When the theme for September’s Loot Crate, “SUMMON” was announced- I wasn’t sure what to expect. As a recovering World of Warcraft addict (I don’t want to talk about it,) I immediately thought of those nights spent frantically trying to summon a pet or complete a spell to protect my poor little Blood Elf while someone from the opposing team (usually my friends who were playing one room over from me) kept attempting to kill me over and over again.

I also thought of my favorite shows from my early teens, like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and it’s spin-off companion series, ‘Angel’- where summoning ANYTHING almost always resulted in a disaster.

I kept an open mind as I went through the contents of September’s box when it arrived- and here’s what I got!

First up are the usual suspects: my monthly collectors pin and mini-magazine. Aside from the usual puzzles, fan photos, articles, interviews and breakdowns of items in the box- September’s magazine also had the distinction of including a set of five perforated cards printed on card stock to be used for a tabletop game (a sixth card that was included had the instructions printed on them.) I’m going to have to figure out what each card represents before I attempt to play it with anyone- but it looks interesting!

The item that caught my attention almost immediately in September’s crate was this knitted Pikachu hat that I have to admit I think is SO ADORABLE (although I don’t think I’d wear it outside the house.) I remember playing the Pokemon game on my friend’s Game Boy (the big, clunky one) back in Jr. High when the franchise was just starting to get popular, and not really understanding much of the story apart from “oh, these weird little animals are cute and I have to catch them!”- so this was a fun little blast from the past. The hat also has knitted PokeBalls on it, which cracked me up.

I haven’t watched ‘The Simpsons’ in aaaaages, so I wasn’t sure if this Homer/Buddha-hybrid figurine was something cooked up on the show or if it was just something Loot Crate came up with themselves, but it’s still cute (and the fact that it came in a take-out style box was a nice touch.) I think I’ll be gifting this to a friend of mine who is a huge fan of the show and it’s characters since he’ll appreciate it much more than I can!

I KNEW there would be at least one WoW-related item in September’s Loot Crate! I just knew it! This stress ball, molded in the likeness of a Hearthstone, is definitely going to come in handy on those rougher days at work when I need to squeeze away my frustrations. I think this might be my favorite item in September’s box- apart from the Pikachu hat!

Speaking of Hearthstone- I also received a collectible coin and card pack code for the game in this month’s crate. I remember sitting in on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con ’14 that gave audience members a preview of what the game was going to be like- and I remember thinking that my friends, who are big fans of WoW, would probably enjoy it. For that reason- I’ll be gifting this to them since they’ll get more use out of it!

September’s crate did not include any ‘Digital Loot’, just an advertisement/flyer for the aforementioned card game that was included in the monthly mini-magazine.

Finally, I’ve only ever seen a couple of episodes of ‘Supernatural’ and never really got into it (although I have a hard time enjoying anything Jared Padalecki is in because of his overall terrible attitude and presence across social media,) but my two older brothers LOVE the show- and I know one of them will get a kick out of this replica of the Chevy Impala that is said to be prominently featured in it. Loot Crate’s mini magazine states that the license plates on this replica are of the original Kansas ones- which are apparently hard to come by?

Overall- I thought the “SUMMON” box was really creative! There were quite a few items I wouldn’t have expected (and some I definitely would have,) and the quality of everything was impressive.

I had expected another horror-themed box for October, but it was recently revealed that next month’s Loot Crate would have a “TIME” theme- so I’m bracing myself for some Doctor Who items!

xx