Adventures in Loot! Month one: Transform!

So, while I was in hospital, during one of my prolonged stages of utter boredom, a friend posted a link to a very curious website with a very curious concept. That website is Loot Crate, and the service they provide is a subscription based package where you hand them money (of course!) and in return they send you a box packed to the gills with hand picked nerd themed curios from a variety of organisations. My interest was piqued, but I thought there was no way I was ever going to be able to afford to even try this out, what with this being an American outfit and myself living in dear old blighty. But much to my surprise, the prices, even combined with international shipping, weren't that unreasonable and looking at past crates on the website that contained t-shirts and Funko figures it seemed that even though each one had its fair share of filler nonsense (more on that later!) these things could definitely be worthwhile. So I signed up. Then I waited.

The waiting period was a curious thing in and of itself. It's clear that Loot Crate are really striving to build a community around them, as I received weekly newsletters containing news they thought might interest me and of course, status updates on the crate itself. The specifics are kept under wraps, but what they do let you know is what the big, flashy item is going to be (in this case, a t-shirt) and the general theme. This months was TRANSFORM, so no prizes for guessing what the main thrust was going to be.

I suppose you could also pick up on some of the things involved in the smaller crate by what they tell you is coming in the Mega Crate. That being the prize sent to the home of one subscriber every month that contains hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. But I wasn't really interested in fishing for clues, I was more interested in cracking open the box

And today, much to my surprise, it arrived!

Have to admit,considering all the menagerie of things they show coming out of it on their website? I expected it to be bigger. But you know what they say about good things and small packages, so let's have a look!

You'll note that I wasn't joking when I said 'rammed to the gills' and it looks like we've got some cool Transformers stuff in there at least (surprise!), let's dig straight into the main event.

T-shirt! I may have mentioned before that I love t-shirts, it's something of an addiction of mine, but I can also be incredibly picky about what I put on my chest. I did expect to have to forlornly sigh say 'Well, it's nice but it's not for me...' but thankfully that's not the case here. I've actually seen this design before, and almost bought it in the past. I never did, but that's largely because I have a much more clever design of a TARDIS transforming into Optimus Prime with a bow-tie, but this is still really cool and will compliment the Doctor Who one perfectly. Clearly I now need mash up's of time machines and transformers to wear every day of the week... H.G. Wells Time Machine Prime, anyone? 

And then we have this! This is where I think I come to understand Loot Crate's business model a little more. I'm going to need time and a couple more boxes to verify, but going off their website a lot of their crates seem to involve these blind boxes, or pieces that are part of a wider collection, so this is almost like a geek sampler menu. You liked that one? Well, if you look on the back of the box... Still, I don't blame them. I think it's clever really. I'm a chronic collector, I had to pull myself back from collecting the Doctor Who Titan blind boxes because I'd go mad. But for people looking for that thrill of the chase, this is a great way to hook them in and make them aware of what's out there. For me though, I just want a cool vinyl robot.

And cool vinyl robot success! I have to admit, I'm not a huge Transformers fan so I have no idea who this is - And honestly, given the style they've rolled with only the very distinct bots like Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron really stand out and look much different from the others going by the box art of them. But he's pretty well made and sturdy for a figure of his size, and it's nice to see he has accessories that actually fit in his hand and look good while he's holding them too. Great head and joint movement as well, left arm is a little loose but you can at least get the poses you want out of it. Even though, obviously, the range of poses is limited. 

And here's the bone fide Transformers stuff all together. As you can see there's a pretty decent sticker back there (apparently there's a Decepticon one too, some people getting one, others the other - Not all crates are created equal!) and a nice little badge and then there's... Um... This...

I've got to be honest with you, this is the most what the feck item in the entire crate. It took me a good five-ten minutes pawing at the packaging and then finally getting it out and prising it open to figure out what it actually did (I didn't discover there was a booklet at the bottom of the box explaining *everything* that was inside until after I'd done this, because I'm clever that way) and when I did I was kind of disappointed. What you see here is a Hexbug, and it's kind of like our friend the blind boxed figure above in that it's one of a set. Basically you flick a switch and it vibrates to the point where it can charge across flat surfaces and then veer dangerously off kitchen work surfaces. Basically the kind of tacky kids toy that Transformers staked it's name on, with the option to get more than one and battle them against each other - Presumably by turning them on and hoping then ram into each other rather than spiral off towards your shoes on an out of control suicide mission. Initially I did kind of tilt my head and wonder if this was really the kind of thing I needed in my life, then I found a flat surface...

And the little kid in me realised there's at least a good couple of hours of fun to be had in this! Not least in dropping it on unsuspecting people and watching them jump out of their skin as this big, vibrating plastic bug suddenly invades their lives.

Glorious.

And then we get down to the aforementioned filler.

MLG nonsense and some Warheads! For those of you unfamiliar with MLG, they're an E-Sports promoter who I mostly know as being associated with Starcraft 2 tournaments but also broadcast and organise events and teams for a variety of games. I think the cross promotion aspect is nice, I know they did something with Polaris last month and I love those guys so I don't mind this in principle, but on the other hand I'm not really all that interested in competitive gaming so these do nothing for me. Still, if anybody wants a black sweat band for any reason whatsoever... I've got your back!

As for the Warheads, not had them in years! Can't remember if they're sold in the UK any more, but if people want to send me sour candy? I am all for this! Plus, who doesn't love candy that comes with health warnings?!

Overall impressions? Not too shabby. I know I'm going to get some joy out of most of the Transformers themed stuff, and to be honest that t-shirt feels so well made and has such a nice design that I think it's practically worth the box price alone. I think the greatest shame with this one though, is that the theme was 'Transform' and yet there was nothing really in the box that lived up to it. Nothing with multiple functions, or changed colour or even... Say... Changed from a robot into a car? The closest you get is the War Heads, which having just put one in my mouth - Holy crap they have a sour kick when you first throw them in! But they soon settle down to something sweet and very enjoyable. I suppose what I'm trying to say is rather than just cherry picking stuff with the Transformers logo on it, a little more creativity and thinking outside the box for things to put in the box could've made this theme something really special.

Still, not a bad start! We'll have to see what fresh delights next month brings!