Geeky stuff subscription box services.

[importaku]

So nowdays it seems that every facet of geek culture now has a subscription box aimed towards it. Hell even spotted gourmet meat boxes and other food supplies coming in sub boxes.

So does anyone subscribe to these things? Haven't bothered with them so far as a lot just seem like they raided poundland and the clearance bin at forbidden planet to get random geek crap to fling in a box. Love watching ashens on youtube rip the piss out of lootcrate, even more amusing when you see others on youtube opening the same box and treating every item like it's the ark of the covenant.

So whats your take on these things? Any of you sub to these boxes?

I'm still on the fence, they do have a few with snacks from Japan but now i have access to Amazon i can satisfy that urge easily so that's one i would't bother with. It would be fun to get something in the post every month, however i have yet to find one that actually caters to the things i'm into. Maybe a fireworks sub box, hell i'd be totally in for that. Or maybe they had one where each month they sent you a fake bomb as soon as you open the box it starts it's countdown and you have to figure out how to difuse it, if you manage the task then you get the contents safely if you lose it pops a paint cannister inside and all the stuff gets ruined, added excitement.

[BaronSqwelch]

I got drunk and subbed to Lootcrate cuz I saw some shiny blonde do an unboxing video.

Cancelled after 2 months though. I'd rather pick my own tat.

Did get a nice Zelda bottle opener out of it...plus 2 t shirts in "my size". One that's so tight it cuts the blood off to my brain and the other so large I could put 5 stone on and still wear it.

[speedlolita]

As usual, I'm skeptical.

I don't know who these boxes are for really. If you're actually into a certain fandom/thing then you know what you want to buy don't you? These boxes just sort of... Give you random stuff, as if you don't actually have any idea what you want. It's almost like they're there for people to buy into a lifestyle that they don't actually want to invest time in.

[Pikate]

I get your point Speedy but I subscribe to a Japanese candy one. Mostly because it's just fun to try these things and it's easier than hunting the stuff down from Cheshire/Manchester to try them. Also the couple who send it to me from Japan always send it in cute boxes packaged with tissue paper, washi tapes and doodles and they invite requests so in my last box they sent me every kit-kat variety they could find (7 in total) and some Ponyo merchandise since I got chatting with the girl on Tumblr about our mutual love of that film/all things Ghibli, she even offered to forward a 3DS faceplates I said I liked in my next box for just the cost of the item (i.e. no postage as she's sending a box anyway).

Highlight of my day everytime it comes actually.

[speedlolita]

I was thinking more about Loot Crate tbh, I get your points about that stuff entirely.

[eastyy]

i was tempted by loot crate but then i thought i am going to have a lot of clutter that i have no interest in at all. Was looking back at the loot crates of past and the percentage of the things i would like a very little

[importaku]

Wonder how much the items in a box would cost compared to how much it would cost for you to actually go out and buy them all yourself, would be interesting to see how much profit they make on the markup.

I have to admit i was tempted by the Japanese candy ones. But the lure of been able to buy a case of 10 packs of nerunerunerune from amazon jp for ?6 instead of paying ?2.50 a pack from the online is too strong.

[The Moleman]

Never really liked the idea of loot crate, paying for random items that were probably picked up in bulk at a severe discount. The Ashens loot crate vid where he's sent an inflatable crown just sums the entire concept up for me, cheap tat.

There's a few guys on RetroCollect who tried the videogame loot crate and the result was predictable, they were getting half their moneys worth for games most of them already had...

[Lebowski]

i did the retro collect one recently got mario sunshine boxed instructions, tmnt nes unboxed, perfect dark unboxed and a ****e wrestling game on the ps2, not bad for a tenner, I think bulk buying is the real money making thing there.

i also did loot crate for a bit but glad I've stopped as the quality has gone down and down. Recently we have had Socks, cheap bottle openers, crap jigsaws and an INFLATABLE CROWN...... (love the ashens vids)

Real shame as when i started it i got cool vinyl figures, decent t-shirts and cool exclusive items. the best crate was the one with the turtles figure and the lootcrate exclusive Groot figure, but even that had tat in it like the turtles sunglasses, a megaman air freshner and stupid shoelace wings.

[JazzFunk]

Is there a box/crate just of random, interesting old stuff? I'd probably get that. Lootcrate looks horrendous, though I love the idea of a 'lucky dip, I'd hate to be getting rubbish like that every month. But if there was a good, random one, it might be worth the monthly punt.

Any of these worth getting? I know there was a horror-themed one that seemed quite cool but I only saw one vid of it.

[importaku]

Look up dinosaur dracula on youtube, i'm bookmarked to his site as it's fantastic fun blog concentrating on random toys and food things from the 80's & 90's he does a sub box full of random crap, they are fun to watch been unboxed on youtube. Not sure i'd want one for real happy to enjoy vicariously through other for that one.

Has a bit called the specimen where you get something really weird, in one box you got a piece of 20 year old ghostbusters cereal in a little pot with some custom packaging, it's totally bonkers but i can see he makes an effort at least to be quirky.

[JazzFunk]

I'll have a look at that...thanks...perfect late-nite viewing...I love watching stuff like that!

[importaku]

if you like retro culture you'll love spending hours here. Still reading through the archives myself.

http://dinosaurdracula.com/