Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

By Mark Rodriguez So it wasn't long ago that I heard many complaints towards Lootcrate, the subscription box service that pretty much started the whole subscription box craze. Boxes from April were arriving as late as August, and due to the nature of auto-renew, customers were still getting charged for the months in between with no boxes in sight. And to make it worse, by the time they got their box, they were missing items. Not just one thing, but sometimes half the box's worth of items! Even the shirt, which for many people is the main selling point of the box! So for those that don't know, Lootcrate is (or maybe, was) a monthly subscription box with different items and themes. The main box would be around overall geeky goodies, things related to Star Trek, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Ninja Turtles, Marvel superheroes, Rick and Morty and whatever else. The themed boxes would be things like LootAnime, LootGaming, and LootFear with things related to their namesakes...

By Mark Rodriguez I decided to look back at some of the blind boxes I have gotten over the years and compare them to what happened to them now. Some have changed formats, or owners, and some are just not around anymore. I'll be going back in time to the first ever videos in which I first got my hands on one of each box. Let's stroll through memory lane, which for me started in 2014 with Nerd Block. Oh, Nerd Block.. what happened to you. Nerd Block (and by association Arcade Block/Gamer Block and Grab Block) I decided to try out Nerd Block to try something different that wasn't Lootcrate. At the time the boxes has random nerd items with no set theme, but wow, my first box came with two awesome shirts that I still wear to this day. I did an article that describes Nerd Block and all it's boxes along with its eventual fate. Their website is over at-  https://www.nerdblock.com/  but as of right now their attempted comeback is still on hold and it's still a wonder i...

By Mark Rodriguez Back in 2014 when I was still new to the subscription box craze, I decided to be different and instead of choosing the famous Lootcrate, I chose to try its competitor Nerd Block. Like most sub boxes at the time, Nerd Block would come with different random nerdy items including exclusive shirts and Funko Pops. At first they didn't follow a theme, it was just random stuff. Then they added themes like Val Kilmer's favorite items. Eventually they'd create more boxes like Nerd Block Jr for girls or boys, Arcade Block, Horror Block, Comic Block and Shirt Block. Eventually they'd rename Arcade Block into Gamer Block and have it set up for either teens or kids. The Canadian company behind Nerd Block also owned Shirt Punch and they eventually opened a  brick and mortar store where people could buy their stuff. Sadly on July 2017, Fan Blocks filed for bankrupcy and so Nerd Block and Shirt Punch were taken down. Their store was closed as well. This lef...