It seems buying mystery boxes off eBay or Etsy is quite popular at the moment. These vary from costing only a few dollars to much more expensive ones. Lot of the time you get crap but sometimes you get a really good box. After we watched several mystery box openings on YouTube, a friend dared me to get a mystery box off eBay. After looking through many on eBay I decided on a second hand book box thinking I would get at least one or two books that I would like to read. If not I could use them for papercraft. It cost me $AUD19 (about $US14.50 with free postage. I ended up receiving 7 books. Which of these books would you recommend? Here is a video of one mystery box opening on YouTube.
What TERRIBLE books Despite this am now super tempted to buy mystery box.. though I'd really like to sell them. I would love to assemble them.
I think I would have preferred this mystery box. At least I have read some Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Philip Jose Farmer - it is a long stretch of the imagination to label Farmer as the ‘greatest 20th century science fiction wtiter’.
Mystery box? No, I don't think so. I don't like surprises. When I buy something, I want to know what I'm buying.
I love Mary Higgins Clark. I'm not sure why, as there is never anything in her stories that I can relate to. Maybe it's just the predictability at this point. But I have a huge stash of Mary Higgins Clark and I read them solely on vacation. I can't say I'd recommend the book there, because it's not actually good. But I'd read it again if I were on a plane!
I think the only box I could possibly not be bitterly disappointed about is a box of non-fiction, especially if I could pick a topic like history or a specific country. I know there's lots of ones for skin care etc.. and collectables but I am really streamlined these days. I buy very little other than exactly what i want. However. I do like a gamble. I buy stuff on WoW that's basically gambling (not with real money) because the lure of THE BOX and its mystery contents is too great. So best I never look closely into these
I've seen loads of subscription boxes for various interests that I have but they never seem like a good deal. The surprise of it would be fun, but I'd rather spend money on things that I want. What are the boxes on WoW? I don't remember those.
Yes I've seen subscription boxes for food from varying countries that have piqued my interest but looking them over I can buy 90% of it here for far less.. though I'd imagine these are pretty cool if you don't have the international variety my city does. Maybe if I and Miss Chicken could get a foodbox from Iceland with a tin of hakarl and some interesting biscuits and sweets we would do it most of the subscription food seems to be from Japan or North America though. It is just so appealing that it comes in a box.. haha I guess it's just a big present for grown ups. Oh the boxes in WoW came in during Mists of Pandaria, you bid on them on the Black Market Auction House. They could have all manner of things including mounts no longer in the game but of course most of the time you get something you can't use or already have. But the pull is strong.. I've never gotten anything good but I have a budget for them anyway.
I will probably read the Mary Higgins Clark book as it is the one with the fewest pages. If I received a food box from Iceland I think I would leave the hakarl unopened. I think the smell of the stuff would be enough to make me vomit. Unlike scotpens I like surprises even if it is only opening up a Kinder Surprise. I loved Lucky Dips when I was a child or even when my sons were children. I like these Japanese mystery vending machines. If you don’t like what is inside as least you get the story that is around the parcel.
I would recommend The Sum of All Fears. It's highly relevant to the geo-political situation of today, and goes into depth about nuclear weapon construction. If you're into that sort of thing. The movie does it no justice. Mainly agree, however the first 2 Riverworld books are awesome! Good reading! Edit: I generally like Dan Brown, but I put this one down.
I also liked the first two Riverworld books but gave up on the series after reading the third book. My favourite Philip Jose Farmer book would be Venus on the Half-Shell. I sort of have a love-hate relationship with Farmer’s writing, I love his ideas but at times they way he writes annoys me.
I would have to try the hakarl but DO watch this very amusing video of Ramsay eating hakarl: As to mystery Japanese vending.. I was in Japan this year and had several meals at vending machine restaurants where you put pick your item, pay for it, get a ticket and hand in the ticket for your meal to be made. But there was no english and no pictures so we picked one item from each column and hoped those were all different types of things. Got mystery drinks and soups and sides and condiments and.. it was very exciting sitting there waiting for to see what arrived.
I just ordered another mystery box. This time it is an art goodies box from Etsy. The woman designs notebook, stickers, postcards etc using her own art so I think I will get some nice things this time.
What I received in my Etsy package - a notebook, 6 postcards, a little card with envelope and a couple of little tags.
I got a Marvel mystery box for my birthday recently. A Deadpool T-shirt, a Groot Keyring, a Spiderman notebook, a Thor comic and a Captain America replica shield. Hugo - Cute idea!