Click Here To Watch The Retro Pop Box Unboxing Video For January 2016 On YouTube
Retro Pop Box is a geek mystery box subscription series that launched a few months ago.
Although I tried to purchase a box in November, for some reason, my box was paid for but never shipped. Retro Pop Box made good by shipping my the January 2016 box.
Unusually for a geek box subscription, Retro Pop Box comes with a choice of three different decades, from which your items are selected. You can choose from 60s, 70s and 80s. You can also buy more than one box each month, as the items are advertised as being different. For my first box, I went for the decade where I spent most of my childhood, the 80s.
The 80s box arrived safely, with little fanfare (I didn’t get shipping notification – but this might be because of how this is processed). First impressions were of a colourful box design, but rather smaller and tighter packed than other similar geek boxes. The inner contents were wrapped in yellow tissue paper.
When I order, the box cost, including shipping to the UK on a month-by-month basis, was $35 USD (25 GBP).
I see that the shipping cost to the UK has now been reduced from $15 USD to $5 USD, making this one of the much more reasonable subscriptions. The price for a new subscription is now $25 USD (£18 GBP) – thankfully lower than many other boxes, particularly as the UK to US exchange rate has taken rather a hit in recent months (I didn’t receive a refund for the price difference between ordering the box and having it shipped).
The box comes with a helpful information card, talking about the items. One of the items also came with a Retro Box Fun Fact attached. The items primarily related to movie and TV shows.
Box Contents
Rocky 3 T-Shirt (Exclusive)
This T-Shirt has a design that’s of its age. I actually really like it.
The simple colour scheme and the grey background both work well together.
I value this at the T-Shirt standard of $10 USD.
DC Comics Fridge Magnets
I got DC Comics Badges in another box recently, which were very similar in style to these, depicting the faces of superheroes seen on Children’s TV in the 1980s.
I really don’t remember these showing on UK TV at all, although the Marvel superhero cartoons definitely were shown. Of course, these are four of the best known DC heroes.
There are several sets of DC Comics Magnets available on Amazon.com. The going price for these is about $8 USD.
Two stickers
Only the joystick sticker is advertised on the information card. The other must have been added just before this box shipped to commiserate the passing of David Bowie, which is a nice touch.
I can’t bring myself to assign a value to these.
The Love Boat – Mini Lunchbox Styled Tin
This is a mini tin, styled to look like a traditional lunch box and is part of the Teeny Tins Lunch Boxes range.
For some reason, I had The Love Boat down as a 1970s series, but it appears that it ran from 1977 to 1987, so qualifies for this box. I don’t remember this showing in the UK (this was in the days of only four TV channels after all), but I know that this was a popular series in the States.
This item comes with a Fun Fact attached to it, which is a good touch.
It’s hard to find these online, but the other lunch boxes in the series sell for $6 USD each, which is the value I’ll use.
Battlestar Galactica Cylon Drink Coasters
My box of these arrived a bit dented, but otherwise, these are really nice.
These are much higher standard than the coasters shipped with most geek boxes – and about double the size of most coasters.
I only remember the reimagined series of Battlestar Galactica, but this is still a great item to have.
One slight question I have is that the originals series ran from 1978-1979, so I’d have much more expected to see these in a 1970s box.
The Battlestar Galactica Cylon Drinks Coasters are available on Amazon.com. The typical value for these is $12 USD.
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Box Review
A promising addition to the geek box world.
Now, a downside is that I only get a value of $36 USD, which is the box price I paid. This would seem slightly better value if compared against the revised box price.
This does seem low in items, with only four real items (I can’t bring myself to count the stickets), but the ones that are there are decent, particular the coasters.
I didn’t really get an 80s feel for the box though. The magnets could have fit any era and for several items, I think 70s more than 80s. Now, I also like the 70s, so that’s not a problem, but crossing the eras is really losing some of the unique sales proposition for the box.
I will certainly come back to Retro Pop Box.
Next time I will try one of the other decades for Retro Pop Box, 60s or 70s – which to choose?
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