My Geeky Goodies Review: April 2015

Geek subscription boxes can be tough, because these days, everyone seems to want to be part of geek culture. It's ironic, since most of us who grew up geeky were tortured about it for years, only for it now to be the thing to do. So there are a variety of boxes and they all tend to be similar, but there's something really special about My Geeky Goodies. (I would say this goes for Geek Fuel, too). Take out things like Custom Fan Box, which is customized and therefore going to appeal to you since it's based on your interests and not random themes, and Collectible Geek, which is a more expensive collectible box, and you're left with several mystery geek boxes in the $15-$30 range each month. How do you stand out then? I think it's easy for My Geeky Goodies, because they advertise as a box FOR geeks BY geeks - and they mean it. 

A lot of people love Loot Crate and that's fine, and from a casual observer's standpoint, there may not be much of a difference between something like that and My Geeky Goodies. In April, both boxes included a shirt, a value item in the $10 range, and some filler. But for me, as a hardcore nerd and gamer, there is a dramatic difference - and it comes down to something very simple: curation. 

I've had a hard time explaining this, but I am going to do it this way. My parents and in-laws don't really know or care much about my interests. I don't mean that in a bad way, but we're all people living our own lives and I don't really know much about theirs, either. When the holidays come, unless someone asks for something specific, there's a lot of generic gift giving happening. Beyond gift cards (the savior for when you have no idea what to buy), we tend to shop on a superficial level. My dad likes to garden and my mom likes taking baths. That's kind of shallow, but I know I can pick up some gardening supplies and bath products and they'll probably like them. I can't, however, select specific seeds. My mom collects these weird wooden figure things and birdhouses or something, but I couldn't tell you which kind or which ones she has. And it's the same for us. They know I play video games. They know I love Harry Potter and Doctor Who and Game of Thrones. If you asked my parents to name a house in either Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, they wouldn't have a clue. (My dad could tell you about Tom Baker, since he got me into Doctor Who as a child, but he didn't even know it was back on.)

How does this relate to geek subscription boxes? Well, it relates a lot, actually. A set of Game of Thrones magnets or a Harry Potter luggage tag is something my parents would get me for Christmas. It's fine, but they don't have a clue what the different magnets mean or what 9 3/4 is. Last month, Geek Fuel sent a dragon glass arrowhead. My parents would NOT buy this, because it means nothing to them. It means a great deal to me, though, as a fan. THIS is the best way to explain the difference in curation. I feel like the people sourcing items for My Geeky Goodies and Geek Fuel get it; the people sourcing for Loot Crate are not appealing to fans, as much as they're appealing to generic concepts and franchises. And really, superficial enjoyment of popular franchises is, for me at least, the absolute antithesis of geekdom. Again, it's a slight variation, but little bothers me more than corporate greed. 

Geek Subscription Boxes: List, Recommendations, and Thoughts

Everyone is very different, so what I consider a great subscription box could be way off for someone else. However, my husband's students asked him recently about Loot Crate, and he had plenty to say about why that would be a waste of the kids' money, but he couldn't remember which ones were the best. We get so many that it often becomes hard to track what comes from who and what's worth the expense. He asked me to make him a list for his students, but I was already thinking of doing that anyway. Recently, BuzzFeed had its own list and I was excited to see some of the great ones on there that don't get as much hype as the others. Instead of a best kind of list, I decided to do a pros and cons  overview - BASED ENTIRELY ON OUR EXPERIENCES AND PREFERENCES. I collect Funko POP figures and I love Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. My husband and I are gamers and he has read comics since he knew how to read. We don't really play Nintendo and we don't have kids. These are the kinds of things that do make a difference, because what we prefer may not be the same as someone who doesn't like the same things.

I'm going alphabetically and I'm also including a few that are geeky in their own right, although not technically fandom-based. I also included a link to a review for each so you can see the items included in the box.

My Geeky Goodies Review: March 2015

My Geeky Goodies is definitely one of my favorite geeky subscription boxes. For the same price as the bigger boxes, they offer a much better value, I feel. Sure, some of the items are small and may still be a hit or miss based on personal preference, but it's a lot less marketing swag and more actual items in this box. 

The theme of this box was Monster Apocalypse and it was a pretty great collection! It started with vintage Dinosaurs Attack cards from nearly 30 years ago (complete with a warning from MGG not to eat the gum!). Although maybe if you ate the gum, you could become a comic book villain with super powers, right? 

February 2015: Month in Review (Hits and Misses)

As we did last month, I wanted to do a review of the hits and misses for subscription boxes for February. There were utter disasters again, as well as lots of amazing arrivals and new subscriptions.

MISSES

As I did in January, I think it's better to start with the constructive so you can end on a positive note. Some of these are seriously bad and others were just not fits for me personally, although sadly I have to say I've seen less of just meh items than outright terrible business this month. I have noticed that you can get a fairly good sense of the quality of a subscription box by the service via email or on social media. The more active and engaged the company is, the more likely your box will really be what you expected and the more the products will be higher quality. Companies who seem to be interested in just jumping on a bandwagon of where they think they money is, or those who are far more interested in being huge, tend to place customers at the bottom of their priorities and it shows not only in their interactions but also in the way they put together the boxes and select products. Some are beginning to feel like a cardboard box full of nothing but ads.

My Geeky Goodies Review: February 2015

For all the hype that a certain geek subscription box gets (let's call it Voldemort from now on), I find it disappointing that people are suckered into a less than top quality geek subscription box. There are so many better options. Nerd Block is a big one, although it can be expensive, but there are also tons of other boxes. For two months, I have been so happy with My Geeky Goodies. Last month, this was on my top five list and I loved this month's box! This is definitely one of the best.

Each month, there is a theme and this month's theme was "Throwback Toy Box." Man, it was awesome. If you grew up in the '80s and '90s, you've probably noticed your childhood is now becoming popular again. My Geeky Goodies prides itself as a box for geeks BY geeks and I do think they really do understand their demographic. Also, unlike Voldemort, they don't send you random paper goods or marketing materials.

My Geeky Goodies Review: January 2015

My Geeky Goodies is a geeky subscription box with a monthly theme. This month's theme was Pixel Power - and this box was AWESOME! It was Nerdvana in there, I swear. ;) They advertise themselves as a box for geeks prepared by geeks, and it's clear they know their fans. They also promise either a shirt or Funko POP! figure in each box.