We have to admit that we were a little skeptical about this April 2015 NerdBlock. Our previous review of the March 2015 NerdBlock Classic wasn’t exactly overflowing with praise. We decided to take a chance and unboxed another to see if it could surpass our expectations.

Opening The Box

Well, after we opened the box we were pleasantly surprised! Here is the overview (click on the thumbnails for larger images). As you can see, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in this ‘Growing Up 80’s’ NerdBlock.

Back to the Future T-shirt

One of the brights spots of this block was the addition of the ‘Back to the Future’ inspired ’88 Miles Per Hour’ shirt. It meets all the requirements for a cool nerd shirt: black, references a cool movie, colorful design which will attract attention and garner envy.

Nerd Play Trading Cards

However, something didn’t really fit thematically into the box. I also have a bit of a problem with it. This would be the inclusion of the Nerd Play Trading Cards.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate cosplayers as well as hot women. I can appreciate hot women cosplayers. But to be included in a NerdBlock which is supposed to be geared towards the ‘Growing Up 80’s’ theme seems a bit out of place and far fetched.

Now, here’s the worst part – After we captured the video of our review I opened the deck of trading cards. Yep. All women. And then I went to the website on NerdBlock, https://www.nerdblock.com/nerdplay. I was pretty dismayed. I never thought in my life that I would be offended that all of the cosplayers in this trading card series are women. To me it screamed of sexism.

Seriously, I appreciate women cosplayers and what they go through and put up with when they go to cons. But isn’t this kind of dismissing the fact that there are great male cosplayers? Will they be featured in future series of this trading card? Or is this merely some ploy to promote women cosplayers and get their names out there while they look sexy? I’m pretty disappointed with this :/

Kevin Smith’s ‘Tough Sh*t’

Hey! Look! A book! But what does it have to do with growing up in the 80’s? I’m not sure. According to the book description

Tough Sh*t is the dirty business that Kevin has been digesting for 41 years and now, he’s ready to put it in your hands. Smear this shit all over yourself, because this is your blueprint (or brownprint) for success. Kev takes you through some big moments in his life to help you live your days in as Gretzky a fashion as you can: going where the puck is gonna be. Read all about how a zero like Smith managed to make ten movies with no discernible talent, and how when he had everything he thought he’d ever want, he decided to blow up his own career. Along the way, Kev shares stories about folks who inspired him (like George Carlin), folks who befuddled him (like Bruce Willis), and folks who let him jerk off onto their legs (like his beloved wife, Jen).

Ok. You know what, I’m going to read this thing on the train while I head into as well as head home from work. I’m not sure how I’ll like it. I still haven’t read the Simon Pegg book from last month as I was quite put off by it’s inclusion. Who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy both books.

Heat Sensitive Pac-Man Mug

Ok, this was pretty snazzy and excited me. I’ve got a few heat sensitive mugs that make me laugh and getting a Pac-Man mug was kind of a special treat for me. Andrew and I were going to have to get into a pathetic nerd slap fight over it. In order to show you have neat this mug is we’ve prepared a little demonstration:

Oh, Mikey likey! Especially since this mug normally retails from between $9-$11.

Ghostbusters Ecto-1 4.5″ Titans Vinyl Figure

Finally, we get to the Titans Vinyl Figures NerdBlock exclusive. The Ecto-1 is a 4.5″ replica designed by Matt JOnes (http://www.lunartik.com). It is a very nice piece of work

As you can see by the packaging there are probably other figures which can be collected, such as Venkman, Slimer or Stanz. Titan Merchandising announced their license of Ghostbusters in October so it is nice to see that this piece has been included in the block. The other neat thing about this collectible? It seems like the price is going up on ebay. One is currently available for about $18. Holy moly.

Final thoughts

Brian was out having a life while Andrew and I sat and reviewed the NerdBlock Classic for April 2015. Now, we’re not going to say we had a better time than he did but we did get a pleasant surprise from this box. After what we felt was a fiasco with the Simon Pegg March 2015 box, this ‘Growing Up 80’s’ was exactly the type of subscription box we were looking for. It made us want to see what the next month’s box would be.

Is this worth the money? Last month we would have pinched our noses as if we smelled some stinky cheese and said, “Eeeeew! No!”. This month, though? It made us waver. With the exception of the Nerd Play Trading Cards the box seemed pretty well put together. I’ll save judgement on the Kevin Smith book for now, though.

Third time is the charm. I’ll try one more NerdBlock Classic before passing final judgement on whether or not this is a worthwhile subscription box service for yourself or as a gift to friends. If NerdBlock can wow me like they did with this box then I would more than happily endorse this to anyone looking for a treat.

April 2015 NerdBlock Classic, we give you two thumbs up out of three. We would have given you three but, like we said, Brian was out enjoying nature and the outside world. Will give him an absentee thumbs up for you, though. This box was a hit!