Sunday, February 5, 2017

Battle of the Boxes | Harry Potter Edition


Hello!  And sorry for the absence.  I got a new computer so I was working on getting everything switched over, and adapting to it as it's my first time having a Mac, but we are back in business!  And I wanted to come back with a new series I'm thinking about doing:  Battle of the Boxes!

It's no secret that there is a subscription box for pretty much anything you can think of these days, but not every subscription box is created equal.  I'm going to break down two boxes and let you know which I think is best, but also give you enough details to decide for yourself.  This isn't going to be a super regular thing, as that can get quite costly, but a couple times a year I'll definitely be giving it a go.  For the first edition, I thought it would be natural for me to start with two that I'm already subscribed to:  Geek Gear's World of Wizardry and Loot Crate's J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.

The Basics


I have been subscribed to the World of Wizardry box since the summer, and at the time, it was the only option available.  I enjoyed it, but when Loot Crate announced at New York Comic Con that they would be coming out with the official box to represent all of J.K. Rowling's wizarding properties, I was hard pressed to pass this up.

The World of Wizardry box is by Geek Gear, which is a company based in the U.K.  Obviously this means that if you are living in the States like myself, you'll be paying a little more to have the box delivered to you.  The box is £19.99 per month, which obviously fluctuates outside of the U.K. depending on the conversion rate of the currency.  For this reason, I go with a three month plan, which is £56.97.  That way I lock in on one conversion rate for a few months.  If you really want to go all-in, you can get this for 6 months for £107.94, or 12 months for £203.88.  This is a monthly subscription box and they usually ship between the 20-25 of each month.  The only downside with their shipping is that we don't receive tracking numbers.  Especially with things coming from overseas, I like to be able to know where my package is and when I'm going to receive it.  

As I mentioned earlier, J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World box is the official box for Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts merchandise and is ran through Loot Crate, which was to the best of my knowledge one of the first geeky subscription boxes out there.  I was subscribed to the original crate for a while, but unsubscribed only because the boxes were so vague and I was getting things from properties that I didn't know anything about.  Everything in this box will obviously be from the Wizarding World we all love!  This is a bi-monthly box and is $34.99 (plus shipping and handling), however they also offer bundle packages if you want to pay for several months in advance.  

So that's all of the boring stuff.  Let's get onto the unboxings!

World of Wizardry






The "format" of the boxes is generally the same:  you tend to get some posters, there's always a t-shirt, something for the home, and then a couple other goodies.  The posters are generally pretty cool, and they have also been sneaking in some original art the past couple months.  The last two I didn't love, but I really love the one this month with Harry's patronus.  I'm super excited about the Slytherin pillowcase!  I love the design, which we actually got a print of a couple months ago, and I will happy to have it somewhere on display in my house.  

I'm unsure about the jelly beans, as they don't say whether or not they're Bertie Bott's and I don't play around with those!  The socks pair well with the gloves and hat we received last month, and the t-shirt is actually a design that we had on a sticker that I got in one of my first boxes.

One thing that I think this box does perfectly is house-specific merchandise.  While both boxes ask you to choose your house when you sign up (you don't have to and you'll receive random houses every month), this one has house-specific stuff in every box.  Granted, the Loot Crate box is fairly new (the first box was in November), there hasn't been anything house-specifc yet, although the theme of the next box (March) is house pride, so one would think there will be house merchandise in there.

J.K. Rowling's World of Wizardry












I love the shirts we get.  Just the quality alone is lovely, but the designs have been great too. I'm surprised they went with Snape this month, as he's a pretty polarizing character, but I am Team Snape so I shan't complain!

I really love the pocket watch we got.  I think the design of it is really beautiful, on the inside and out. The time turner isn't my favorite, as it doesn't properly twirl and there's no sand in the middle.  The World of Wizardry box has done the time turner quite a few times and I'm a much bigger fan of that one.  I think the prophecy button is neat and will hang well with some of my other buttons at work!

The socks are super cute, although they seem like they're going to be a little big on me (these are for size 10-13 and I'm a 7 1/2).  And then of course, there's Sirius!  We seem to be getting a Funko in every box and they have four or five that you can get.  I just wish they would start doing exclusives because I am totally one of those people who buy them all up once I see them in stores.  I already had Sirius, and I received a Niffler last box, which I also already had.  The Niffler is hanging out with me at work and I gave Sirius to my friend Noelle, so it all works out.  Hopefully there are some exclusives in the future, though!


So, now it's up to you to let me know which you like better!  Personally, I think I'm more on Team Loot Crate.  While you definitely get less stuff than the other box, I think it's of higher quality.  Plus I generally don't really know what to do with most of the stuff in the World of Wizardry box.  But that's just me.  Tell me in the comments below which one you'd rather be subscribed to!

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