LootPets January: Invasion!

We got our second Loot Pets box by Loot Crate, and the theme this month is Invasion! There is so much awesome packed into these subscription boxes, it's difficult to convey. It's clear how much thought has gone into each and every item in the box, and there's something to love about everything. Even stuff Brisbane can't have is wonderful in one way or another.

There is an exclusive X-Files t-shirt designed for Threadless. Yes, those are UFOs abducting people. Ru is going to look smashing in this shirt as soon as it gets warm enough for him to stop wearing sweaters and enormously fluffy coats.

That 6' Space Invaders leash is by A Crowded Coop, a company I was previously unaware of. It turns out they make practically all of the cool geek and pop culture stuff out there, like Ru's Star Trek Collar, the Original Series communicator poo bag dispenser that lives on my purse, and a ton of the awesome stuff found at ThinkGeek.com.

Our last box had some awesome stuff by Quantum Mechanix, and this month we got a Battlestar Galactica disc that's just the right size for Sisci. We've been working on our disc skills, and this is a nice one to toss without worrying about it bonking into something.

The Invasion of the Sweet Potato Crisps are by Loving Pets, they're definitely more like puffed chips and less like dried root vegetables. Normally I would be grumbling about getting sweet potato treats now that I know Brisbane is also allergic to sweet potatoes, but Loot Crate is forgiven because of the illustration on the bag. It features flying alien sweet potato crisps frying people with their laser eyestalks. The crisps themselves are wavy and unlike anything I've seen before. Sisci is willing to eat them, so hopefully they won't go to waste.

The last thing in the box is a silver flying saucer Loot Pets collar charm. These things are wonderfully collectible. Actually the boxes themselves are pretty darned collectible, too. The inside is printed in a matching theme, it's almost like finding a handwritten note from my mom in my lunchbox (Note: My mother never actually wrote me lunchbox notes, and I packed all my own lunches anyway, so this is pure speculation). The boxes are just the right size for storing various odds and ends. Thank you, all you passionate geeks who invented the Loot Crate concept, for these small but significant details that make your subscription boxes extra-special.

LootPets: We Got a New Subscription Box

I had decided we were done with subscription boxes for a while, but then I heard about the Loot Pets box by Loot Crate and lost my mind. I mean look how cool this is! Loot Crate does subscription boxes for geeks and gamers, with fandom-related goodies. For those unaware, I am so geeky that I've read the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft, seen every episode of every iteration of Star Trek, and own the original three Star Wars films on laserdisc. That's right, laserdisc. Clearly the Loot Pets box was made just for us.

The theme this month is Galaxy! We got:

A Hypergalactic T-shirt by Loot Crate Labs, with planets and satellites and snowflakes and a lovely blending of space and winter. I had some trouble picking out the shirt size because Ru is so long and slinky. I love the length of this shirt on him, but it is very wide. I may dust off my sewing machine and sew a dart down the belly to improve the fit.

We also got a Founding Member Collar Charm, for subscribing to the first-ever Loot Crate for pets. It's a gold rocket ship, so much more awesome than the usual bones and hearts.

There's a collar branded Weyland-Yutani, the scary corporation from the Alien films. Instead of the company logo, "Building Better Worlds", the collar says "Building Better Dogs". It's by Quantum Mechanix. This collar will fit both Sisci and Brisbane. This is definitely one of the coolest things in this box, it's so awesome I can't even stand it. I adore subtle fandom fun, this is why I have a Miskatonic University parking pass sticker on my car.

The Firefly Troublemaker Dog Dish is the other super awesome item in our box. It has a non-skid ring on the bottom and is dishwasher, microwave, and oven-safe. It's a nice size, small enough for a big Ru bowl but big enough for Brisbane's dinner most nights. This one's also by Quantum Mechanix, makers of accurate, awesome, and sometimes delightfully subtle film and tv series goodies.

The last thing in here is a bag of Galactic Snaps Dog Treats by Loot Crate Labs. They are made from freeze-dried beef liver and nothing else, so Brisbane gets to have some!

Overall this is basically the best subscription box ever. I guess it's more for me than for them this time, given that there was only one bag of treats and no toys in there, but I'm sure they'll be something squeakable or throwable or chewable in there next month.

What's your favorite geek fandom?

The March Bark Box

Our March BarkBox arrived! I just signed up for BarkBox last month, this is a monthly package of dog products you have probably never seen or heard of. The idea is to teach your dog that the mail carrier is a friend bearing goodies. As our mailman comes without gifts the rest of the month, Brisbane remains unconvinced. He's pretty sure the mailman must be destroyed.

Forget the cute picture, we're opening this thing!

This month's BarkBox contained a bacon-shaped stuffy made of leather, by Aussie Naturals. Brisbane was more interested in the edible goodies in the box, so the bacon hasn't seen any action yet. We also got a Safemade stuffable toy that is both freezer-safe and oven-safe. This is a novel concept, and I'll have to consider what I'm going to bake into this thing. The Safemade bone looks pretty cool, and I'm all for stuffable toys, but I almost feel like the safety concept might be a bit overstated. I feel like I'm pretty good at discerning safe toys from major hazards for my particular dogs. I'm paranoid enough to not give them most dollar-store toys, but that's about it.

BarkBox with contents.

We got three different kinds of treats. The Twistix are chewable dental treats, these are size large. Nowhere does the package state what "large" means or whether I should avoid giving these to my 6-lb ankle-biter, unlike a lot of dental chews. Like most dental products, I am skeptical that these will contribute to my dogs' oral health. However, they are probably tasty and fun to gnaw.

I haven't opened the Baker's Best Wild Pacific salmon blueberry treats, but they sound pretty stinky from the description. Brisbane loves stinky treats, and finds them to be much higher value than anything I would like to keep in my pockets. These will probably end up stuffed inside various toys, unless they end up being smelly enough to use as training treats.

The Wagatha's Breakfast Biscuits are made with apples, bananas, and cinnamon. Definitely pleasant-sounding. They are bone-shaped and adorable, but probably not stinky. I'm sure someone around here will eat them anyway.

BarkBox with James.

I have been pleasantly surprised that both of our BarkBoxes have been totally Brisbane-allergen-free. No poultry, no eggs, no problem. There isn't an opt-out option for dogs with allergies, and I was fully expecting to be giving several items away each month.

So far BarkBox has exceeded my expectations and introduced me to several products that were not available locally. I would never have bought any of this stuff myself, and I have been delighted with everything I have received so far. I highly recommend BarkBox, and totally think everyone should sign up for it and claim me as the person who referred them so I can get free BarkBoxes.