Reviewed by
Mary
Blurb:
· Age Appropriate Reading Book
· Trading Cards
· Fred’s Box Pencil
· 4 x Design your own Postcards
· Fred’s Box sticker
Fred’s Box has two different box options, an Ooshie Subscription Box, and a Mystery Box.
I was sent a Mystery Box. This costs £11.99 plus £2 p+p. You can buy a one-off box, or you can buy a rolling subscription, which has a 10% discount.
There is also an option for twins.
When you order you give the child’s age and reading age.
You can choose girl or boy options, and as my lovely assistant, Little C, is a girl, I was sent the girl option called Lily’s Box.
As you can see, it’s thin and flat, so it fit through the mailbox perfectly.
Everything is very neatly packed! 
Let’s have a look at the goodies.
Every Fred’s Box contains a pencil and an Ooshie.
Ooshies can be used as pencil toppers, or simply as little play figures.
This one is Ariel, from the Little Mermaid. (I had to check on the list as I’m not very good with Disney princesses!)
Next up, a Despicable Me 3 Surprise Figure.
It’s a great franchise to include. I imagine virtually every child is familiar with these movies, and of course #3 is a recent release! According to Little C it’s very good.
Inside the blind bag was Dru. Little C knew this immediately.
These are cute little figures, a couple of inches high, and of course, collectible.
Shopkins Trading Cards! Another very popular series. Little C hasn’t actually played the trading card game, but that doesn’t stop her from liking the cards! She was thrilled to have a ‘rare’ card included in the pack.
Little C was even more pleased with these DC Comics Top Trumps. Again, we haven’t played the actual game, but she is crazy about comic books, and likes any kind of collectible cards.
The illustrations on these cards are great.
Every box includes an age-appropriate book. As it happens Little C received another book from this series in a recent party bag, so was happy to have another.
Slap bands are great, huh? Little C has a growing collection of these, and she absolutely adored the colour.
Finally, a sticker book. While the idea is fairly simple (you put the stickers on the silhouettes) there is plenty of useful and fun information about all the various bugs.
Little C is very fond of bugs and insects (woodlice are a particular favourite for some reason) so this was perfect.
Finally, there are four blank draw-your-own postcards.
A simple little extra, but handy for sending to friends and family over the holidays!
Thoughts:
First of all, value.
Value is always tricky because you’ve got to think about postage and the general time involved in accumulating all these things. I looked up some prices using Amazon where possible, as you’re less likely to find dodgy knockoffs.
Despicable Me figure: £2.33 (I could only find these in packs of three @ £6.99)
Ooshie: £3
Slap band £2.50
Shopkins cards: £1
Top Trumps: £2.67
Book: £4.99 (RRP on the back of the book) Very few books are sold at RRP, and this is a little skinny children’s book, so I would put it more at £1.99.
So you’re almost at the total price plus postage.
Sticker book: £3.99
Pencil: £0.50? Doesn’t matter, you’ve got more that your money’s worth anyway!
So this is pretty damn good value!
The bugs sticker book is both fun and educational. Including a proper story book is an excellent idea, because you can never have too many books.
The trading cards are fun, and no doubt we’ll discover other friends who will enjoy swapping them!
Top Trumps seems to be an incredibly popular game (I know adults who are rather keen on Top Trumps!) so this is a great opportunity to introduce it.
The colouring pencil will go into the general stash of drawing stuff.
As for the figures, Little C loves playing with tiny figures (she adores Shopkins counterparts The Grossery Gang) so her collection has been increased by two!
Despite not being a huge fan of ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ things, I’m very happy this is not all pink and frills.
Even the Princess slap band is a nice bright green! Little C said this was her favourite item because of the colour.
This would be a wonderful gift, either as a one-off, or a monthly treat. It would make a great stocking filler, or, if you’re feeling fancy, an incredible party bag!
The contents of this box are varied enough that they would appeal to a very wide range of girls. My daughter, whose tastes range from Trolls and Shopkins to Batman and Star Wars, thought it was amazing.
Great job Fred’s Box!
By Evelyn 
