Subscriptions

Board Game Bento is signing off :(

Board Game Bento Logo

Unfortunately, it’s coming to an end

After talking about Board Game Bento a few times, Alpal decided to give them a go. If you aren’t familiar with Board Game Bento, check out Alpal’s thoughts on the latest box!  But the concept is simple – for a fixed price, each month you are sent a selection of mystery board games to play.

With both of us having a rather large gaming library, we both had the same misgiving – what if we already have the games in the box?  But after hearing me recommend it to others, Alpal was intrigued and liked the idea of getting games she may not have thought to get.

And so a three-month trial was started, with two boxes down the success has been mixed.

But unfortunately, a letter has been received by Alpal that Board Game Bento is shutting down the subscription service.

This can make sense from a business point of view, but it is unfortunate in any event.  I am guessing part of the problem was getting the news of the product to its target audience.  Local gaming shops, for the most part, aren’t going to recommend essentially buying games from someone else, even if it is cheaper.  Gamers like myself with a large library (not to mention having to pay overseas shipping) are worried about spending big money on games we already have – it’s a bit of a hit and miss scenario.

Board Game Bento Plans
It's unfortunate, but Board Game Bento is closing down.

But even as Alpal was starting to get keen (we can’t wait for the current High Seas pirate themed box!), it has all come to an abrupt end.

As mentioned in the letter, the site will still be operating and past boxes are available for sale, so check out the shop and grab yourself some great deals!

But until then, to everyone at Board Game Bento and the publishers that helped support them, thank you for a great idea that bought new games to people, and we hope that everything works out for you.

Thanks again,

Alpal and JohnHQLD

Brixinit – Night in Gotham City – July 2018

Row of four minifigures

What is BRIXINIT?

BRIXINIT is a LEGO subscription box. The service provides a box of genuine LEGO parts, including minifigures, once a month via the post. The general philosophy of BRIXINIT is to encourage creative builders a chance to explore new techniques and challenges, whilst also building their parts collection.

They offer a three different levels of subscription, with the price difference roughly following the differences in number and rarity of pieces. For those who are not familiar with LEGO pricing, an average acceptable price is 10c per piece, with higher prices often garnered by larger pieces and pieces only available in limited sets.

In summary the three tiers are:
Level 1: Elements costs $25 and contains between 200 to 300 parts
Level 2: Advanced costs $52 and contains between 450 to 550 parts
Level 3: MOCBOX costs $120 and contains between 400 to 600 parts with a greater emphasis on rarity

For my first trial of the subscription service, I selected Level 2: Advanced. On to the first box!

Row of four minifigures
From left to right: Wicked Witch, Cat Costume Girl, Drax, Kiss Kiss Tuxedo Batman

Each box contains a selection of minifigures. In this box, I received four minifigures (although one was a keychain minifigure). Minifigures are generally desirable as a complete item so I decided to look up the average prices for the ones included in my box.

Wicked Witch: $2 this figure has appeared in two sets, one being a large Batmobile and the other a Dimensions Fun Pack

Drax (Jet Pack): $10 this figure was only released in one set, The Milano vs The Abilisk (76081) which originally retailed for $50

Cat Costume Girl: $3 this figure was packaged in its original blind bag packaging from the recent Collectible Minifigure Series 18

Kiss Kiss Tuxedo Batman Key Chain: $2 this was a promotional polybag included as a gift with purchase, however it was a fairly common inclusion in orders during the promotion

Box containing assorted LEGO pieces in red, oranges, black and grey
The box came with all these LEGO parts. They are all sourced from LEGO Batman themed sets.

As an interesting side note receiving the keychain minifigure prompted me to research how to remove the keychain. This was a fun side project. As you can see in the image above the keychain has been removed.

Each box also contains a “Challenge Pack” and a “Feature Piece”.

The inclusion of a written pamphlet of the history and potential uses of the feature piece is one of the main reasons I was interested in this particular subscription box. And this part lives up to my expectations. The feature piece for this month was the “Jumper” and over 20 were included in the total pieces.

The challenge pack is designed to help spark creativity and teach uses of the feature piece. The challenge pack for this month was titled “A Night In Gotham City”.  This months challenge was to build a microscale Gotham City using only elements included in the box. The pieces in the challenge pack along with the included pamphlet helped make this an achievable task.

You can see some of the skyscrapers I built for this challenge in the photos featured here.

Aside from the above special features, the BRIXINIT box includes a large collection of other assorted pieces. Mine all happened to oranges, yellows and blacks; I did confirm with BRIXINIT that this selection is variable between every box.

Below are some additional images showcasing the included pieces.

Image showing the details of the booklet, LEGO tyres and some microscale skyscrapers
The included Building Techniques booklet is very appreciated. I also received all these tyres!
A number of light bluish grey square pieces
A large packet of these identical light-bluish grey 1x2x1 bricks with studs on the side were included. Useful for building the BrickHeadz!
Some of the more unusual pieces included
Some of the more unusual pieces included this month

My final note on this first unboxing experience is in regards to BRIXINIT’s excellent customer service. I have found the team at BRIXINIT are keen to take on feedback and suggestions. As with my Board Game Bento subscription, this is initially a three month trial of BRIXINIT and I have high hopes for the next one!

Alpal