1Up Subscription Box - Galaxy [December 2015 Unboxing]

Another subscription box has arrived! Despite today being a stat holiday, Canada Post had some people working, so my December 1Up Box arrived this morning! This month's theme was Galaxy, since it's Star Wars month so I was hoping there were going to be some cool Star Wars items. The box is pretty small (compared to the Smuggler's Bounty Box), but let's get into it!

This is what you see when you first open the box. Looks like some Star Wars stuff....!!!

The first item is a lanyard featuring a bunch of characters from Star Wars and Star Trek.

Next up is this super hairy Chewbacca plush toy from The Force Awakens. It's going to sit next to my Quatchi plushie!

This month's t-shirt is a mashup between Star Wars and Totoro. There is a Death Star as the moon (that's no moon!), Luke and Leia, Chewbacca as Totoro, a snow Yoda and Darth Vader in the background. It's a Gildan brand shirt which isn't the best quality but the material is pretty thick.

One of the filler items is a 1Up Box branded inflatable green light saber. I didn't blow it up but I imagine it would be pretty fun to have some light saber fights if you had two of these!

This one is for Star Trek fans - a Captain Kirkby art print featuring a mashup between Star Trek and the adorable Kirby.

There is a cute Rocket Racoon sticker included.

Each 1Up Box comes with a button for that month. The Galaxy button features Wall-E holding a potted Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy!

Here's everything that was in the box (including an info card that tells you what is inside). What did you think?

The 1Up Box starts at $29.95 USD month to month, but use coupon code AWESOME to receive $3 off your first box. With the exchange rate, this box came up to $38.61 CAD. Were the contents worth almost $40? Probably not...but I guess I'm really just paying for the surprise!

The January subscriptions are open now and it sounds like a promising box - the theme is Legend and promises to come with an epic t-shirt and a Funko product (does this mean a Funko Pop! Vinyl or something smaller like a Dorbz or Funko Pocket Pop?). Sign up for 1Up Box here.

LEGO 40125 - Santa's Visit [Build]

To get ready for Christmas, I purchased the seasonal set for this year from LEGO - Santa's Visit. 

The contents of the box.

I poured out all of the pieces from the three bags.

This is the base of the set.

Building the fireplace.

Hung up the stockings!

Don't forget the cookies for Santa!

Add a couch for Santa to sit on so he can enjoy his baked goods. It swivels around.

And of course a Christmas tree!

The Santa minifigure comes with his sack of toys. The family cat wasn't asleep!

This adorable Christmas scene makes a great holiday scene!

This adorable little set costs $12.99 and will be set up on my window sill for the holidays! It was a fun build and goes great with my other seasonal sets!

Funko Star Wars Smuggler's Bounty Subscription Box - First Order [November 2015 Unboxing]

I've been bitten by the subscription box bug! I have resisted all the cool, geeky subscription boxes for a long time like Loot Crate, 1Up Box and even Funko's Marvel Collectors Corps...but when Funko announced they were releasing a Star Wars subscription box, and one of the items was a chrome Captain Phasma bobble head...I had to have it! The Smuggler's Bounty Box debuted in November this year, with The Force Awakens theme to coincide with the Star Wars Episode VII movie coming out this December. All the items included are exclusive to the subscription box. 

And here it is! Each box is self contained so there is no combined shipping available if you decide to order more than one. The box art was pretty cool, with Kylo Ren on the front. 

When you first lift up the box cover, you get another layer that has an iron patch featuring a first order TIE fighter pilot and a lapel pin with Kylo Ren. They each have Aurebesh characters on them, which is the only written language in the Star Wars universe, and I believe it translates into Smuggler's Bounty, but don't hold me to that!

Underneath that flap on the box, the t-shirt is revealed! I was super excited to receive the Captain Phasma one, the one I wanted!! There were four variants that were sent out - in addition to Captain Phasma, there was also Kylo Ren, a stormtrooper and a snowtrooper. Unfortunately the shirt was way too large for me (I'm using it as pjs!) so if you order, keep in mind that you might have to order a size down (they only come in men's sizes).  

Underneath that, the Funko Pops! The chrome-plated Captain Phasma bobble head was guaranteed to be in the box but the other one was kept a secret. I received a TIE Fighter Pilot bobble head. There was a variant available as well, a Special Forces TIE Fighter Pilot, which is identical to the one I received but with two red stripes down the helmet. I think it's pretty cool they printed "Smuggler's Bounty Exclusive" right on the box of the Pop, instead of dealing with stickers.

 

The last item tucked in the box was a Star Wars The Force Awakens lanyard with cute Funko Pop style stormtroopers. I think this will be a good replacement for my old lanyard.

The Smuggler's Bounty box is available in Canada and the US only and ships out every other month. The cost of the box is $25 usd + $14 shipping to Canada ($7 shipping in the US), with a guaranteed value of $50. I was a little bummed that the shipping was more than half the cost of the box!  After the crappy exchange rate, the total cost for me was $52.42 CAD. I meant to cancel my subscription after the initial box, but it looks like the January box is The Resistance themed...Guess I'll be continuing!

Check out the Funko Smuggler's Bounty if you want to subscribe to your own box! You have until January 15, 2016 to get your order in for the next one!