Well, it’s October, so that means it’s time for the subscription boxes that should have been here in September. It’s not my fault, I tell you! But you guys already know that, so let’s get right down to business.
The first unboxing of the month is Loot Crate, which had an interesting-sounding theme for September: “Summon”. I had high hopes, especially since I saw a silhouette of Castiel from “Supernatural” in the bumper images of the monthly emails, but what was my final impression? Eeeehhhh…how about you take a look at the unboxing video first?
I’m sure you could probably tell that I was less than enthused with the box, overall, but just for arguments’ sake let’s go ahead and continue the post with a breakdown of the box.
“Pikachu” toque:
Right out of the gates we have this lovely little hat designed after everyone’s favorite electric rat Pokemon. I gave this item a hard time in the video, mostly because the majority of nerds I know would never actually wear something like this out in public. My husband argued that there are definitely tons of nerds who would wear a Pikachu hat in public, and I guess he is actually right, but it still struck me as an extremely childish kind of item to include in a subscription box that’s aimed at adults. That’s just my opinion, sorry! That said, my daughter actually does like Pikachu, and she seemed to be perfectly happy with the idea of getting to wear this hat, so I guess we’re okay on that front. This item retails for about $17.
“Homer Buddha” figure from Kidrobot:
This is a cute, weird little collectible that will only really appeal to “The Simpsons” fans, of a smiling Homer posed like as Buddha sitting on a donut. What’s really, truly amazing about this item is that the original it was based off of was a 6″ colored version, and it retails for FIFTY-FREAKIN’ DOLLARS. I mean, seriously, what the hell, people? And, believe it or not, this 3″ version actually goes for $20. Honestly guys, it’s like, this squishy plastic material, like what a chew-toy might be made out of. Who the heck would pay $20 for this? Okay, okay, that’s all I can say about that.
“Hearthstone” stress ball:
Just throwing this out there right off the get-go: I’m pretty sure I have infinitely more stress balls than I will ever need thanks to subscription boxes. That said, this particular stress ball is based off the “Hearthstone” mobile game, of which I know next to nothing. So, I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t like this item. It’s cheap box-filler. It’s technically a Loot Crate exclusive, and crazy people are trying to sell it online for outrageous amounts of money, but I figure it’s worth…$2, tops.
’67 Chevy Impala die cast car from “Supernatural”:
This is my item, right here…this little Hot Wheels-style die cast car of Dean’s Impala from “Supernatural”. This is literally the one item in this box that is truly for me, and it’s an itty bitty toy car. There’s only so much I can say about that. I do like it, I really do, because I love the Impala and wish I had a real one, but it’s also a bit depressing that the only item in the entire Loot Crate that I truly enjoy for myself is a toy car. Rawr. Okay, enough about that. This teeny-weeny “model” can be purchased online for $10.
“Summon” button:
As always, we have the collectible Loot Crate button, this one stating the theme of “Summon” and sporting a strange little design that incorporates Pikachus. This is just a cheap little pin, but for the sake of keeping the numbers even I’ll allow it a $1 value.
“Hearthstone” card pack download code:
Again, I don’t play this game, so this code doesn’t really mean much to me at all. I might try it sometime just for the hell of it, but if it’s the kind of “freemium” game that damn-well requires you to spend money in order to play it properly, then just no. And it probably is, so just no. Anyway, I couldn’t find anything on the Hearthstone website that indicated what a download code for a card pack might be worth, so ya’ll can correct me if you know but I’m going to go ahead and take a wild guess that it would probably be something along the lines of $3.
“Master Summoner” game:
I’m including this in the list simply because it’s a game that was made by Loot Crate specifically for use with the “Summon” box and the rip-out cards from the magazine, so it’s kind of an “exclusive” in that sense, but I can’t really put a value on it because technically it’s free. Also, from the few reviews I saw of it, you can finish the entire game in about an hour, so…just throwing that out there.
Loot Crate mini-magazine:
I don’t usually include the mini-mag in my breakdowns, but I’m actually stretching a bit because this box was so tiny. This is the basic little 20-ish page magazine that is in every Loot Crate; it’s main purpose is to describe the items within the box, but it also sometimes has little interviews and such. It’s probably only worth about $1.
Total approximate value of box: $54
Total cost to me: $40
So, I’ve been saying this a LOT lately, but with the Canadian dollar down the way it is right now the value of my subscription boxes is really affected. $54 actually isn’t that bad for a box value (although it’s on the lower end of what it has been in the past), but when what you’re paying is about $40 it makes it feel like a heck of a lot less of a value. When I first started getting Loot Crate I was only paying about $31, so what I’m paying now is about a 25% increase, while the contents have not improved in any way, so we’ve got to keep that in mind.
Secondly, I just have to say that this particular box was all kinds of disappointing. I’ve come to terms with the Pikachu hat simply because my daughter actually does like it, but with it being a large part of the value of the box and not actually being something for me, that’s pretty annoying. Then add in that the most “valuable” item in the box is the Simpsons item (which, seriously, feels like a frikkin’ chew toy), and the Hearthstone junk, and it’s just lots of thumbs down. I love the little Impala car, but it’s tiny and not exactly high in value, so it hardly makes the box worth it.
All in all I really have to give this box two thumbs down because it did not impress me at all, and I really hope Loot Crate steps it up in October because I’ve loved it so much in the past!
So what did you think? Was it a “yay” or a “nay” for September’s “Summon” Loot Crate? What did you think of the Pikachu hat? Which item did you think was the junkiest? Please share!
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