I don’t know if I mentioned this before but Nerd Block started doing themes each month. Although, in saying that, they did a theme and the next month no theme and now we have a theme again. This month’s theme is A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
I’ve been pretty rubbish at posting the monthly Nerd Blocks but I’m going to make the effort to do it every month from now on. We get the Nerd Block for Ki our 8 year old son, we do check the items before we give it to him to make sure they are age appropriate but in these posts I am looking at the items as not only a nerd but a judgey mum.
Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back Film Cell
‘This month we used the force to bring you Star Wars Episode V in this special edition framed FilmCell presentation. This classic collectible boasts a real clip of film from the movie. Better than midi-chlorians, this is a piece of the universe you can keep forever. Brought to you from a galaxy far far away’
This is the cell we received and I would go as far as too say this was my favourite item from the box. Film Cells do make nice little collectibles and it comes with a COA which is always a bonus.
Grump Cat Plush
‘Grumpy Cat just wants to be left alone in a different universe, away from all of you. But unfortunately for her, she is in this month’s Nerd Block instead’
Ok, so Grumpy Cat is adorable and so is this plush of her but I’m struggling to see how this fits in with, not only the Galaxy Far, Far Away theme but Nerd Block in general.
Hobbit Pen and Bookmark
‘Write like you went To There and Back with this replica Sting pen! Complete with a Bilbo Baggins bookmark, never lose track of your adventures ever again.’
Is it just me or does this pen look like poo on a stick? So the pen is meant to be a replica of Gandalf’s staff/wand/walking stick but it’s struggling in that department as you can see, less staff more stool. For the love of Gandalf, don’t put this pen in your mouth.
The bookmark makes up for it though. It is a sturdy plastic bookmark with a lenticular image on the front and a plain white back. It’s a good size and will last a long time.
On the ‘Here’s what’s inside’ card, it shows a Sword Pen and a Bilbo Baggins bookmark and as you can tell from description above, it doesn’t mention any variants so I’m wondering how many people got the sword/Bilbo combo and how many got the poo pen/Gandalf combo.
Nerd Block Exclusive Elf Ears
‘Fulfil your fantasy and go out on an epic adventure with these Exclusive Nerd Block elf ears! Travel around through Middle Earth amongst the Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves and Orcs unnoticed’
Ok, i’ll admit that these are pretty awesome and that I want them. Ki put them on straight away and told me matter of factly that he is going to wear them to bed, so they went down a treat with him.
They are made from a slightly soft plastic and although we struggled getting them on Ki’s ears to begin with, they went on ok. I suppose you could technically wear these as Vulcan ears and get away with it too.
Star Trek/ Planet of the Apes Comic
‘Damn it, I’m a Nerd Block, not a damn dirty ape! This month we’ve gone ape with this Star Trek and Planet of the Apes crossover’
Comics are good, we like comics, and receiving comics we wouldn’t normally buy or that are exclusives, is a good way for Ki to get his own little collection going. Plus, because it says Nerd Block on the front and we have told him that the items with that on are special, it means that he is less likely to damage them.
Scatter Brainz Darts + Target
‘Scatter Brainz is a crazy twist on the game of darts. Each deranged character dart has a soft, gummy brain that sticks to virtually any sirface! Also included is a Decision Maker dart board to aim at.’
These are kind of cool, and Ki already has a fair few of them as it is something he has been collecting recently. I would have thought these would be better suited to Nerd Block Jr than the Classic Block.
Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver T-shirt
The best thing about the Nerd Block is that we get a t-shirt every month and the best thing about it for Ki is that it is highly unlikely that he will see another child in our small town wearing the same t-shirt as him. Although this month it is Dr Who and we aren’t Dr Who fans at all.
I’ve got to be honest, as a nerd, if I was subscribing to this Nerd Block classic for myself, I wouldn’t be very happy with the overall content. the Scatter Brainz and Grumpy Cat plush would be more suited to Nerd Block Jr in my opinion and I feel like the cohesiveness of the theme just wasn’t there. As a Mum, who looked at the Nerd Block Jr Boys before subscribing to the Classic for Ki, I can say that I still whole heartedly believe that the items in the classic are much better than the Jr Boys and are suited to his age group, he really enjoys the items he gets and that is the point.
Sometimes I feel like I am being too judgey with Nerd Block and that I compare them too much to Loot Crate but then Loot Crate are their biggest and best competitor in this market and it’s really hard not to compare the two.
Since we signed up to Nerd Block, they have been improving, although they still seem to struggle with the curation of the items but I am really hoping to see them improving continuously in the next few months. I have considered swapping Ki from the classic to the Arcade Nerd Block as it fits him even better but will have to look into what the previous boxes have been first.
What did you think of this months Nerd Block?
:)x
