TTC Beard
Earlier this month our good pal Spanky Stokes posted a blog post about a new company looking to bring the thrill & excitement of Japanese ‘Lucky Bags’ to a more main stream crowd. Meet Fukubox – I’m not certain on the pronunciation of the name, could certainly be interesting in my northern accent. Spanky Stokes teamed up with Fukubox to bring these crazy boxes filled with goodies from a wide range of artists. It’s a blind box of blind boxes. Each Spanky Box was priced at 35 bucks, with shipping at 18 bucks – I was looking at $53 to get it to the UK – around 35 quid. Worth a punt. So I pulled the trigger.
Two weeks later and it’s arrived at my door. So lets see what we’ve got in here…
Ok, so out of the box first we have Alex Pardee’s Glow in the Dark B.U.N.N.Y.W.I.T.H Nothing exclusive from San Diego Comic Con in 2012. Limited to 300 pieces, comes with a screen printed vinyl sticker.
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These were designed by Alex, sculpted by George Gasper of October Toys & ToyBreak fame. There were 5 designs in total at SDCC, so now I need to find the other four. I love anything Glow in the dark, so straight outta the box we are on to a winner. Originally priced at $5. Nice start to the box.
Next up we have the Frank Kozik MiniGobi Fallout Edition. Released in 2010 by mutt pop, this Newbury Comic exclusive. limited to 576 pieces. stands at 3.5inches. Not normally something that would sit in my collection, but it’s a nice Kozik piece. About $10 value.
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Up next we have the Get Lucky beaver from Pidgeon Toys. Released in 2011, I’ve got the purple version. This little dude will sit at my work desk. Stands at 1.5inch. Limited to 500 and priced at $10.
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Next up we have our first blind, Kaniza Cluster 1 from Toy Qube. these were released in 2007. Pretty sweet line up of artists involved. Andrew Bell, Jesse Hernandez, Julie West and Sam Fout to name but a few.
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Think I’d really want the Jesse Hernandez design. Lets see which one I got shall we…
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Ace, so I got the… Jesse design! Winner. Really nice design. Very heavy piece from normal vinyl toys. stands at 4.5inches and has this cool removable helmet. Looks to be priced at around 13 bucks value.
Out of the box next is the cutesy wooden Jibibuts. Two of these in fact. These were originally released in 2009. Made from 100% sustainably harvested rubber wood. Really not by bag, but nicely made. $10 value each.
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So what have we next…
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These Nahualli Blind Boxes were released in 2009 by Yahid “Serial Killer” Rodriguez and Wootini. Priced originally at $9 each. I found Orgo and Naranja in my two boxes. To be honest they feel cheap & hollow plastic type material. Not good. I wouldn’t be going out of my way to purchase these.
Up next we have the Omi Blind Box by Munky King. Series 1 of Omi features such notable artists as Luke Chueh, Yoskay Yamamoto, Nathan Jurevicius, Dave Pressler, Kozik, Buff Monster, Ferg, and Craola. Will be happy with any artist in this blind box. I find the second variant of the Buff Monster. Nice. The piece, released in 2011, stands at 3.5inches, but does come with it’s own little stand to display. Priced originally at around $10.
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Next up we have a blind box from the shores of the UK – Jinny Series Zero. Back in 2012 this platform was a finalist in DTA for Best Platform and we featured them here! This piece stands at 2.5inches and is priced around $8. Not my cuppa tea. Platform, design & feel isn’t great.
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Finally we come to our last blind box in our Fukubox. A Mini 10-doh Series 2! These were created after successfully being funded through Kickstarter. I’ve always liked this platform, but never had the opportunity to buy any local. Would love to find the Hydro74 but find the Ninjatown by Shawnimals – still not a bad find. Standing at 3.5inches. Priced again around the $10 mark and was funded in April 2013.
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So that is The Spanky Box by Fukubox.
Pros: Jesse Hernandez Kaniza, Kozik Mini Gobi, B.U.N.N.Y.W.I.T.H & Mini 10-Doh.
Cons: Nahualli & Jinny Bitbot.
Overall: I really like the idea of these mystery boxes, especially when it filled with designer toy goodness. It would be great to see something like this in the UK but directed more at designer toys than say general geekery like Geek Box for example. It would have been great to see some newer pieces in my box, I think the ‘newest’ piece was the Mini 10-Doh, but that is almost two years old now.
Value wise, for $53 that I paid, I had $104 original value – although I would say that most pieces are not worth their original value now. It’s still not bad and maybe if we had this in the UK it would be cheaper to ship so the costs would be kept down making it a bit more worth it.
I’ve seen some folk complaining on social media but I don’t think that should be the case. The joy of a mystery box is you don’t know what you’re going to get. Just like a Blind Box, that is what pulled me in to the designer toy scene in the first place.
Anyways, here is a picture of my Fukubox in all its glory…
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