Let’s back up here for just a second. We don’t want our zombie fan cards revoked. We don’t have a problem with blood and guts. You can’t write a good zombie book without them. Too many writers use gore as a crutch. It’s so common when an author offers to send us their book for review, we’ve come to expect much gore and little content.

When author CJ Grant asked if we would like to review her new zombie themed book, she didn’t provide us with a lot of details. We were intrigued but expected the same old song and dance. Kit’s Rebellion was different from the very beginning.  

When this first crossed our desk, we were skeptical. It didn’t look like what we’re used to. We heard, “Isn’t this supposed to be a book about zombies?” more than once. The cover isn’t over the top. No guns. No blood. No zombies. No hazmat suits or flashy biohazard symbols. If you were casually browsing for a zombie novel, you’d likely walk right by this one on the bookshelf. If you did flip it over to read the back cover, you’d only see a couple references to zombies.

We opened the book up and read the first sentence, “I witnessed my first execution when I was six years old.” At that point we got it. This isn’t going to be a book about zombies. We were correct.

Unlike so many other undead themed books, the story here isn’t zombies. There are plenty of encounters with the walking dead; they just aren’t the central focus. The real story resides with the characters and their unique struggles. This is a book about humanity, relationships and survival. Above all, Grant pens a tale about the struggle to have the courage and conviction to stand up for what is right in the face of adversity. Kit’s Rebellion doesn’t even start where most of zombie tales start.

Kit’s Rebellion Plot Synopsis

It opens in April of 2043, long after the initial outbreak. As a reader you don’t learn much about the actual beginning. Instead you’re thrown into the lives of survivors many years after the outbreak.

Most of civilization is gone and the world has reverted to a more primitive time. What is left of humanity is scattered into groups of survivor camps. Necessities like food and supplies are limited. Ammunition is a precious commodity and most of the encounters with shamblers are handled via bow and arrow or knives when possible. When survivors aren’t fighting off flesh eating monsters they’re dealing with the unique challenges of this harsh world. At best they’re trying to coexist with themselves and other survivors. At worst they’re defending themselves against desperate and violent bands of raiders while surviving among the walking dead.

Our protagonist, Kit O’Brien , is a twenty year old who grew up as an orphan in one of these groups of survivors, Camp Kraft. A rising member of the militia, Kit is also one of the camp’s most skilled fighters.

A brutal form of mixed martial arts style fighting is now the main source of entertainment. These fights generally end up with bad bruises, broken bones and very sore bodies. Fighters are battered but they live to fight another day. That is, until the camp’s leader, Governor Garret Kraft, decides to up the ante and raise the stakes for his own amusement.

When Governor Kraft announces he’s going to be starting gladiator style matches where competitors fight to the death, people start to talk. While on a supply run Kit and other members of the militia discover a dark secret. To make matters worse, Garret throws some special and very dangerous surprises their way during gladiator matches. This coupled with witnessing a questionable execution or two causes Kit and other members of the militia to grow concerned about their leader.

As this book’s tagline says, sometimes loyalty means rebellion. Kit and the other members of the rebellion must choose loyalty to their camp’s leader or loyalty to one another and the greater good. As if juggling all of this isn’t enough, along the way Kit and the others must deal with the same things most of us worry about in normal life: friendship, relationships and the struggle to find ourselves and our place in the world.

Will Kit and the others decide to overthrow the governor? Will they find a way to lead their camp without losing all sense of right or wrong? How? You’ll have to read Kit’s Rebellion from CJ Grant to find out.

PROS:

• A unique angle on the zombie genre with enough familiarity to satisfy zombie fiction addicts. This one is good for die hard zombie fans or general fans of fiction.
• Relatable and well-developed characters.
• Zombies, gore and violence are the side dishes and not the main course here.
• The author doesn’t delve too deep into the main cause of the outbreak. As a reader you’re thrown into this new world and you deal with it as it happens. We enjoyed this and it made us more immersed in the story. This small touch made it feel like we were part of the story instead of an outsider looking in.
• Length of 305 pages is good.  Avid readers could consume this in a single sitting or over a light weekend. More casual readers will enjoy the book’s pacing and length.
• Grant concludes the story in a good place. There are no agonizing anxiety provoking cliff hangers here. She wraps things up nicely while leaving the option to continue the story wide open.

CONS:

• Some Zombie aficionados may find this one needs more undead gore.     
• There are a few moments involving mature situations. The author doesn’t go into vivid detail, but some adult language is used. Intercourse is used as a rite of passage and to repay debt in this new world. As a result, the topic is broached multiple times. This may be less than ideal for younger readers and unsettling to those easily offended. Most details are implied but we felt it is still worth nothing.

Conclusion:

With Kit’s Rebellion, author CJ Grant manages to tackle the zombie genre without telling the same old tired tale. That’s no easy task. Many undead dystopian novels use violence and gore to hide a barren manuscript devoid of personality. Grant takes the opposite approach. She creates an engaging plot told through relatable characters. Instead of relying on the obvious threats she focuses on the human side things. There’s still plenty of carnage along the way. Flesh craving monsters are components and not the main product.

If you removed zombies and replaced them with almost any other threat, this would still be a great read. If you’re looking for a unique zombie book (or just an excellent book in general) we highly recommend checking this one out.

The post Zombie Book Review: Kit’s Rebellion by CJ Grant appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

It happens to the best of us. You drag your lifeless corpse out of bed in the morning and shamble to the coffee pot to brew up something to get you through the day. Coffee, in a way, is the cure for that foggy zombie brain we all get from time to time. We’ll admit it. We’re not immune to zombie brain either. We often reach for the cheap plastic coffee can we picked up at the grocery store. It’s not the greatest stuff but it’s cheap and it does the job. There’s no reason you can’t indulge and treat yourself to a tastier zombie cure. We’re always up for trying new coffee, so when the Coffee Cousins offered to send over some of their DEATH TO ZOMBIES coffee for review we couldn’t resist.  Did it live up to the claims and our expectations? You’ll have to read on to find out!

WHAT IS IT?
DEATH TO ZOMBIES is a premium organic gourmet coffee in subtle zombie themed packaging. This is fresh roasted Honduras 100% Arabica coffee touted to be the “World’s smoothest, most delicious Coffee”. At the time of this review, DEATH TO ZOMBIES is available in ground, or bean variety if you prefer to grind to your own tastes. You can choose either 32 oz or 12 ounce bags. (We received the smaller 12 oz. bag for review.)

PACKAGING:
DEATH TO ZOMBIES comes in a high quality bag with a one way valve to help seal in and preserve freshness. The bags are such high quality that we actually underestimated how difficult it would be to cleanly tear off the top to open it. We’re used to cheap packaging and we weren’t expecting the top to reluctantly tear away leaving some jagged edges. We’re not too OCD so it only bothers us a little. Luckily it lends itself to the whole zombie theme.

After clumsily tearing off the top of the bag, we were convinced we’d destroyed the zipper seal area. In hindsight spending a few seconds with a pair of scissors would have been smarter. Fortunately our sloppy tear remained above the zipper seal area. It functions. More importantly, it stays put. That may seem like a small thing but it’s something we’re very thankful for. Everyone has used one of those frustrating zipper seals that won’t close or stay shut. They’re one of life’s obnoxious soul sucking little aggravations we can do without.  Fortunately there are no issues here because the zipper works every single time. WIN!

The zombie themed branding is very subtle with no cheesy neon green, “in your face” zombie graphics. True zombie fans will notice the name and image right away. The “normal” folks might pass right on by without noticing this is “zombie” coffee. Just the way it should be!

Click the images below to open a larger view:

AROMA:
We’re not coffee snobs around here but we are coffee aficionados and coffee Fans. Some might even go so far to call us coffee connoisseurs. Most importantly we have a mild chemical dependency when it comes to caffeine.  Our addiction to coffee means one thing:  we drink a lot of coffee! We’ve consumed enough of the cheap and bitter nasty stuff to know good when we taste or smell it. This is good stuff!

The second you tear open a bag of DEATH TO ZOMBIES, you can tell it is gourmet coffee. Just sitting in the bag it has that fresh roasted aroma that lets you know this is better than that plastic tub you drug home from the big box store. Start brewing and the aromatic goodness really gets cooking! The scent of this coffee brewing gets every coffee drinker in the vicinity shambling to the coffee pot.

The bottom line is this stuff smells amazing!

GRIND:

We won’t pretend to be coffee gurus here. We do know the coarseness of a grind is typically related to the brewing method that will be used. That being said, ours arrived as a nice all purpose medium grind perfectly suited for the old drip maker. That being said, you could get all fancy and throw this in a French press, siphon brewer etc. without issue. If you’re worried about the perfect grind level or maximum freshness you might as well go the extra mile and order beans and grind it yourself! If you don’t want the headache, rest assured DTZ arrives with a good general purpose medium grind that will please all but the most finicky coffee snobs.

FLAVOR:
There’s none of the cheap, half stale, highly acidic bitterness we’ve had to choke down so many times in the past here. We’re not sure we have enough experience to validate the “World’s smoothest coffee” claims but it’s worlds better than the cheap stuff.  DEATH TO ZOMBIES is honestly much smoother and less acidic tasting than the Columbian and Puerto-Rican coffee blends we’d been drinking prior to this review. It also has a slightly sweeter flavor and seems to be just a bit lighter and less strong in comparison as well.

There are some good starting points for figuring out how much coffee to use on the packaging but they’re just that: starting points. Brewing the ideal cup of coffee is highly personal and one of those “to taste” recipes you need to figure out for yourself. We ignored the measuring mumbo jumbo and went with our tried and true “this many scoops” method. We simply threw in the same number of “scoops” we used with our previous coffee. Afterwards we decided it was just a bit weaker than we’d like so we needed “a little more”. It’s a highly technical process to say the least. Now that we know how many “scoops” we need to fling into the coffee pot every morning (and afternoon. . . and sometimes evening) we’re very pleased!

What’s that you say? Our coffee slurping ways are too crude and barbaric? No worries. When you’re feeling fancy or looking for a more personalized coffee experience you’re good to go with DTZ. We tried this some in a French coffee press and it was as good as we had hoped. (Save the ooh la la jokes, we’ve heard them all.) Why would we bother with pressing coffee? It allows us to control temperature, brew time, yield and more. This is where good coffee like DEATH TO ZOMBIES really shines. Sure you get weird looks and comments from the mouthbreathers but that’s another story for another day.

PROS:

• Quality packaging
• Freshly roasted and/or ground just prior to shipping
• Premium gourmet Honduras Coffee
• Available as beans or ground
• Available in 12 oz. or 32 oz. sizes
• Free shipping to the USA
• 100% 90 day money back guarantee
• Organic
• Fair Trade
• 100% Arabica (No mystery blends)
• Smooth, tasty flavor
• Great Aroma
• Available as a single purchase or “subscription” style purchase

CONS:

• A bit pricey (Currently $19.99 for the 12 oz. bag and $29.99 for the 32 oz.) This pricing does include free 2 day shipping so in the end it’s actually quite fair and on par with what you’re probably paying now for gourmet coffee.
• The smell of this coffee brewing makes you very popular with coffee lovers. Not so great when you’re not in the mood to share.

CONCLUSION:

Our useless and meaningless rating: 4 out of 5

Good stuff! It smells and tastes amazing. Whether you want to be meticulous with a fancy brew or you just want to toss this into a drip maker or reusable K-cup, DEATH TO ZOMBIES coffee doesn’t disappoint. Ours was long gone within days of opening it. We’re not sure this is the cure for zombie brain but it certainly helps. The aroma also draws hordes of coffee mug wielding caffeine deprived zombies every time we brewed some up.

WHERE TO GET IT:
Go to the Coffee Cousins website or www.death2zombies.com for ordering information.

 
 
Enjoy DEATH TO ZOMBIES coffee out of an awesome zombie coffee mug:

The post Death To Zombies Coffee Review appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

The Zee Brothers: Zombie Exterminators: Curse of the Zombie Omelet (Volume 1) Book Review

We’re always happy to check out new additions to the zombie fiction genre. The problem is, some of them start to sound like the same old story over and over again. So much so that we’ve been turning down many zombie book review requests in the past couple years. It may sound crass. It may sound like we’re turning into zombie hipsters. The truth is we are tired of reading the same repackaged and retitled zombie fiction over and over again from different authors.  Fortunately author Grivante helps break the undead monotony with the first book in The Zee Brothers: Zombie Exterminators series.

Every so often we’re contacted with a synopsis of a zombie novel that sounds like something so different and so fun we can’t pass it up. Such was the case with The Zee Brothers: Zombie Exterminators: Curse of the Zombie Omelet (Volume 1). With a title like that who could resist? If the title doesn’t immediately get your attention let’s glance at some highlights.

• A quiet suburb built over an ancient Indian burial ground becomes the source for an undead zombie outbreak

• A temperamental 1950’s Chevy pickup that needs some transmission help.

• A magic 8-Ball shift knob that seems to predict the future. It can also please the ladies . . . but that’s a different review for a different day.

• A hot redhead female protagonist with a pink revolver

• A pair of zombie exterminating brothers, one of which appears a bit less capable than his sibling.

• A toothless tied up pet zombie/former client

• A puppy named Xanadu that displays magical powers when you fling him into the air and scream his name. Oh yeah (spoiler alert) he also poops diamonds.

The novel’s text is so concise we feel like we’d be giving away too much if we delved too deep within the plot. Glance at the plot summary on Amazon and you’ll have everything you need to recognize this for the fun and unique zombie book it is:

“This is the first story featuring the Zee Brother’s in which they meet the love of their lives, JJ and her magical puppy, Xanadu. They uncover the secrets of an ancient indian curse involving a zombie omelet, wait, amulet. They fail to rescue their first client of the day and end up keeping him as a pet instead.

All of this takes place in the small gated community of Winter Oaks, AZ, built atop the tribal burial ground of the Pakatini Tribe and right next to the county dump. Awakened when the obnoxious president of the home owners association disturbs an ancient artifact, the zombies return from their graves to reclaim their amulet.

Arriving in their extermination truck loaded with weapons and their strangely premonitory Magic 8-ball shifter, the brothers quickly get to work. Bodies and brains explode as they seek the answers to end the ancient zombie curse before it leads to a full on Zombie Apocalypse.

Before it is over, Jonah, Judas & JJ teach us about Zombie Bondage, Zombie Dental Hygiene & The Wonders of Orgasms and Chocolate, all while surviving being the target of an ever growing number of newly awakened undead.

Aided by JJ’s mysterious dog, the brother’s manage to get the amulet, but not before Jonah is marked for death by the Pakatini’s High Priest. It is going to take more than their really big gun, that they affectionately refer to as DeeDee, to get them out of this one.

Filled with nods to zombie pop culture, this book will keep you entertained and leave you smiling.”

Our Review:

Overall we loved the first installment of the Zee Brothers series. It was a blast to read and we genuinely hope the author delivers more in the future.  Although the book is on the short side, we can’t say that’s all bad. There are times when reading 800 pages of convoluted plot twists and sub plots gets more than a little annoying. It was nice to read this book over a few thirty minute sessions. Thanks to the author’s concise, linear storytelling we were able to pick this up after a few days without reading and immediately remember where we were in the story.

We loved the balance of humor, suspense and gore. There is a sparse spattering of sexuality but it is done without going too far like so many horror authors seem to do. You could easily toss this to a teenager and not be a horrible parent for letting them read it.

That being said, we can’t help but feel like there was room for a bit more turmoil in the plot. Although the zombie exterminating brothers, JJ and her puppy do encounter plenty of issues along the way, it almost seems like rectifying the situation was too easy for them. Then again this is just the first volume and the author left plenty of room for growth in the future. Another 50 to 100 pages would have been nice.

Do we recommend it? Yes! If you can pick up the color illustrated version for around $10 to $15 it’s worth it. Otherwise the non-illustrated or kindle versions are probably your best value.  Regardless of which format you prefer, we highly recommend checking this one out. If you enjoy a quick read this one is sure to please. If you’re someone who needs hundreds and hundreds of pages of character development and a slow, methodical built to a plot climax you might be left feeling cheated. This one doesn’t beat around the bush and gets straight to the point, which we actually found refreshing in a way.

PROS:

• A quick read of right around 100 pages. (Our color illustrated review copy contained 103 pages of story text).
• The action starts quickly and hooks you in from the start.
• The subtle pop zombie culture references included are a nice touch for real fans of the genre.
• Just enough of a twist on the zombie genre to make things interesting.
• The author’s linear writing style takes you through the story in a non-distracting style.
• There a few illustrations throughout the text that help bring the story to life for the reader.
• A good balance of gore, humor, and suspense with a dash of sexual tension sprinkled in.
• Large easy to read text
• Cover art, cover and paper stock are all good quality

CONS:

• A bit too short. While the shorter length is nice, I can’t help but feel there could have been more meat to the story. It feels like the characters should have had a bit more conflict along the way.
• What’s the deal with Toothless Larry? I felt like this tied up pet zombie was going to end up being a much more important part of the story than he ended up being.
• Pricing fluctuates and that is one of the reasons we avoid placing too much emphasis on it in a review. I do feel cost is worth mentioning for the version we reviewed. The paperback color illustrated edition of this book is currently priced at $24.99 on Amazon. Yikes. Even with free 2 day factored in that seems a bit pricey for a 100 page zombie novel that can be read in a single sitting of a couple hours. We’ve seen this priced at $15 to $20 previously and in our opinion that’s a bit more realistic. The good news is you don’t need to pony up for the beautiful color illustrated version if you don’t want to.  A non-illustrated version with a white cover Is available; at the time of this review it is priced under $10. Kindle and audio book versions are available for even less if you prefer those formats.

Final Verdict:

We give this one a 4 out of 5 and we can’t wait to read future additions to the series. You know the deal. The truth is our opinion really doesn’t mean squat. Go check it out for yourself and let us know what you think in the comment section below!

Where to Buy:

Grab your copy at Amazon.com and be sure to visit www.thezeebrothers.com for merchandise and more information.

The post The Zee Brothers: Zombie Exterminators Curse of the Zombie Omelet Book Review appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

UPDATE:

This subscription crate is no longer available. Horror Block and associated companies Nerd Block and Fan Block all ended up going out of business in the summer of 2017. We’re leaving our review posts up for archival purposes.

There are alternatives such as Lootcrate’s LootFright. We recommend giving them a try!

What is Horror Block?

Horror Block is the “Pop Horror Mystery Box”; a monthly box of surprise horror themed merchandise. Think of Horror Block like a monthly horror themed grab bag. You simply sign up and provide your payment information, address and t-shirt size. Then you sit back and wait to see what horror themed gifts arrive in each month’s box. Pricing starts at just $19.99 plus shipping.  Larger oversized t-shirts will cost you a little extra as well.

Even with shipping and any additional charges, Horror Block typically offers a decent value each month. You can sign up for a single month of service and let it run or you can complete a single month and then cancel.  You can also sign up for 3 month, 6 month or 12 month subscriptions and save some money in the process.  Now that we’ve gone over the basics, let’s take a close look at our April 2015 Horror Block.

Horror Block Review: April 2015

Last month we reviewed our very first Horror Block. We liked it enough we kept our paid subscription for another month and we’re back again with a review for the April 2015 Horror Block.

Shipping Time:  

Many readers may recall we complained about shipping time in our last Horror Block review. Well. . . we addressed the long shipping time and the reasons for it. Since Horror Block typically ships out of Canada we understand the reason for shipping delays.  We did notice our  April Horror Block had a domestic shipping label and appeared to ship from New York.  It arrived slightly faster than the previous month’s box. It shipped out on or about April 25th and we received it on 5/6/2015: a shipping time of around 11-12 days.

Don’t Open Dead Inside: What’s Inside the April 2015 Horror Block?

Contents at a Glance:

• Cards outlining the April 2015 Block’s Content
• Bates Motel/Bloody Disgusting Coffee Mug
• Overlook Hotel Coasters
• Shirt Punch Horror Block Exclusive Evil Dead t-shirt
• Titan Vinyl Horror Block Exclusive Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Toy
• Set of 2 “Killer Shots” Shot Glasses
• May 2015 Issue of Rue Morgue Magazine

Let’s take a closer look at each item!

Cards Outlining the Horror Block Contents:

As expected, the April Horror Block came with some cards explaining the contents. It’s a nice little touch we always appreciate.

Evil Dead T-shirt:

Horror Block joined forces with the folks at Shirt Punch to bring subscribers a very cool Horror Block exclusive, an awesome The Evil Dead t-shirt. This shirt features an amazing “I love Evil” Evil Dead t-shirt.  We really appreciate the quality in this month’s tee. Our shirt feels like very heavy weight cotton and the design appears to be screenprinting and not some cheesy direct to garment print or heat transfer. We love The Evil Dead and this t-shirt.

Bates Motel Ceramic Coffee Mug:

This coffee mug features the Bates Motel logo sign with no vacancy below. The Bloody Disgusting Logo adorns the back of this mug, making this a killer way to start your homicidal day. We love black coffee mugs and this one seems pretty durable. They’re never actually big enough for our coffee needs, but that’s nothing to hold against this one.

Hotel, motel. . . I think I’ll stay at The Holiday Inn. This month’s block also features some pretty cool coasters.

The Overlook Hotel Coasters:

April’s Horror Block includes a set of 4 drink coasters.  These  coasters are modeled after that god-awful 1970’s hallway carpet of The Overlook Hotel seen in The Shining.  It’s a great idea, but the coasters feel pretty cheap. They’re not plastic or ceramic but actually a cardboard material.  Maybe the term “Cardboard” gives them a little too much credit. Think heavy cardstock or thick posterboard. We’ve honestly purchased thicker and heavier horror themed drink coasters from our local Dollar Store at Halloween time.  Great idea, but the coasters don’t feel like they’ll survive long.  Fortunately they should last just long enough to induce all sorts of weird visual phenomena thanks to that crazy bright pattern. Overall these feel cheap and disposable. We’re not convinced they’ll last until next month’s block arrives.

Killer Shots: Set of 2 “Dead Good Shot Glasses”

This set of 2 cute skull themed shot glasses is just OK. Nothing much too complain about but nothing much to write home about either.  Meh.  We haven’t thrown ours in the dishwasher yet but we may have to just to see what happens. The box mentions these are “Unsuitable for dishwasher use.” We’re not sure whether the skull graphics will wash off with time or if the manufacturer just doesn’t want our Maytag pounding shots. . . either way we need to conduct some experiments.

Horror Block Exclusive Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Titan Vinyl Toy

Titan Vinyl teamed up with Horror Block to offer another very cool Horror Block exclusive.  The 4.5″ Ghostbusters Ecto-1 vinyl toy. This thing is another one of our favorite items from this Horror Block.  This Nerd Block/Horror Block exclusive isn’t available anywhere else! We love it! Who ya gonna collect? Ghostbusters!

Rue Morgue Magazine:

As usual, April’s Horror Block includes a copy of Canadian horror mag Rue Morgue magazine.  This is the May 2015 issue. We were pretty bummed to discover the bottoms of pages 33 through 40 were ripped and torn. Everything is perfectly readable. . . but it still sucks! One area we’ve been a little disappointed with Horror Block is packing and handling. Things don’t always appear to be treated with care so boxes can be creased, magazines can be damaged etc.

Our Rating

 What We Loved:

• Horror Block Exclusive The Evil Dead T-shirt: Fun design and great quality
• The Horror Block/Nerd Block Exclusive Ecto-1 Titan Vinyl Toy
• The Bates Motel coffee mug seems like a durable design.
• Good value. The t-shirt and magazine alone have a retail value close to what we paid for the box.

Meh.  (What We Didn’t Love So Much)

• Shipping Time was a little faster this time, but still took nearly two weeks to reach us.
• Damaged Issue of Rue Morgue Magazine. Bent corners and ripped/torn pages aren’t cool!
• Slight Damage and bending to the Ecto-1 Box
• One of the things we’ve been disappointed with is handling and care for items. We get it. There are a lot of Horror Block subscribers.  Their staff probably works long and hard hours stuffing boxes but we’d appreciate receiving magazines and items without damage. It already takes about two weeks to receive our Horror Block. Take 10 extra minutes to pack it carefully. We’ll wait.
• Cheap Overlook Hotel Coasters. These chintzy things feel like they’ll die an abrupt and soggy mess around here.

Final Verdict:

3.25 out of 5

We’re still pleased with our Horror Block overall.  Not too much too complain about other than shipping time and careless handling of items. Overall the April Horror Block seems like a decent value with some very cool exclusives! The Ghostbusters vinyl toy and the Evil Dead t-shirt saved this one for us!

Missed the April Horror Block? Want something from a past box? No Worries!

Check Ebay. Ebay is a great place to find items you may have missed out on. It’s also a great place to score some of those Horror Block exclusive items you need! Use the links below to find some of the items found in the April 2015 Horror Block.

Browse current Horror Block product listings on ebay.

Amazon:
To this day amazon is still a great place to score some of the Horror Block and Nerd Block exclusive collectibles. Check out some current product listings here.

Check out Horror Block for Yourself!

Sign up for a subscription to Horror Block today: http://www.zombiegift.com/horror-block-sign-up

The post Horror Block Review: April 2015 appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

How does the zombie head bowl stack up? We plunked down a little cash to order one in order to find out. Let’s take a look at the ZombieGift.com review of the ceramic Zombie Bowl from ThinkGeek.

Here are the original product listing photos; the same photos used on the packaging:

The photos above show what we were expecting. Let’s take a look at what we actually received with our order.  Did it live up to the photos shown above? Read on to find out!

PACKAGING:

We loved the packaging for this zombie item.  In true ThinkGeek style things are super cool and well done right down to the packaging.  The box features very cool zombie bowl artwork and lets you know this bowl is both microwave and dishwasher safe.  Our box had a little minor shelf and handling wear but nothing major. The box is so cool we had a hard time bringing ourselves to recycle it!

Click the images below to open a bigger image gallery view.

The packaging is more than just a pretty face on some cardboard. It’s also fully functional.  The fitted styrofoam insert is perfect for storing and protecting the contents inside. Our bowl was shipped packed as you see here inside another box with air bags. Everything arrived undamaged and in great shape.  Check out a couple images of the inside of the packaging below.  Click the images below for a larger view.

REVIEW OF THE ZOMBIE HEAD BOWL:

Overall we’re very pleased with the actual product we received.  This zombie gift measures a little over 3 inches deep making it nice and deep for storing food or small items.  The bowl opening measures nearly 4.5″ wide at its widest point.

The zombie head bowl we received is pretty close to the product listing and packaging photos. Or only minor complaint is we would have liked to see more attention to detail in the details of the painting/glazing.  Compared to the product listing photos, our zombie head bowl was a little light on the bloody details.  The blood isn’t nearly as vibrant and well applied as it is on the bowl used for the product photos. The blood is much more transparent in many areas on our product.  We were most disappointed with the eyes on our bowl.  The dark bloody areas around the eyes seen in the product listing photos are essentially absent on our product.   These areas give the eyes a dramatic deep and sunken look in the product listing photos. The eyes on our zombie head bowl lack that punch and it left us feeling just a bit cheated. Take a look at the product photos below and you’ll see what we mean.

The Final Verdict:

4.5/5 Stars . . . ahem. . . we mean brains.

Overall we were very pleased with the zombie bowl we received.  Our maincomplaint is the lack of detail in bloody details with the paint/glaze.   The glaze application looked a little sloppy and hastily done on our bowl, especially in the eye areas where the dark blood was essentially missing.  That left our zombie bowl feeling a little flat compared to the sample product listing photos.  We can’t complain too much because this sort of thing is to be expected when purchasing an item that is hand painted or glazed.   That being said, the difference was just enough t keep from giving this item a perfect 5/5 score.  We still highly recommend this item and it would make a great affordable zombie gift for zombie fans both young and old.

Where can I get it?:

The zombie head bowl is listed at ZombieGift.com.  You can also pick it up at ThinkGeek.com.

The post Zombie Product Review: Ceramic Zombie Head Bowl appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

About the Tokens:
The Walking Dead Tokenz are round disc shaped tokens featuring decals with imagery from AMC’s smash hit TV series.  The front of each token features a popular character, walker or other image from the scene.  Each token measures approximately 1-9/16  inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.  Thanks to their weight of about 10 grams, they feel very sturdy.

According to the packaging and checklist, there are 48 The Walking Dead  Tokenz to collect in all: 42 regular Tokenz and 6 Virtual Reality tokenz. That number isn’t entirely accurate if you’re looking to collect the entire set.  The number doesn’t seem to reflect the fact that there are also foil variants of the regular tokens. While the packaging and checklist don’t specifically mention how many foil tokens there are, the tokens we received lead us to believe there is simply a corresponding foil version of each regular token.  This puts the total number of available packaged tokens closer to 90:

The tokens are different colors and there are 5 different colors for the base and foil tokens:

1. Blue
2. Brown
3. Burgundy
4. Gold
5. Green

The virtual reality tokens are all black.

At this point any serious Walking Dead collector is starting to worry. While we have no official word from Bulls I Toy on this, it does not appear you’ll need to worry about completing a different collection for every token color.  (Yes some of us collectors really DO worry about these sorts of things.)

Based on the tokens we received and from the checklist provided in each package, it appears the images are not randomly stuck on colored tokens. There does appear to be a set pattern and for that we could kiss each and every person involved with the token design.  You won’t need to worry about obtaining each token in all 5 possible colors.

In other words token #10 is Carol Peletier. It is shown on a gold token on the checklist. We received two of these tokens in our package and both were indeed gold tokens. Fortunately obsessive collectors won’t need to also obtain a green, blue, brown and burgundy Carol token as well! The foil version of each token should be the same color assigned to the base token.

The Walking Dead Tokens can contain some pretty gruesome and scary images from the TV series and the relatively small size may present a choking hazard for children under the age of 3. Due to these facts, the official age recommendation for this product is ages 14 and up.

We took plenty of images of our Walking Dead Tokens. Click any of the image thumbnails below to open a bigger view:

About the Virtual Reality Walker Tokens:
Each package of The Walking Dead Tokenz features one “virtual reality” token. These black and white tokens feature an image of popular Walkers from the TV series and they have a very cool additional bonus feature.  They can be scanned with the free Scan It mobile app available in the Apple App Store for Apple products and for Android Devices via the Google Play store. Once scanned, the special virtual reality tokens should show the corresponding walker come to life in virtual reality on your device’s screen.

Packaging:
The tokens come blind packaged in foil packages with 3 regular tokens and one “Virtual Reality” token for a total of 4 collectible tokens per package.  We checked around major retailers and the tokens appear to be priced at $2.99 per package in our area.

With all of the background information out of the way, let’s take a look at what we thought about  The Walking Dead Tokenz.  On to the review!

Our Review of The Walking Dead Tokenz

Initial Thoughts:
We were most struck by the weight of these tokens. Our package of review tokens contained a random sampling of 10 packs and it was much heavier than we anticipated. Given their novelty nature and their low price, we were expecting some chintzy lightweight thin plastic discs. Instead the Walking Dead Tokenz are very high quality products with some weight to them.

Packaging: 
The product packaging is pretty top notch given the affordable nature of these collectibles. The glossy foil pouch style packaging is as durable as it is attractive. It also does a great job explaining what you’re buying, what to expect, and more. There’s even a blurb on the the back of the package the breaks down the approximate odds of receiving the special foil and virtual reality tokens. While the package clearly mentions 42 different base tokens and 6 virtual reality tokens, it doesn’t clearly indicate how many foil tokens there are. Nor does it mention here may be another 42 foil tokens you’ll need to obtain for a truly complete collection.

The durable foil packaging makes these collectibles a little difficult o open with your bare hands. That’s great for preventing people from sneaking a peak in stores, but it might mean using a pair of scissors for many collectors.

The checklist included with every package is supreme quality as well. We weren’t expect high quality glossy paper and vibrant colors and imagery. With the low retail selling price, Bulls I Toy could have easily taken the easy way out and cut costs with a cheap checklist or no real checklist at all. Instead of pinching pennies and sending you to a virtual or printable checklist online they provide you with a high quality checklist complete with details on how to obtain an in app exclusive: a virtual reality token of Daryl Dixon!

Tokens:
Overall we love the tokens. They are an ideal size for collecting and they feature surprising weight and sturdiness we just weren’t expecting.  The tokens definitely conjure images of poker chips and our beloved pogs from the 1990s.  While we’ve heard some fans complain about this,  we feel those are just more reasons to love these!

The images are clear and crisp on the base tokens and Virtual Reality tokens and all tokens feature many of our favorite characters and walkers from the TV series.  The images on some of the foil tokens, while still very cool, are sometimes a little scratched and less clear than their corresponding base token counterparts.

Randomness and Collectibiltiy:
The tokens appear to be fairly packaged in a random fashion.  This makes completing your collection fun while still being a relatively obtainable feat. If you don’t have someone to trade doubles with you could still grind it out and complete your collection the honest way without going broke in the process.  In our sampling of 10 packages we received:

• 18 Base Tokens (4 were duplicates)
• 12 Foil Tokens (1 duplicate)
• 10 Virtual Reality Tokens (One complete set of 6, 4 duplicates)

The ScanIt App and Virtual Reality Tokens:
Each package of The Walking Dead Tokenz contains one Virtual Reality token. The concept is pretty brilliant.  You simply download the free ScanIt app for your Apple or Android moobile device and then scan your Virtual Reality walker token with your device’s camera in a well lit area.  When scanned, the tokens are supposed to show a virtual reality version of the scanned walker right on your device.  This was one of the aspects of the review process we were looking forward to the most.  Unfortunately it ended up being a disappointment.

We simply couldn’t get the app to scan our tokens. None of the 10 virtual reality tokens were correctly scanned by the app. We tried multiple android devices running android operating systems from Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean to KitKat.  The app and tokens didn’t work on any of them.  We’ve seen some of our fans post pics and screenshots of their scanned Virtual Reality walker tokens so we know the app at least worked in some cases for some people. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for us. Yes. We followed all instructions. Yes. We only scanned the actual virtual reality tokens. We tried different devices running different android operating systems, we tried re-installing the app, we tried scanning the virtual reality tokens isolated on a single background color with every lighting and angle setup we could conjure. Some of us are pretty android tech savvy so we tried all the geeky solutions we could think of to make the app cooperate.  We stopped short of trying the app on an iPhone or other apple device. (We’re not THAT desperate!)

We decided to check some reviews for the ScanIt app in the Google Play store and we quickly realized this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. It seems many android users have found the app to be defective.  It also seems many android users are frustrated that their negative reviews in Google Play don’t seem to be acknowledged or addressed with an update.

Posting the negative aspects of a product we review isn’t fun, but it’s our job. Dealing with  Mobile App issues in a product review can be very tricky. Sometimes users don’t follow instructions or they attempt to utilize an app on older device that isn’t capable.  We can assure that isn’t the case here. Issues with mobile apps associated with toys are further complicated by the fact that the toy company itself often has very little to do with the actual development and support of  the app.

We debated on what to do. We realize Bulls I Toy has outsourced the app to a third party (Metaio) for development and support, but the average consumer probably doesn’t realize this. We also realize it’s Bulls I Toy touting the virtual reality capability on their product packaging so they ultimately have some responsibility to ensure the app gets fixed and is usable for at least the majority of  their consumers.  We debated on contacting Bulls I Toy regarding the app before posting our review to give them an opportunity to fix it. Since we only post honest and unbiased reviews (and we know Bulls I Toy respects this) we decided not to. Instead we put off the review for a couple more weeks to see if the app was updated and if the negative app reviews were addressed. At this point they haven’t, but we’re confident eventually any issues with the app will be fixed.

Aside from issues with the virtual reality app there really isn’t much we were displeased with. Let’s wrap things up by taking a look at a list of pros and cons associated with The Walking Dead Tokenz.

What’s Great:

• High Quality Tokens and Packaging: Even the checklist is fancy!
• Affordable Pricing (A pack of 4 tokens is perfectly priced at just $2.99)
• Good Number of Token Provides Good Balance for Both Casual Enthusiasts and Serious Collectorss: Casual collectors can settle for completing the basic token and virtual reality token collections. Serious collector can accept the challenge of collecting the randomly inserted foil variants.
• Virtual Reality Tokens; The 6 Virtual Reality Walker tokens are a great idea if you can get the free app to cooperate for you and your mobile device.
• Size: We like the size. These are basically the same size and weight as high quality poker chips. This makes storing them pretty easy.
• Different Color Tokens:  We like the different color tokens. It makes for a colorful collection and should also make sorting when searching for doubles easier.
• Fun for Young and Old Collectors Alike: These tokens are officially recommended for ages 14 and up and should please any Walking Dead fan whether young or old! It’s a great hobby to share with children.

Meh. What’s Not So Great:

• We really don’t have many complaints with this Walking Dead collectible.  That being said nothing is perfect and here are the two or three  aspects we weren’t so pleased with.
• The Virtual Reality ScanIt App Didn’t Work
• The Tokens Can Be Difficult to Display. Round discs tend to roll away or fall over.
• Some of the Foil Token Decals Appear Lightly Scratched Right Out of the Package.  (Likely due to sliding against other tokens etc.)

Final Verdict:

Overall we really like The Walking Dead Tokenz. These high quality small round collectibles are an ideal size and contain fun Walking Dead images that are a blast to collect. We’d like them even more if we were able to get the ScanIt virtual app to work correctly on our devices.  Storing these collectibles is a breeze, but easily displaying them can be a challenge. We’re hoping Bulls I Toy takes advantage of the opportunity to offer a storage album.  A plastic or sturdy cardboard Walking Dead themed bifold display album or binder would be an ideal way to display these tokens and a way to get collectors to willingly part with another $10 bill or so. The completed collection would look great displayed standing up in a album.

Without the added coolness of the working virtual reality tokens, we rated these with an overall score of 3.5 out of 5. If we were able to get the app working on our devices we’d probably rate these somewhere near a 4 or 4.5.  Our issues with the app shouldn’t deter you.  These Walking Dead collectibles are a blast to collect and enjoy!

3.5 Out of 5

Where to Buy:
According to the Bulls I Toy website, the Walking Dead Tokenz are available at many major retailers such as Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Kroger, Hot Topic, Giant Eagle, Five Below, Fred Meyer and more.
 
Or you can also Complete your Walking Dead Tokenz collection on ebay.
 

The post Zombie Product Review: The Walking Dead Tokenz from Bulls I Toy appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

Finding unique and affordable zombie gifts for that zombie fan that seems to have everything can be a difficult task. That’s why when we find a unique zombie gift that will make their jaw drop without breaking the bank we make sure to get our rotten hands on it and do a full zombie product review. This gruesomely gorgeous impaled zombie pencil holder desk accessory is a perfect case in point.

Details:
Resin construction with hand painted details
Measures approximately 7″ long by 3″ wide by 1″ tall
Features a hole in the zombie’s chest that holds your pencil or small ballpoint pen
Priced under $15.00

Check out the photo gallery below for more photos of the impaled zombie pencil holder:

Our Thoughts:
We received our zombie pencil holder nicely packaged in a cardboard box snugly secured within a fitted styrofoam style packaging insert. It was almost like his own shipping coffin and certainly let him rest in peace on his way to our office. We much prefer our zombie collectibles to arrive in peace rather than pieces!

The size is exactly what we expected and there were no disappointments. In fact we were quite shocked to see the hand painted details matched the product photos very closely. Usually the product photo reflects the manufacturer’s best work.  Some loss of detail between product photos and the actual production pieces is common, especially with hand painted items.   That’s definitely not the case here. We were pretty blown away with the gory details on our undead desk accessory. He features sickly looking decayed flesh in a gross green-gray hue. He has deep wounds on his face, head and hands. A large hole approximately 1/4″ to 3/8″ in diameter sits in the center of the zombie’s chest. In addition to looking awesome, the hole serves a functional purpose and allows you to insert a pencil or small ballpoint pen into the zombie’s chest. The zombie looks like he’s clutching at your writing utensil and the end result sitting on a desk gives the dramatic impression that you just came out on the winning end of an altercation with a miniature zombie. We just wish the hole could be larger to give us the option of proudly using this with our more expensive pens or styluses. Your standard No. 2 pencil or cheap disposable ballpoint pens fit perfectly however.

What’s Great:

The Detail:  This zombie desk accessory features some pretty amazing detail. The hand painted details are very well done. The zombie’s skin features deep cracks with dirt and decomposition details throughout. The red bloody wounds are glossy in the right areas and give the impression that our walking dead friend may have been just recently immobilized. There really don’t appear to be any shortcuts taken with painting. Even the hole for the pen itself is painted deep down inside!

Quality Construction:  This is constructed of high quality resin. It’s not heavy but it’s heft is substantial enough to let you know this isn’t cheap plastic junk.

Price :  At the time of this review these zombie pencil holders were priced under $15.00 with discount pricing available for purchasing two.

Unique:  This zombie gift isn’t something you’ll see in every big box retail store. It’s sure to turn heads and be a zombie conversation starter wherever it is displayed.

Meh. What’s Not So Great:

Can’t Be Used With Large Executive Pens, Styluses or Other Fancy Writin’ Stuff:  This zombie product review has been yet another experience where we were left with little to b*tch about. Our only complaint is we’d like the hole for the pen or pencil to be a little larger. Fancy fountain pens, executive pens and styluses are a little larger than your normal No. 2 pencil and we’d like the ability to use those with this zombie gift.  A hole that large would likely require some sort of rubber insert in order for it to hold normal pencils so we can see why the manufacturer chose this design. We may just take our zombie friend out to our workshop and do a little drilling to make it perfect for our needs.

Could Scratch Your Fancy Highfalutin Furniture:  The only other drawback we could foresee is the flat bottom  of the zombie has the potential to scratch. You might want to be careful of any soft finish on your  fancy wood desk or table. Scratching would probably only occur  if you use or move the zombie excessively but if you’re anal about the finish of your furniture you might want to take some extra precautions.  Sticking some felt pads on the bottom would likely eliminate any risk of marring the finish on your pricey furniture.

Final Verdict:

4.75 out of 5

You really can’t go wrong with a mini impaled zombie sitting on your desk. All kidding aside, given the uniqueness, quality and pricing of this zombie gift we really can’t find much wrong with it. It’s almost flawless considering the price it’s currently sold at. While we’d like the option to use it with some of the bigger writing instruments we have . . . maybe we just need to find cooler looking pencils! If you need a unique and affordable zombie gift for the cubicle zombie or desk dwelling zombie hunter in your life, this just might be the solution.

Where to Buy: Click the following link if you’d like info on where to purchase the item featured in this zombie product review.

The post Zombie Product Review: Impaled Zombie Pencil Holder Desk Accessory appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

We recently purchased and reviewed Zombie playing cards from Bicycle® Cards. When purchasing those cards we spotted these”Everyday Zombies” playing cards and decided to wrap our cold dead fingers around them as well. Without further undead  ado here’s our review of “Everyday Zombies” playing cards featuring artwork from renowned zombie portrait artist Rob Sacchetto.

Details: This pack of high quality zombie playing cards from Bicycle® Cards are standard size playing cards featuring fun zombie character artwork. These cards feature the Bicycle “air cushion” finish for better play and handling. We were lucky enough to find these for $2.99 at our local Target store, but good luck finding them because they’re usually sold out. See the “Where to Buy” section at the conclusion of this review for purchasing recommendations.

Packaging: Each pack of zombie playing cards are individually wrapped in plastic with a convenient pull strip (like a pack of cigarettes to remove the plastic wrap). The lightweight cardboard tuck storage box is nearly as cool as the cards themselves. After removing the outer plastic wrap you’ll need to cut or carefully remove the US Playing Cards spade sticker seal.  The box is your typical playing card box. We just wish it was a little heavier because like most tuck boxes it’s sure to get beat up with extended use.

High Quality Cards: These aren’t just pretty zombie themed playing cards. They’re first and foremost a high quality playing card of premium quality that Bicycle is known for. Each card is printed on high quality premium stock and features Bicycle’s popular “air cushion” finish. This textured finish provides superior grip and handling and allows the cards to glide effortlessly over each other. This makes shuffling and fanning the deck a breeze. These cards are perfect for card players and magicians alike. If you know a card playing magician zombie fan, these would make the ideal affordable zombie gift!

Zombie Artwork: The main highlight of this deck is without a doubt the stellar zombie artwork from Rob Sacchetto. In case you’ve been living under a rock since 2006, Rob is a world renowned zombie illustrator. The folks at Bicycle probably explain it best:

Rob Sacchetto is the original zombie portrait artist. Since 2006, he has illustrated and hand painted thousands of custom zombie portraits, with commissions from Tom Savini, George Romero, and Max Brooks. These cards are a celebration of his work, featuring spooky characters from gamers to grandmas to guitarists.

The artwork on these cards is simply amazing. One of the things that blew us away is the fact that Bicycle didn’t take the easy way out. There are no duplicate card designs. There are 52 unique zombie designs, each portraying a zombie in the middle of routine everyday activities. These really are everyday zombies. Who knew zombies played video games, took out the trash, cooked or rode public transportation? In Rob’s world they do! Each zombie character is illustrated against a warm bright yellow background with a few red blood splatters. The contrast is gorgeous and everything works together to enhance the overall look of the card. The backs of the cards are a collage of cute cartoonish zombie faces.

What’s Great

The Price:   We paid $2.99 for our deck and you can expect to pay right around $3 to $6.00 for these depending on where you purchase them. They’re worth every penny!

The Quality:   These aren’t just pretty zombie cards. They’re high quality playing cards in every way possible.

“Air Cushion” Finish:   The unique finish of these cards allows you to grip them and handle them much more easily. The cards literally feel like they’re gliding on a cushion of air when you fan them or shuffle them.

Zombies Safe for All Ages:   These cards will make you the envy of your card playing buddies. They’re also safe enough enough to use for a game of Old Maid with your children.

Each Card is Unique:   No laziness and no reused card designs.

Amazing Zombie Artwork:   Each zombie card is truly a work of art.

Meh. (What’s Not So Great.)

There isn’t much to complain about with these cards. Here are the only minor irritations we could find to whine about.

Availability:   These are find to locally. Due to the fact that they look amazing and their low cost, these tend to fly off store shelves. At least in our undead neck of the woods.

We Want a Super High Quality Collectible Box!:  The conventional cardboard box these cards store in is fine, but we doubt it will last long. We’d love to see these cards come with a plastic or metal collectible box, even if it meant paying more.

Final Verdict

5 Out of 5

These cards are zombie works of art that just so happen to be functional premium quality playing cards. If you’re in the market for a unique and affordable zombie gift, this is the perfect idea. We highly recommend picking up a deck or two.

Where to Buy: We scored these for just $2.99 at Target. Finding them locally can be tougher than surviving the zombie apocalypse, so be sure to check the ZombieGift.com product listing for this item.  You can also check your local big box retail store, shop at BicycleCards.com or purchase via amazon using the links below.

The post Zombie Product Review: “Everyday Zombies” Playing Cards from Bicycle Playing Cards appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

You can play cards with any deck. You can buy a cheap deck of paper thin cards and play miserably, or you can spend a couple dollars more and get some high quality playing cards that make the experience enjoyable. Now thanks to Bicycle Cards you can play cards with a high quality deck in a zombie theme! When I saw these at our local Target store the zombie fan in me knew I had to grab them and do a review.

Details: I purchased the Zombie Deck playing card pack for $2.99 each at my local Target Store. You can also find them on Amazon:

Packaging: Each deck is individually wrapped in plastic. Pull off the cellophane strip just like you would on a new pack of cigarettes or chewing gum to remove the plastic wrap.  At this point the only thing standing between you and these awesome zombie playing cuts is U.S. Playing Card sticker seal.

The zombie themed cardboard tuck box features a zombie wearing a suit and tie on the front along with the Bicycle logo.   The zombie theme continues on the back and side of the box as well. Check out the photos below for a closer look:

High Quality: The first thing you’ll notice (other than the amazing zombie artwork) is the quality of these playing cards. The cards are printed on a premium thick stock that seems to be the perfect balance of lightweight and durable.  These cards feature Bicycle’s “air cushion” finish. This textured finish allows for improved handling. This finish allows the cards to glide over one another with ease, making shuffling and fanning out the cards extremely easy.  The same finish allows your fingers to grip the cards better than cheap imitators making these cards functional works of zombie art!

Great Zombie Artwork: These zombie playing cards feature artwork by Todd Brainard. Each of the face cards have been given the zombie treatment and feature a different zombie character on each. To keep things interesting, all of the cards feature fun, funny and helpful tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Some example tips (there are 52 in all) include:

• “Stock the Essentials: Don’t forget the toilet paper.”
• “Keep A Look-Out: Zombies go all night long.”
• “Try to Blend In: Practice your zombie walk”
• “Prepare in Advance: Better opt for cremation.”
• Survival Groups: The ultimate social network”
• And Many More!

Check out more photos of the zombie playing cards below:

What’s Great

Price:  Expect to pay around $3.00 to $6.00 a deck for these depending on where you purchase them. That price makes them a great stocking stuffer, easter basket filler or other affordable zombie gift.
Suitable for all ages:  These zombie cards are cool enough for poker night with the guys and safe enough for playing Go Fish with the kids on game night.

Quality:  These are high quality playing cards in every aspect.

Air Cushion Finish:  Allows you to grip the cards easily. Also let’s the cards to glide over one another almost like they’re on a cushion of air!

Guarantee:  The US Playing Card Company and Bicycle stand behind the quality of their product with a guarantee. If you discover a manufacturing defect in a deck that makes it unsuitable for normal game play just let them know and they’ll replace it as long as your deck isn’t extensively used. Just send them the Ace of Spades and the defective card to them! (See packs for full details.)

Amazing Zombie Artwork:  What zombie fan wouldn’t want want to play with this deck?

Fun Zombie Survival Tips:  They’ll make you laugh and maybe even save your life.

Each Card is Unique:  We fully expected to see the same zombie characters or survival tips recycled and used multiple times in the deck. We were delighted to discover each card is unique!

Meh. (What’s Not So Great)

It’s difficult to find something negative with a high quality and affordable zombie product like this. We we found ourselves disappointed with only a couple aspects of these zombie playing cards.

Availability: We found these decks locally at a Target store for just $2.99 each. Trust me when I say it was luck.  They’re so popular they just don’t stay on store shelves long. Ordering them online is often a better idea if you’re looking to save yourself some time.

Box Quality: We wish the cardboard tuck box would be a better quality. Make no mistakes, it’s a typical quality box. We just know we’ll be using these cards a lot and we can definitely see this box looking like it’s been through the zombie apocalypse in a matter of weeks. A plastic storage box isn’t conventional and isn’t possible at this price level but we can dream. How could would a plastic or metal “collector’s edition” zombie themed storage box be?

Final Verdict

5 out of 5

In the end there really isn’t much to complain about here. These are high quality playing cards with awesome zombie artwork. The affordable price makes recommending these zombie playing cards incredibly easy. These are a must buy for any zombie fan!

Where to Buy: You can check your local Target Store or other big box store but these can be hard to find locally. Check the listing for this zombie product at ZombieGift.com for other options or just save yourself a bunch of time and buy via amazon using the links below!

The post Zombie Product Review: Zombie Playing Cards From Bicycle Cards appeared first on ZombieGift.com Zombie Blog.

A couple of weeks ago we told you about the upcoming officially licensed The Walking Dead survival kit. The folks at First My Family, LLC have collaborated with AMC to bring to market an honest to goodness fully functional three day emergency survival kit. We’ve been lucky enough to obtain an advance sample of this upcoming product for review. We know what you might be thinking at first glance and you’re wrong; this is not a novelty item.

Each Walking Dead survival kit contains enough emergency supplies for two people to comfortably survive nearly any disaster situation for 72 hours. The best part is it’s all packaged in a very cool military style messenger bag screenprinted with a custom The Walking Dead survival kit logo.

For those of you with a short attention span, here’s what each kit includes at a glance:

• Exclusive Limited Edition – AMC The Walking Dead “We’re Survivors” patch given to the first 10,000 pre-orders. (Not included with our kit)
•  High end durable canvas military style messenger bag with brass fittings
• Front flap of the bag is screen printed with a custom Walking Dead survival kit logo.
• 1 – Lifegear Glow LED flashlight with a life up to 400 hours in flash mode
• 1 – Large 85 piece Lifeline First Aid Kit
• 2 – Datrex 2400 Calorie Emergency Food Rations (Vacuum Sealed foil pouch stays fresh for up to 5 years.)
• 12 – Datrex 4.22 oz. Emergency water foil pouches. (Shelf life up to 5 years.)
• 2- Emergency Ponchos
• 2- Emergency Mylar Space Blankets
• 1- Box of Waterproof matches (Where permitted by law.)
• 1- Pair of leather palm work gloves
• 4- Face Masks
• 2- 12 hour SnapLight glow sticks

So what did we think about the actual kit we received? Let’s take a detailed look at the contents of our kit and whether we think we could survive the first 72 hours of the zombie apocalypse with only this at our side.

First Thoughts:

When we first received our kit, the first thing that struck us was the weight. The bag weighs more than you might initially imagine. It looks light but weighs in around 10 pounds or so. It’s not a heavy bag, but it is heavier than you’d think when you first pick it up. We pulled the hook and loop closure loose on the front flap and then flipped it up to unzip the main compartment. We quickly realized the source of at least three pounds of weight: the dozen 4.22 oz foil pouches of Datrex emergency water.

Overall the messenger bag feels very high quality and is honestly a better quality than we were expecting. The strap, zippers, pulls and snaps and closures feel like they’re strong enough to last a long time. The screen printing looks nice with just a hint of a distressed look to it. All of the contents of the kit are sealed and contain expiration dates where relevant. Not a bad first impression but you should know we aren’t going to settle for taking things at face value.  Let’s take a closer look at everything.

Messenger Bag:

The crown jewel of this kit will be the bag for most zombie fans. Like we said, we were surprised by the quality of the messenger bag that holds the entire contents of this kit. We were honestly expecting a thin economy canvas bag with little functionality. That is certainly not the case.  Instead the contents of the officially licensed AMC The WalkingDead survival kit is housed in a rugged bag that retails by itself for nearly $50.00. (That’s without the exclusive Walking Dead screen printing!)

The bag is a seven pocket classic military style messenger bag from Rapid Dominance that honestly feels like it can take a beating. The bag is constructed of heavy duty 100% cotton canvas. All of the seams appear to be reinforced and the bag features antique style brass buckles, snaps and rivets. The zippers feel like they are high quality. Overall the bag feels like it could stand up to years of everyday use. It may even hold up if you need to shove it in a zombie’s face a few times to make a hasty escape.

The bag measures approximately 19″ wide by 14-1/2″ high by 7″ deep. The main storage compartment measures about 15″ wide by 11″ high by 5″ deep. If that isn’t enough storage space for you there are two zippered front pockets, 2 side pockets with button closures, an internal zipper pocket and an external back pocket with hook and loop closure.  The fully adjustable 2″ wide carrying strap allows you to wear this bag over the shoulder very comfortably even when fully loaded. With all of the space in the bag you have room to store the kit and then some.

The roomy main zippered compartment is lined with polyester for extra durability.  This is where the majority of the survival kit items are stored. Bulky items like the water pouches, first aid kit, flashlight and food rations were stowed in this zippered compartment with our kit.   The zippered front pockets are great for storing small items that you don’t want lost but still need quick access to. This is the perfect place for ammunition, keys, a compass, a knife, your wallet, money or other important items you need to keep handy. The ponchos and emergency space blankets are stored here in our kit. The bag is surprisingly spacious and it swallows the entire contents of the included three day survival kit with room to spare.

Overall we love the bag and we’d probably still like it even without the cool Walking Dead logo plastered on the front.  We can honestly picture ourselves using this bag for everyday use.  It would make a great durable bag for school, work or play.  First My Family might be wise to look into offering the bag separately for $60.00 or so in the future but that’s just our opinion.

Check out some more photos of the bag below:

We did have a few complaints with the bag, but they’re all matters of personal preference. A handle on top of the bag would make it much more versatile in “get up and go” type survival situations. A top handle would require some sort of buckles on the front of the bag instead of the hook and loop style closures that reside there now. This would compromise the easy accessibility the front pouch currently affords but it’s a trade off we’d be willing to accept. We like the idea of a durable handle in addition to the shoulder strap because it allows you to grab your bag and move quickly without the need to loop things over your shoulder. It also makes tossing the bag over a fence or into a vehicle much easier.

Secondly we’d like to see actual embroidery on the front of the bag instead of the screen printing. The Walking Dead survival kit logo would look killer embroidered and it would add to the collectibility and desirability of this kit for fans. This obviously would do nothing to improve this kit from a survivability standpoint, so we won’t hold that against it  in our review.

To read more about the contents of the kit and what we thought. Read on!

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