Review – The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box

The first FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box arrived a few days ago and I thought it would be fun to tell you what it is and my thoughts on it.

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box – What Is It?

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box is a team-up from FUNKO, the maker of the ever popular POP line of collectible action figures, and Lucasfilm. This is an officially licensed subscription box that ships every other month and promises to deliver 100% exclusive Star Wars themed content with a retail value of at least $50 per box. The cost for this box is $25 plus $6.95 shipping. Additionally, if you live outside the US you may incur import taxes and fees depending on your country’s rules for that sort of thing. The boxes ship every other month. You can subscribe on a box to box basis or yearly. Unlike other subscription boxes there is no discount for subscribing yearly but they do promise some sort of free gift. (I subscribed on a box to box basis so I don’t know what the free gift is).

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box – What’s In The Box?

When you sign up for the Smugglers Bounty box you’re asked to provide a shirt size so that’s a pretty solid indicator of some of what’s to come. Other than that the contents of each box are a surprise each time which is part of the appeal. Unlike other random subscription boxes where the theme varies from month to month, this one is all Star Wars, all the time. The first Smugglers Bounty box was themed “The First Order” (pun probably intended) and according to the Smugglers Bounty website the second box will be themed “The Resistance”.

A couple months after signing up I received a shipment and tracking email and received the box a few days later in good order. The Smugglers Bounty First Order box contained the following items:

First Order Tie Fighter Patch

Kylo Ren Pin

Funko Captain Phasma Shirt

Star Wars The Force Awakens Lanyard

Captain Phasma Chrome POP Figure

First Order TIE Fighter POP Figure

Note that there was a chance to get the much rarer POP figure #90 version of the TIE fighter pilot that has red trim and other different details. There were also different shirts that featured Kylo Ren instead of Captain Phasma.

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box – What I Liked

Overall I’d say this was an interesting mix of stuff with the focus (as expected) being the FUNKO POP figures. I think it’s interesting that the theme is carried through, even to the image on the t-shirt. The quality on everything looks pretty good. When it comes to the dollar value of these subscription boxes, I’m not super hardcore about figuring out what the various items are worth. While I expect to get something reasonable, for me at least, it’s more about the surprise factor and the idea of getting some novelty stuff that I probably wouldn’t normally run across or have access to.  Surfing around the net looking at what these various items go for I think it’s easy to say that they exceeded their goal in terms of dollar value as well. Lastly, the fact that these items are exclusive to this box – the POP figures in particular – means that for collectors of FUNKO POP figures and Star Wars memorabilia in particular makes this an extra good value for some folks.

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box – What I Didn’t Like

I’m gonna preface this by stating that I was a subscriber to Loot Crate for almost two years. I’ve also gotten some other gift boxes here and there to try them out. I guess that means I had some expectations for how this would feel. While the dollar value here feels right, the fact that there were only 6 items in the box felt a little “is that it?” when I first opened it. I also felt like there should be something extra as this is the first Smugglers Bounty box and it’s coming just a few weeks before the release of Star Wars The Force Awakens. While the box has some fun stuff, there’s nothing here in particular that marks it as special or inaugural considering that it’s the launch of this program at the launch of the new round of films, etc. I’m sure you get what I’m getting at here. Another thing I’m not crazy about is the idea that some boxes are going to have something ultra rare included instead of everyone getting the same thing. That feels like a marketing gimmick and it seems a little divisive to the community. Finally, it really bothered me that there’s nothing in the box to tell you that you actually got what you’re supposed to be getting. What I mean by this is that in every other mystery box I receive (and this includes some non geeky boxes that come for my wife and daughter) there is a card or pamphlet or something that details what every item is that you’re supposed to have received. Without this, how is the recipient supposed to know his or her box is complete unless they talk to someone else and compare notes? I think this is a significant oversight and FUNKO should address this in future shipments.

The FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box – The Final Word

Overall I think the FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box is pretty good.

The dollar value is definitely on target and they are absolutely nailing the theme. Would I like to see a couple of non FUNKO specific items there for variety’s sake? Yes, but since this is a FUNKO branded box that’s unlikely. As noted above. my main complaint is the lack of any documentation to confirm you’ve received everything that you’re supposed to receive. Other than that it’s a solid effort and I’ll continue to subscribe for awhile to see how FUNKO keeps things interesting.

The next FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box is due in January 2016 and is themed “The Resistance”. The cutoff date for subscribing in time to get the January box is 1/15/16. I’ll have a review up a week or two after I receive it (I’m purposely delaying the reviews in order to avoid spoiling the boxes for people since the surprise is part of the appeal).

Get Your Own FUNKO Smugglers Bounty Star Wars Subscription Box Here!

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