Subscription Boxlight
Moderator: JohnMayo
Re: Subscription Boxlight
I had a great talk with the Comic Bento team last night at C2E2. They are great guys and any one considering getting a subscription should give it a shot to see if you like it. I was very favorably impressed by them.
Re: Subscription Boxlight
I had a great conversation with the guys at Comic Bento at C2E2 this past weekend. I learned a lot and am even more enthusiastic about the box going forward.
Comic Bento is based out of Montreal, Canada. They got their start after their comic book store went out of business. For their first box, they literally went out to the store floor and pulled random trades off the shelf. Now, they plan their box themes six months out. Once they have a theme, they contact the publishers and ask them what they have that they are willing to sell. Then they play the publishers off each other to get the best deal. They have a staff of about 10 employees. Once they compile the boxes for the month, they put the pallets on a truck and drive it over the US/Canada border to upstate New York and ship it out from there. This process saves them a ton of money because of high Canada to US shipping costs. In upcoming boxes, they told me that they may be adding exclusive artwork prints to each box at no additional charge. Most of their purchasing goes through Diamond (because the publishers like to get the sales data bump), but they are also dealing directly with creators, instead of distributors, to cut out the middle man.
Their parent company also has a monthly board gaming subscription box called Board Game Bento. It is a little bit pricier ($50/month), but comes with quite a bit of content. That one has only been going for a few months now. They also told me that they plan to create a kid themed subscription box in the near future (I forget if it was kids comics or just kids in general).
I may have convinced my friends to try out a subscription. They also have a referral system, so if anyone is going to subscribe, let me know and I will get you a referral code. I highly recommend the box to people who want to try out new types of comics or is just getting into comics.
Comic Bento is based out of Montreal, Canada. They got their start after their comic book store went out of business. For their first box, they literally went out to the store floor and pulled random trades off the shelf. Now, they plan their box themes six months out. Once they have a theme, they contact the publishers and ask them what they have that they are willing to sell. Then they play the publishers off each other to get the best deal. They have a staff of about 10 employees. Once they compile the boxes for the month, they put the pallets on a truck and drive it over the US/Canada border to upstate New York and ship it out from there. This process saves them a ton of money because of high Canada to US shipping costs. In upcoming boxes, they told me that they may be adding exclusive artwork prints to each box at no additional charge. Most of their purchasing goes through Diamond (because the publishers like to get the sales data bump), but they are also dealing directly with creators, instead of distributors, to cut out the middle man.
Their parent company also has a monthly board gaming subscription box called Board Game Bento. It is a little bit pricier ($50/month), but comes with quite a bit of content. That one has only been going for a few months now. They also told me that they plan to create a kid themed subscription box in the near future (I forget if it was kids comics or just kids in general).
I may have convinced my friends to try out a subscription. They also have a referral system, so if anyone is going to subscribe, let me know and I will get you a referral code. I highly recommend the box to people who want to try out new types of comics or is just getting into comics.
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Here is my monthly summary of the past Comic Bento box. I guess this is technically the March box because you have to buy by the March 15th, but I usually don't get it until about the first of the following month (and then I have to have time to read it all). The theme for this month was Powerless. Essentially stories about people without super powers.
1) Ninjak Vol 1: Weaponeer by Matt Kindt(w) and Clay Mann(a)(Valiant Entertainment). I had been wanting to read this one. I have enjoyed Ninjak in other Valiant books and look forward to his solo title. This didn't disappoint. Ninjak is going after one of the worst black market arms dealers in the world. You also get a nice look back at his childhood beginnings. The art is great. Big thumbs up.
2) Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case by Gret Rucks (w) and Matthew Southworth (a)(Oni Press). When I opened the box, I am always excited when a nice hardcover is in there (which this is). I had heard this name before, but didn't know anything about it. It is basically a private eye story. The story revolves around a famous musician's stolen guitar and the PI's struggle to find it. While this is the second volume of the Stumptown stories, I didn't have any trouble jumping right in. There were a few moments that showed some continuing story, but it in no way got in the way of the main story. There is a cool moment with the art in the book where it shifts orientation during a car chase scene. Neat twist. Pleasantly surprised.
3) Blackcross by Warren Ellis (w) and Colton Worley (a)(Dynamite). This book is about the characters from the Project Superpowers stories that Dynamite put out a few years ago. I believe they stopped those books and this is a way of changing up/rebooting those characters into a new world. It has a very gothic/horror vibe to the story about ordinary people becoming possessed/merged with the Project Superpower characters. Warren Ellis always tells a good story, but definitely wasn't his best work. Worley's art is not very crisp, but does give a good vibe to the story. This one was OK.
4) Ordinary by Rob Williams (w) and D'Israeli (a)(Titan Comics). The main jist of the story is one day everyone in the world gets superpowers except one guy, Michael Fisher. Fisher is balding divorced guy in a crappy job with a kid who barely knows him. As you could guess, if everyone has powers, the world goes to crap real quickly. Decent story and decent art. OK+ (I need to get a better rating system).
That is it for this month. I just got the shipping notice for my next box, Elementals, and look forward to getting that next week. I hope you all give Comic Bento a chance. Essentially, this is 4-5 trades for about $20. When you break it down into single issues, its about 16-20 single issues. That's a great deal in our day of $3.99 comics.
1) Ninjak Vol 1: Weaponeer by Matt Kindt(w) and Clay Mann(a)(Valiant Entertainment). I had been wanting to read this one. I have enjoyed Ninjak in other Valiant books and look forward to his solo title. This didn't disappoint. Ninjak is going after one of the worst black market arms dealers in the world. You also get a nice look back at his childhood beginnings. The art is great. Big thumbs up.
2) Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case by Gret Rucks (w) and Matthew Southworth (a)(Oni Press). When I opened the box, I am always excited when a nice hardcover is in there (which this is). I had heard this name before, but didn't know anything about it. It is basically a private eye story. The story revolves around a famous musician's stolen guitar and the PI's struggle to find it. While this is the second volume of the Stumptown stories, I didn't have any trouble jumping right in. There were a few moments that showed some continuing story, but it in no way got in the way of the main story. There is a cool moment with the art in the book where it shifts orientation during a car chase scene. Neat twist. Pleasantly surprised.
3) Blackcross by Warren Ellis (w) and Colton Worley (a)(Dynamite). This book is about the characters from the Project Superpowers stories that Dynamite put out a few years ago. I believe they stopped those books and this is a way of changing up/rebooting those characters into a new world. It has a very gothic/horror vibe to the story about ordinary people becoming possessed/merged with the Project Superpower characters. Warren Ellis always tells a good story, but definitely wasn't his best work. Worley's art is not very crisp, but does give a good vibe to the story. This one was OK.
4) Ordinary by Rob Williams (w) and D'Israeli (a)(Titan Comics). The main jist of the story is one day everyone in the world gets superpowers except one guy, Michael Fisher. Fisher is balding divorced guy in a crappy job with a kid who barely knows him. As you could guess, if everyone has powers, the world goes to crap real quickly. Decent story and decent art. OK+ (I need to get a better rating system).
That is it for this month. I just got the shipping notice for my next box, Elementals, and look forward to getting that next week. I hope you all give Comic Bento a chance. Essentially, this is 4-5 trades for about $20. When you break it down into single issues, its about 16-20 single issues. That's a great deal in our day of $3.99 comics.
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victorvondoom
- Reviewer
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:07 pm
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Just listened to the Subscription Boxlight Recap show. I think rebranding to the Collector Boxlight is a good idea. This would open up some other opportunities for things to talk about without losing what you already have. Another option would be to call it "Subscription Boxlight Now" or "All New All Different Subscription Boxlight." On second thought...
-Jerry
-Jerry
Re: Subscription Boxlight
John, I also enjoyed the episode. From what it sounded like to me, only a few of the boxes you two get seem to be worth it over the long haul. Mostly lots of hits and misses. Sound right?
Re: Subscription Boxlight
I think that is a fair assessment.NDHorse wrote:John, I also enjoyed the episode. From what it sounded like to me, only a few of the boxes you two get seem to be worth it over the long haul. Mostly lots of hits and misses. Sound right?
I think for most people, the average subscription box might not be worth it unless you are really into the theme/property and the types of things typically found in the specific box. Boxes like Arctify and Comic Bento fall outside of this since they are very focused on the types of things (a t-shirt or comic books) in the box every month.
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Alec Burkhardt
- Contributor
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:56 pm
- Location: Tucson, AZ
Re: Subscription Boxlight
I guess Funko doesn't have an exclusive deal with Marvel, as Loot Crate has announced a bi-monthly Marvel Gear + Goods crate. I think they'd need to be working directly with Marvel to be able to brand it so explicitly.
Apparently it will focus on apparel and collectible home goods (?), which is a bit vague. Given that Loot Crate is the one doing the Firefly crate (in conjunction with Quantum Mechanix), I was thinking about giving this a try, but it sounds like figurines and toys might be completely excluded. The mini masters statuettes and Qbit mini mystery figs are generally two of my favorite parts of the Firefly boxes. I would say that overall, the variety of items in the Firefly crates has been very good though, so I'm still thinking about this. But if it socks and coffee mugs every month, not something I'm interested in.
With the Funko boxes (I get Marvel, DC and Star Wars), I'm starting to build a collection of Funko Pops that I'm not all that certain I'm really into enough to keep get them at this frequency. And as I mentioned in a previous post, the Pop really is the key feature to those boxes - more so than the IP the box is built around.
With regard to rebranding the Subscription Boxlight episodes, I'd certainly be interested in hearing about other collectible items you get. The couple of times you've added such items in have been interesting and generally lead to me at least checking them out online. And if each episode continues to be a collection of clips with time stamps, anyone can certainly pick and choose to listen to or skip specific items if they want. If you've gotten a cool item and you want to talk about, this feels like the podcast it would generally belong on.
Apparently it will focus on apparel and collectible home goods (?), which is a bit vague. Given that Loot Crate is the one doing the Firefly crate (in conjunction with Quantum Mechanix), I was thinking about giving this a try, but it sounds like figurines and toys might be completely excluded. The mini masters statuettes and Qbit mini mystery figs are generally two of my favorite parts of the Firefly boxes. I would say that overall, the variety of items in the Firefly crates has been very good though, so I'm still thinking about this. But if it socks and coffee mugs every month, not something I'm interested in.
With the Funko boxes (I get Marvel, DC and Star Wars), I'm starting to build a collection of Funko Pops that I'm not all that certain I'm really into enough to keep get them at this frequency. And as I mentioned in a previous post, the Pop really is the key feature to those boxes - more so than the IP the box is built around.
With regard to rebranding the Subscription Boxlight episodes, I'd certainly be interested in hearing about other collectible items you get. The couple of times you've added such items in have been interesting and generally lead to me at least checking them out online. And if each episode continues to be a collection of clips with time stamps, anyone can certainly pick and choose to listen to or skip specific items if they want. If you've gotten a cool item and you want to talk about, this feels like the podcast it would generally belong on.
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Enjoyed recap episode - I was curious about some of those boxes - you saved me some money - thanks for taking the bullet for us
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
Re: Subscription Boxlight
I'm right there with you. I've accumulated a surprising number of Funko Pop figures because of these subscription boxes.Alec Burkhardt wrote:With the Funko boxes (I get Marvel, DC and Star Wars), I'm starting to build a collection of Funko Pops that I'm not all that certain I'm really into enough to keep get them at this frequency.
We record the segments individually which makes doing the time codes very easy (but still a little time consuming). What I might try to do a segment each episode and have another segment which covers the new arrivals each month. I might also do another segment covering a group of collectibles I've got like the Eaglemoss Star Trek ships or the Power Ranger Legacy figures. If possibly, I'll try to time those overview segments with updating the website with photos of that collection.Alec Burkhardt wrote:With regard to rebranding the Subscription Boxlight episodes, I'd certainly be interested in hearing about other collectible items you get. The couple of times you've added such items in have been interesting and generally lead to me at least checking them out online. And if each episode continues to be a collection of clips with time stamps, anyone can certainly pick and choose to listen to or skip specific items if they want. If you've gotten a cool item and you want to talk about, this feels like the podcast it would generally belong on.
We'll be continuing with some of the subscription boxes but probably be judging them a bit harsher on if each is worth continuing with or not. We might also do one time samplings of some other boxes versus subscribing to them. Some subscription boxes make that easier to do than others.
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victorvondoom
- Reviewer
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:07 pm
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Enjoyed the new Collector Boxlight episode. The board game box is an interesting concept.
Also, very nice of Jason sending the Power Rangers figures for John's birthday.
-Jerry
Also, very nice of Jason sending the Power Rangers figures for John's birthday.
-Jerry
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Hey John,
It's amazing that you finally got a Comic Bento box!! I hope you stick with it and give it more chances. The boxes have turned me on to many amazing series, such as The Life After from Oni Press, Death Sentence and Chronos Commandos from Titan Comics, Green Hornet from Dynamite, many Valiant books, and phenomenal one of a kind gems like The Fifth Beatle (I got the beautiful oversized hardcover). Comic Bento is something I greatly anticipate every month.
And I really do hope stick with it because in my opinion, the box you got was one of the worst ones I have ever gotten. Two amazingly bad books brought it down. I personally can't stand Aspen Comics and their books like Homecoming and I cringe everytime I see one of their books in the box. They all seem like lame excuses to draw "hot" women with little to no story. I can understand why you blocked the memory of it out of your brain. And I wouldn't even bother opening Jurassic Strick Force 5. It is the bad sterotype of a comic that seems like a low rent Transformers/Dino Riders rip off.
The other two books were pretty good though. Sam & Fuzzy is a light hearted comedy about a pair of friends who have reformed a ninja assassin squad into a company that does good solving weird problems. I already checked out the second book from the library and enjoyed that also. And XOC (pronounced like "shock", its explained in the foreward) is an educational fiction story about the migration of a shark across the Pacific ocean and the things it encounters along the way. I am thinking about donating that one to my daughter's school library.
Speaking of that, another reason why I like Comic Bento is I will take some of the books and use them as gifts to friends and family who may like them. Star Trek: Countown To Darkness went to my Trekkie uncle and Daredevil: Season One to my friends who have gotten into comics due to the Marvel shows and movies.
Thanks for all for all of the kind words in the segment, even though I have been a little lax lately with my Comic Bento posts. I was also intrigued by your Board Game Bento segment. One of the games, Compounded, sounds great for a chemist friend of mine (her picture is on the Wikipedia page for Chemist). In a little bit, I will make a post about the September Comic Bento box, As Seen On TV.
It's amazing that you finally got a Comic Bento box!! I hope you stick with it and give it more chances. The boxes have turned me on to many amazing series, such as The Life After from Oni Press, Death Sentence and Chronos Commandos from Titan Comics, Green Hornet from Dynamite, many Valiant books, and phenomenal one of a kind gems like The Fifth Beatle (I got the beautiful oversized hardcover). Comic Bento is something I greatly anticipate every month.
And I really do hope stick with it because in my opinion, the box you got was one of the worst ones I have ever gotten. Two amazingly bad books brought it down. I personally can't stand Aspen Comics and their books like Homecoming and I cringe everytime I see one of their books in the box. They all seem like lame excuses to draw "hot" women with little to no story. I can understand why you blocked the memory of it out of your brain. And I wouldn't even bother opening Jurassic Strick Force 5. It is the bad sterotype of a comic that seems like a low rent Transformers/Dino Riders rip off.
The other two books were pretty good though. Sam & Fuzzy is a light hearted comedy about a pair of friends who have reformed a ninja assassin squad into a company that does good solving weird problems. I already checked out the second book from the library and enjoyed that also. And XOC (pronounced like "shock", its explained in the foreward) is an educational fiction story about the migration of a shark across the Pacific ocean and the things it encounters along the way. I am thinking about donating that one to my daughter's school library.
Speaking of that, another reason why I like Comic Bento is I will take some of the books and use them as gifts to friends and family who may like them. Star Trek: Countown To Darkness went to my Trekkie uncle and Daredevil: Season One to my friends who have gotten into comics due to the Marvel shows and movies.
Thanks for all for all of the kind words in the segment, even though I have been a little lax lately with my Comic Bento posts. I was also intrigued by your Board Game Bento segment. One of the games, Compounded, sounds great for a chemist friend of mine (her picture is on the Wikipedia page for Chemist). In a little bit, I will make a post about the September Comic Bento box, As Seen On TV.
Re: Subscription Boxlight
Here is your September Comic Bento summary. It was a pretty good month. The theme was As Seen On TV. There were four books in the box this month.
Rick and Morty Vol 1 (Oni Press) by Zac Gorman (W) and Marc Ellerby (A)
The Blacklist Vol 1: The Gambler (No. 148) (Titan) by Nicole Philips (W) and Beni Lobel (A)
Garbage Pail Kids: Comic Book Puke-tacular (IDW) by various writers and artists
Agents of SHIELD Vol 1: The Coulson Protocols (Marvel) by Marc Guggenheim (W) and German Peralta (A)
Rick and Morty - I have heard you guys talk about this series on the Mayo Report a few times, but I have never seen the show and was very unfamiliar with this. Apparently it's the mad scientist uncle who travels to alternate universes and gets into crazy adventures with his nephew. It made me intrigued to check out the show. I really enjoyed the extended family dynamics.
The Blacklist - I do not regularly watch this show, but my wife does and I occasionally listen to a show while she is watching and I am reading something (usually a comic). If you know the basic premise (One of the most wanted men in America come into the FBI and offers information on the other most wanted men), then this could slip right between some other episodes. This was written by Nicole Philips who is also one of the writers on the show and the forword makes this comic blessed by the showrunner. If you didn't know anything about the show, it is still a good done in one story. The artwork had a bit of a Mike Deodato feel. The most fascinating extra that my wife thought was cool was there is the actual Blacklist at the end of the book which corresponds to the episodes on the show. It shows who on the list has been killed, is missing, and also a lot of blanks for future episodes.
Garbage Pail Kids - Who has fond memories of these as a kid? I remember having an extensive collection. This is a bunch of short 4-8 page stories with very gross humor relating to body functions (as would be expected). The humor was a little more adult than I would have thought it would be (the cover has a 13+ label on it). Some of the artwork at times reminded me of an R. Crumb book. The biggest name on it was Sam Keith who had a nice short story at the end.
Agents of SHIELD - I am a lover of the TV show, so it is nice to see them integrated into the regular Marvel Universe and interacting with the other heroes. Deathlok is even a part of the team. Fun adventures that also briefly crossed over with the Avengers: Standoff storyline. Fun stuff and I may pick up the second volume.
Overall, this was a good month. Garbage Pail Kids was the worst of the bunch for the low brow humor and The Blacklist surprised me the most. Hope you guys give Comic Bento a try. The theme for October is The Gnarrly 90s. I already got the box because it came a week early this month. That one was one of the best yet and I will post on that soon after I read them. It included Dr. Strange, Turok, classic Valiant, and The Mask.
Rick and Morty Vol 1 (Oni Press) by Zac Gorman (W) and Marc Ellerby (A)
The Blacklist Vol 1: The Gambler (No. 148) (Titan) by Nicole Philips (W) and Beni Lobel (A)
Garbage Pail Kids: Comic Book Puke-tacular (IDW) by various writers and artists
Agents of SHIELD Vol 1: The Coulson Protocols (Marvel) by Marc Guggenheim (W) and German Peralta (A)
Rick and Morty - I have heard you guys talk about this series on the Mayo Report a few times, but I have never seen the show and was very unfamiliar with this. Apparently it's the mad scientist uncle who travels to alternate universes and gets into crazy adventures with his nephew. It made me intrigued to check out the show. I really enjoyed the extended family dynamics.
The Blacklist - I do not regularly watch this show, but my wife does and I occasionally listen to a show while she is watching and I am reading something (usually a comic). If you know the basic premise (One of the most wanted men in America come into the FBI and offers information on the other most wanted men), then this could slip right between some other episodes. This was written by Nicole Philips who is also one of the writers on the show and the forword makes this comic blessed by the showrunner. If you didn't know anything about the show, it is still a good done in one story. The artwork had a bit of a Mike Deodato feel. The most fascinating extra that my wife thought was cool was there is the actual Blacklist at the end of the book which corresponds to the episodes on the show. It shows who on the list has been killed, is missing, and also a lot of blanks for future episodes.
Garbage Pail Kids - Who has fond memories of these as a kid? I remember having an extensive collection. This is a bunch of short 4-8 page stories with very gross humor relating to body functions (as would be expected). The humor was a little more adult than I would have thought it would be (the cover has a 13+ label on it). Some of the artwork at times reminded me of an R. Crumb book. The biggest name on it was Sam Keith who had a nice short story at the end.
Agents of SHIELD - I am a lover of the TV show, so it is nice to see them integrated into the regular Marvel Universe and interacting with the other heroes. Deathlok is even a part of the team. Fun adventures that also briefly crossed over with the Avengers: Standoff storyline. Fun stuff and I may pick up the second volume.
Overall, this was a good month. Garbage Pail Kids was the worst of the bunch for the low brow humor and The Blacklist surprised me the most. Hope you guys give Comic Bento a try. The theme for October is The Gnarrly 90s. I already got the box because it came a week early this month. That one was one of the best yet and I will post on that soon after I read them. It included Dr. Strange, Turok, classic Valiant, and The Mask.