Reviewed by
Mary
Lootaku is a premium monthly subscription based service to fulfill everybody’s geeky addictions. Our box features full figure statues and Asia exclusives that you will not find in any other subscription box. We promise no filler or promotional items, and our values are always based on current cheapest prices on Amazon.
Prices and values on the Lootaku website are given US dollars. A one month subscription is $44.99 (three and six month subscriptions are cheaper). According to my currency converter this is £34.27. UK Shipping is $17.66 (£13.45). Slightly pricey, but this is a premium box. Also it’s coming a long way.
1-month subscription total: £47.72
This month’s theme focuses on Sword Art Online, One Piece and Gintama. It is also a newer format that appeared for the first time last month. It contains three large figures plus one smaller item, so four in total. Usually there are five or six items, but they have included fewer this month due to the inclusion of more premium large figures.
Anyway, more on that later.
Lootaku has a fantastic shipping box!
This is the first of the three large figures. One Piece Banpresto ZOUKEI MONOGATARI Roronoa Zoro.
This series features characters in dynamic poses, capturing the character in movement.
Like all Banpresto figures, this one has superb detailing.
Another Banpresto figure, Gintama Banpresto King of Artist Sakata Gintoki.
The King of Artist line showcases exceptional sculpts and colouring details. Banpresto large figures are always impressive, but this is exceptional.
This is also the first appearance of the Gintama franchise in a Lootaku box.
This Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale Kirito figure is the third of the large figures in this box.
Again, beautiful detailing, this is one of two possible figures. The other is Asuna, from the same range.
The fourth item in the box is also from Sword Art Online: Elucidator.
Replica swords are pretty big in the collectible world; I’ve had several in previous boxes.
The attention to detail is pretty impressive: it includes a stand and the sword and scabbard are separate but fit beautifully together. It’s also not at all sharp, though it would make an efficient letter opener!
Here’s the menu card.
Smaller than usual, but still at the bottom of the box so no spoilers! It contains item details and values.
I never take the values as gospel, simply because this is a box from Hong Kong and often their items are Asia-exclusive or at least extremely difficult to find in the UK. Also I find you can never reply on RRP for anything. That being said, I’ve not yet valued the contents of one of their boxes at less, or even equal to, the price of their subscription.
I’ll start straight in, as I always do, at the contents value as I can discover. I use an online currency converter so they’re correct at time of writing. I can’t always take into account shipping costs of individual items, but I do my best to be fair.
Often I can find things on Amazon, but some of the items in Lootaku boxes are nigh on impossible to source in the UK, so sometimes I have to guesstimate. I also don’t use eBay as reference, as I find prices are not reliable or realistic.
We saw at the top that the monthly subscription is £47.72.
One Piece Roronoa Zoro: €32.00 (£28.30) I found this on a site specializing in collectibles, but it appears this figure is not going to be released until early next year! This price does not include shipping.
Gintama King of Artist figure: £14.81 plus £5 shipping on Amazon.
Kirito figure: €34.98 (£30.93) I could only find this figure at one place that would ship to the UK. This is a pretty hard-to-find figure.
Elucidator replica: I couldn’t find this online; I suspect it’s an Asian exclusive item. I’m going to estimate it at £8.
Total: £87.04
So this is well over the value of the box itself.
Now then, I can’t quibble with the value. It’s superb, as Lootaku always is. It is a premium box with premium items.
As I mentioned earlier, this second time they’ve gone in a different direction with the format, including three large figures. Past boxes have generally included a maximum of two figures of this size.
But like last month, there’s something about this box which leaves me a little cold. The quality and value are excellent, but I can’t get excited about a box which only contains figures. If figures are the only thing that float your boat then you would be over the moon.
However, I’m a geek, but I like a little variety in my geeky stuff! Plus stuff I can actually use.
The last few months Lootaku have been including some really awesome non-figure items in their boxes, and I’ve absolutely loved them. Last month, for example, they included the most gorgeous backpack, and I’ve also acquired such items as scarves, coasters (exclusive and gorgeous) and plush figures.
So yes, awesome value, and yes, great quality, and yes, super-premium figures. It’s exciting they’ve introduced a new anime franchise into their boxes. There’s some hard-to-find stuff in there.
But I’m happy to see on their menu that next month they’re returning to their regular format. There are indeed splendid premium figures, and I’ll be very glad to see some of their awesome creativity in next month’s box!
