Friday, April 24, 2015

MIXED BAG. PRESENTS LOOT CRATE APRIL 2015: "FANTASY" REVIEW!

MIXED BAG. PRESENTS
LOOT CRATE APRIL 2015
"FANTASY" REVIEW: "AS YOU WISH."

A little earlier this time around but hey, like a good wizard, Loot Crates are never late nor early, they arrive precisely when they mean to.

And it has been a big month:

  • Easter saw an unexpected reunion between our family and my uncles (who I hadn't seen in a few years) who came with my Grandpa.
  • I finally got my King Dedede Amiibo and a lot of Star Wars figures, a couple books, and a special item I'll feature tomorrow.
  • I beat Super Mario Bros. 3 (finally) and started working on Far Cry 4, watching The Arrow, and played more Vampire the Masquerade.
  • I watched Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Watch it.
  • I finally got my driver's license!
2015 has been pretty interesting, so far.

Now, let's talk about Loot Crate:

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 eighth Loot Crate review. If you wanna check out last month's review for MARCH 2015 "Covert" Loot Crate, check out the link HERE.

 This month's Loot Crate has a theme of "Fantasy" and so, if you know anything about me, my expectations were high and, with the promise of Dungeons and Dragons, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Princess Bride items (and a T-Shirt), I couldn't wait to open my box!

Time to bust open the dungeon doors and just hope this Crate isn't a Mimic!

UH! THAT LOOKS LIKE A D & D SHIRT! CRITICAL SUCCESS!

This month's Loot Crate seemed smaller than any other which made me realize the items that actually make crates unecessarily big are vinyl figures (fat little boxes) and comics (flat but wide sides)! The crate didn't fail to deliver on big surprises:

The shirt is a simple red shirt with a black Dungeons & Dragons ampersand symbol.

I love it and will always associate it with success since I wore it my Driver's Test and while making my last two videos and while just sitting here typing...

As you guys know, I love Dungeons and Dragons, so, after the Voltron shirt from the Rewind Crate, this is my favorite Loot Crate shirt.

VALUE: $15

RATING: 5/5. Simple but effective!

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I usually wear my Game Grumps shirt on game days to match my best friend's matching shirt. I have the Jontron shirt and he has the Egoraptor shirt.

And I'm also donning an inflatable crown!

While a little small for my big round noggin, this inflatable crown was a fun, wearable and sharable bit of fluff that added a smile to the Loot Crate.

VALUE: $5

RATING: 3/5. Light is the crown's weight up my brow.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: This item would probably be a big hit with those with smaller heads and children.

Once again, I'm reminded of the Rewind Crate because it included with a cool Space Invaders themed tie.

It's almost like the Looters feedback, specifically that the Retro Crate is one of the best crates, has born out in the design of this crate. If more crates are like my favorite crates, I would probably recommend Loot Crate with even more enthusiasm.

Still, while I like d20 dice and Dragon print on the red bow tie, I'm not sure how I'd look with this puppy on.

VALUE: $10

RATING: 4/5. Bowties are cool, right?

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I think it would be amusing to have a fancy dress party themed around D & D...


I, oddly enough, got another collectible set of playing cards in the form of a Japanese Animal Crossing set from Animal Crossing the same day I got this crate but, unlike those investments, this pack is probably going to see a lot of play.

I love the Princess Bride. So much so I once made a video remix of one of it's classic scenes! Check it out!

This item wins because it something I'll use (on a side note I'm gonna start using/giving away more of my crate items) and it is just a beautiful set of playing cards based on one of my favorite films.

VALUE: $10

RATING: 5/5. "Never bet against a Sicilian when life is on the line!"

RANDOM THOUGHTS: A remake or sequel to The Princess Bride is probably the most inevitable and tragic concept I can imagine for Hollywood to try.



While my feelings on this season's Game of Thrones are lukewarm (it has just started setting up the events of this season after so much played out over the course of the last season), but, as it is GoT season in my house, I can't say I'm not glad to get some associated Loot.

The USB drive will probably see use at some point. Maybe I'll use it for my X-Box? I'm not sure yet, but USBs are always useful.

VALUE: $15

RATING: 5/5. Windows is coming.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I expect to see USB ports in more and more places in the next few years from restaurant tables to wall sockets.

Magnets are a pretty useless item, I hate to say, but still not a bad set to stick to my file cabinet.

VALUE: $15

RATING: 3/5.

There wasn't a lot of misc. items in the crate besides a pretty boring button and the always nifty little magazine.

The last item of value in the crate is a Harry Potter bag tag. This isn't exactly an exciting item but I will probably save this and use it at some point.

VALUE: $5

RATING: 4/5. I would kill for another Harry Potter book.

 TOTAL VALUE?
$75

FINAL CRATE SCORE?
5/5!

After the worst Loot Crate and a pretty meh Loot Crate, it is FANTASTIC that the Fantasy Loot Crate delivers the magic that I expect from Loot Crate (and just in time for me to resubscribe, funnily enough).

Between the snazzy wearable items (crown, shirt and bowtie), the useful items (usbs, magnets, bag tag) and the collectible set of cards, this set brings a lot of value that isn't just something to put on a shelf but is filled with stuff I can, actually, put to good use!

Let's hope that next month's crate will deliver the same excitability that this crate, as you can see in the video at the header, inspired in the Unbox-King!

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

I wonder what tomorrow's Unbox-King video/article will be about?