For a good while I have had a love hate relationship with blind bags and blind boxes. I’ve bought them here and there if they looked particularly interesting. Many a time I have gone into a comic shop and been tempted by blind boxes. On occasion I have bought one hoping for a particular design I loved the look of and more often than not being disappointed by getting the one I wanted the least. These get dumped in my ‘blind box/bag tub of toys I didn’t want but would be a waste of money getting rid of them this soon’. Now I only buy ones that are cheap, or have the little dot to tell you which one you’re getting if it’s pricey because I’m boring and lack the funds to spend lots of money getting the one I want (but mostly the boring thing) Luckily it seems most people are as boring as me as more often than not the pricier ones have a sticker letting you know what’s in the box.
But the little blind bags costing only a couple of pounds or less always tempt me and I will often get them out of curiosity. It doesn’t matter about what the contents could be either, as long as it looks interesting. It might be a blind bag containing a cute animal, or a dragon, an army man, a glow in the dark alien on a surfboard ...it doesn’t matter, I just know I must get it!
For me there are 2 categories of blind bags: the ones where you hope you get something good and the ones where you hope to get something bad. The first type I buy because I genuinely like the look of the designs. The second type I buy because I have to know if they are as terrible as they look. Will they have a bad paint job? Will the molding be so below par it looks nothing like the designs on the front of the pack? You never know what you will find in the little bag and it’s great!
This brings me into my point. I want to share with you my blind bag or box purchases. The highs of amazing well made ones, as well as those that are badly made, and the very lows of all round meh. If I’m going to buy these things I want to share my purchases saying ‘look at this thing I bought hey no it wasn’t a waste of money who said that!?’
At the weekend I decided to get my first set of Moshi Monsters.
But the little blind bags costing only a couple of pounds or less always tempt me and I will often get them out of curiosity. It doesn’t matter about what the contents could be either, as long as it looks interesting. It might be a blind bag containing a cute animal, or a dragon, an army man, a glow in the dark alien on a surfboard ...it doesn’t matter, I just know I must get it!
For me there are 2 categories of blind bags: the ones where you hope you get something good and the ones where you hope to get something bad. The first type I buy because I genuinely like the look of the designs. The second type I buy because I have to know if they are as terrible as they look. Will they have a bad paint job? Will the molding be so below par it looks nothing like the designs on the front of the pack? You never know what you will find in the little bag and it’s great!
This brings me into my point. I want to share with you my blind bag or box purchases. The highs of amazing well made ones, as well as those that are badly made, and the very lows of all round meh. If I’m going to buy these things I want to share my purchases saying ‘look at this thing I bought hey no it wasn’t a waste of money who said that!?’
At the weekend I decided to get my first set of Moshi Monsters.
They never really appealed to me but I'm not sure why. They have interesting, well made designs that are cute, but when I've seen them I just think ‘eh’, and walk past. On Saturday I was in a toy shop and rather than walking past them as usual I bought a couple of packs to see what they're like. After looking through the different varieties they had I went for series 5 as I liked the majority of the designs in that series.
Opening the first pack I had my fingers crossed I would get something good. It turns out crossing your fingers is utterly useless as I ended up with the snail character, which was the one I wanted the least out of all the designs. I noticed he was not quite the same as the illustration on the packet either, and is missing spots on his body and shell. His name is first officer ooze and he looks like a grinning idiot. Look at the stupid grin in the photo down there...idiot...
The other design I got in the pack was Gracie, one of the ones I didn't mind getting but it wasn't a favourite. I’m not sure what she’s meant to be so I will go for anthropomorphic gum on skates.
She’s a pretty cute character although I noticed looking on the illustration of her that, like the snail, the small details are missing on her. The jewels on her crown are meant to be green, she is meant to have rosy cheeks, her arms should be yellow, her mouth black, and her skates should be purple and blue with white laces.
I find this a shame as the illustration is nice but the actual toy is let down by not being detailed enough. It would be fine if only one detail wasn't the same as the illustration but that many missing is terrible. I understand why details have to be missed out but colouring the arms can't be that much harder than than painting in the crown. It makes the character look really cheap.
Opening the first pack I had my fingers crossed I would get something good. It turns out crossing your fingers is utterly useless as I ended up with the snail character, which was the one I wanted the least out of all the designs. I noticed he was not quite the same as the illustration on the packet either, and is missing spots on his body and shell. His name is first officer ooze and he looks like a grinning idiot. Look at the stupid grin in the photo down there...idiot...
The other design I got in the pack was Gracie, one of the ones I didn't mind getting but it wasn't a favourite. I’m not sure what she’s meant to be so I will go for anthropomorphic gum on skates.
She’s a pretty cute character although I noticed looking on the illustration of her that, like the snail, the small details are missing on her. The jewels on her crown are meant to be green, she is meant to have rosy cheeks, her arms should be yellow, her mouth black, and her skates should be purple and blue with white laces.
I find this a shame as the illustration is nice but the actual toy is let down by not being detailed enough. It would be fine if only one detail wasn't the same as the illustration but that many missing is terrible. I understand why details have to be missed out but colouring the arms can't be that much harder than than painting in the crown. It makes the character look really cheap.
The bag also came with a card with an illustration of the character Bonkers, and has a code on the back for the website. I would have much preferred Bonkers over the snail and I think the snail knows it.
When I opened the next pack there was a feeling of disappointment and slight annoyance, with a pinch of ‘dammit!’
When I opened the next pack there was a feeling of disappointment and slight annoyance, with a pinch of ‘dammit!’
I got the same two, the same bloody two! I would say what are the odds but if these two are the most common then pretty likely I guess, gah!
Only now the snail is gold instead. It’s like they knew people might be annoyed if lots of packets contained the same characters and spiced it up by adding a gold one saying ‘you didn’t like the fact you kept getting the same characters? Well here it is in gold instead, are you happy yet!?’ My answer to this is no, no I am not.
I did have a small spark of hope with the gold snail and tried to find online if it was rare or valuable on the off chance it could be even slightly useful to me. I found at least one person sold theirs for £3 so not exactly valuable but I guess better than nothing. Again I would have preferred to have the character on the card but nope!
When I buy blind bags I normally only get one and leave it at that, and buying these have remind me why. You will always get the one you want the least, and you will eventually drown under all the duplicates of that design if you carry on buying that particular blind bag.
I would be hesitant about buying this series again for fear of getting more snails and skating gum. I may buy some more in the future from a different series to see if the look and quality are any different from these, and look on Ebay if there were any I particularly liked but didn’t want to spend money on the off chance I kept getting the same ones over and over.
Give them a go if you like the look of them, but like most blind bags, don’t buy unless you are prepared for having an army of duplicates and you aren't too bothered that the figures don't have the detail the illustrations do.
Only now the snail is gold instead. It’s like they knew people might be annoyed if lots of packets contained the same characters and spiced it up by adding a gold one saying ‘you didn’t like the fact you kept getting the same characters? Well here it is in gold instead, are you happy yet!?’ My answer to this is no, no I am not.
I did have a small spark of hope with the gold snail and tried to find online if it was rare or valuable on the off chance it could be even slightly useful to me. I found at least one person sold theirs for £3 so not exactly valuable but I guess better than nothing. Again I would have preferred to have the character on the card but nope!
When I buy blind bags I normally only get one and leave it at that, and buying these have remind me why. You will always get the one you want the least, and you will eventually drown under all the duplicates of that design if you carry on buying that particular blind bag.
I would be hesitant about buying this series again for fear of getting more snails and skating gum. I may buy some more in the future from a different series to see if the look and quality are any different from these, and look on Ebay if there were any I particularly liked but didn’t want to spend money on the off chance I kept getting the same ones over and over.
Give them a go if you like the look of them, but like most blind bags, don’t buy unless you are prepared for having an army of duplicates and you aren't too bothered that the figures don't have the detail the illustrations do.