Lootaku August 2016 Subscription Box Review & Coupon

This month’s box is the one year anniversary box and featured quite a few different items. Lootaku is a monthly geek subscription box from Hong Kong that brings high-quality geek and gamer items. The subscription costs $49.00 per month + shipping (currently about $17 to the US), and you’ll get 4-6 themed products, like plushies, action figures, memorabilia, etc., to satisfy your geeky cravings monthly – no fillers or promo items!

I like how the outside of the box is beautifully designed. A Chest – Full of Loot!

The information card shows the details about each item.

The item information card is thick and glossy, very detailed. When there are variations it typically lists each possible variation!

All the goodies inside my August Lootaku Box! It’s a is Dragon Ball X One Piece X Naruto filled box!

Dragon Ball World Collectible Figures Epic Lineup – Vegeta. These small and often cute figures are highly collectable and can be a little difficult to obtain outside of Japan, a fact that makes the inclusion of one into our box a real plus!

Naruto Forehead Protector Hidden Leaf – Akatsuki ($7.95). Once a symbol of pride to a ninja hailing from the village of Konoha (Hidden Leaf), this headband with the villages’ symbol crossed out represents everything besides.  The members of the strangely-garbed Akatsuki group were the most notable wearers of negated ninja headbands, with its main member, Itachi, being the most infamous.

One Piece Zoro Sword with Stand Keychain ($9.99).  I love props from favorite animes just as much as the next person and this one actually contains an edge and should be considered a letter opener (no mention of that on the info card).

Vegeta, ceremoniously offering a bowl of morsels is an example both of the whimsical nature of these figures and the reason for their popularity.

Our headband was a decent, playable quality.

E definitely enjoys playing with his headgear.

The sword had some weight to it and comes with a little stand with which to display the bare blade (keep this displayed carefully and away from children).

Neat as it is to have a One Piece themed letter opener, I still had some nerdy problems with this item.

The rainbow wrap towards the top of the scabbard does not appear on Zoro’s Shusui, Law’s sword, Kikoku, or any other known sword in One Piece that I am aware of.

Why do I mention Law?  Because the design on the scabbard is actually the one that appears on Law’s sword, and not Zoro’s.

The correct design is pictured on the information card, however that is not what we received.  The wrap on the handhold is also the incorrect color for both Zoro’s and Law’s swords.  Ours was golden while Zoro’s sports a black or very dark wrap and Law’s is purple.

The cardboard backing on the item’s packaging also featured a picture of Law that I’m pretty sure is floating around on the web as fan art- at any rate, it definitely wasn’t drawn by Oda and therefore it likely is not licensed item.

The info card did not mention that there were different swords that we might receive or that it was a special edition item in some way so I’m raising a hairy eyebrow at this item.  It just seems weird that the info card would go into such long detail about the history of Zoro’s sword and then give us one that weakly resembled Law’s instead.

The bottom of the headband package.

Funko Pop! Sasuke Action Figure ($8.95). One of the two main characters of Naruto were provided for every box as a Funko Pop! Figure.

Ours contained Sasuke, the mislead and bitter of the two and true to Funko design, he is represented in detailed chibi form from the Uchiha symbol on his back, to the purple tied belt in front.  This is a nice addition for Naruto fans!

Dragon Ball Super SCultures Super Saiyan 2 Goku ($19). This figure of a snarling Goku is nicely posed and makes a stunning display wherever it sits.

Super Saiyan mode not only gives the characters of Dragon Ball Z blonde hair, but also some pretty epic powers that usually ends up leaving enemies wishing they had never been born.

There were a large number of Dragon Ball figures that could have been in the box.

One Piece The Grandline Men Zoro ($31.53). Some of the newest figures to hit the One Piece world are those that relate to the recently released OP movie, Gold.  Again, out of a large possibility of figures, our box contained the Grandline Men vol.3 Zorro figure dressed in his Film Gold outfit.

The info card indicated that this Zoro figure was a vol. 5, however I don’t believe this correct.  The figures are too new for there to have been a re-run of them (generally giving them a different vol. number) and the ones that I found on Amazon also listed the figure as being vol.3.  The figure and box itself look very authentic.  I could discern no real discrepancy on paint or general form, however I do want to make a statement about the iconic Toei Animation sticker on the top of our box.

These stickers appear on item packaging and are a mark of authenticity that collectors immediately refer to. To the best of my understanding, there are only two possible background colors that these stickers can be (metallic silver for items marked for overseas markets, and gold metallic for items marked for the Japanese market) and a few known ink colors.  The sticker that appeared on our box had a suspicious white background with bright red ink.  The banner that appears beneath the Toei cat was flipped in the opposite direction, the wording about license was incorrect and the map grid behind the cat was missing altogether.  The state of this sticker is a huge red flag with those concerned with bootlegging.

UPDATE: We heard from Lootaku regarding the sticker:

The issue you had was namely the Toei sticker on the box. As you know, there are two common types of Toei stickers – gold and silver. Sometimes these figures came with a white sticker with red lettering if the figure is set for international export. I say “white”, but they actually call it silver and I’m not sure why. However, all these stickers are massively copied by bootleggers and it really doesn’t matter what color you see on the box. The most sure way to authenticate the sticker is to peel the sticker off of the box, and check for the authenticity watermark underneath. I have attached a picture of the sticker and the watermark underneath for you to see. You can check your box’s sticker and verify that it is the same as well. However, in-box collectors would never peel this sticker off, and you’d generally need to know if it’s genuine by buying it from a reputable seller. Out-of-box collectors that don’t want to peel the sticker can just check the detailing on the figure as bootlegs tend to have very shoddy workmanship.

Also about the Toei stickers, we are not quite sure how many types of Toei stickers there are, and sending an email to Toei regarding this would just get a reply of “it’s an industry secret”. All we know is that Japanese lettering is for Japanese markets, and English lettering is for international markets even if it’s just in other parts of Asia. All of Hong Kong’s Banpresto items now come in that white background Toei sticker with the upside down banner and without the globe on the back. Some have red ink, some have black ink, and I believe there’s another color for more expensive items. The number on the top right generally denotes the price range.

[Editor’s Note] Lootaku also noted that their information card was incorrect (this box happened to land in the hands of the most rabid One Piece fan on the planet) as to the volume number. We discussed multiple items with them and are satisfied that this figure is authentic. The flag below is more of a fan art item (One Piece isn’t a heavily licensed franchise) and we’re also happy with that. We had concerns about a previous item in this subscription and Lootaku noted that they had ended the relationship with the vendor. Back to Sara!

I’m not prepared to call this item a bootleg just yet- it and the box passed all other checks, however that sticker should have only been one of two designs, especially for so new a figure.  The fact that the company has such a large possibility of figures to pull from is concerning too- it’s almost too good to be true.  I could be wrong (and I hope I am); this box’s curators could have great connections, or it could be cultivating bootlegs.

One Piece Flag Straw Hat Pirates ($17.70).  The banner of the Straw Hat crew is immediately familiar to any fan of the series.  The material is a heavier cloth with vinyl triangles sewed at the edges to reinforce the hanging points.  Ours were sewed a bit sloppily in some areas.  I also noticed that the picture on the info card and the actual item were a bit different.  The picture is very much the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates and while the item itself does represent the crew, it probably isn’t a licensed item.  The image is more flattened and the skull eyes are more oval.  The bones behind the skull are also shorter than the original.  Still, I was happy to fly a representative of this iconic crew created by Oda Eiichiro!

RANDOM DAMAGE Comic Lootaku Original – Issue 1. Last but not least is the Lootaku-made comic called Random Damage.  The comic is based on MMORPGs and elements in it will immediately be recognizable to any who play those.

The art work is simple, but well done and the continuing storyline should thrill subscribers for a while.

This pilot edition featured a character based off of a box subscriber contest winner.   The subscriber helped to create this character and it will now be a permanent addition in the series. Lootaku encourages other subscribers to watch for future contest details.

What do you think about Lootaku? If you’re looking to try it out, save 5% on your subscription – even longer lengths! Just use this link to get the deal.

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