Today's Find of the Day is a little different because it's actually a subscription box. Specifically, it's a Disney Park Pack - Pin Trading Edition - Monthly Subscription.
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| Image from Disney Store website: https://www.disneystore.com/pins-collectibles-disney-park-pack-pin-trading-edition-monthly-subscriptions/mp/1384761/1000211/#longDescription |
Each box comes with three Disney Pins. One of them is a "limited edition" pin that is only supposed to be available in the subscription box and the other two are "open edition" pins that will be available in the parks after it is released in the box.
What it Costs: These boxes are $39.95 per month. The subscription will auto-renew each month, charge you $39.95, and send you a new box.
Who it's For: People who collect Disney Pins, People who like getting Disney surprises in the mail, People interested in finding some unusual Disney Pins.
Why it's a Find of the Day: Ok, right up front I want to say that I really waffled about whether this was more of a "Find of the Day" or a "Not Sure About This One". I'll discuss my thoughts about this item further down, but I try not to just feature things that are interesting to me. I try to feature things that are unusual, hard to find, unique, or otherwise worthy of note. This definitely meets more than one of those criteria so, I wanted to go ahead an featur it.
First: monthly subscription products have been around for a long time for things like the "jam of the month club", etc. but, of late, they've gained a lot more popularity as a way to receive products from your favorite fandom. Although a lot number of other companies have started services with Disney subscription boxes, Disney has been a bit slow to produce its own. There have been a few very limited release subscription boxes, but, not a lot more than that. Currently, the Disney Store has three types of subscription boxes available: this Park Pins one, a Tsum Tsum one that has been sold out for some time now, and Holiday Ornament Park Pack. The fact that there are so few of these subscription boxes available makes this a pretty unique find.
Second: This is a Find of the Day because the "limited edition" pins that are included in this box are not available anywhere else. Depending on what kind of pin collector you are, this could have huge appeal, so I wanted to report on it.
My Thoughts: Disney Pin Trading and collecting is very individual-specific. Some people collect pins they like, some people do all Princesses, others collect only Parks Pins (like the ones in these boxes), or only pins from their favorite movies. The options are endless. Personally, if I let myself collect all the Disney pins I liked, my house would be overflowing with them, so I stick with just the cheshire cat... for the most part.
All of this comes to a very important point about these boxes: they are a surprise. You don't get to choose what you will receive. You just get whatever they send you. So, whether you will like these boxes has a lot to do with what kind of collector you are. I read a lot of the reviews for this product and, across the board, it seemed like people who were collecting these for the fun of being surprised or because they live far from the parks and like getting parks items.
The people who wrote really unhappy reviews, for the most part, were people who didn't like the actual pins they received. In a lot of cases, it was the specific characters on the pins it seemed like people had a problem with. I think if you're thinking about this subscription, you really want to think about what kind of collector you are and whether you'll be disappointed if the pins are not exactly what you would usually purchase.
Personally, I like the idea of being surprised with Parks Pins every month, but the price is a bit much for me. The $39.95 every month includes three pins and shipping. Whether this is a good deal or not kind of depends on what kind of pins you get. In general, Disney Pins run from about $8.99 to $14.95, depending on whether they have moving parts, are limited release, etc. Given that two of the pins are open release, they would probably be either $8.99 or $12.99 if you found them in the parks. The limited release one would likely be in the $12.99-$14.95 range. Depending on the combo, retail price for these pins could be anywhere from around $30 to $40. On the higher range, these boxes might be a good deal, but on the lower end, it's not that great. I guess the fact that shipping is included helps, but, I'm still not totally convinced of the value on this one.
Finally, and this is really probably just me, but I don't like that they call is a subscription when you pay for each, individual box. I know it's more a matter of semantics than anything but, when I think of a a subscription service, I usually think of paying one rate for a product that is delivered every month that is lower than what I would have paid if I had bought the individual items. In this case, since you pay for each box, the only thing that really makes it a subscription is the auto-renew feature that keeps charging your card every month until you cancel. To me, having you pay every month rather than just a flat fee at the beginning takes some of the fun out of it and it definitely makes it less fun to give as a gift.
In short, this is an interesting and unique thing and the vast majority of people who reviewed it seemed to really like it. It's a Find of the Day because it's unusual and something that readers may not know about and may really enjoy. That being said, I'm obviously pretty on the fence about both the value and the format of this product.
That's all for today's Find of the Day. What do you think? Do you love these boxes? Do you think they're a great value? Are you on the fence? Do you wish they'd box something else? Let me know in the comments!
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