Thursday, January 1, 2015

MIXED BAG. PRESENTS LOOT CRATE NOV 2014: "ANNIVERSARY" REVIEW!

MIXED BAG. PRESENTS
LOOT CRATE DECEMBER 2014 
"ANNIVERSARY" REVIEW:
"LAST LAUGH"
*breath*

I HAVE SURVIVED THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND MADE IT TO 2015!

A short list of highlights of December in no particular order:

I got my shower head fixed and cooked a perfect omelet du fromage. The simple things are often the best things.

I became certified to drive a Wave. It is similar to piloting a mech. But instead of fighting kaiju, I put boxes onto tall shelves.

I finished Kill La Kill and bought a subscription to Crunchyroll.

I spent too much money on the Steam Sale but I got Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Therefore, it was worth it.

I collected the first two waves of Amiibos, despite being teased for being an addict by my friends, and will soon have a few shelves up to display all my figures.

And lastly, I had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family & friends.

I also got this month's Loot Crate!


You need a reminder as to what a Loot Crate is again?


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!

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. 

This is my fifth Loot Crate review. If you wanna check out last month's review for OCT 2014 "Battle" Loot Crate, check out the link HERE.

This month's theme is "Anniversary" and promised to have collectibles from Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman, Marvel, Simpsons, Tetris and Ghost Busters (since many of these properties are celebrating anniversaries). That's a lot to promise and so, let's see if they follow through!

I gotta admit that I am pretty stoked since I like every franchise advertised so, without further ado, voila!

Well, there are a lot of smiles looking back at me just as I open up the box but let's see how those translate to smiles!

Well when they promise a Funko Pop, Loot Crate definitely delivers with a surprisingly cool figure every time! (My first crate had a Groot!) In fact, if you happen to collect Funko Pop bobble heads, or are interested in doing so, the Loot Crate subscription will be worth the price of admission.

As for my feelings on this specific figure, personally, I love the unique talking piece that this limited collectible provides. It certainly will stand out on my shelf. Plus, who doesn't love the Joker?

VALUE: $25+

RATING: 5/5. Why so serious?

RANDOM THOUGHTS: What do you guys think of casting Jared Leto as the Joker?

Two extremely popular items that came in Loot Crate this year were Deadpool socks and the Funko Pop Groot and, clearly, they wanted to appeal to that by combining those fan favorites into the Baby Groot socks.

They are awesome, though a little too thin. I'm worried they won't last very long on my feet.

VALUE: $10

RATING: 4/5. Adding Guardians of the Galaxy merch is practically cheating at this point!

RANDOM THOUGHTS:The film has been out long enough that I can explain a commonly asked question:

"Is the Groot at the end of the film a completely new and unique Baby Groot or is it a regenerating Groot?"

It is a regenerating Groot. But we shall call it Baby Groot. And love it.

An exclusive Batman comics and digital codes! Awesome! I wish I could tell you guys more about it, but I don't want to devalue of this item by removing it from the plastic. I suppose I could repackage it into a new bag but it seems the best way to preserve it for now.

But, as Batman comic with Snyder's name on the cover, I'm sure it is a fun addition. I just wish I didn't feel like opening it would be a bad idea.

VALUE: $10+

RATING: 4/5? NRFB! NRFB!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Who do you think is punching him with that boxing glove on a spring? The Joker? Green Arrow? Bugs Bunny?

This Simpsons Wallet is a great design and I love the idea of it being nothing but a recycled envelope!

The only bummer is, much like many other wallets with fun designs, it isn't really made to fulfill the needs of a modern wallet (I have about eight plastic cards on me at all times!).

VALUE: $5+

RATING: 3/5. Why can't they make wallets that have practical AND fun designs?

RANDOM THOUGHTS: W





I love Tetris. I love Tetris so much that I painted Tetriminos on my walls. And these Tetrimino stickers will, very likely, be saved to decorate something like a laptop in the future.

VALUE: $10+



RATING: 4/5. I also love Tetris 2!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: W

The Ghostbuster item is a door handle sign; cute and even useful, but kind of a bummer when I was expecting the Funko item to be a Ghostbuster exclusive.

The Marvel anniversary item is a Captain America shield Air Freshener that will wind up in my car because it smells like freedom.

The Crunchyroll card is more or less an advertisement since the deal isn't anything special. I gotta subtract points for that, even if I love Crunchyroll.

It also came with two coupons for a wallet from the guys who made the Simpsons Wallet. Kind of cool, I suppose.

And lastly a broken candy cane. 10/10!

MISC RATING? 3/5. JK! The items are all okay.

VALUE: $5+

TOTAL LOOT VALUE?
Approx. 
$65

The magazine has some awesome interviews, including one with Stan Lee, and a lot of other neat info and fan stuff. The button is simple but cool.

This month we got a Batcave box that is right up there with last week's Street Fighter Alley box and I gotta say, while impressive, I'm worried they might wind up spending more time on the box then some of the items. Wouldn't that be weird?

FINAL CRATE SCORE?
4/5.

The Funko Pop, the comics and the socks make this Loot Crate a great value but value alone doesn't determine my final score.

Loot Crate is intended to serve two purposes; obviously to be filled with neat collectible but, more importantly, to provide a fun nerdy surprise every month. This month has delivered in a few predictable ways but still managed to surprise me with the wallet and stickers. The items that were more predictable were nice but still I'd like to open a box and have a big dumb happy look on my face, again, like with the Heroes and Galactic Crates.

Still, I can't wait to see if January's "Rewind" theme pays off with Retro goodies.

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

Look out for a Kill La Kill figure/s review, Amiibos review, and Loot Crate review in the next month!