A few months ago my wife and I were viewing a plethora of those specialized subscription boxes that have become popular online over the past couple of years. There are boxes that target all kinds of interests and hobbies from sports, arts and crafts, clothes, food, wines; you name it there is probably a company out there that has created a mailing bundle to suit almost everyone. There's even one that provides survival items which could come in useful in a zombie apocalypse.
The ones we perused through were aimed strictly at science-fiction, horror, comic book and game geeks and nerds. I must admit, I was intrigued by the idea of these monthly boxed packages that contain a variety of mystery surprise items pertaining to specific themes and topics.
I know why I was drawn to the idea of these boxes. As a child I used to love the mystery of wondering what was inside one of those things they called lucky bags. A lucky bag was simply a foot high plain paper bag which contained an assortment of penny sweets/candy and a couple of novelty toy items that ranged from whistles, compasses, miniature board games, tattoo transfers and collectors cards. They were sold at our local newsagents which was the kind of old fashioned style British corner shop that sold sweets/candy from glass jars stacked on shelves from behind the counters. I'm not sure if the lucky bag was a local invention or if it was a nationwide fad, but I know the children at my school always tried to save some pocket money in order to purchase at least one of them during the school week. Sometimes you'd be happy with what was inside those bags and other times you'd be a little disappointed.
As children we went through a similar range of emotions when visiting an outdoor summer fete or a Father Christmas/Santa's grotto that provided what we call in Britain a lucky dip. If you've never experienced a lucky dip then I'll explain what they are. They are usually big barrels filled with a myriad array of wrapped toys and games which were then hidden in copious amounts of sawdust. You reached into the barrel not knowing what gift you would pull out. The organizers of these events always made sure boys and girls never ended up getting what was "considered" a toy or prize more suited to the opposite sex by having two barrels set up.
Flash forward to the near present and that wave of excitement and anticipation I experienced as a kid was re-ignited somewhat when I used to buy the SFX magazine special editions where they would provide several geeky and nerdy free gifts to give away with each issue. If they could make an item fit inside the protective polythene bag then it was included. Over the years they doled out... posters, postcards, coasters, novels, badge pins, fridge magnets, stickers, key chains, audio CD's, edibles and even an 11th Doctor Bow Tie which was very cool. Sadly, Future plc, SFX's publisher found this too costly in the current economic climate and stopped doing it. These mystery themed pop boxes seemed like the next logical progression of all those ideas that came before.
Out of all the boxes we scrutinized we decided on purchasing a three month Horror Block subscription because it seemed like the one box that would deliver goodies I would appreciate the most. According to online reviews the quantity of products varies from month to month depending on the dimension limitations of the boxes and what they decide to pack inside them. Horror Block guarantees an exclusive limited edition horror themed t-shirt in their box that you can't purchase anywhere else; they also include the latest Rue Morgue horror magazine which is published every month. Everything else that is mailed along with these two items are ultimately unknown variables until one has opened the package and studied the contents.
The website gives you updates on when they send the boxes out and sure enough, within a few days of their notification I received my Horror Block. The black shoe box shaped rectangular container replete with one bloody hand print motif on top of the lid with blood streaks and drips that continue down one of it's sides was waiting for me outside my door. I couldn't possibly open it up without my wife being present; this was a gift from her to me so I dug deep, tapped into my Jedi Master training skills and patiently waited for her to come home from work.
So what horrors lurked within the box?
I'll try to describe everything in as much detail as I possibly can.
The Horror Block is sealed with a brown masking tape that is flourished with a blood splatter pattern. The tape is there to show you that it hasn't been tampered with during transit. It's very easy to cut open with a knife. The small concealed lid flaps pull out from their slots in the sides of the box and the lid lifts upwards and back; you would find the same set up on a standard shoe box. Inscribed on the inside of the box in a bloody letter font are the words..."DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE" which we both found amusing and a nice little presentational touch.
The first packed item we came across on top of the pile was the t-shirt. It's black, I suspect all the Horror Block t- shirts come in black since black represents all absence of colour or the complete absorption of light and in Western cultures it's closely associated with death, mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, evil, and it makes any overweight geek or nerd look a few pounds lighter and appear sexy time elegant with the ladies.
The Shirt depicts an off white printed face with red blood droplets embedded into the design. The logo also printed in an off white reads "SURVIVE THE NIGHT". I deserve to lose geek points for not instantly recognizing what horror film this was from. My wife got it so I think she deserves the mention and recognition on here. It depicts the punk with face paint and a cross drawn on his forehead from the Purge: Anarchy.There are two cardboard labels attached to the shirt. One has the Horror Block logo on one side and on the reverse side the words scrawled in blood saying ..."A SHIRT TO MAKE YOUR SKIN CRAWL" The other label is from the online store Shirt Punch with a 10% saving off your next t-shirt purchase; on it's reverse side is a website address for the company and a statement saying "LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRTS" "4 NEW SHIRTS 24 HOURS ONLY. The suggested retail price for this shirt is $19.99 which I think sounds about right. I have bought similar shirts at comic book stores and they range from $19.99 up to $24.99. The shirt is made from heavy cotton and I would say they favour the larger figure. They are not slim fit shirts. In my case I tend to wear extra large t-shirts, but opted out of paying a little extra money to get a XXL. I took the chance that the their XL is not designed for someone who comfortably fits into a large or medium size and the gamble paid off. The shirt fits perfectly and sufficiently hides all my geeky bulges in the process, er...I meant to say my, Thor Odinson rippling geek muscles.
Click here for...Shirt Punch Website
Surprise item number one...a stuffed mini toy or plush mini toy if you are American. It's roughly around three inches tall and is the cutest depiction of H.P. Lovecraft's, Cthulhu I've ever seen. It's utterly adorable. It's emerald green with touches of pastel green on his back wings, stomach, webbed ears and head fin. He has little sewn in octopus suckers on his tail. His eyes are partially red and his mouth area has little felt tentacles which brings to mind the squid like aliens called Quarren from the Star Wars universe; the Pak'ma'ra from the Babylon 5 and the Ood from Doctor Who television shows. There is a cardboard label attached to his head which depicts a coloured drawing of the toy accompanied by the words..."Hello!". The other side of the card gives safety and washing instructions, website addresses to Nerd Block, Horror Block's other subscription package and one for, Infinifan the company who constructed this toy. We checked out their website and there is really nothing on it yet, there are no other products in this line. We came to the conclusion that this must be a newly formed company that must have made a deal with Horror Block to provide future toys for their boxes. This means you cannot buy this little guy anywhere else so it makes it a one off exclusive. I have no idea how to price this toy if you were to purchase it from a store. Mini plush toys range from $5.00 to $40.00. I'd bump this from the lower range and give it a mid range price because it's not available anywhere else as yet.
Click here for...Infinifan Website
Surprise item number two...a sage green silicone ice tray representing the Xenomorph, Facehugger eggs from the movie Alien movie series. There are four small molds and one large one built into the tray. It comes in a cellophane wrapping with a cardboard backing. It's made by a company called, Kotobukiya. I visited the website and they have licenses to make merchandise for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Clone Wars cartoon, Alien VS Predator, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Capcom, Shadow of the Colossus and Halo 3. They make Anime statues, model kits and books. I think this is also a cool item, no pun intended there or was it? These will come in very handy during Halloween time or a normal day in our household. I think a lime and lemon juice mix poured into these molds will create some very striking ice cubes/shapes for drinks that will keep them staying frosty. I've seen other sci-fi themed silicone ice trays at the Think Geek and Hot Topic websites and they range from $9.99 to $16.50.
Click here for...Korobukiya Website
Surprise item number three...a ReAction three and three quarter inch fully poseable action figure of Ghost Face from the,Scream film franchise with his signature weapon of choice the kitchen knife. It's blister packed on card. The card backing has a printed photographic still of the character from the movie. If you look at the reverse side of the card it shows you the other figures you can collect in this horror series of toys. They include...Micheal Myers from the Halloween film series, Classic Freddy Krueger, not the remake version from the Nightmare on Elm Street film series, Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film series, Eric Draven from The Crow movie, Pinhead from the Hellraiser film series and Sam from the Trick R Treat movie. I think the fun aspect of this figure line is that the company, Funko who produce them have purposely styled them to be retro looking. They've simplified the sculpting, and paint work. They have limited the amount of articulation too as was the case with the same sized, Kenner, Star Wars figures back in the 1970's and 1980's. I would say the quality of this figure and packaging would put it in the C10 category, that's the best rating you can appoint a collectible figure. C1 being the worst rating, clearly stating that the toy is loose with paint damage and missing all it's accessories. This blister pack is in mint condition and completely flawless, there are no dents, scratches or warping of the plastic. The card is also in mint condition, it's flat with not a rip, scratch or tear in sight, plus the hook hole is unpunched and intact. This looks like the figure was obtained directly from the manufacturer. I've seen these action figures priced from $6.00 to $12.00 on eBay and Amazon and that's not including postage and packaging. Horror Block timed this inclusion very well since the MTV, Scream television show started the week these boxes were shipped out.
Click here for...Funko ReAction Figure Line Website
Click here for...Funko Website
Lastly...the Rue Morgue horror magazine issue no 157,July 2015. The cover features a photo of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman from the American Psycho film. It's been 15 years since it was released and director Mary Harrison takes a look back at her controversial adaptation. There are informative articles throughout it's 62 pages on the latest horror DVD and cinematic releases to special featured pieces. In this case one titled Love You To Death a new movie by Joe Dante; They Get you While You Sleep which talks about a new film exploring the real life horror of sleep paralysis and Overlook'd No More a retrospective on Kubrick's The Shining. The one item that instantly caught my eye was the one in the Classic Cut section which reminisced about BBC's horror double bills in the 70's and 80's and the reason why I got into this genre at an early age. It was a nice trek down memory lane for me. This magazine retails in Canada and the USA for $9.95. As was the case with the action figure packaging the magazine is in also in pristine condition.
Click here for...Rue Morgue Magazine Website
There is also a post card that features photo thumbnails of all the contents that came with the box with a brief and whimsical description underneath them. It looks like the silicone ice tray maker came in two varieties the one with the Alien egg sculpts I received in my package and a blue silicone ice maker tray that came with a sculpt of a profile, side view of a Xenomorph's head; The picture is partially obscured in the promotional material, but it looks like it has two large head molds and four small ones.
I have one more thing to do which is to total up the cost of all the items in the Horror Block and compare it to the subscription cost. I've tried to be conservative with the pricing on the items that have various or unknown price ranges and aired on the cheapest estimations or taken some other factors into account... rarity and condition and picked a fair price accordingly.
Exclusive T-Shirt = $19.99
Cthulhu Stuffed/Plush Toy = $15.99
Themed Silicone Ice Tray = $9.99
ReAction Ghost Face Action Figure = $12.99.
Rue Morgue Magazine = $9.95
Total = $68.91
Horror Block Subscription per month = $19.99
USA Shipping Costs = $9.50
UK & Europe Shipping Costs = $12.50
Canada Shipping Costs = $8.75
Blocks typically take 2-10 business days to arrive at their destinations. North American and UK customers generally receive their blocks within 6 days, and sometimes much faster.
I received my first Horror Block within two days of them notifying me via e-mail.
Final thoughts and conclusion.
I was very happy with the quality of all the items in the box. They were pleasant surprises. Even if stuffed/plush toys, action figures or ice trays are not your thing you can always give them away as gifts to a family member or friend who does. You could hand the stuffed/plush toy to your pet. Then there are the options; you could re-sell the things you don't want from the box on eBay, Amazon, Craig's List, your own online store or a specialist comic book collectibles shop. You may want to donate them to a worthy charitable cause; although I'm not so sure Horror Block movie and television show related memorabilia would be welcomed at the likes of Toys For Tots. The surprise items owe you nothing since the t-shirt and magazine more than cover the cost of your subscription. The other contents are bonus material. If you can spare the cash to treat someone to this kind of a gift then I would say choose wisely, make sure you know that person very well and do a thorough research on the net before picking one.
Here are a list of links for websites that offer subscription boxes that cater specifically to geeks and nerds.
Click on following links below for more information and purchasing details...
Horror Block Website
Nerd Block Website
Comic Block Website
Geek Fuel Website
Loot Crate Website
Collectible Geek Website
Power Up Box Website
Boxy Chan Website
Booty Bin Website
Gizmo Crate Website
Games Box Website
This ends my review of my first Horror Block, this is Pitch signing off last surviving member of the Nostromo.
Keep a look out for my YouTube review of this months Horror Block; I'll post details and links when it's up.
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