MunchPak Mini September 2016 Unboxing.

Got back home to see my MunchPak Mini peeking out of my mailbox today.  That made me happy and was looking forward to breaking open the box.

Before I proceed to this month's unboxing, let me tell you about MunchPak's options; there is

• MunchPak Mini, which offers 5-6 snacks at 9.95$
• Original MunchPak wich offers 10+ snacks at 19.95$
• MunchPak Family Pack which offers 20+ snacks at 39.95$

Shipping was 5.00$ for me (being in Canada) but I am uncertain if  the price changes based on the box size or option selected.  I am currently subscribed to MunchPak Mini.

 First item is these Jagung Bakar Cheetos (2.00$) from Indonesia which is apparently roasted corn flavor.  I love roasted corn so I am sure these will be a hit for me.

Next item is Santé Cardamom Cashews (3.00$) which is a snack from USA that is properly described...cashews roasted in cardamom spices.  I love cashews, so this will also be enjoyed.

Next is Drobogea Eugenia Chocolate (1.00$) which, apparently is chocolate biscuits filled with chocolate cream.  Sounds delicious!

I know a little guy that would absolutely go crazy for these (loves Thomas the Train!!).  These are Lotte Thomas the Train Chewing Candy in Grape flavor (2.00$)  Grape has got to be my favorite candy flavor, so this makes me happy.

And, final product is Kabaya Jyu-C Cider Flavor (2.00$) which is a wafer type of candy in soda flavors.  I've had Jyu-C before and I foud that had a sweet tart texture.  I like these nonetheless.

When I add up the value for this box it comes out to 10.00$.  While it does meet the value for US subscribers, when I take in calculation that I pay 5.00$ extra for shipping, it seems like this box lacked a bit of value.  I decided to unsubscribe and go on the hunt for a different box...wish me luck!

September 2016 iPenbox Unboxing

 Ever since my first iPenbox unboxing, I've been looking forward to receiving my next box.  The hint was cubes of metal and I was really intrigued by what they would include in the box to match the theme.  Also, let's not forget, it is iPenbox's 1st anniversary (happy birthday!) so I knew this box was bound to be extra special...and I was not mistaking!  But before we explore the box, let me tell you about the subscription details.

 iPenbox is a monthly subscription box for pen, paper and ink lovers.  The subscription costs 30$ for US subscribers and 40$ for Canadians and International; shipping is included.  They promise 5-10 items geared to spark your intrigue on new, unusual, creative, innovative writing tools.  Every box will include a fountain pen, some paper, 1-2 ink samples, and other tools like rollerball pens, pencils, gel pens, etc. all based on a chosen monthly theme.  As hinted above, the theme for the month of September is Metal.

I will present the items in order as presented on their information card.  The paper they printed the information on is silver and of great quality.  I might end up using the other side of it for a special project.  The silver paper is a great added touch to this month's theme.

IRON & STEEL

 First item is Cross Stratford Fountain Pen, valued at 70.00$ (presently on sale for 34.99$ on ipenstore website).  This came with a black cartridge which I, obviously, inserted as soon as I opened the package.  There will be a writing sample at the end of this review to demonstrate how it writes.

We can see here that the nib is of medium size and that this pen has chrome trims which definitely makes it look quite rich.  The pen also has a nice weight and feel in hand.

 GOLD, SILVER & COPPER

 

First item in this category is a Word Notebook with Blue Mountains on the cover, these retail at 9.99$ for a pack of 3 ( 3.33$ for one).  This notebook is 3.5" X 5.5" and has about 48 lined sheets of paper.  

I really like that each line includes a bullet to encourage point form note taking.  I can see myself using this for meetings at work.  iPenbox mentions that this notebook was selected from this month because mountains often are associated with metal (nice logic!).

 Next item is Caran d'Ache Colorblock Metallic Pencil in Gold.  This retails at 3.65$ (presently on sale for 2,97$).  This pencil is extra large and has an hexagonal shape for easy holding.  It also has a bit of a shimmer when reflected in light.  A writing sample for this pencil will be provided at the end of the review.

And we also received a Rose Gold Skeleton Binder Clip.  I unfortunately can't find it on the ipenstore website.  I did, however, find it on Cloth & Paper and one single paperclip sells for 2.85$.  I really like this clip and I think I will use it as a bookmark for my agenda. 

NICKEL

 First item in this category is Caran d'Ache Magnetic Blue ink.  This retails at 41.50$ for 50 ml (presently on sale for 36.97$).  My 2.5ml sample is worth 2.08$.  I personally have been wanting a blue/black ink because it looks very professional while also distinguishing photocopies from originals (this is essential in my field of work).  And, guess what?  I will be showing you a writing sample of this ink at the end of this review since I ended up getting myself a J. Herbin Hand Blown Glass Dip-Pen with my 10% discount last month.

Final item on the card is Zebra Super Marble Pen which is, unfortunately, not on ipenstore website.  I did, however, find them on Zebra Pen's website and these retail at 1.99$ each.  This gel pen basically changes colors as it flows from pink to blue, to yellow.  A writing simple of this pen is featured at the end of the review.

This microfiber screen cleaning cloth was included but not noted on the card.  I'm uncertain of details for this cloth so I can't really give you a retail value but you can never go wrong with these.  I've used these for a variety of things.

And I received two soft mints (they were yummy!) and a postcard for Copper Harbor (nice play on words for a Metal Themed box).  This postcard is stunning; I want to go there!

And finally, here is my writing samples for these above mentioned products:
The Cross Stratford Fountain Pen writes very smoothly (even more than my previous Lamy ABC fountain pen) and I think I have found myself a new favorite with this one.
The Caran d'Ache Colorblock Gold Pencil  writes very well.  I know this is going to sound strange but I feel like the led in this is very creamy when put to paper so it makes color transfer less difficult (not sure if that made sense?)
The Caran d'Ache Magnetic Blue ink is quite lovely and exactly what I was looking for in a blue-black ink and very little feathering.
 And, lastly, the Zebra Super Marble Pen also flows easily but unfortunately, I wasn't able to show you the changing colors with this writing sample since it seems there's mostly pink ink at the bottom of the tube at the moment. 

This concludes this month's iPenbox.  Total value for this month (without counting the screen cloth, mints and postcard) is of 83.09$ which is more than double what I paid for this box.  That is fantastic!  Here is a clue as the next month's box's theme:

Hackerbox #0010 review

Hackerbox #0010 review

Hello again,

I have been putting off writing this review, I have been having so much fun with last month’s Hackerbox that I have been waiting to get finished with that before opeing this one. Time is not slowing down any time soon, so I guess this is as good a time as any to get this complete.

The first thing I noticed is that the shipping box is much smaller this month. Let’s open it up to see what we got.

It was nicely packed when it arrived, but I have been re-packing it a few times.

Things

Hackerboxes ref card, this one has pin for HD44780

A good ref card for the Orange Pi Lite GPIO interface. As you can see, each pin has a different set of capabilities. Of course, you could just Google the info, but these cards are a handy physical component for your physical computing device.

The first item is the Orange Pi Lite. This comes with a safety information, static bag, and packaging from Shenzhen China.

I have a few other Raspberry Pi boards, none have built in WiFi. This is very compact for the capabilities on board. 2 vertical USB ports, Micro USB-B, HDMI, Micro SD storage, and GPIO pins. Power is supplied by a barrel plug connector.

Here is a picture of the back of the board, and some links for the Orange Pi Lite.
Homepage
http://orangepi.com/orange-pi-lite

AliExpress price with shipping and power cable $23.71 Cad
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orange-Pi-Lite-SET-1-Orange-Pi-Lite-USB-to-DC-4-0MM-1-7MM-Power/32662449579.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.263.mcQ01e

I liked the packaging for this one. The plastic clamshell slides out, so I don’t have to destroy the packaging to open the gift.

A bag of bits, including some resistors, a pin header, and a good 16GB micro SD card for the Orange Pi.

HD44780 is a 2x16 character back lit display. These modules are always handy.

Decent quality Super Nintendo clone controller, with USB connector. Buttons have some wiggle, but the plastic is a good quality, and no L+R shoulder buttons. Nice to see a familiar face though. 

Keypad was perfect when I got it, but after re-packing the box a few times, it easily became damaged. It still works fine, but there is an indentation in the “5” and the ribbon. This is a very cheap part, easy to replace at C$0.77

Cables

Here is the ribbon cable that works with the GPIO pins on the Orange Pi Lite and the GPIO expansion board. The colors are nice to help differentiate the individual conductors, in case you want to tap into one without disconnecting the other side.

This GPIO Expansion board, also known as a Pi Cobbler is perfect for adding an extension cable from the Raspberry Pi to a breadboard for rapid experimentation.

The back side of the GPIO expansion shows a bent pin. To bend back, put a credit card between the bent pin and the straight pin, on the bent side. Push the card against the pin until it is straight.

A 30 row bread board. This should be plenty of room for a few devices to connect to the GPIO.

Standard HDMI cable. The Dollaramas around where I am all seem to have lots of these short HDMI cables.

These are decent jumper cables. There is a good plastic tip to grab onto and push into the breadboard socket. Lots of short ones, and a few long ones, some medium length, all different colors.

I am glad they included one of these for the Orange Pi, because sometimes finding a match for that plug can be difficult. Power up your board using a backup battery phone charger or any other USB power device.

Conclusion

I really like what this box gives, the theme is great. If this helps someone learn programming, it is worth much more than the physical value. However, the price drop on the Orange Pi Lite, the value is a little low for this month’s box.

I rate this box 3.5/5 SNES clone controllers

Julep September 2016 Unboxing

Someone is turning 5 this year and decided to celebrate their anniversary with a bang!  I have to be honest, I was quite surprised to receive my box on the 1st of the month; that's the first time this ever happened, so it was quite appreciated.  Happy Birthday, Julep!

Julep is a monthly nail polish and beauty product subscription at a reasonable price of 24.99$/month.  If you sign up on the 3-month plan (pay for three months all at once), it costs 19.99$/month. Subscribers get to pick their choice of beauty product and nail polish on the 20th of every month and get billed on the 27th.  They are also free to skip a month if needed.  You have the opportunity to add items in your box as well and if you add three, you get a bonus gift.  Also, you ave the opportunity to upgrade the box to get a bigger part of the collection, or the whole collection for a little bit extra.

 This month, I decided to not do add-ons (I know, that's shocking!).  I do have to limit myself or I end up getting duplicates.  But, since it's Julep's anniversary, we got to have four items in our box.  So, here are my picks:

I was in need of a new buffer block so when Julep offered these as an option, I grabbed them.  I'm surprised at how small these are though (1" X 1.5") but I'm sure they'll do exactly what I want them to do: file, buff and shape my nails while smoothing out the ridges on my nails.  These retail at 4$ on Julep's website.

I've been eyeing this Cleanup Tool for a long time.  This is another item that is smaller than I imagined, but that's OK; it will work just fine.  This tool is to clean up under the nails and removing polish from the cuticles. Retails at 14$ on Julep website.

And lastly, I have my nail polishes.  This month, the selection included a lot of chrome polishes.  I've stated before that I'm not a big fan of chrome polish because you can see the brush strokes after application.  My only exception in duochrome or multichrome polishes.  So, this month, I settles for the two polishes that weren't chrome.

Peggy (pictured on the right) is a charcoal with rose shimmer.  This color is stunning; you definitely pick up on the rose shimmer and the charcoal looks a tad bluish but absolutely gorgeous!

Shirley (pictured on the right) is a charred sage microshimmer.  Another gorgeous color; a beautiful shimmery olive green.  I can't find this on the Julep website, unfortunately, so I can't link it...

Both polishes are 14$ each.

That concludes this month's box; total value of this box was 46$, more than double what I paid for it.  I'm a happy camper.

LootWear August 2016

 I'm always happy to receive new packages in the mail when I get back home from work, especially when I don't expect them (is it me or has this month gone by way too fast?).  I realize it is the end of the month and LootWear is actually on time.  I knew what I was getting from early on this month... I guess to make up for the lack of spoilers last month? I appreciate the quote on the envelope from Harley Quinn; it's a nice added touch. 

LootWear is a subscription that sends you some geeky apparel to you on a monthly basis.  I'll cover the different options for this subscription:

First, there's Loot Socks at 9.99$ (shipping included) where you get two pairs of geeky, comfy stylish socks every month.
Then, there's Loot Tees at 8.99$ (shipping included) which earns you a geeky t-shirt every month.

There's Loot for Her at 14.99 (shipping included) where you can get anything like scarves, jewelry, tote bags, leggins, etc.

And last but not least, there's Loot Wearables at 14.99$ (shipping included) which can include anything from hoodies, lounge pants, polos and long sleeve shirts.

You can also decide to bundle up some of these options for a better price : Loot Wearables + Loot Socks (20.99$),  or Loot for Her+ Loot Tees (19.99$).

I am subscribed to the Loot Wearables + Loot Socks Bundle.  This month's theme was Anti-Hero.  Loot Tee guaranteed a World of Warcraft t-shirt and Loot for Her, in its turn guaranteed Harley Quinn merchandise.  Now onto what I received.

 Suicide Squad socks were promised and here we have an awesome pair of Harley Quinn socks.  In case you missed it, the edges and tips of one sock are red and while they are blue on the other sock.

We were also promised a pair of Punisher socks, and this definitely meets my expectation.  I'm a big Marvel fan and Punisher is no exception.  I'll be wearing these tomorrow!

And last item is my LootWearables Archer baseball tee.  I've already mentioned in a previous LootWear review that I'm not a huge fan of baseball tees.  I'll wear this but it's not really my style.  Also, not a big fan of Archer.  I really tried but I just simply could not get into it.  That said, I'll still keep this shirt since I do like the colors on this...

Here's a sneak peak at what we can expect next month: