As you may have seen I recently received a delivery from Mintyfresh which included my two, previously reviewed, Kidrobot Pyramiduns but lurking in the depths of the cardboard abyss was another beast altogether…
It just so happens that the people over at the good ship Mintyfresh offer several blindbox blindboxes which include a selection of randomly selected blindbox toys. The amount of toys you get depends on the box you go for, and prices range from £15-116 respectively.
When I first saw these boxes a few weeks ago I was intrigued- many companies now offer mystery box services, Zavvi have the ZBox, Funko have a new Star Wars box coming soon, and then of course there’s LootCrate: seeing Mintyfresh had a box dedicated to only designer toys I just had to know what Mintyfresh had to offer. I had a cursory scout round the seven seas of Google to see if anyone had reviewed the MF Blindbox but I had no luck and so I decided that a safe place to start would to order the smallest bundle, available here: Small Blindbox, and review it myself.
Upon retrieving my blindbox bundle from Davy Jones’ cardboard locker I was greeted by a fairly thin, silver bag, hardly sealed at one end. From within I could see a familiar logo peering back at me- Family Guy! Being a huge FG fan I was instantly pleased, at the very least I knew there would be one good toy in this treasure trove. I instantly tore into the pack to see what else I could salvage from the depths. All in, I pulled out 4 boxes, a Family Guy x Kidrobot, a Dunny Evolved, a TCHO! By Ohm, and a Buff Monster Ice Cream. See below.
I figured the best way to review this would be to give you a cursory look at the toys, then offer you an opinion on the whole experience, so without further ado, let’s commence!
Family Guy x Kidrobot
The first thing I saw in my blindbox, I was really excited by the sight of an FGxKR toy. I’ve long been a huge FG fan but never picked up any of the Kidrobot toys due to *ahem* monetary restrictions (trying to complete a blindbox series can be hugely expensive, which is why I try and stick to one-offs and limited runs). Upon opening I was thrilled to find a main member of the FG family, Brian. It’s a great toy, looks fab (smells fab) and his martini glass is a super accessory and he looks great on my shelf with my other “animation” toys. Being from 2011 means that there’s no easy way to continue a collection of these figures, but honestly, I’m totally happy with Brian as a one-off and don’t really feel the need to chase more. At 2/20 Brian isn’t a rare toy but, again, I don’t care, I’m just super happy with this one!
TCHO! By Ohm
I have to admit this is an unknown quantity to me. I’d never heard of this series, or its designer, but upon opening I was pleasantly surprised: of the 5 available characters I got lucky and pulled #2, samurai guy (probably not his actual name but, hey, it’s accurate). I love Japanese culture and having a little samurai on my manga shelf (side note, he kinda looks like Mitsurugi from Soul Calibur) seems perfect. Being from 2008 and by an obscure maker there really is no follow up on this figure, it’s really a one-off, but I still like it. It’s a shame that completing this set is nigh-on impossible now as figure 6 of the set is completed by assembling the extra pieces found in each of the 5 main toys- having said that I’m not really keen on the other characters so I’m not too broken up by not being able to finish up.
Dunny Evolved
*Sigh*. One of my least, no make that my least, favourite dunny series ever, the dunny evolved included in my blindbox is a Huck Gee design. As it goes, I’m not a fan of Huck Gee either (I just prefer other designers) so I was a bit disappointed by this one. However, the more I see of it the more I like it. Plus it’s called Steve (it says so on his name badge) which is the name of my old design lecturer who, as it goes, also collected dunnys, which is pretty cool. However, it’s still not my favourite dunny I’ve got, far from it in fact, but I’m not heartbroken by it. It now lives on top of my TV with some of my other odd figures.
Buff Monster Ice Cream
The last toy out of my blindbox and a real treat (sorry, it’s a terrible pun, I know), these Ice Cream figures by mind style are some that I’ve been tempted to buy into on more than one occasion. As it happens I started collecting Buff Monster stuff a few months ago so I was thrilled to find a Buff piece in my blindbox. Not only that, but I was lucky enough to discover a 2/24 Mint Choc chip- my favourite flavour ice cream in real life! This is a perfect addition to my Buff shelf and might just tip me over the edge to buying up whatever Ice Cream pieces I can. Despite being from 2013-2014 and discontued these toys are particularly readily available right now, mostly used, but some places still have stock of new, unopened ones, as well as a few unopened retail boxes being available on ebay. Its a good little series, if a little plain, and I like the packaging but the toys themselves are a touch on the small side- smaller than I expected at least. Regardless, this is definitely one of the better toys out the blindbox, perhaps the best for me.
Overall Mystery Box Experience
Overall, I was impressed by the contents of my blindbox bundle. Honestly I expected to get a load of leftover rubbish from the very back of MF’s warehouse shelves, but I was actually treated to 4 premium items, 2 of which fit into my collection pretty damn well, and all for just £15! That’s just £3.75 a toy!
However, and this is the biggie, although the blindbox represents real value, the big problem is exactly the thing that will draw many people in- you don’t know what you’ll get! If you’re a collector looking to find specific discontinued pieces you’re chances with this bundle are so slim you really don’t stand a chance of finding what you’re looking for. If you’re a newbie looking to get started you might be attracted too, but herein lies another problem; because the majority (or in my case, all) of the contents are discontinued items you might find a starting point for a collection, but no way to follow up with no availability of the toys you want to collect. Really then this blindbox bundle offers a very niche opportunity- if you’re a collector who doesn’t mind having odd pieces that don’t fit in your collection, just want some random toys to decorate your desk or maybe you’re even buying this for a loved one who collects and don’t know what specifically to buy then this box could be for you, but otherwise I don’t think there’s a serious collecting opportunity here: you’re much better off spending £15 on one carefully chosen piece that fits nicely in with your collection, rather than four that don’t.
Of course, its worth stating one final time that while I have shown you what I got in my blindbox, there’s no guarantee you’ll get anything similar, so use this review to gauge the sorts of contents you might get and make your own decision. You could do worse than buy into this phenomenon, but serious collectors might have their eyes on something more specific that might warrant a purchase. It is also my opinion that while the small box is a fun, cheap and exciting boost to your collection, if you plump for a larger blindbox you may find yourself with a large collection of odd pieces to which resolution is unassailable.
All told, I think it’s great that Mintyfresh offer this service and I think it’s a fun way to collect (plus the speed of service and delivery was exemplary) but overall, despite a high final rating, I’d say this blindbox is a big gamble and I’d advise any serious collectors to spend their money on something they know will fit in their collection. 4/5 st-arrrs.
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