A while back on the Couch Podtatoes Podcast, Eri and I talked about collectibles. We came to the conclusion that neither of us are really collectors. I used to be, way back when — comic books and cards were my thing. I had phases of CD and DVD collecting. In more recent years I’ve accumulated some Walking Dead comics, a bunch of Green Bay Packers stuff, and some artwork from various sources. By far the largest collection I have amassed though, is video games. I have hundreds strew about, in physical and digital form (mostly digital).
After having a discussion on the show about the various subscription services that provide “geeky” collectibles, I thought I should take a closer look. The first thing I finally decided to spend some money on was a League of Legends vinyl figurine – Nautilus. Having been pleased with the little guy sitting on my desk for the past month or so, I decided that I should roll the dice and try one of the box deliveries. Loot Crate is a big name, but I’m mainly interested in gaming-oriented stuff, so I wanted to avoid other bits of pop culture I’d probably not be into as much. It just so happens that the company making Loot Crates just started up a Gaming service called, you guessed it: Loot Gaming. I became a “founder” by ordering the first box they ever shipped. Here’s what was in the box:
From left to right, Skyrim Socks, Super Mario T-Shirt, Halo Hooded Scarf, Founders Pin, Shadaloo Pin, Heroes of the Storm Mystery Figure.
So for $25, it’s a pretty decent value, considering the T-shirt alone would probably cost that much on some websites. I really do enjoy the T-shirt, in all of its 8-bit glory. I was a huge Skyrim fan, so I will definitely wear the socks, but I would have preferred a different Skyrim-themed item. The same goes for the Shadaloo pin. I love Street Fighter, so something other than a pin would have been awesome. I could give two shits about the HotS figurine, but I give even less shits about a ghost Kerrigan? At least that’s who I think it is. Why couldn’t I have gotten Diablo at least? The Legacy Founder’s pin is cool. The Master Chief scarf is the real turd in this crate. Not only am I not much of a Halo fan, but I live in California. Who in the fuck wears a scarf in a place that rarely gets cold? Let alone a scarf with a hood attached. Yuck.
The Good: Awesome T-shirt that was worth the price of the box alone. A couple other neat ideas, but ones that ultimately fall short.
The Bad: A scarf? Really? Also, HotS is a pile of garbage.
The Verdict: Overall, I’m happy with the T-shirt, enough to say that I don’t feel that I wasted my money. I have a couple of other T-shirts that I have been planning to buy, and they are $20 a piece, so the rest is just icing on the cake. Someone with different tastes than myself will probably be very happy with this box, and the ones to come. It’s a great idea, I’m just too picky to want to pay $25 a month to maybe get something I’m happy with. I’d rather spend a little more and personally pick what I spend my money on. A novel idea, but not worth a long term subscription in my book. All I can think of is that another month I wouldn’t even be happy with the T-shirt and it would feel like a complete waste of cash.
Have you ever tried one of these subscription plans? What did you think about it?
Me Vs. Myself and I 
I’ve never bought into the Loot Crate thing. It’s a neat idea, and the feeling of being surprised by cool things every month is tempting. But I already have enough clutter in my house to be paying for someone to send me more random clutter that I probably have no use for, even if it does have the chance to be something cool.
So, no, I wouldn’t pay for it myself. But for those who enjoy it, I understand why they do!
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I honestly don’t have much in the way of knick-knacks or collectibles, so having some extra odds n ends wouldn’t hurt. However, having someone else with tastes that differ from mine picking out what it is that I get each month isn’t such a great idea. I was pleased with one of the items, the rest was pretty blah. So now I know, and I’ll just hand pick my own stuff in the future.
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My brother has loot crate for a while, but he gave away most of the stuff. There was some real neat things like the terminator chip key chain and skull, a few of the shirts are really cool, and some other knickknacks. But he stopped it since the stuff was getting less appealing each month.
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I’m keeping everything except for the scarf. I have some friends that are Halo fans that might at least appreciate it. I bet there’s something cool in every box, but the problem I have is the fact that I might not like 50% or more of what is packed inside. That kind of kills it for me.
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