items are the comic, pin and patch. The pin and patch are great, the same quality as the last crates offerings. The comic was a nice read but does drop you in the middle of a story a bit. As it is issue number 5 this is kind of to be expected but in some ways I would have expected an issue 0 or 1. This is an interesting move since not many people knew much (or anything) about Ant-man before the movie, so it does tie in well that way. (I assume issue 1 covered some of the origins, much like the movie...) This poses the same issue I was worried about with Comic Block, how often are we going to be dropped into a story part way through, without knowing much about who is in the book?

So the pattern of the Marvel crates is starting to unfold, with the first one containing a shirt (with 4 possible prints), Pop! figure, comic, extra figure, pin and a patch. It seems like you will always have something that has variable odds which is a nice little feature to go with the guarantee of a Pop! and a shirt. The next one (orders close on the 16th BTW) will really solidify what these will contain in the future.

So what is the value from this box? Well the shirt, Pop! and blind figures add up to about the cost price, so the comic, patch and pin are free. Everything is exclusive though so you could swing the values a bit that way. This does mean that if there is something in the box you don't like (particularly a bigger item) then you may struggle to find the value.

The next theme is "Secret Wars" which will be pretty interesting...

If you want your own you can subscribe here.

July 2015 Loot Crate

The July 2015 Loot Crate theme was "Heroes 2" and cost $29.99 USD. (about $45 with the exchange rate as it is.)

The contents this month:
Q-pop Batman (with exclusive word bubble)
Regrettable Super Heroes book (with exclusive cover)
Batman multi-tool keychain
Brawlhalla download card
Legend of Zelda wristband
Wonder Woman mini poster
Star Trek air freshener
Looter mag and pin

This month is another paper heavy month but it makes up for it with some pretty cool items. The Q-Pop figure is awesome and the box doubles as a building for him to stand on.

The other physical items are the keychain, wristband and air freshener, these are okay items, the keychain is pretty big so probably more something you keep at home. I'm not sure how many people wear just one wristband but it is nice. I have another from a previous block so at least I have two. The air freshener is what it is.

The paper and digital items are pretty cool though. The poster is pretty cool and the Brawlhalla code gets you a character and some skins for it (the game is free too!) The other big item in the crate is the Regrettable Heroes book. This is pretty nice and I look forward to reading it.

So this crate felt kinda similar to the first heroes crate, it missed the mark for me a little bit. I feel like it is too hard to cover heroes from many different genres in one go (Marvel didn't make an appearance at all...) On the other hand the last villains crate was one of my favourites. I'm happy with the crate overall, the major items are all good, it was the minor items that could have been better in my opinion. The value is there from just the book and Batman figure so no real loss.

As I predicted, next months theme is Villains 2. I look forward to it!

Thinking of subscribing yourself? Use this link and you get a discount and I get credit too! Win-win!

June 2015 Loot Crate

First change of the re-defined blog, I'm splitting my loot reviews, for easier searching!

The June 2015 Loot Crate theme was "Cyber" and cost $29.99 USD. (about $45 with the exchange rate as it is.)

Sorry for blurry photo, I didn't realize until after I had opened half the items...

The contents this month:
Optimus Prime / Tron crossover T-shirt
Borderlands mouse mat
Pencil case with glow in the dark circuit design
Terminator Genisys 1/2 scale endoskull
Terminator brain chip necklace
Replicant patch
Battlestar Galactica cylon target sheets (two in a cool envelope)
NerdHQ stickers
Loot Crate badge

This crate had a lot of little items and some paper but balanced it with some cool solid items as well. For anyone questioning the value of these things, the endoskull is available here as a pre-order at $55. I love the shirt, its great. The endoskull and brain chip are pretty cool (the chip is solid metal and really heavy) and I'm sure at some point I will find something perfect to attach my growing pile of patches to. The other stuff I can take or leave, the cylon targets are cool but I don't really know what to do with them. I haven't used a mouse mat in ages as cheap optical mice tend not to like patterned surfaces. But it is cool, maybe I will find somewhere for it.

Value-wise this crate is a good one, between the skull, shirt and chip you are looking at $90 so all up this would be around $100. This is why I keep sticking with Loot Crate, I may not have bought everything for myself but I'm not selling it all off either. All for around the cost of a decent geeky shirt.

July's theme is Heroes 2. But it is already shipping at the time of this post. See the July block review for the next theme! (I suspect villains 2...)

Thinking of subscribing yourself? Use this link and you get a discount and I get credit too! Win-win!

May Loot Review

For Mays loot review I received a Loot Crate and the new Comic Block from Nerd Block. Pricing structures below:

Comic Block - $14US/month + $10US shipping = ~$32 NZ
Loot Crate - $13.37US/month + $16.52US shipping = ~$41 NZ

The Comic Block:

A Simpsons Shirt, Marvel Secret Wars #1, DC Convergence #1, Mythic #1 and a Batman print.

The Loot Crate:

A Power Rangers Shirt, Bravest Warriors comic, Mad mini mag, Avengers car decal, shoe laces and ice tray, Rick and Morty puzzle and team fortress badges. And the usual Loot Crate badge and mag.

This Loot Crate had some great stuff, the wife loves the ice tray, the shirt is cool and I quite liked the badges. I'm not really into Mad magazine and this month the Looter badge had 2 variants, which bugs my collector senses. There is nothing in this one that I wont get use out of which is always good.

The comic block wasn't too bad. The comics were all decent choices and a good read, the DC and Marvel ones are limited edition covers too. The shirt is good, far better than some of the ones in sister blocks past. The Batman print is nice too. The main problem I have with the block is that I'm not sure how well it will hold up over time. There can only be so many first editions available and coming in part way through a story would really bother me. I was also disappointed that the first block contained an unsigned, not numbered print. A random collectible would have made this block perfect. Value-wise this just doesn't compare to the Loot Crate (for just a $9 difference) and I could buy the comics for ~$20, less for digital copies. I've dropped this crate for these reasons.

Loot Crate - June theme is Cyber

April Loot Review

For Aprils loot review I received a Loot Crate and the new Marvel Collector Corps box. Pricing structures below:

Collector Corps - $25US/bi-monthly + $20US shipping = ~$60 NZ
Loot Crate - $13.37US/month + $16.52US shipping = ~$41 NZ

The Collector Corps box:

A Thor vs Ultron shirt, 6" Hulkbuster Pop vinyl, Ultron Dorbs vinyl, Avengers comic and a collector corps badge and patch.

The Loot Crate:

A D&D shirt and bow-tie, Harry Potter bag tag, Game of Thrones magnets and USB (4Gb), Princess Bride playing cards, inflatable crown and badge.

Another good Loot Crate, the USB is particularly cool (shame it is only 4Gb though) and the shirt is nice. I haven't got a bow-tie so may as well have a really geeky one. The wife particularly likes the bag tag and I suspect the crown will go down well with my daughter once she is a little older.

The Collector Corps box definitely came out swinging. There is nothing in the box that I don't like and two figures is a good place to start from. The shirt had 3 other possible variants (each with a different hero) but all had the 'fight night' theme so there aren't any serious issues over one being cooler than the others. There is one gripe though, my Hulkbuster has glue marks in several places and a splotch of blue paint on the front (there isn't even any blue used on this figure...) I've looked through some other comments from people who also got the box and this seems to be rather common. My guess is that things got a bit rushed trying to hit the shipping windows so quality control dropped a bit. I'm still happy though and expect that things will be ironed out for the next box.

I've picked up a sub for the new Comic Block out of Nerd Block so look for a review of that later this month. Or early next month, whatever the case may be!

Loot Crate - May theme is Unite
Collector Corps - June is Ant Man (April is still available right now though!)

March Loot Review

Another slightly late monthly loot review, this time March. I received a Loot Crate and Classic Nerd Block this time. Here are the costs:

Nerd Block - $19.99US/month + $12.50US shipping = ~$44 NZ
Loot Crate - $13.37US/month + $16.52US shipping = ~$41 NZ

This months Nerd Block Classic:

The shirt is from Shaun of the Dead, a Simon Pegg book, Guardians stacking toy and magnet, Munny blank figure and a prank pack with ice flies and whoopie cushion.

The Loot Crate:

This contained a James Bond shirt, spy themed mad libs, Orphan black comic, a pair of notebooks, Shield lanyard, Spy watch, Paracord bracelet and a digital Ninjak comic. (Plus the usual looter mag and pin.)

The Nerd block contents are okay this month, the shirt is nice enough and I'm not about to say no to another DIY figure. The Guardians stuff is a little low quality though and while I understand the prank gifts tying in with April 1st they are a little bit lame. I'm not likely to read the book any time soon, I'm not one for biographies. It is nice they are doing books more now, but I pick books that I want to read more than I read what others recommend to me, so it probably doesn't suit me very well.

Loot crate has done pretty well again this month. Not pictured above is the box, made to look like a computer console, which provides a web address and clue to a mini-game, involving cryptic questions about items in the box. The completion of the tasks gets you a bonus item in next months crate. A cool idea, I should find out what the bonus item is in the next of couple weeks... The shirt is nice (I wore it last week already) and the paracord bracelet is pretty nifty (it comes with instructions on how to use it for several emergency and survival tasks) and the lanyard is actually very cool if you follow 'Agents of Shield.' The watch is cool as it only displays the time when you touch the front face, otherwise it is black all the time. The Ninjak comic wasn't bad but the Orphan black comic was a bit hard to follow. The notepads are okay and mad libs aren't really my thing.

I really think that the last couple months have really shown the differences between Loot Crate and Nerd Block. Loot Crate is cheaper, contains more and the items are generally of a higher quality. That is just my opinion, obviously, but they seem to have the process fairly well in hand at this stage. The addition of digital items obviously lets them get more value into the box without upping the weight or materials costs so you can get more. The licensed products also tend to be better too. Good job Loot Crate, I'm sticking with you guys a while longer.

I've got the new Marvel crate coming soon in place of Nerd Block, at least until I decide if it is worth the cost (its about $60 every 2 months...)

Nerd Block - April theme is 80s
Loot Crate - April theme is Fantasy

February Loot Review

This is a review for February's Nerd Block and Loot Crate, here is what they cost:

Nerd Block - $19.99US/month + $12.50US shipping = ~$44 NZ
Loot Crate - $13.37US/month + $16.52US shipping = ~$41 NZ

This months Nerd Block Classic:

The shirt is Flash themed, also included is a notepad, Saul Goodman figure, Star Wars comic, 2 packs of Cliccors and 2 packs of cosplay cards.

For Loot Crate:

There is a Hexbug ant, Superfight card game, Paper/Scissors/Rock dice pair, Dice bag, Book, Munny DIY figure, Pacman poster, badge and a Firefly online starship.

I'm going to start with the Loot Crate this time; I squeed a little bit when I opened this one. Seriously, a grown-ass man, ecstatic with glee. I've wanted a Hexbug, the dice are awesome (the box acts as a game too,) and the firefly digital item is cool. I had never considered a DIY figure before but after a mate sent me a request for doing a custom one (he got a crate too this month) I had a quick play and it was really fun.

So, on to Nerd Block. The Saul figure is cool, I've not seen much Breaking Bad though. The Cliccors are ok, but all the stuff I could find online show cars, these are just bracelets. The shirt is just okay, the comic would be great, if I hadn't got the same one in Loot Crate last month (alternate cover and not really Nerd Blocks fault.) The cosplay cards had a lot of potential, if they were done well. The cards are a little cheap and a quick look on Reddit and you will find quite a few people who got two identical packs in their box (randomness is quite important!)

Loot Crate clearly won this month (I Squeed...) but the Nerd Block was okay. With belts needing to be tightened this months array made the decision of which subscription to keep quite easy. I've got quite a few geeky shirts now (some better than others...) so Loot Crate not always having a shirt (and replacing it with cool stuff) tips the scales even further.

I do like Nerd Block, but I think they spread themselves a bit thin with so many different theme options. Their Horror block shirts are generally nicer than any of the others, Classics have some decent collectibles and the Arcade blocks tend to have nice figures. Wrap them all together into one box and I would subscribe for a long time. Drop the bad, keep the good, simple really.

I've still got one more Classic Nerd Block to come, so there will be a final comparison next month.
Nerd Block - March is curated by Simon Pegg.
Loot Crate - March is "Covert" and includes a shirt.

January Loot Reviews

Yeah, its a little late... This is a review of the contents of the January Loot Crate and Nerd Block Classic. I'm going to do a direct comparison this time, we will see about future installments. First up, the cost.

• Nerd Block - $19.99US/month + $12.50US shipping = ~$44 NZ
• Loot Crate - $13.37US/month + $16.52US shipping = ~$41 NZ

Each has 3, 6 or 12 month plans that drop the cost a little bit but only loot crate has subscriber specific discounts (clicking my referral link gets you a discount and me some credit.)

So first up Nerd Block Classic: Theme "A galaxy far, far away"

We have a Dr Who Shirt, Star Trek / Planet of the Apes Comic, Star Wars film cell, Lord of the Rings Elf ears, pen and bookmark, a Grumpy Cat Plush and some toy Darts.

Then we have the Loot Crate: Theme "Rewind"

This contained a Voltron shirt, Star Wars comic, Space Invaders tie, Pixel glasses, Comic notebook, Dr Who cartridge figure and a badge.

So both crates contained shirts and comics (which are always decent items) and easily make up about $30 of their respective values. A film cell equivalent retails at $50 on Mighty Ape including a frame, so it would be fair to say $15 for that, making the pen, bookmark, darts, ears and plushie basically free. A basic Tie will set you back about $15, making the notebook, cartridge figure and glasses free.

So which is better? Well this is the second set of glasses I have had from Loot Crate that I wont be using but the figure and notebook are cool. I quite liked everything on the Nerd Block this month, I could easily use everything in it this time around. I would say they are about tied, possibly with Nerd Block ahead.

You definitely get more stuff in a Nerd Block but Loot Crate has more exclusives. But Nerd Block always has a shirt so if you are wanting to expand your geeky attire that is a good way to go.

Get yours:
Nerd block - February theme is "Exclusives"

Loot Crate - February theme is "Play"