Wil Wheaton Quarterly Subscription Box Review #WIL02
Wil Wheaton is one of Quarterly’s latest curators – this is his second box. Here is a brief summary from Wil of what you can expect from this subscription:
Starting with my childhood and working towards present day, each box will represent a decade of memories, moments, and the objects that defined them.
Wil’s second box is dedicated to the 1980’s, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what’s inside!
This box was sent to us early for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Wil Wheaton Quarterly Box
The Cost: $100 (plus $8 shipping)
The Products: “Starting with my childhood and working towards present day, each box will represent a decade of memories, moments, and the objects that defined them.”
Ships to: US and Worldwide (Additional shipping costs for International subscribers).
Each Quarterly box comes with a letter from the curator detailing the items included and why they were selected.
Autographed Edward Packard’s Return to the Cave of Time – Value $6 (not factoring in autograph)
Packard was the first to write a ‘Choose your own adventure’ book. His first, The Cave of Time was published in 1979. This is the 2012 follow up – Return to the Cave of Time. A lot of great reviews on Amazon. I’ve never read anything in this genre, but I do love how a 2012 book has the smell and feel of a book from the 80’s!
NES Double Dribble Cartridge – Value $2
I believe everyone got random cartridges. I received Double Dribble – what did everyone else get? I have fond memories of going to my best friend’s house to play Mario and Ninja Turtles on his NES. While I never got an NES of my own – not for lack of effort on my, or my siblings’, part – I do have a ton of NES memories. I would later, finally, get a SEGA and have been a gamer since.
Nothing speaks to original 1980’s authenticity like still having someone’s ownership sticker on the back! Love it!
Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Starter Set – Value $35
I never got into playing Dungeons and Dragons – but this is an awesome inclusion to the box – it really feels like holidays in the 1980s. This is a timely reference for me too, since Liz and I watched the Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community!
Sock Panda socks – Value $12 (based on 1 month, 1 pair/month subscription)
It can’t be the holidays without receiving socks! Sock Panda is a monthly sock subscription. Every month, they send you 1-2 pairs (you specify) of patterned, graphic, or colorful socks. This is a nice quality sock, but I won’t use them until cold weather rolls back around.
retro-bit RetroDuo Video Game system – Value $38
Maybe I didn’t get an NES in the past – but I got one now! I still have a classic SEGA system and a ton of games, so I’m really glad to get something to play some NES and SNES titles on – also, you can buy a Genesis cartridge adapter to play SEGA games on this machine too – what a wonder machine. I’ve always been curious about these new systems for retro gaming. I’ve read reviews about other systems, and it seems to be hit or miss, but this one gets pretty favorable reviews on Amazon. One thing to note on this system (like many of these retro systems) is that it only has RCA and S video out. So, if you’re looking to enjoy it on an HDTV with only HDMI inputs – you may need to purchase something like this to plug into HDMI. Has anyone tried cables like these for retro systems? I think i’ll have to experiment to make it work!
Radio Free Burrito Poster
This is the second installment of the podcast poster series. Each Wil Wheaton box will have a new poster.
VERDICT: I love this box from Wil Wheaton! I even had a blast reviewing it, it really brought me back. The value is about dead on with the cost of the box, but, like with most Quarterly subscriptions, you’re subscribing more for the curation from your favorite curators. This sticks the the 1980’s theme in the best ways possible – you can’t not love getting and NES system and game. It kind of felt like I was a character in Ready Player One, gathering information in search of Halliday’s Egg!
What do you think of #WIL02?
Written by Eric Cadman
I found the owner of the NES game!!! Crazy small world.
I really debated getting this box – I am a huge Wil Wheaton fan and watching his video of his opening his 70’s box made me nostalgic even though I was born in the 80’s. I just couldn’t justify the $100.00 x 4 throughout the year – it is a gamble and although I love Wil, I may not agree with him over everything. Now I would love those socks if anyone is looking to swap!
We got the NES game Operation Wolf. 🙂
We couldn’t get our Retroduo to work. When we plugged it in, we just got a blank screen. We still have our old NES systems, so we tried one of our other games (incase it was the cartridge), but still the blank screen. :/ Has anyone else had any trouble?
Nice box, I love Will Wheaton. Wondering if the next box will be the 90s or not…I’d be SOOO thrilled to see some Magic the Gathering booster packs or 20 sided dice, etc from that time.
OH MY GOD I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BOX. Ugh, wish I would have subscribed for it! I never spend $100 on boxes though. Too much of a gamble. Would have been worth it for this one though! I have the “new” Sega Genesis that came out a couple years ago and love it! It comes with like 80 games pre-loaded, but it also takes cartridges. I would have loved to have an NES/SNES system like this one!
It’s awesome u got a retro video game system. I got one similar for my son and he loves it ! He plays Street fighter and old school Mario. The games are do expensive though ! I wanted to get him a ninja turtles game I played as a kid but it was ,$60!
Look for used games at second hand stores and game shops. And ebay. 😉
Are… are those socks based on Wesley Crusher’s uniform? xD
That’s EXACTLY what I thought!! I can’t believe nobody else seems to have noticed that. Why else would socks be in this box?? 😀
Yep! He says in the letter that the socks were created for the box and based on a certain ensign’s uniform. 🙂
This is an interesting box, I like it! Thank you for this review.
I think this is a great box! I can see this being a big hit with a lot of people – happily, we already have all of the key items included; original NES still works and is loved in our house 🙂 However, I am glad we didn’t get it because Quarterly emailed in May to say the Dragon Age RPG would be included in this box and seeing that it wasn’t bums me out for those who were looking forward to it and makes me happy I didn’t spend money to receive the main item my husband was excited about. The first box was a bit meh, this box is great so I am hopeful the next installment will be awesome 🙂
Yes, thank you! I knew I had seen a spoiler about Dragon Age somewhere. I thought it was for this box, but wasn’t sure. When it wasn’t in the box, I thought maybe I had been mistaken and it was for something else. Thanks for confirming I’m not crazy! haha 🙂
Haha 🙂 Happy to help!! I was shocked when it wasn’t in the box. Thankfully my husband *never* deletes anything so I pulled up the email that said specifically it would be in the box. Great box, but definite bummer. Looks like it may be out of print/stock so maybe that is what caused the change?
I would love to purchase this box if someone is selling. Totally kicking myself for canceling this one.! Jmmulhern at gmail.com. I will also be checking the swap boards and will be generous. My son loves everything gaming and 80’s. He would love this!
You got Double Dribble! I love that game. I got a game called ‘Time Lord’
We had two NESs in my house because my mom got tired of us fighting over who got to play (and there were still fights, even then, because there were four of us…). I ended up with most of the games (and I still have them, along with an NES, although not the original style of console).
Wil Wheaton is a few years older than I am, although clearly there were some influences in our childhoods that overlapped. I’m getting nostalgic, reading reviews of his boxes.
The starter kit is $12 on Amazon.