Eternal marks a first of sorts, in that this is the first of any Loot Crate subscription to arrive with two missing items. However, Loot Anime made the very classy decision to provide not one, but TWO bonus items, as well as a promissory note that the very cool missing items would arrive at some future date.
My favorite item, of the three out of five non-bonus items that were included in Eternal’s partial shipment, is the Astro Boy snap-back hat, and despite having an overlarge noggin unsuited for wearing ball caps, my 100,000 horsepower fandom for Astro Boy really wants to make this one work. With a great Astro Boy patch showing not only the robot hero’s unquenchable optimism, but some circuitry, as well as more schematics under the bill of the hat, all rendered in the black and white of the original manga and anime, this is a superb Astro Boy item that I must wear, even if the cruel pinch of the hatband, and the reverse of the Astro Boy patch, stamp my forehead with Astro Boy’s bright-eyed innocence.
My second favorite item was one of the bonus items, the Galaga phone stand, having probably pumped a couple hundred dollars of quarters and tokens in Galaga coin-op machines over the years. With art on the sides and front lifted from Galaga, this is such a decent mock up of a coin-op that at first I thought it was one of those $25 mini systems you see at Wal-Mart and other box stores. While I was disappointed not to have a handheld Galaga, it is nonetheless a really nice phone stand. However, as my three year old literally walked off with it while I was writing this paragraph, I will likely never get to use it for a phone stand.
The other bonus item was Baccano! Volume 1, which I’ve read, enjoyed, and reviewed on NerdSpan.
Evangelion was represented by this tin sign, an eyecatching piece of wall art.
Loot Anime’s mascot, Yume, appears on this keychain bottle opener. Yume suited up for her inevitable bottle opener appearance in a vaguely Metroid-looking body armor.
Art for the two missing items appears online, and both look extremely cool: a Space Dandy magnet set, and a FLCL tee shirt.
Overall, once Eternal catches up to itself, it may shape up to be an excellent crate. As for what was shipped so far, Eternal was still a decent collection to unbox, with an outstanding Astro Boy hat and some other decorative items.
Loot Crate sent the review copy.