It’s been a few months since I’ve reviewed Sci-Fi Block, which is unusual as it tends to be one the blocks that’s most closely related to my fan interests.
One of the Sci-Fi Block changes I’ve noticed recently has been moving to more unique licenced items, as opposed to looking for off-the-shelf items. To me, that attests that this has become a very popular block, one that the science fiction lovers enjoy receiving.
The December 2016 box arrived safely, with the UK delivery coming through Royal Mail. The box was sealed with cellophane, which I think is a good idea, as it presents this being easily opened during transit and keeps the contents in good shape. There was good weight to this box.
The standard subscription cost, including shipping to the UK, is $32.49 USD (£27 GBP). There are discounts available for subscription terms of longer than a month.
The box contained an information card with details of the items inside, as well as $10 credit for the new Nerd Block shop. I don’t tend to value the credit, as it can’t be used on regular boxes and the shipping costs to the UK make the credit of little use.
There is no theme to the boxes beyond appealing to fans of the science fiction genre, so the boxes themselves can be quite varied.
Box Contents
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea T-Shirt (Exclusive)
Sci-Fi Block always has great T-Shirt designs and it’s good to see one based on this classic Science Fiction novel.
The colours are vibrant and work well on the black background.
I value this at the T-Shirt standard of $10 USD.
Star Trek The Next Generation Borg Puzzle Cube (Exclusive)
This is a smaller version of a Rubik’s Cube, which comes neatly boxed.
The puzzle is much harder than a traditional Rubik’s Cube, as there are symbols to join up to make a jigsaw like puzzle. You’d need very good spatial awareness to solve these.
There are all sorts of unusual puzzle cube designs on Amazon.com.
Pricing varies a lot, but based on similar style designs, I feel that a value of $15 USD is appropriate.
Star Wars Alderaan Tie (Exclusive)
A really great design. I’d be keen to see more geek ties in subscription boxes and this is a step in the right direction.
Star Wars ties are popular on Amazon.com, with lots of designs to choose from.
I’m going to use a slightly conservative value here of $15 USD.
Starship Troopers Pin (Exclusive)
A simple pin, which I believe reflects the emblem worn on the movie.
Not too much to say about an item like this, although it is exclusive to the box.
I find it difficult to assign much of a value to this style of item, so I’ll use $2 USD for my overall assessment.
Terminator 2 Shot Glasses (Exclusive)
These are cool designs, with two different printed shot glasses.
A nice change to some of the crockery sometimes received in these boxes.
Looking at the pricing for similar shot glasses on Amazon.com, even those these do not come with the Terminator 2 branding, I think assigning $10 USD is fair.
Star Wars Pencil Holder (Exclusive)
This exclusive is billed as a pencil holder, but you could use it a small round container to put other items in it.
It could even be used as a vase for small flowers.
The design shows the Death Star and it’s certainly one that I’ll use to tidy some of the junk I have lying around my desk.
This is an unusual item, so difficult to price. There are plenty of pencil holders on Amazon.com, but what’s billed as Star Wars pencil holders on Amazon.com tend to be what I would refer to as pencil cases.
Combining the two, I think that a value of $10 USD for this exclusive item is fair.
More from this box: all our Sci-Fi Block reviews.
Box Review
I don’t think you can fault with Sci-Fi Block, which comes with $62 USD of value.
That’s almost double the cost price, even with the heavy postage to the UK included.
Every item is an exclusive. Even though there’s lots of Star Wars, that’s to be expected that month and both items have enough interest that I will make use of them.
The only non-item was the pin, but that doesn’t detract from the rest of the value.
My favourite item has to be the tie and I’ll wait for the right opportunity to wear it.
Onto some different news. Inside the box, this states that this is the last Sci-Fi Block, to be replaced by Sci-Fan Block.
The difference is including Fantasy items alongside the Science Fiction items.
I think that the new box could work well and I’ll certainly try it out. The Science Fiction and Fantasy audiences combine pretty well.
I certainly like Sci-Fi Block and think that this could the start of even greater things.
Sci-Fi Block has since stopped running, so the subscription link that originally sat here has been retired. You can still browse every Sci-Fi Block review on this site.
