Unboxing: LootCrate vs. GeekGear | September 2017

Hey guys, what's up? I've been thinking about unboxing posts lately...

I've been wanting to do some for a while, with my various subscription boxes, but I never seem to get around to it. More specifically, I have been wanting to do an unboxing post comparing two of the most popular Harry Potter themed subscription boxes out there, namely, Wizarding World by LootCrate and World of Wizardry by GeekGear. So that is what I'm about to do...

First, a little more information about these boxes: LootCrate is an American-based company. Their Harry Potter box, called J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, is issued bi-monthly (every other month). They have several different themes of boxes, the Harry Potter one started last November (2016), and I have been subscribing since the beginning. They have a general theme for each issue, and each box contains 5-7 items, which usually includes a t-shirt. Items are licensed and exclusive. They do slip in some Fantastic Beast items as well. When you sign up, you choose which House you would like to be in, and any house-specific items will be for that House. LootCrate's box comes out to around $65 CAD ($51 USD), with shipping.

GeekGear is based out of the U.K. and they currently have two boxes: a generally geeky one. and Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts. Their HP box is called World of Wizardry and it is issued monthly. I'm not sure how long they've been doing this box, but I first subscribed in August 2017. This box doesn't really have a monthly theme, but also contains 5-7 licensed & exclusive items, usually including a t-shirt. When you sign up, you can choose a House, or not - if you choose "Any," they will send you random House items when things are house-specific. GeekGear's box comes out to around $43 CAD ($33 USD), with shipping.

 

LootCrate's September Wizarding World Magical Must-Haves contents:

• House scarf with leather crest
• Harry Potter wand pen
• Salazar Slytherin's Locket pin
• Honeydukes eraser set (chocolate frog, sugar skull, jelly slug, cauldron cake)
• MACUSA office stationery set (folder, sticky notes, paperclips, list pad)

GeekGear's September World of Wizardry contents:

• House themed socks (HP's glasses & scar print in house colour)
• Keychain (4 designs: Death Mark, Golden Snitch, Hogwarts Crest, Deathly Hallows)
• Harry Potter figurine
• Newt Scamander's wand
• Hogwarts Express print
• Niffler tee "Every day I'm nifflin'" designed by Risa Rodil

I like the items in the LootCrate boxes: this month's stationery set is right up my alley! And I love the scarf, I almost can't wait for cooler weather so I can wear it! ;) But the wand pens aren't really interesting to me, I find the pins over-sized and gaudy, and while I love the idea and the packaging of these erasers, they are pretty useless aren't they? If they had been actual candies I would have been much more excited. :P My favourite part of the box, actually, was the box itself: it is reversible and when you flip it inside-out it becomes a blue Hogwarts trunk - I just love that! :)

I find that the items in the GeekGear box are just a little bit nicer. I absolutely adore the t-shirt (and have worn it on several occasions, to be asked, "What's nifflin'?" haha!) and will definitely wear the socks. The figurine is admittedly pretty useless, but it is so detailed and lovely that I really can't say anything bad about it. The Hogwarts Express print, while I have no space to display it, is simply gorgeous. And Newt's wand, well... it's wonderful and I only wish it had a little stand or box for displaying (when I eventually get my room made over, I will have my wands displayed on my bookshelves :) ). The only item I really didn't like was the keychain. I don't love PVC keychains that much anyway (they get so grubby so easily), and I got the Death Mark one, which I kind of hate. I would have literally preferred any of the other designs.

So in general, I like both boxes, but I have to say my preference leans more toward GeekGear. It is less expensive, seems to contain more and better quality items, and I love the Fantastic Beasts franchise just as much as Harry Potter, so I appreciate that they include more items from that fandom (as I said, LootCrate does contain Fantastic Beasts items, but they haven't been all that memorable). Also, GeekGear's tees are way more comfortable and more fun, and you have way more sizes/styles to choose from!

Please let me know in the comments below if you would like to see more unboxing posts. I will try to do it more faithfully, if there is any amount of interest... I get OwlCrate just about every month, and will be getting both GeekGear and LootCrate again in November (maybe another comparison post?). I'd also like to try out some other boxes in the future, particularly FairyLoot and Unicorn Crate, which are both book boxes. I also saw an unboxing video last week for a Pusheen Cat box (not a book box), which sounds pretty awesome because I definitely love Pusheen Cat! I really enjoy the book boxes because, of course, I love books! But they always include other fun bookish items that I can usually use, and as much as I love new books, sometimes the bookish goodies are what I get more excited about. :)

Unboxing: December "Epic" OwlCrate

Hey again! Time for another OwlCrate unboxing! The theme for this month's box (December 2016) was EPIC. Thanks to OwlCrate's spoiler hints throughout the month, we knew that there would be items inspired by various "fandoms" (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Chronicles of Narnia, and Lord of the Rings), that the book was a new read featuring an LGBTQ+ character/theme, that one of the items in the box would be from Dark Horse Comics, and that one of the items was a Funko Mystery Mini.

I wasn't sure whether or not to get this box. The theme didn't particularly appeal to me, and the only fandom I'm into is Harry Potter, so I felt that there was a pretty big potential for there to be things I wouldn't like/relate to in the box. But in the end, my curiosity and (recent) love for all things Harry Potter won, so I got the box. I had hoped it would arrive before Christmas, but it didn't - only a few days later, though. :) And I nearly bought the book the day before it arrived, but then I thought I remembered seeing it in one of the spoiler photos I had seen on Instagram, so I left it there. Good thing!

So, what's in the box? I'll list each fandom's item, and then the book at the end (always save the best for last).

December 2016 OwlCrate "Epic": reveal postcard & collectible pin

Harry Potter

The Harry Potter item represented in the box was the Funko Mystery Mini. I didn't get the previous OwlCrate box that included a Mystery Mini, but I wasn't that disappointed because I don't really care for the Mystery Mini figures (at least as far as the Harry Potter collection goes). Anyway, after considering the options, I had hoped that my Mystery Mini would be one of the animals from the collection, preferable Hedwig or one of the cats. I ended up with Dobby. It's not the worst, but it's not the best. I had, however, just a day or two before been reading that part in The Deathly Hallows (you know the one I'm talking about!), and I was still reeling from that. So Dobby's definitely not the worst I could have gotten, at this time.

Game of Thrones

I really don't know anything about this series at all except that apparently everyone dies? Anyway, the Game of Thrones item was a set of 4 coasters from Dark Horse Comics representing the four houses in the series? I didn't open the package because I know for sure that I won't be keeping these. From the package and other photos I've seen, they are really nice, but the series just doesn't appeal to me.

Chronicles of Narnia

We read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in school, but I've never had an interest in reading the books. Anyway, the item representing the Chronicles of Narnia in this box is a greeting card featuring a beautiful scene from the series, by @susanne_draws. It's definitely frame-worthy, but I haven't decided yet what I will be doing with it.

The Lord of the Rings

I am by no means a big fan, but I have read The Hobbit and have seen some of the movies, and I do like Lord of the Rings merch. This Lord of the Rings lapel pin by @jane_mount is pretty flippin' awesome.

A Darker Shade of Magic
I don't think this is such a well-known fandom, except among YA book-lovers (it's a book series by V.E. Schwab that hasn't got a movie/TV show to it's name yet), but since I've joined the OwlCrate Society, I have learned of and been intrigued by these books. It's definitely on my To Buy list. Anyway, the Darker Shade of Magic item in this box is a sticker by Miss Phi with the quote "I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still." I appreciate the sentiment, but can't wholeheartedly agree right now - one of my brother's friends recently tragically passed away while adventuring abroad, so it's a little too soon. :/

The Book

The December "Epic" OwlCrate book is *drum roll* Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst. The cover is gorgeous, and the synopsis is intriguing. It's definitely being added to my TBR pile, and will probably be tackled pretty soon. Also included is a promotional bookmark, and (as always) a letter from the author.

Brief overview: it's about a magical princess who is betrothed to the prince of a neighouring kingdom that forbids magic, so she has to learn to keep her magic under wraps, and ends up working with (and falling for) her future sister-in-law.

So, there it is! I like the box overall. There are things that I won't be keeping, simply because I am not into those fandoms, and I may eventually sell/trade the Dobby, but that's another story!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this unboxing post. Someday I'd like to feel comfortable enough to actually film myself doing an unboxing, and share it publicly... but for now, photos and written descriptions will remain my platform.

Unboxing: Wizarding World LootCrate - November

Hey guys! If you read my last unboxing post (November "Wonderland" OwlCrate), you will remember that I received a free OwlCrate in November after winning one of the photo challenges on Instagram, and so because I was getting a free OwlCrate box, I decided to treat myself to the November Wizarding World by LootCrate. As you may or may not know, that first crate sold out very quickly, but then they did a second batch, which I managed to get in on, that wouldn't be shipped until December. I was fine with that, it would be like a Christmas gift from me to me. As it turns out, this box arrived on the 23rd, and I didn't get my December OwlCrate until the 29th, so I'm really glad that I went ahead and got this one. It's quite a bit more than OwlCrate, but it is bi-monthly, and there's no book included in these boxes, just loot. I considered only getting the one box (because of the cost), but after seeing the contents, I'm definitely going to keep going as long as funds will allow.

So, on the the unboxing! The theme (as I understood it) of this first ever J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World box by LootCrate was Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, in honour of the movie's release that month (which, by the way, was amazing! I loved it, I'm so excited that there are 4 more to come, and I can't wait to see where the story goes!). The box is really cool, it's black with the logo on the top, and what looks like a suitcase lock on the side. Mine was a little damaged from it's long journey, as you can see, but everything inside was fine.

When you open the box, the inside cover graphic is awesome! It's dark teal and says "I want to be a wizard," and it makes me very happy.The first item at the top of the box was this sweet t-shirt! It's black, with the front page of a New York wizard newspaper "The New York Ghost" - it's really cool, I like it a lot.

The next item was this Pigwidgeon stuffed animal. He's kind of cute, but... not sure I have a use (or a desire) for a stuffed Pigwidgeon. :) It's also super soft.

Next item was a Harry Potter keychain. It's really big and bulky, so it's not something I think I would actually use as a keychain, but it's kind of neat. There is a black leather tassel, a metal Hedwig in flight, and a metal Hogwarts letter.

The next item I pulled out of the box was a Fantastic Beasts lapel pin. It is the Bowtruckle from the movie, in Newt's shirt pocket. Again, cute, but a bit bigger than I'd like. But it's a pin, so I think I'll be keeping that one for now.

There was also a Funko Pop! figure, which I was pretty excited about! There were a few possibilities (either characters from the new Fantastic Beasts movie, or Dumbledore). I got Dumbledore, which I was happy with because I didn't already have him, but then my brother ended up giving him to me for Christmas, so now I have a double which is up for trade (any takers??).

And last, but not least, there was this very cool "MACUSA" (Magical Congress of the United States of America, also from the Fantastic Beasts movie) embossed, gilded, leather-bound journal/notebook at the very bottom of the box. I really love the detail on the inside back cover; it shows a map of the USA with little blue dots here and there, and it's labeled "real-time hex indicator."

So, overall, awesome box. I think the items reflect the theme very well, it's a nice variety of items, and I feel like I got my money's worth. It's not necessarily all items that I love or will use, but that's completely my own personal preference. As far as the quality of the items and the overall box goes, I think they've done a great job, and I'm really happy with it!

The next Wizarding World box will be sent in January, and the theme is "A Matter of Time," which I am pretty excited about! Some people were speculating that there might be a Time Turner necklace included - I must admit that I would be very happy if that were the case! But I guess we shall have to wait to see...!

Did you get to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Were you able to get in on the Wizarding World LootCrate? What did you think of it?

Unboxing: November 2016 "Wonderland" OwlCrate

Whoops! I just came across this post and realized I never published it! I guess I was waiting to try to get some good pictures of the individual items. But seeing as I am now anticipating the December box and will be posting an unboxing of that soon enough, I thought I had better go ahead and publish this one! If you'd like to see photos of the individual items, just let me know!

Hey guys! I'm so excited to share this unboxing with you, it's one of my fave OwlCrate boxes so far! First off, the back story. I've been subscribed to OwlCrate for about a year now (have skipped a couple months). In September they started doing a Five Day Photo Challenge on Facebook and Instagram. A winner was chosen on each site, for each photo prompt, and the prizes were a free month's subscription, so that means ten free boxes! I participated in the September challenge and won (woot!), and decided to get my November box free since I wanted it anyway, and had already paid for the October box!

So, now that we know where the box came from, I have got to say that I love Alice in Wonderland, although, admittedly, I have never read the books (shame on me, I know!). The quirky characters, the dream-world, the magic, it all appeals to me, so I was very much anticipating this box, and I am pretty happy with it!

The hints we were given was that there was an exclusive tea blend from Riddle's Tea Shoppe, and an item from Authored Adornments, and everything is inspired by, obviously, Alice in Wonderland. Squeee! Now, let's see what's inside...

The first thing I saw upon opening the box, of course, was the reveal postcard, which I always set aside 'til later. Next I could see the tea tin. I obviously knew there would be tea in the box, and I don't like tea, so I knew I wasn't going to like that item. Last December there was tea from the same company and the smell was so strong and perfume-y I could hardly stand to have the unsealed tin in my room, and wouldn't dream of drinking the stuff, so I was pretty leery about this box for that reason... However, the tea actually smells quite pleasant and I may even be tempted to try it (but I know I won't like it, so why waste it? I'd like to sell it or give it away, but I really want to keep the tin...).

The next item was actually attached to the tea tin, which I didn't realize until I had finished unpacking the rest of the contents. It is a really cool Alice inspired magnet from Evie Bookish, which has the Cheshire cat's quote "Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." I love the art, and the quote, so I was really happy with that.

Next I found the clip bookmark from Authored Adornments, which has an Alice quote as well. I don't know if they're all the same or not, but mine quotes the part where Alice famously exclaims "Curiouser and curiouser!" :) It's beautiful, but I don't honestly use clip bookmarks. I find them a bit too bulky and top-heavy to be practical, but it really is beautiful. So I'm not sure what I'll do with it, other than perhaps use it as a photo prop...

Next I found the collectible pin which matches the reveal postcard, depicting Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I really love these collectible pins, but I still haven't found a use for them yet.

By now I had pulled the paper squiggles out to reveal the most beautiful and playful (exclusive) cover I've ever seen of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and matching bookmark, from Rock Paper Books. It's gorgeous! I'm fairly certain I have a copy of this book somewhere, but I don't know where so I can't say for certain. So I am super stoked to have a copy, and this one is just beautiful!

And, last but not least, the featured book was Heartless by Marissa Meyer, with another exclusive cover! I was pretty excited about this mostly because I have only recognized one other author that's been featured in the OwlCrate boxes, and so this is only the second book that I would have actually gone out and bought for myself. And I didn't realize that Heartless is a sort of retelling of Alice in Wonderland, in the sense that it's the story of how the Queen of Hearts became the person Alice met. (I wonder if it will be anything like the snippet of her story we got from last year's movie Alice Through the Looking Glass?)

I can't say which item is my favourite, I really love them all.