A week ago I got to visit the office of CultureFly, a company that creates merch for die-hard fans. I made off with their curated Wonder Woman box, and I am here to tell you of its glory.
CultureFly has a subscription box service that’s organized by fandom or dedicated interest—at the moment there’re titles like Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Pusheen the Cat, and World’s Finest (the DC Comics “mystery box”). The boxes arrive four times a year, and the company told me that they try and up the ante with every subsequent box. (I got to peek into the DC box that’s arriving after Wonder Woman, and let’s just say I tried to take it with me and was gently but firmly rebuffed.) You can buy a single box, or subscribe for a year of presents for yourself or someone you really, really love. (Do you want to be friends?)
There are two things I liked about CultureFly’s merch right off the bat. First off, the quality is high, which I have to say is pretty rare in my experience of box subscriptions and some of the other toys and clothes that we get sent here at the office. Secondly, everything is designed and sold in-house, so you can’t get it anywhere else, and it’s clearly made by nerds like us who are creating stuff that they would actually want to have and use themselves. I met their design team, and they almost have as many action figures and geeky toys on their desk as I do.
I’m only allowed to show you all two of the items from the Wonder Woman box, because the boxes’ content is meant to be kept a secret so that each box is exciting to open. (Apparently some of the CultureFly subscribers are serious about avoiding spoilers.) Behold my new office cup, which looks like it’s comprised of the coils of Diana’s lasso and is really the only way to take your coffee in the morning.
The second is this collection of retro Wonder Woman comics covers turned into postcards, which I’m thinking about using in lieu of holiday cards. Imagine receiving Wonder Woman roping a dinosaur in the mail instead of a snowman wearing a hat. There’s really no competition here.
I wish I could tell you about the other Wonder Woman things, but I am sworn to secrecy. What’s cool is that a lot of the stuff in the box is actually useful and usable. I have shelves and shelves of figurines and collectibles, and have (maybe?) promised that I won’t bring any more home for a while, but I can sneak a lot of the Wonder Woman items into rotation unnoticed.
The CultureFly folks let me have a Wonder Woman box because I told them how I feel about Diana, but my coworker snagged a Game of Thrones box and the whole office keeps asking when he’s going to open it: “Christmas!” he insists. That’s another thing that’s cool about the boxes. Opening them is an Event because you have no idea what’s inside, and there’s more than enough varied merch to turn some of the things into gifts for others.
My hope is that they’ll keep adding more and more fandoms going forward. What’s a fandom or character that you’d want to see get a box all their own? I’m currently having a love affair with Loki, but I’m also fresh from Star Wars and I’ve been thinking a lot about the Resistance all week. Once you see the movie, you might guess at some of the swag I’m dreaming about, so come back here and talk to me about space jewelry soon.
(via CultureFly, images: The Mary Sue)
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