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Digital Trends
Subscription boxes have become a way to accumulate cool collectibles or samples of stuff we're interested in, with the added convenience of it coming to us. 

Loot Crate, a subscription box for geeks, has been around for a few years now, but despite hearing about it, I hadn't tried it until now. 

Each Loot Crate box is centered around a theme; my box's theme was 'Dystopian,' so all of the items in the box centered around a popular dystopian world.

Having a theme is smart; it ties all the items in the box together and makes the entire package seem thoughtful, as opposed to just a grab-bag. There's also a guide book of sorts that outlines every item in the box and has a couple of short essays centered around box's theme. 

Loot Crate claims that each of their boxes contains over $50 worth of merch, and I have no problem believing that. The 'Dystopian' Loot Crate contained: A RoboCop T-shirt, Terminator 2 metal print, 700-piece Matrix puzzle, Bioshock Infinite key blank, Fallout 4 pin, and Fallout 4 Armor Dorbz figure. I would have no trouble believing that the RoboCop T-shirt alone is worth more than Loot Crate's $13.95 subscription fee.

Loot Crate 810x400
Each Loot Crate comes with four to six items.
Loot Crate
My biggest fear was that the items in the box would end up looking and feeling cheap, but that's far from the case. The Terminator 2 metal print didn't bend, even under a decent amount of force, and the RoboCop T-shirt didn't look or feel any cheaper than any of the other graphic tees I own. Loot Crate doesn't seem to have compromised on the quality of its boxes contents, which is nice, because it would have been the easy option. 

Another aspect of being a Loot Crate subscriber is the fact that almost all of the items in their boxes are exclusive, so you won't find them anywhere else. Everything I listed earlier is exclusive to this Loot Crate box, except for the Fallout 4 pin and Dorbz figure. It's a good incentive to keep people subscribed, even if that month's theme doesn't interest them, because it makes the objects feel special.

The only thing keeping me from subscribing to Loot Crate is my ongoing quest for minimalism. As great as the items in this crate where, I'm not one to display pop culture items on my shelves or walls (instead I admire my friends' collections!). But if you are, or someone you know is, really into collectibles, Loot Crate is tailor-made for geeks who want to express their love of geek culture.

My favorite part of the box is that nothing seemed gimmicky or pandering, which is another pitfall. The people behind Loot Crate are definitely lovers of the stuff they choose to put in these boxes, and it shows.

Loot Crate's subscription boxes go for $11.95-$13.95 a month, depending on the membership plan you choose.

This article was originally published on 8/1/2016.
