Subscription Box Round-Up: Smugglers Bounty and Marvel Gear & Goods

I’m back! If you’re reading this, that makes two weeks in a row! This week, I will be covering the contents of the January Funko Star Wars Smugglers Bounty Box and February Loot Crate Marvel Gear & Goods. (I decided to just jump into current boxes; if I try to go back and cover the boxes I received during my hiatus, I might never get caught up.)

This month’s Smuggler’s Bounty theme is The Empire Strikes Back, with a nice Han Solo image on the box.

As usual, the first thing we see when we open the box are the pin and patch. This month, Lando gets a nice showcase with a pin, and there’s a really detailed image of Yoda on the patch.

On top of the box’s contents is the card revealing the theme for next month’s box. This came as no surprise, since Funko had already announced it online—including revealing one of the exclusive Pops for next month—but I’m still thrilled to see it’ll be Star Wars Rebels, one of my favorite TV shows and the show that made my wife a Star Wars fan.

Lifting the card, the first thing we see is this month’s exclusive Pop!, which is HUGE! It’s Hoth Han Solo With Tauntaun, and it is fantastic. The detail is gorgeous and the size of it is out of this world.

Here I present it next to a 12-pound cat for scale.

While that is the only Pop! this month, I’m okay with that because it easily outweighs two or three normal Pops.

Also included in this set is a pair of Funko Star Wars socks. This is the first set of Funko socks released anywhere, and like all items in the Funko boxes, is exclusive to this box.

As regular readers know, I get plenty of socks from plenty of boxes. However, this pair looks really nice. They feel a little on the thin side, and maybe a little bit more snug than most of my other socks, but they are still comfortable and fit nicely.

The final item in this box is a Wampa plush. They may be ruthless carnivores on the planet Hoth, but this little guy is adorable. Look at his widdle mouth with his widdle pointy teeth!

The February Marvel Gear & Goods crate focuses on the (all male) geniuses of the Marvel Universe, with the theme of science… in the kitchen! 

The box design is the same as last month, but I appreciate that Loot Crate at least has different designs for their different subscriptions.

First item out of the box is a nifty measuring cup featuring the many guises of scientist Hank Pym. Each of his characters is linked to a specific measure, so two cups is Giant Man. One and a half cups is Yellowjacket. One cup is Goliath. Half a cup is Ant-Man. It’s microwave and dishwasher (top shelf only) safe. And it’s glass, not plastic.

The actual measuring cup is clear, but was shipped with a piece of paper wrapped around the inside. I have chosen to photograph it with the paper, to make it easier to see the artwork.

Possibly my favorite item is the MODOK mold, for ice and other stuff. Mental Organism Designed Only for Kooling! Sadly, I have been having trouble making a MODOK ice cube.

I have already told my wife that I want a chocolate MODOK on my birthday cake. Possibly MODOK butter at Thanksgiving.

While not particularly useful in the kitchen, the Ultron pin is really nice.

There’s also a set of four Melamine dessert plates with illustrations of Marvel’s top (male) geniuses by Michael Cho. 

Finally, there’s a cool Black Panther apron to wear around the kitchen.

Overall, I think I preferred this month’s Gear & Goods crate to last month’s, due to the thematic unity of the goods. While there wasn’t necessarily an item as cool as last month’s Dr Strange robe, overall, I am more likely to use all of these items.