By now you guys are understanding what my deal is, and that two of my favorite things in the world are Funko Pops and Marvel superheroes. This means, logically, that Marvel Collector Corps is probably my favorite subscription box ever. Powered by Funko and containing only Marvel items, I have had absolutely no complaints about this box so far. I was a bit concerned about the “Secret Wars” box, because I know positively jack about the “Secret Wars” storylines, but I held out hope and I was not disappointed at all. Ladies and gents, let’s go to the video:
So the third ever Collector Corps box was not themed in a way that was terribly relevant to me, but it was still extremely awesome. It’s breakdown time:
“Collector Corps” pin and patch:
I’m going to start lumping these two items together in these reviews, because neither really needs to stand on its own. These are the first two items you see whenever opening a Collector Corps box, and though they don’t add much value to the box they’re still pretty amusing to get. The pins are much nicer than the standard circles you get in many other subscription boxes, and the patches are actually rather well-made. I’ll probably just end up displaying them somewhere among my other collectibles, but they could definitely be used to adorn a jacket or piece of luggage or something. This month’s pin features War Machine’s head, while the patch is Falcon’s, with the Captain America colors splayed across the background.
My habit, based on what other items online go for, has been to assign the pin a value of $2 and the patch a value of $5, and I’ll stick with that this month.
“Secret Wars” Funko Pop t-shirt:
Along the same vein as the Ant Man t-shirt from the last box, this shirt features cartoon versions of Funko Pop figures in heroic poses. I foresee this trend continuing in the future, since Funko makes tons of their own shirts these days. I’m not sure how I feel about having an entire collection of Funko Pop shirts, but I do like this one in particular. I would probably like it even more if I really knew anything about “Secret Wars”, but that’s okay for now. The four cuties on the shirt are Thor (Jane Foster version), War Machine, Spider-Man (Miles Morales version), and Falcon as the new Captain America. They’re all bursting forth in true superhero fashion, and honestly I just think it’s a pretty adorable shirt.
Going with my standard shirt value of $15 for this item.
“Secret Wars” backed-and-packed #001 comic with variant cover:
Well here’s a way for me to learn a little something about the “Secret Wars”; I can just rip open this comic! Ha ha…I’m sure there are at least a couple of nerds out there who are, like, “Noooooooooo, you’ll ruin its collector value!!!”, but I scoff in the face of collector value. SCOFF!
Anyway, point being, this may be the silliest variant cover I’ve seen for a comic yet, with the Funko Pop version of lady Thor on it. Obviously I see where they were going with that; I just think it’s funny-looking. What I really like, however, is the fact that this #001 comic is backed-and-packed, like a true collectible. I very well may end up ripping it open so I can actually read and enjoy it, but since so many people were having trouble with their Collector Corps stuff getting beat up it’s nice to see that Funko and Marvel decided to up the ante a little and make sure these comics are properly protected.
Once again I’m going to assign this comic the standard value of a single-issue comic: about $6.
“Miles Morales” version “Spider-Man” exclusive Funko Pop:
Now, unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about Miles Morales and his version of Spider-Man. In fact, I didn’t even know that there ever was another version of Spider-Man besides Peter Parker, although I suppose I should have since it seems like EVERY major superhero passes his mantel along at some point or another. Long story short, it doesn’t really matter too much because I think this Pop is pretty awesome. I’ll definitely have to look into Morales, but for now I’m just happy that this Pop has an awesome paint job and is a pretty sweet exclusive to have.
Side note: my daughter, upon seeing him on the t-shirt, immediately dubbed him, “Black Spider-Man”, because she’s awesome and adorable.
It’s always difficult to put a price on an exclusive item, but I’m going to go ahead and set a standard for these review posts. From here on out any regular-sized exclusive Funko Pop will be assigned a value of $15. They’re probably really worth more than that since you can only get them through the subscription box, but I don’t want to go too overboard, so we’ll stick with the $15
“Jane Foster” version “Thor” exclusive Funko Pop:
And what really made this month’s box amazing: a second exclusive Funko Pop! How awesome is that! These two are kind of like a set, it would seem from the back of each of the boxes, so it’s pretty neat that Collector Corps included both of them in the same box. This one is, of course, “Lady” Thor; I know some people get super-annoyed by her being called that, but I’m going to keep doing it because, dammit, she’s not THOR. I already ranted about this in the video, but Thor is the GUY, not the superhero, therefore she cannot simply BE Thor. That’s my final decision. I shall accept no arguments.
In all seriousness though, although I’m pretty iffy on the general idea of a new Thor (not just the fact that she’s a woman, but the fact that she’s anyone other than the guy who was born Thor), I do really like this Pop. It’s beautifully done, and she definitely looks like an avenging hero. There are a couple of little paint imperfections, which is something I haven’t really had to deal with when it came to Collector Corps exclusives, but they aren’t so bad that they ruin the figure for me or anything like that.
We’ll go ahead and assign her a value of $15 as well.
Total approximate value of box: $58
Total approximate cost to me: $39
So the first thing I have to point out is that this was the lowest value box so far; however, we have to remember that this is based entirely on my estimations of what things are worth. Some other subscription box reviewers might say that the exclusive Funkos are worth $20 each, or they might say that the shirt is only worth $10, or that the comic is worth more, or whatever. So it’s difficult to really say exactly what the value of the box is, and I can only go with my own feelings and estimations since the overwhelming majority of what is in the boxes is exclusive and therefore not for retail sale.
That said, the value is definitely still there, and luckily I decided to pay for a full year of Collector Corps long before the Canadian dollar went to hell. This means that I’m still only paying about $39 per box, whereas if I had decided to pay monthly that cost would be up around $50 by now.
Moving away from concerns about pricing and value, I really enjoyed this box. As I said in the video I liked in the other two boxes how there was one big exclusive figure and a couple of little extras like Mystery Minis and Dorbz, but I really can’t complain at all about the fact that there were TWO Funko Pop figures in this box, because you all know that I’m sickeningly obsessed with Pops. And, of course, the shirt was cute and the comic, pin, and patch are always nice little additions to each box.
Long story short, I’m definitely still enamored with the Marvel Collector Corps box. It makes me smile ear-to-ear, contains some of my very favorite things, and they’re even taking it upon themselves to fix up things that people have been complaining about, so two thumbs up for that! I definitely can’t wait for the next box, which is going to be a “Villains” box featuring one of my favorite Marvel bad-guys, Venom.
What do you think about Marvel Collector Corps? Did you receive a “Secret Wars” box? What was your favorite item? Least favorite? Were you happy to find two Pops in the box? What are you feelings about “lady” Thor? Please share!
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