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...

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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.

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Week 34 - Keeping Up the Pace

Not a huge post this week as I struggled to get much done. Things just didn't work out in trying to get to the painting table this week, there was a lot going on in the evenings. I have got 5 more Bones figures finished and a Mars Attacks hero done though so I'm still technically on track for the end of year goal. I did manage to trim up most of a set of the Mars Attacks heroes though so maybe I will get more of those done next week. I should probably be trying to get the rest of the toxic zombies done though since they are all about half done...

Day 235
235/235 Painted/Days passed
Goals:
Commission models - 20
TNT models - 16
Finish painting Infinity Morats - 11/11
Paint Xtreme Ada-Lorana - 9/9
Paint all Directorate - 44/44
Finish all of the Dreadball teams and MVPs. - 4/4
Paint all DZC Scourge - 36/46
Build and paint remaining KOW Elves - 68/83
Paint all Toxic zombies - 14/37
Paint all Berserk zombies - 0/37
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew - 12/16