Fangirl Monthly – November 2016 Review + Spoilers + Theme!

It’s Fangirl Monthly’s second ever subscription box, and the theme for this month is Pokemon!  They’ve also released the third and final spoiler for their limited edition Studio Ghibli box, and have revealed the theme for December’s box!

Fangirl Monthly is a new subscription service that provides jewelry and accessories curated around a different anime or manga each month.  Every box contains 3-5 pieces that can be anything from jewelry to keychains to pins.  Starting in December, they will also be including at least one handmade item from a small business!

plus $3.99 shipping within the U.S., $10.99 to Canada, and $13.99 internationally.

You can also purchase 3 and 6 month prepaid subscriptions for a slight discount.

Every box includes an info card designed around that month’s theme.  It lists every product in the box, and provides brief blurbs about some of them.  I do wish there was more information about the actual products, though.

In addition to the information card, there is also a postcard every month featuring original artwork.  This month’s minimalist design may look familiar: it’s the same artist as last month’s Sailor Moon box!  I like Mayu Matsumoto’s style, and this is a cute image of Ash with the starter Pokemon.  The postcard comes safely protected in a plastic sleeve, and it’s printed on high quality cardstock.

Each month’s items are stored in a customized drawstring bag.  In a nod to the theme for this box, Fangirl Monthly has printed a little Pokeball on the front!

Pikachu Tail Necklace

How cute!  This gold-plated titanium steel necklace is based off of Pikachu’s lightning bolt-shaped tail.  I love pieces that are a subtle nod to your fandom: they feel very wearable without being too obvious or childish. The information card says that it was custom designed for Fangirl Monthly, but I found a lot of similar designs from a quick Google search.  All of the designs I found had a pretty high price (the cheapest I could find was still $20), and this piece certainly feels high quality, so I’m happy with that!

Here’s a comparison of the included chain with the postcard.  It’s quite a long necklace!

Eevee Pendant Bracelet

This bracelet has an image of a cute little Eevee with a Pokeball superimposed over it.  It has a nice burnished metal finish to it, and can be adjusted in size using the chain.  Eevee is another super recognizable Pokemon, so I think it’s a great choice for Fangirl Monthly to include!  These kinds of bubble-image bracelets (is there an official name for this style?) aren’t really my thing, but it’s simple enough that I could pair it with other bracelets for a cute arm party.

Pokeball Earrings

Oh man, if only I had gotten these a few days ago!  I was a Team Rocket Grunt for Halloween this year, and these earrings would have been perfect.  Another iconic symbol of Pokemon, these earrings are for pierced ears (although, as with last month, I do have to say that there was no information for the type of metal, so if you are sensitive or have metal allergies I would be cautious).  They’re cute and they fit the theme well.  My one and only nitpicky gripe is that there should be a second circle within the white dot, but honestly that’s just me being annoyingly nerdy.

Charizard Acrylic Brooch

Charmander’s third and final evolution is the fire-type dragon Charizard, one of the strongest Pokemon of the original 150 (and a total jerk to Ash in the anime, lol).  The info card says that this is a brooch, but it has a typical pin backing and could probably be used as such.  Unfortunately, the info card also says “remove protective film before use,” and I did not see that before photographing these pictures, so the color looks a little washed out.  It’s more vibrant in person, I swear!  The acrylic material is hard and shiny, and would look great on a backpack (or wherever else you put pins).

Pikachu Charm Strap

Pikachu appears in one of six costumes for this cell phone strap: subscribers could have received Charizard, Ekans, Eevee, Gengar, Snorlax, or Zubat.  I got Pikachu dressed up as Zubat, which, to be honest, was one of my least favorites (but at least I didn’t get Ekans – I hate snakes!).  But all of these options are pretty darn cute so I really can’t complain.  He seems so happy to be in costume, and he looks really snug all bundled up! :3 The charm is made out of a rubbery, flexible plastic and comes with a typical cell phone strap attachment, although you could also use this as a keychain or zipper pull.

 

Overall, I thought this month’s box was really on-point with the theme.  All of the items were very obviously related to Pokemon in some way (no stretches here!), and they seemed to be of higher quality than the previous month’s products as well.  Because these pieces are unlicensed, it can be difficult to find accurate values for them, so it really comes down to personal preference if these items are worth the cost to you.  Once again I think Fangirl Monthly did well with the curation, and it seems like they are really listening to comments and reviews and making improvements as they go!

 

Fangirl Monthly is also releasing a limited edition Studio Ghibli box that is not part of their monthly subscription.  They’ve been releasing a lot of spoilers for that box, which you can see here.  The third and final spoiler is…

A 2 oz. candle created in an exclusive collaboration with The Leaky Candle company!  I was really excited to see this, as I love The Leaky Candle and have followed their Etsy shop for a while now.  They make candles inspired by a variety of fandoms, and now they’re making FOUR different scents inspired by Studio Ghibli!  Each box will contain ONE of the possible variations, and the Studio Ghibli candles are ONLY available in this box (not at their Etsy shop!).

 

Whew!  As if that wasn’t enough Fangirl Monthly news, they have also released the theme for their December box!  They’re really on top of things with the news and spoilers – if you’d like to hear from them in real time you can follow their Instagram account, where they release their updates.  The theme for December is…

Cardcaptor Sakura!  Wow, throwback.  I was a little too young when this came out and hadn’t yet gotten into anime, but I’ve always loved the artwork and I’ve heard amazing things about the show.  Maybe I’ll check it out before the box is released!

 

 

Purchased.  All opinions are my own and no compensation was received for this review.  This post contains affiliate links!