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The Second Annual Attack of the Mystery Boxes


We've come full circle, or better yet, the art of developing a great subscription box is growing leaps and bounds - and we have our 'best of' to share with you. Last year we released our very popular first survey of geek-based subscriptions, Go Figure News' Attack of the Mystery Boxes, and are thrilled to bring it back again for 2015! In our first-ever survey we offered only a 'Top 5' grouping, though the field has widened greatly and we hope you can see how this scope has effected the judging this year, offering some nice surprises! In all, our panelists voted on 38 various boxes that are circulating out there.

Of course, making a great subscription service requires a lot of elements, not withstanding a great theme/concept, quality products and strong customer service that is responsive. GOFN loves subscriptions so much that we have added a weekly column to our rotation called Unboxing Match, this column will include unboxings, behind-the-scenes interviews, and lots of surprises and tips! We guarantee that many, many mystery boxes have been opened and contents spilled hither and fro, to bring you such a survey. This year we took a poll of eleven select and exciting judges (thank you all so much), all expert unboxers (many whom you saw featured on our pages here during Unboxing Month in September), and these are their findings. We went one step further this year by inviting the public to participate in our first-ever 'People's Choice' selections as well, which will follow below. In preparation for this article the survey was sent to all the selected boxes in advance as well. Here we have the Best and Worst of 2015 (keep in mind that some on the lower end may not be as widely distributed, so better luck next year - there are always certain factors at play). The results are in and the anticipation is high, so here we go-go......

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for, and we are counting these down in reverse order to the number one spot. Some of the boxes that charted somewhere in between the top and bottom included: Cosmo Cube, Z-Box, Old School Crate, Power Up Box, Hero Crate, Gatcha Crate, Owl Crate, Geek Me Box, Tinker Crate and My Geek Box among others. There were three ties in our short list, so there are thirteen boxes represented in our Top Ten of 2015.

10.) Comic Bento + Super Geek Box (TIE)

This year we had several ties, and in all fairness, instead of splitting hairs, we are giving you the exact results as was tallied through Survey Monkey. At number ten we have two disparate boxes, each with their own je ne sais quoi. First we have Comic Bento who we reviewed in-house in September who offers "A surprise selection of fantastic graphic novels with at least $60 worth of comics in every box" for about $17.50+ a month. In a tie with Super Geek Box here who boasts "A monthly box of super geek and gamer gear at a $40+ value and a guaranteed ultra-epic shirt!". This box will cost you just under $16 with shipping right now.

9.) F-Box (Fugitive Toys)

F-Box is an interesting anomaly among monthly boxes (however, at press time we could not verify if they have released additional boxes since July of this year). They generally have released on a random date/time over the course of a year since mid 2014 and often feature Funko-based products (like several boxes out there). This box was in the number two slot at this time last year. Fugitive Toys' monthly mystery box also has a different theme each month. In general the value has often superceded many other boxes on the market.

8.) 1-Up Box

One of the newer boxes on the market has become a top ten favorite, and we think it's because it is an affordable option that offers "$40+ Value of awesome stuff in each box. Every month features a new collection with a guaranteed exclusive epic shirt!" for only $9.92 plus shipping and handling.

7.) Brick Loot + Geek Fuel (TIE)

Our second tie, again between two very different offerings here including: Brick Loot and Geek Fuel. We covered Brick Loot (a company founded by a 9 year old kid and his mom) recently and they deliver some interesting Lego items, "Each month the Brick Loot box is filled with 4-8 items that are hand picked by specialists who scour the world for the newest and coolest products for you to collect." Geek Fuel offers licensed items offering various plans that include "$50+ Value in every box" (see below image of recent contents).

6.) Lootcrate

One of the original, and top-selling boxes makes it into the top ten after being our number one pick last year. We can only guess that the position here has been somewhat effected by some of the comments we received about customer service. Though Lootcrate has offered a consistent product for the most part with sometimes innovative selections and unique partnerships. Each month there is a these and even their boxes themselves are often interactive. They offer a $40 Value starting at as little as about $18/mo depending on what plan you choose and now include a "Level Up" feature that allows you to add certain additional items to your crate.

5.) Collectible Geek + Pop In A Box (TIE)

Our final tie brings a US and a UK company (now offered stateside!) tête-à-tête in the number five slot. Collectible Geek was in this same slot last year as a newbie company, but boy have they grown and expanded wonderfully! They have offered unique items and are lauded for the best customer service inthe biz. CG are taking November off, but will be back with an exciting fervor in December! Here's our recent review of their 'Quest Accepted' box:

Then we have Pop In A Box who up until recently was only available from their UK location, and now have expanded to US operations! They offer a mystery Pop! vinyl figure monthly (offering a monthly free pop collection tracker!). Both companies offer larger prize incentives to their customers as well.

4.) My Geeky Goodies

"By Geeks, For Geeks" they say! And here they are at number four, appearing in our survey for the first time! Though GOFN has not had the direct pleasure of opening one of these boxes first hand, our skillful judges have, and after having taken a short sabbatical to regroup, My Geeky Goodies (or MGG for short) is back in business offering "a monthly surprise package delivered straight to your door filled with geeky and nerdy apparel, toys, and collectables! Every pack of goodies will come with either a custom t-shirt (in your size) or a POP Vinyl Figure, and 4-6 other super cool items for you to get excited about!" It's $24.99/month flat...how 'bout that?!

3.) Quarterly

We are so excited to see Quarterly make it to our top three! Recently we were stimulated by their box, so much so that we are "brewing" an ongoing web broadcast series called Coffee & Collectibles (tba). They inspired us with their very innovative and curated box by Naomi Kyle, and others. Their boxes are eclectic and quarterly, depending on whose box you want to collect. They sell out and cost around $50.

2.) Nerd Block (+ all its variants)

Nerd Block has to be the king of consistency. This Canadian company that ships all over the world, offers an incredible amount of flexibility and diversity in its growing roster of products (Arcade Block, Comic Block, Horror Block, Jr., and now Sci-Fi Block!!!). We have seen boxes that have blown our socks off and others that were somewhat middle of the road, but they rarely disappoint. In fact, so much so, that they have moved up from slot number three to the number two position this year. Oh, and did I mention if you sign up for a subscription they will send you a Free Introductory Block (click for our review)!

1.) Marvel Collector Corps

And with only four boxes under their belt (but plenty to come) is our overall glorious categorical winner this year. The Marvel Collector Corps is on the map! Having taken us by storm the collaboration between Marvel and Funko seems like a winning combination, so much so that Funko is diversifying and expanding in short time to include a separate subscription for both a Star Wars (Smuggler's Bounty) and a DC Universe (tba, announced at Comic Con) box! They offer exclusive merchandise, specifically designed and earmarked only to subscribers! Each box has traditionally come with a pin, patch, t-shirt and one or two vinyl figures (Pop! vinyl, Dorbz, mini). They seem to have recovered from some initial hiccups with Customer Service and are ramping up to become a fan favorite across the board. Annual subscribers receive a stature, but its too early to tell what that will look like, etc. Some subscribers get a lucky additional item, such as a rare prototype. A stroke of brilliance! Here's what some of their past boxes have looked like:

WAIT FOR IT.....

We make no excuses for ratings, except that they are the opinions of our illustrious panel and that's about it. That said, these folks know their way around a subscription box the way a quarterback handles the ball, just saying. The only thing to point out here is that some of these boxes are potentially newer, or lesser known, so that is factored into the perception of our bottom five boxes. Better luck next year!

Go ahead and click around to get additional information on these boxes and have a peek at what's inside. They offer various programs, some with options, and keep in mind some of these companies are smaller and just starting out. Some kinks are to be expected along the way. Though we hope their appearence here will not completely disuade you from considering them when shopping around.

PEOPLE's CHOICE!: We gave you, the readers of gofigurenews.com (who we lovingly refer to as "GO-fers" cuz we love the furry critters, and you too!) the opportunity to vote on your favorite subscription mystery boxes and thank you all for the wonderful and overwhelming response. The voting session was open for a complete month and we have now tabulated the final numbers, and I think you will be surprised to see some similarites and some differences from our annual survey (above). There were three boxes that appeared in this list that did not appear in ours, and only two ties. The people have spoken and have thus cast their ballots and without further adieu:

1.) Marvel Collector Corps 2.) Gamer Girl Monthly 3.) Nerd Block (+ variants) 4.) Collectible Geek 5.) Brick Loot + Geek Fuel (TIE) 6.) Lootcrate 7.) 1-Up Box 8.) F-Box 9.) Anime Bento + Super Geek Box (TIE) 10.) Comic Con Box

As you can see, our judges and the general public agreed on the top pick this year, so big congrats to Marvel Collector Corps for creating a memorable product in short time! The surprises in the People's Choice were particularly Gamer Girl Monthly ranking so high and relatively low (outside top ten) in our in-house survey. That's an exciting difference, and a reason to keep a public vote! That said also Anime Bento (which received medium response from our judges) and Comic Con Box (which was just short of our own top ten). We have not reviewed the three boxes mentioned here ourselves, but hope to in the coming months!

Now for the low scores, there was only one crossover, so that might say a lot to you, or if you didn't vote this year, maybe you will next year to impact the results!

In the lowest scores here we saw the biggest surprises since four of the lowest scores were not in our above survey at all! Just goes to show you that an geek-educated and smart consumer rules. Please let us know what you thought of our survey and which boxes you'd like to see included in the survey next year!

© Maciej Ratajski

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