January 2018 J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World by LootCrate subscription box review

Trouble, Harry Potter's got trouble,

Right here in Lootcrate City!

With a capital "T"

That rhymes with "P"

And that stands for . . .

Yeah . . .

This is the January, 2018, J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World by LootCrate, which is a month late due to an item that got delayed at the factory, or so forth.  The November box was a month late as well.

 This box features 5-7 exclusive and officially licensed items.

I underlined that last bit on purpose, because they state it on the website. 

Price for this box, plus shipping, is $44.99, a price increase of $2.  The price increase, which was added to the March box (which will hopefully ship in March), was added for shipping.  What's interesting is how small the January box is.  I put it next to the November box, which is ironically smaller than its previous months.

The info card shows the size of the box.

Along with being late this box only came with 4 items, instead of the advertised 5-7.

Everywhere I've been reading on the net people are not happy.

I'll detail my thoughts after going through the items.

 (Box Theme)

 Hogwarts House Tie

 This is a nice tie.  It's 100% polyester.  I'd value it about $15-20, from what I was seeing online.  Hot Topic has a 100% polyester skinny tie for $12.90.  The Universal Studios Harry Potter online shop has silk ties for $31.95.  I like the lion, makes it more unique, but as my Dad pointed out it's a little off center.  But it is still a nice tie as I don't have one. 

 Black Family Tree Tapestry Shawl/Scarf

This is a nice long scarf. Really nice unique item that I'd value between $20-$25.  I love genealogy, and it's fun to see Sirius Black's complete family tree.  The scarf looks nice rolled up.  All the faces blacked out our family members who have been disowned, aka turned good.  Love the medieval tree feel.

 Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem Pin

This pin is really nice, my favorite pin thus far.  Love the little stone and jewel details.  Value $10-13.

The Wand Collection Book

This is a smaller paperback version of the book that came out last November.  I looked through one around Christmas at a Barnes and Nobles.  The Hardback is so much nicer.  I can see some people not happy with this item simply because they may already own the nicer version.  The pictures are very nice, and I've always found the different wands in the Harry Potter universe to be interesting.  What would have been nice, and this is a critique of the book overall, is if full descriptions of each wand was included: Length, wood type, and core material.  That would have been so nice. Value $13-18.

So the box . . .

I do like the quality of a few items.  Like the tie, scarf, and pin.  The book is nice to have, and I'm glad I didn't already have one.  But there are only 4 items when a minimum 5 was promised, late a month, with a price increase.  If this box is going to continue Lootcrate needs to get it together.  Find a way to get on track with the shipping, and be more transparent with their costumers.  I'm getting this box through May, as May is my B-day month.  May cancel after that.  The next box has already been charged, so I'm getting that regardless.  Guess we'll see how March goes.

Overall personal value for box is low end $58. 

(This blog post wins an award for the overuse of the word "nice".  Oops.)

Midnight Winter Wonderland, and My Mom Runs Out of Gas, sort of . . .

Have you guys been watching the Olympics?

I've been following Ice Skating.  It's the only sport I legitimately keep up with, on and off Olympic years.  Grand cup series through US Nationals, Four Continents, Worlds, etc.  And just so you know Ice Skating is a real sport, because they dance on knifes, on ice, while throwing themselves in the air and spinning with multiple G forces.  (And ice skating for real scares me.  Ever since I toe picked and flew forward back in 2013, getting hurt really bad--my wrist and arm still hurts at times even now--I haven't skated.  Fell off the horse, never got back on, and I'm okay with that.  I appreciate seasoned Ice Skaters all the more because of my injury.)

Anywho, I was up pretty late Sunday night watching Ice Skating, without realizing how much is was snowing.  I looked out the window just before midnight and was greeted with this most incredible snowy scene.  Sky lit up from light reflecting off snow, bright and wondrous.  This whole season has been pretty dry.

(This year I finally got complete darkening window curtains.  Moved to Utah in 2001, what took me so long??!!  Blackening window curtains are a must on snowy nights.)

Just a couple weeks ago we had above normal temperatures around 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was wonderful!  Now it's freezing and I've got a bad case of Spring Fever, which has caused me to Spring clean.

In other news, yesterday my Mom and I had a day mixed with exasperation, frustration, and slight amusement.  I ran into the grocery store while my Mom stayed in the car listening to music.  When I came out the car wouldn't start.  Several attempts, no success.  The gas warning turned on right when we got to the store so we thought we would be fine.

Thankfully the parking lot had a lube doc and a gas station.  We walked over to the car place and asked if we could barrow a gas can, they had one, and then walked to the other end to get the gas.  My Mom was exasperated because she had never ran out of gas.  I laughed the whole time because the whole situation was quite amusing.  We were lucky that there was a gas station and a lube doc within close walking distance.  It was so cold while we were walking.  26 degrees F.

So we get back to the car, put the gas in, tried the ignition again, and nothing.  Didn't work!  A call to AAA, 1 1/2 hours of waiting (in which I got to peruse a Seagull bookstore while my Mom waited in the car), and the tow guy arrived to check the car.  It was the battery!  The funny thing is, after he charged the battery for over 5 minutes, the battery showed 100% with each test.  He said it was weird and didn't understand why the car had problems in the first place since the battery was testing so well.  Ah well.  C'est la vie. 

Lessons I learned: 1, check the tempurature before leaving the house, as I only brought a sweater, and 2, don't forget gloves!  Other than that "ride with the flow," as life likes to throw random bumps at us now and then.

(BTW, I'm listening to Spotify, the Japan Top 50 list.  At #1 is this song called Changed by One OK Rock.  Never heard this song before, but it's really catchy.  Listened to it on loop while writing this post.)

And I just realized that the sport I follow is technically called Figure Skating, not Ice Skating, because that what all the guides say.  I don't care enough to go back and fix it. Heh.