Full Review of January “REWIND” Loot Crate – Perspicacious Geek
I really wanted to post this last week however, since I live in Canada I only got this month’s Loot Crate on Thursday. Hey, what can you do? So this is a week late. It’s happening.
I was pretty hyped for this month’s Loot Crate when I saw this YouTube theme video January’s theme: “Rewind”. If you’re familiar with the site you know that we’ve all got soft spots for 80s nostalgia. Honestly, I’d probably be pretty psyched if Loot Crate just went full 80s retro all the time. So I was excited, and I was not disappointed. Let’s get to this box, shall we?First of all, if you turn the actual box inside out you end up with an orange and grey classic NES box and the little Loot Crate zine has a pop out cardboard controller in the back cover. So, before we’ve even gotten to any of the stuff inside I’m pretty excited by the whole packaging this month. Well played Loot Crate, you’ve immediately hit the right notes. Little ‘zine and button are their usual fluff. Although I do like the idea of making a Loot Crate achievement sash Boy Scouts style for all my buttons. Then I can wear it around and get beat up. Let’s see what we’ve got in here. As I always I try to measure my happiness about each item on a scale of 1-5 hearts. So Analog Mini 10-Doh’ Figure
A lot of people subscribe to Loot Crate for the exclusives. Now, exclusives won’t necessarily make or break my desire to subscribe, but it is kind of cool to have stuff that you can’t actually buy anywhere else. These mini (so 3 inch, as opposed to the full sized 7 inch) 10-Doh’ vinyl figures from Squid Kids Ink are not fully exclusive because you can buy a blind box on their site, but the “titles” are exclusive to Loot Crate. Obviously I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get the “Dr. Who” figurine or the Gold cartridge figurine but that’s just me being greedy. This is a cool figurine and I have a pretty big collection of vinyl figurines to begin with. So, despite “Fire Hunt” not exactly being the coolest of the possible outcomes, I dig this little dude. Edit: /u/twayne1047 points out that the ship is Serenity from FireFly on the cartridge. Something I am ashamed to admit I totally did not catch. I guess it’s a little bit cooler now.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥Black Tie Geek Alien Tie
If you read our comic you know that I’m usually depicted wearing a tie. This is because I quite frequently wear a tie. Actually, before I had a corporate desk job I wore ties even more often than I do now. One of these days I will just make a Perspicacious Geek entry that just documents all of my favorite ties. Note to self. When I saw the little black “Black Tie Geek” box in the Loot Crate I wasn’t 100% sure what it was going to be since I had never heard of the company before. Sarah made fun of me since apparently it was obviously going to be a tie. I cried a little bit. Anyways, long story short this tie is awesome and I really wish the good people at Black Tie Geek all the best with their upcoming launch and we’ll see what other stuff they are going to offer us savage consumers.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥Loot Crate 8-Bit Sunglasses
Ok, these are pretty sweet for what are basically branded throw ins. I mean, how often can you really go out in public wearing neon orange and black 8-bit sunglasses? I mean, obviously the answer is “all the goddamned time.” I feel like if I wear these I will instantly be able to play keyboard. I will give that a try. I will probably fail pretty hard. These sunglasses are pretty cool, but they’re just not magic. Also, they’re actually UV sunglasses so they’re not totally useless.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥Star Wars Issue 001 Variant Cover
Speaking of exclusives. This is pretty sweet. Not going to lie, I’m probably going to keep this one bagged and sealed since of all the things I could see becoming collectible this might just top the list. Marvel is relaunching Star Wars with new stories set right after Return of the Jedi. There are new Star Wars movies coming out from Disney (who owns Marvel). Variant covers have historically been pretty sought after. Not saying I’m not going to read this comic, I might just pick it up digitally and hang on to this guy for a little while. Maybe I’ll sell it to help pay for this Loot Crate subscription? I guess I’ll hang on to it for a year or two and see what happens.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥Comic Notebook
For a “cheap” item this is also pretty cool. A wee little notebook with comic panels drawn and a tear out stencil to help you with speech bubbles? That’s pretty cool. Oh, I occasionally work on a little webcomic myself. Perhaps I will fill it with my classic art stylings. Pretty sweet little doodle book imo.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥Voltron T-Shirt
Another exclusive! A cool blue-print style schematic of Lion Force Voltron, which as we all know is the best Voltron. I never had Voltron but one of my best friends had the whole set. It was basically one of my favorite toys that I never owned.Ok, but it does raise a slight issue. T-shirt sizing. I’m usually a size Small. The skull kitty shirt fit fine. The pirate/ninja shirt was a little loose. This Voltron shirt is extremely snug (hence why Sarah is wearing it. I feel like if I changed my preferences to “Medium” those other two shirts would be way to big and I’d have a Voltron shirt that fit. Stupid sizes. Anyhow, kickass shirt, though it might end up being a present for someone unless I lose another 5-10 lbs.
Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
So that’s that. All in all, despite the lack of any “5 heart” items this is one of the most high quality, consistent Crates the good people at Loot Crate have put out. See you next month. Bonus pic of Sarah going full Rewind:Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.