Subscription boxes are taking over the internet. If you’ve never heard of such a thing, you must be living under a rock. The basic premise is you subscribe by paying a monthly fee and you get a box full of monthly goods delivered to your doorstep (or digitally in the case of a few subscription services out there). You don’t get to choose the items inside, so it’s like Christmas, or a birthday, opening a box and being surprised every month. How exciting! Of course, you run the risk of not liking what’s inside either though so it’s a gamble. They have boxes for everything from beauty products, to cat toys, dog treats, and yes, even anime and gamer and geeky boxes too.
This post has been modified but not “updated” to introduce new boxes, or remove boxes which may no longer be available on the market – since its original publication in December 2015. When I initially wrote this post, it was based on “second hand” research, such as watching box opening videos, reading reviews, looking at photos, visiting the websites, etc. However, over the course of 2016, I have personally tried and purchased several of these subscriptions. To see some of the boxes I’ve reviewed look here: https://geekysweetie.com/category/review/subscription-box-review/
I would also like to take a moment to give a “shout out” to Boxychan since I did not know about it in my original post below. It is my favorite anime subscription box. I’m currently signed up with their 9 month program at $28 a month. You can read my Boxychan review here https://geekysweetie.com/boxychan-anime-box-june-unboxing-photos-review-monthly-subscription-box-anime-manga-fans/:
And one final shout out to Pusheen Box – I signed up in Spring and am still signed up and expecting the summer box to ship at any time. You can see my Spring Pusheen box review here: https://geekysweetie.com/pusheen-box-spring-pusheen-box-box-opening-review/.
Regardless of the “Top 10” nature of the boxes below, Pusheen Box, and Boxychan are my favorite subscriptions. I’m also signed up to Humble Bundle Monthly which you’ll see in the Top ten list below. Those are my current 3 subscriptions of this nature. Very happy with those ones. I’ve also reviewed and subscribed or been gifted other boxes from this list below but am not a current subscriber to them. Have had to unsubscribe in some cases due to some varying degrees of quality issues, counterfeit items or just “too expensive” When a box on this list has been reviewed, I try to make an effort to go back to this list to add additional comments and point you towards my full review. Enjoy the original post below. And leave me a comment about which subscription boxes you enjoy!
This post will feature the top 10 subscription services for geeky girl gamers and otaku anime fans. Let’s dig in.
10 Humble Bundle Monthly
This is a new subscription service, in only it’s 3rd month currently. However, it’s from a reputable company that features bundle games regularly on their site. The new Humble Monthly features a plethora of games delivered digitally (usually through Steam) each month and focuses on more AAA titles and games which have never appeared in bundles on their site before. The subscription service costs $12 a month and you can sign up at https://www.humblebundle.com/monthly or view their past bundles.
Unlike any of the other boxes on our list, this one is all digital. It also does not give you any preview or theme or indication of what the next bundle will contain so you go into it completely blind. But for 12 dollars a month it’s a pretty good deal. I haven’t been too thrilled with the contents yet myself; but it does broaden my gaming horizons some, by giving me AAA title games which I would absolutely not buy for myself such as Saint’s Row and Payday. I just wish they’d have more diversity like some AAA visual novels or AAA roleplaying games. Everything has been action / stealth / shooter etc. I know that’s what most gamers want to see, but out of 6 games in each box, can’t they throw a girl a bone here by making 1 or 2 of them each month more “girly”? UPDATE: This post was originally published in December 2015 – since then, there have been a few RPGs, such as Talos Principle which made me pretty happy -Im still subscribed to it – but most months don’t see much that tickle my fancy. However, Talos Principle had been on my wishlist since it first came out – and that game alone paid for several months worth of this subscription – so not a bad deal.
9 Loot Crate
Everyone knows of Loot Crate, the subscription service with geeks in mind. The subscription box costs $13.95 a month and includes things like funko pops, tshirts, toys, posters, and more, from various pop culture references such as dr who, marvel, nintendo, minecraft, and more. Sign up here: https://www.lootcrate.com/crates/lootcrate/plans
8 Anime Crate
From the makers of Loot Crate, comes Anime Crate, a new subscription box focusing on providing merchandise from Anime series. For some reason, it costs a lot more money than loot crate at $24.95 a month. It also unfortunately seems to focus primarily on mainstream shonen titles such as naruto, dragon ball z, and bleach. None of which appeal to me. It is a relatively new box; so perhaps future themes will throw in some shoujo items. You can view past crates or sign up here: https://www.lootcrate.com/crates/anime/plans
The nice thing about all the boxes from Loot Crate is they give you a “monthly theme” so you can decide to sign up, and/or cancel if there’s a theme you really want to check out. It says each crate has over $60 of goods, and they give away a “Mega Crate” each month with usually $500-$800 worth of goods such as gaming consoles and more. Of course with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, your chances of winning the Mega Crate is pretty low; but it does add a bit of excitement to the mix.
7 Level Up
Another box from the makers of Loot Crate, this one focuses on clothing. They have both men and women’s clothing in sizes ranging from Extra Small to 5-XL. Yay for body diversity. This “box” works a bit differently, with lots of options to choose from. My favorite is the accessories box which is definitely the most girly of them, with things like purses, scarves, wallets, totes, and jewelry all with a geeky theme. That one runs $14.99 a month. There’s a box for tshirts, at just $8.99 a month! That’s a great deal on geeky apparel. They also have a premium tshirt box for $14.99 a month which is a bit more “stylish” (form fitting, or with cuffs, collars, etc) (more dressy). They even have a box for geeky socks for just under $5 a month. If you can’t decide which box you want, they offer a bundle with 2 socks and a premium tshirt each month for just over $20. You can check out all the different clothing bundles here: https://www.lootcrate.com/level_up
Loot Crate also offers pet boxes for geeky items for your pets. I didn’t include it in my top 10 list because not all of my readers have pets, but it’s worth checking out if you’re a pet lover.
6 Nerd Block
Nerd Block is probably the 2nd most widely known subscription service (right after Loot Crate). Like Loot Crate, Nerd Block offers many different types of boxes including Classic, Arcade, Scifi, Horror, Comic, Boys JR, and Girls JR. Nerd Block calls itself “Toy Subscription Boxes for Geeks”
Like Loot Crate they also give away one special box each month, called the Big Boss Block, which includes things like video game consoles and more expensive items. But like Loot Crate, since they have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, your chances are slim to none to get this special box.
Also like Loot Crate, they offer a preview each month so you can decide to sign up or cancel before the next box comes out. For example, at time of writing, the next box is a mortal kombat, portal, and street fighter themed box.
Their boxes cost $19.99 a month, and focus more on toys than the other boxes. Each box also includes one Tshirt. For any mommy bloggers out there, the JR boxes have “child safe toys” for kids aged 6 and up.
You can view all of their boxes and sign up here https://www.nerdblock.com/
5 Kawaii Crate
Kawaii Crate features Japanese goods such as plushies, toys, snacks, and more. The crates also sometimes include anime DVDs, Manga, or Magazines. The really cool thing about Kawaii Crate is if you don’t like what’s inside, send it back and get a full refund!! I don’t know of any other crates that let you do that. It is pricey at $40 a month making it less affordable than the Loot Crate anime box. You can sign up at http://kawaiicrate.com/pages/subscriptions
4 Betoyo Bento
This box features some really super nice high quality collectibles, dolls, and figurines, for just $38 a month. UPDATE: The price has dropped to just $28 a month making this box almost too good to pass up. The next box will feature a sailor moon item. Oh how I wish I could sign up!! lol. It’s all toys/figures and there are some really good ones too. You can check it out here: http://www.betoyo.com/ – Their blog appears out of date, but they are very active on Facebook – so it is still an active box subscription site. UPDATE: Along with the new pricing, they’ve updated their website.
3 Anime Bento
Anime Bento is another toy/figure/plushie box. They also sometimes include tshirts and let you choose from sizes small to 2XL (although unlike Level Up it appears you cannot choose men or women’s clothing, which fits differently obviously). However, the items they include are very cute and high quality, I even see Nendoroids on their list of past items. You can learn more and sign up at https://animebento.cratejoy.com/subscribe/20362213_Anime+Bento
2 Omakase
Omakase is a bimonthly subscription box with a different anime series as the theme each month. It is a brand new box, and their second (current) theme is Naruto (yuck). Their first theme was Kill la Kill. Each box has EXCLUSIVE items that are made specifically for Omakase and not available anywhere else. I will very likely subscribe if/when they have a series I like. Since it is bimonthly, you only pay every other month, but unfortunately on the other hand, you only get a box once every other month too. It’s $35 each time. In addition to the cute toys, figures, etc, you get ad free anime streaming (coming in January). Therefore, this box could potentially rival Crunchyroll and steal some subscribers – I say potentially, because, Crunchyroll has deals with tv networks in Japan to bring us anime in as little as 3 hours after it airs on Japanese television. It remains to be seen, how many series, or how timely, the new Omakase anime streaming service will be. However, for just a fraction more than the highest crunchyroll plan, you’d also get a box of neat items every other month. They also promise “exclusive anime content” whatever that is (maybe behind the scenes, interviews with voice actors, etc) I could see that being a bit threat to crunchy if Omakase can keep up with the speed, selection, and volume of anime to be of equal value. You can learn more or sign up at https://www.viewster.com/omakase/
Sadly Omakase is no longer around. With that in mind, I’d like to recommend a new subscription box that I discovered called Yume Twins.
2. Yume Twins – Yume Twins is a super cute, mostly plushy based subscription box. It’s a new box developed by the folks behind Tokyotreat, a Japanese snackbox subscription service. This one is unique in that it is all kawaii shoujo (girly) stuff, mostly around popular anime franchises such as studio ghibli, sailor moon, and sanrio. It costs $23.99 and ships straight from Tokyo to your doorstep. All of the products are licensed, non-counterfeit and it features expensive items like Alpacasoo and exclusive kawaii plushies each month. Check them out over at https://yumetwins.com/
1 Kawaii Box
Kawaii Box is my pick for the best subscription box for geeky girls because all of the items inside are kawaii, girly, and adorable and all of the items are imported from Japan and South Korea making them 100% unavailable in any US store. It includes things like toys, plushies, accessories, beauty items, stationary, and more. It costs just $18.95 a month and includes 10-12 kawaii items in each box. Check them out at http://kawaiibox.com
Edit to Add: i also just discovered DokiDoki – a monthly subscription box by Japan Crate with cute anime themed items including plushies, toys, bentos, stationary, and more from series such as Studio Ghibli Films, Totoro, Sailor Moon, Madoka Magika, Sanrio, Hello Kitty, Animal Crossing and more. It costs $30 a month and ships the first week of each month. You can find it here: http://japancrate.com/dokidoki In addition to all of this, they also give away one Suteki Crate which contains awesome items such as imported region-free nds systems with cute designs and colors. Adorable!
Edit regarding DokiDoki on 6/6/2016 – I ordered the June DokiDoki Crate and did a brief review. I really would not recommend this crate. You can read my review here. https://geekysweetie.com/doki-doki-june-box-opening-subscription-crate-review/
Edit: 5/2016: I also discovered Geek Fuel – and we have a special offer for our readers for $3 off their subscription. Geekfuel is a geek and gamer subscription box, though geared more towards “western” geeks (starwars, dr who, etc) as opposed to “anime geeks and otakus” It’s still an awesome box and you should check it out 🙂 The offer is good on any subscription plan. Learn more and sign up at geekfuel.com or use our link for your special discount: http://fbuy.me/dT0MG
Also I joined the Pusheen Box. I did a Box Opening Review here. Pusheen is a famous character from the internet. He is a cute fat grey striped cat (who reminds me a lot of my own cat). I love this character. This is a quarterly box so that helps cut down costs since you only pay once every 3 months. I recommend this box if you like Pusheen as it has Exclusive officially liscensed pusheen merchandise. Learn more at PusheenBox.com
Do you subscribe to any of these services, or know of other geeky, gamer, anime or kawaii subscription services? Leave us a comment below. <3
They shut down omakase just thought you should know
Thanks for the update 🙂