By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! “Mystics,” the inaugural subscription box of Loot Crate’s Marvel Gear + Goods, has mainfested, from the light of the Mystic Moons of Munnopor, many Marvelmania fandoms: Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, and the Scarlet Witch.
When I invoked the Eye of Agomotto to investigate this eldritch container, the first thing that I noticed is that Loot Crate tapped Marvel artist David Aja for two of the items in the crate, which raises two questions: are we going to see more from David Aja, an excellent artist who would be an awesome get for the new subscription box service; or, is Loot Crate going to be putting the spotlight on a different artist every month?
The first item based on David Aja’s character designs is this set of exclusive Scarlet Witch toothpick holders. Which, if you don’t mind risking pain of hex, you could put spirits in instead of wood and call shot glasses. One depiction poses Wanda with a sword like an Arthurian villain, and the other renders her with a harp. If you’re like me and want to display the toothpick holders on their own but don’t want to waste the great-looking packaging, I notice that the box is about the size of playing cards or collector cards, and it’s crush proof enough to ship glassware from California to Pennsylvania, so you could use it as a secure case for your most prized collectible cards.
The next item from David Aja is this art print of a page from Immortal Iron Fist #1 which depicts Danny Rand fighting the hordes of Hydra. The 8″ x 13″ page was shipped in a ziplocked poly bag and arrived mint and ready to frame.
With the Doctor Strange movie in theaters, there are of course three great items to capitalize on the love of fans of Lee & Ditko’s Master of the Mystic Arts. (I almost wrote “on fans’ Doctor Strange love” instead, and if you’re a cinephile, you know why I didn’t.)
Probably the most distinctive item in Doctor Strange’s arsenal is his cloak; it’s iconic and easily recognizable, and as it’s depicted as flowing, floating, and always in motion even when Doctor Strange is standing still, it attracts the reader’s eye even if the Dread Dormammu is in the panel. So it makes sense that when Loot Crate was looking for striking Doctor Strange collectibles to put in their first Marvel Gear + Goods they designed this exclusive Doctor Strange Cloak of Levitation Robe. In addition to being stylish, this item is well-made, warm and comfortable, and suitable for pajama wear as well as cosplay. Those that have been following my reviews of Loot Crate’s offerings know that I adore nerdy pajama wear, so this definitely put a smile on my face, but it was not my favorite item this month.
Crafted with even more sorcerous art are the exclusive Doctor Strange vs. Baron Mordo coasters. These super-cool coasters are made of laser-engraved steel, and they are four in number: two of Stephen Strange, and two of Baron Mordo. To me, the imaging is reminiscent of the way Steve Ditko staged these characters, and as Steve Ditko is in my personal top ten of favorite comic artists, and as I’m always on the lookout for nerdy kitchen and dining items, this was my favorite item in the Mystics edition of Marvel Gear + Goods. I was hoping for fully-functioning Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, but these are outstanding.
The third Doctor Strange collectible in the inaugural Marvel Gear + Goods is the exclusive Dormammu pin, which depicts that most infernal and vindictive of Strange’s otherworldy foes. It’s a very effective two-color pin that evokes the rich textures of fire with only gold and black.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with Loot Crate’s first offering for Marvel Gear + Goods subscribers. Even the box is a superb item that collectors will probably use to shelve hard-to-shelf collectibles, as it is stylish no matter which way the box is folded. You can either leave it in its original configuration, which sports dozens of panels devoted to Marvel’s large roster of characters, or you can turn it inside out so that you can have your own The Book of the Darkhold. The toothpick holders will probably be repurposed to contain spirits of the worldly variety, the coasters will be used often on game night, the Aja print will get framed and hung up, and the Doctor Strange robe will join my Jor-El robe so I have an additional pajama over-armor option on those cold winter mornings that we have coming.
You can still order the Mystics edition of Marvel Gear + Goods through this hyperlink until November 15th. After that, you can expect the second installment of this sweet subscription box service to begin shipping in January.
Currently, Loot Crate has not announced the second box theme, but if they’re going to continue to tie into Marvel movies, you could expect to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and Thor themed boxes in 2017 to tie in with Guardians of the Galaxy V2 (May), Spider-Man: Homecoming (July), and Thor: Ragnarok (November). As these are all odd-numbered months, this would tie in nicely with the Marvel Gear + Goods release schedule, and it would make it unlikely that Loot Crate would choose one of these fandoms in January rather than timed with a theatrical release later in the year. This means my guess for January is something that doesn’t tie in to one of those franchises, like X-Men, Avengers, Captain America, Agents of Shield, or Inhumans.
Loot Crate sent the review copy. Disclaimer: The cloak of levitation does not convey the power of flight, just as using Stephen Strange’s catchphrases in this review did not give me any otherworldly influence.
