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It’s been a few months since I picked up one of the regular Arcade Block offerings (I have got hold of a Grab Block and seen some of the items).
As you’d expect from the name, Arcade Block is a monthly geek subscription box which provides mystery items aiming at the gaming community. The boxes aren’t themed, but can vary across the spectrum of both modern and retro video games.
I’ve always found Arcade Block to be one of the most variable in quality of the Nerd Block family. Sometimes, the boxes are excellent, but other times, they’re full of filler items and lack variety.
The standard monthly price for Arcade Block is $32.49 USD including shipping to the UK. That’s approximately £22 GBP. I did get a slight discount through the Black Friday sale, which is one of the reasons I decided to invest in another Arcade Block.
Shipping this month was rather slow, with the box not arriving until about a week into January 2016, but that can be explained by the holiday season.
The box comes with an information card detailing the items, which is always useful, particularly for the more obscure games.
Box Contents
Just Cause 3 T-Shirt (Exclusive)
This is a good visual design on a classic black T-Shirt.
I haven’t played the game, but this holds up to the normal high quality of these exclusive Shirt Punch T-Shirts.
I value this at the T-Shirt standard price of $10 USD, although this is probably really a promotional piece.
The Last Of Us Titan Vinyls – 2 Figure Pack (Exclusive)
Another game I’ve not played, but these are apparently the two lead characters from the game, Joel and Ellie.
These are 3″ figures and, as best I can find, these are totally exclusive (not a repackaging of two figures in one box, or a different paint job, as has been the case with exclusive figures in the past).
A typical selling price for other 2 figure packs of this type is $25 USD.
Street Fighter V Patch (Exclusive)
This is another of the type of items that I really don’t like receiving in geek mystery boxes. This is even less useful than badges, although the design is pretty neat.
You can buy a variety of Street Fighter patches on Amazon.com.
I’ll use a low end valuation of $2 USD as I usually do for items like this. Somehow, I suspect that this was another promotional item.
Pirate Cats In Space Notebook (Exclusive)
This is a thin notebook, for what I suspect is a fictitious game.
At least this is a useful item.
I value this at $2 USD.
Classic Console Playing Cards (Exclusive)
I never have a problem with having spare sets of playing cards. They’re always handy to have around.
These are still sealed, but I have read complaints that these are printed on thin card stock, so they won’t have a long lifespan.
These look like regular cards for the most part, with console like characters printed on the Ace, Jack, Queen and King.
I’ll value these at $2 USD.
Space Invaders Money Box (Exclusive)
This is a small money box, made of tin, which is actually nice and stylish.
However, it looks as though it’s been designed solely to fit US coins. Some of the thicker coins available in the UK just won’t fit through the thin slot at the top.
This probably won’t get a lot of use. Being in the UK, I’m not much of a user of cash any more, but happy to have this out on a shelf.
Looking at similar items, I’ll value this at $10 USD.
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Box Review
This probably isn’t the best box for me. Looking at the raw value of the items, this comes to $51 USD, but somehow that value just doesn’t seem to be present.
Most of the value is for the Titan Figures, which I’m sure are great for a collector.
Being more of a retro game fan, I’m happy with the money box, the notebook and the playing cards.
There were a lot of promotional items this time (the box also included a discount voucher for an online game store, but these are easily available online). As a positive, this also meant that all the items were exclusives.
The Arcade Block as sorely missing a written item, whether a magazine, book or even a comic.
Somehow, Arcade Block is a specialist audience, even when compared to other blocks. I will continue to buy occasional Arcade Blocks, and if you are that specific audience, this could be a good buy for you.
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