MIXED BAG. PRESENTS LOOT CRATE AUG 2014: "HEROES" REVIEW!

MIXED BAG. PRESENTS

LOOT CRATE AUGUST 2014 "HEROES" REVIEW:

"A TALE OF TWO GROOTS?"

Our tale begins with my good friend Steven AKA Aceofspadescard getting back from RTX and sharing his spoils; after all, at conventions, you get a lot of swag. And no, I'm not talking about "swag" like "#yoloswag4life420". I'm talking about:

swag [swag]
noun
1. Handouts, freebies, or giveaways, such as those handed out at conventions

Amongst the swag, he got a Loot Crate (we'll get back to that in a moment) and gave me some goodies from it... including a Megatron figure (pictured above). Something about placing the small figure with all my other figures on my desk initiated an impulse I had resisted for a while... to buy and collect some figures to decorate my desk.

When Comic Con rolled around, Amazon had a bunch of neat stuff, especially toys, on sale and I found myself ordering a bunch of Funko figures. I ordered Gizmo (pictured above), Ajani (which is still somewhere lost in the ether), and a couple of figure from one of my new favorite movies....

Guardians of the Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon and Groot!!

The Rocket Raccoon figure is a cute little bobble head and Groot, who was the best selling toy on Amazon when I preordered him at his original price, is a fantastic vinyl figure that has already shot up in value due to high demand. In fact, while originally priced around $10, many retailers are charging triple or more for this fantastic collectible with the Bart Simpson-esque head!

And then, somehow, my fascination with figures, desire to add a little variety/fun to the mix, and the a lot of recommendations led me to finally seriously consider (and eventually come around to trying) LOOT CRATE!!

EX. (LOOT CRATE JULY 2014 "VILLAINS")

Loot Crate is a subscription based service where members pay a fee (based on their subscription plan) to receive a themed mystery box every month in the mail (last month's theme, pictured above, was "Villains") filled with nerdy products from companies like Nintendo, DC, Marvel, Capcom and much more. The contents of the box usually contain things like exclusive figures, a t-shirt, a magnet, pin/s, posters, comics, books, toys, and pretty much everything you can think of from "dragon-flavored" Jerky in April's "Dragon" Loot Crate to Deadpool socks (pictured above).

This is the perfect surprise for self-professed nerds that love cool stuff and weird stuff alike.

If you're lucky, you might even be the lucky member to get the monthly Mega Crate which always has a value of $750 or more! To give you an idea, this month's Mega Crate included a 3D scanner gun and a 3D printer!

And so, for as low as $11.67 + $6 SH, you can become a Looter too! Plus, if you use any of the various codes you can find online, you can get discounts.

After seeing how awesome July's "Villain" Crate turned out and seeing the clues (above) for August's "Hero" crate, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a trial run (members can cancel at any time). I managed a 10% discount and went with the three month subscription plan so that I could get a good gauge of whether or not this is a service I would like to invest into further.

So, without much more ado except for my own verbosity, let's see what we got in this month's crate.

I can smell the collectability of the contents of this box!

In this review, I'll talk about every item, try and value it, rate it, and conclude with some random thoughts.

Who knew that inside such a small box, small enough that my mail man jammed it in my mail box, there could be so many awesome goodies?

Loot Crate? More Like Groot Crate.

Here is the star of the box sitting to the right of a suspiciously similar figure for comparison; the limited edition glow in the dark Loot Crate exclusive Funko Pop! vinyl figure of Groot. You can see him sitting, safely nestled for collector's value, in his box next to my ordinary variant that I, ironically, got in the mail the day before I got my Loot Crate.

Clearly, he is the big ticket item of the month; fantastic detail and quality, an amazing collector's value if online eBay prices are to believed, and he fits the Heroes theme perfectly!

I will admit that the internet spoiled this part of the box for me (though I already kind of had a gut feeling about it) and I will definitely avoid spoilers in the future! Otherwise, (and especially if I didn't already have the other Groot), this would've been enough to make my month!

VALUE: $30+

RATING: 5/5. This is the best Funko Pop! figure I've seen/own.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I might wind up selling this puppy since I already have an ordinary Groot that suits my needs fine. Haven't decided.

The other item I figured would be in the box? A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figure by Kid Robot. And, luckily, the box also came with a pair of tacky orange Ninja Turtle bandana sunglasses(?) to match the "Ooze Action" Michelangelo figurine. But hey, I love the TMNT, and I almost immediately cracked this puppy out of the box to put him on my desk or...

...put him on display in the Loot Crate box! It seems they've been doing a lot of custom designs on the insides of their boxes lately and this month the Looters got an awesome TMNT sewer hangout to pose their figures (with some neat references including the Konami code) that will probably look good with the rest of the set or just Mikey since he matches.

VALUE: $10 & $10 (the glasses are actually worth $10, though I dunno who'd buy them)

RATING: 5/5. I really like this figure and, while it might've been nice to get a shirt, it saves me the trouble of buying a TMNT figure for myself.

&

2/5. On the glasses. Meh.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Why does he look sorta menacing?

Progressively, the items get less interesting after the figures, but these little knick knacks are certainly a surprise.

I doubt any looters were expecting to get a pair of "shoe wings" in the shapes of lightning bolts, but if you're a fan of the Flash, high tops, or are too young to really afford Loot Crate, you might really like these. I'm sorta luke warm on these SHWINGS.

VALUE: $9

RATING: 3/5. These are really hit or miss, but I might see myself slapping these on some Chucks.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Gold would've been better if I ever get around to making custom Flash chucks.

Seriously, an air freshener? Talk about a stinker!

This, in my opinion, was the biggest disappointment of the box. Ever since I got into playing retro games and discovered Mega Man, I've become a big fan. So, when I saw a spoiler for Mega Man, it was one of the selling points on me in finally trying Loot Crate.

I guess I can save it for my car or hang it above my desk to ward of nerd stench?

VALUE: $5

RATING: 1/5. It stinks.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Nothing else to be said. Guess I'm glad I didn't get Tails or Protoman?

REVISION 9/25: Looks great in my new car.

The rest of the stuff in the box doesn't have a ton of value, but let's discuss them:

Every month you get a Loot Crate button and this month is no different. I like it. 4/5.

Then there is a Deadpool themed magnet that I'll probably give to somebody that likes him more than me (wink). 3/5.

And then there are three digital codes, two of which are DLC for games I don't want to play/buy (A Doctor Who candy crush clone and the new Gauntlet), and one is for a $10 Defense Grid: The Awkening steam copy. (so add on $10 value?). 2/5.

Also, you also get a magazine with some trivia, articles written by staff and Looters, cool photos, and a few pages dedicated to detailing each item in the box (because after all, most people have no clue that the Chimichangos magnet is a Deadpool reference). This actually adds a lot of value and fun for the community. Cool.
MISC RATING? 3/5. Not bad. Not great. But not terrible either. Just acceptable.

TOTAL LOOT VALUE?

Approx. $79+

FINAL CRATE SCORE?

5/5.

The two figures (but especially Groot), make this Loot Crate a fantastic value. Honestly, the Groot is a steal for under $20 and I'm a big fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy (I watched the movie twice in a week and already bought the common variant of the figure). As for the rest?

The TMNT figure was pretty sweet, especially when combined with the creative utility of the box and even the dorky glasses. From there it just sorta went downhill from being the Ninja Foot clan to foot-related lightning bolts to smelly feet repelling Mega Man to the otherwise typical nonsense you'll find in just about any crate.

Fans who're not a big fan of Groot or TMNT were, most likely, not very satisfied with the contents of the box and expected Batman, Star Wars, and other items that would be more symmetrical to last week's content.

In the end, everything else is just icing on the Groot cake with a mix of good, the meh, and the ugly (so maybe some sort of like weird carrot cake icing made with rum, sugar, and cranberries?).

What would Groot say about this assessment? 

"I am Groot." 

Yeah. That's about right.

I'm really curious to see how the next box stacks up (and hope I get a shirt) because, if every box was like this, I would definitely renew my subscription in November.  As for September's theme, I'm guessing it is going to be "Destiny".

What do you think about this haul?

If you're interested in trying Loot Crate, please make sure to use this link to help me out with a referral. Thank you.