June Chicago Cubs Sports Crate Review

Rejoice, my June Sports Crate is finally here! There was a lot of rigmarole related to this shipment, hence why I'm reviewing it in July. Keep reading for more on that...

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love!

Sports Crate is a part of the Loot Crate family and the MLB Edition is available for the following teams: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals (boo), San Francisco Giants, and the Texas Rangers.

Crates are $39.99 per month for 5-7 officially licensed, team-specific items valued at $80+. They also have a Season Pass option available for $179.99. The Season Pass is only available through July 31st, so sign up quickly if you want to go that route. But you might want to read on before you decide to go that route.

Anyway, there are five Crates total (May-September) and the Season Pass will afford you 10% off the monthly price, an additional MLB Action Figure, and two entries into the Golden Ticket sweepstakes each month (instead of just one with the monthly subscription option). One subscriber for each team option will get a Golden Ticket in their box that's good for exclusive team experiences, like on field tours and more.

Okay: June Crate drama. Crates are supposed to ship the third week of the month and take about a week to arrive (the website says 1-2 weeks, but last month mine only took four days). The end of the third week of June rolled around and I had no box. No one else did, either. Everyone took to social media and was asking Sports Crate what was going on, but no answers were given at first. Very frustrating, especially since I signed up for the Season Pass option and couldn't cancel!

Sports Crate did finally release a statement via email saying that the Crates were held up because one of the items was delayed in production, thus delaying shipments. That's fine, I understand stuff happens; however, Sports Crate should have told us all this as soon as they knew. I find it hard to believe that they didn't have this information sooner than when they sent out that email.

One other thing that was bothering me was that I never received my FedEx tracking number for June's box. I just assumed they didn't send out tracking numbers, but then I learned that some people got tracking and Sports Crate also kept referencing tracking numbers on Twitter, etc. I contacted them via their Customer Service form and received a non answer first, but then when I reached out via Twitter they told me there was a glitch in the system that caused some tracking emails to not be sent out. Apparently that glitch is still not fixed because I never got an email with tracking until I contacted them (AGAIN!) via their contact form. Only then did I finally receive my tracking number.

So, like I said in the beginning of this post, rigmarole! Nonsense! Overall it's frustrating because I know Sports Crate is from Loot Crate and they've been around for a while, so I feel they should be experienced enough to have better customer service than this. I hope there are no delays with future boxes.

All that craziness aside, I really liked the June Sports Crate! I wasn't sure about the "Behind the Plate" theme when it was released as a spoiler because I was afraid it would be full of items for grilling and I don't grill. But the items were much better this month than in May and I was happy with most of them.

What item was kind of a bummer? The one pictured above. Each month's box will feature an exclusive BALLERS Collectible Figure, and this month's box featured catchers. I was really, really hoping for a Willson Contreras figure because he's so exciting to watch and one of my favorite new Cubs. Nope. We got Miguel Montero, which is especially funny now because Miggy is no longer a Cub. He was recently DFA'd and is now with the Toronto Blue Jays. Oops!

There is also a matching Topps Trading Card of Miggy to go along with the figure. I do really like these figures and they're one of the main reasons I subscribed.

• Cubs Barbecue Oven Mitt - I love this! The info card says it's great for summer barbecues and grilling, but as I said, I don't grill. I do cook things in the oven a lot, though, and this oven mitt is so much more fun than the plain black one I was using before.
• Frosted Novelty Glasses - The fact that these are called "novelty glasses" made me laugh. They're clearly shot glasses, but I understand that the other name is more PC. I also like the description in the info card: "No matter how you decide to use these glasses at your Behind the Dish party, remember that anything is worth a shot." So Sports Crate is in on the joke, too. I like the frosted glass and that they came as a set of two.
• The Home Plate Bottle Opener and Coaster - These are really unique and I like the multipurpose design. The home plate shape is fun and I like that they're made of plastic (or acrylic maybe, I don't know) and not wood or cork because then the water doesn't seep through and get all soggy all over my table. I'm currently resting my water cup on one of these as I type this review.

• Cubs Flag - This is my favorite item this month. I feel like you should always have a team flag available. I have a Cubs flag hanging up in my cubicle at work, and now I have one for home, too. I wanted to buy a W flag, but since I live in New York and the Cubs aren't as popular I didn't want my neighbors to see a white flag with a W in the middle and get the wrong idea. Also, I don't have a flag pole or anything so I have this hanging in my bedroom, so I guess my neighbors seeing anything is a moot point. I like the bear logo and shattered design. At first I didn't get why it said "Chicago Homestand" on it, but the info card says you can display this at a barbecue, like at your homestand.

Here are more up-close views of the Miggy Montero BALLERS figure. I think these are well-made and fun collectibles, especially since they're exclusive to Sports Crate. As you can see, they have lots of points of articulation (21 to be exact) so you can place them in to all different poses. Currently I have Miggy and Jon Lester from May's box on my bookshelf with their torsos turned around backwards because I'm weird like that.

• Visit Sports Crate to subscribe

Bottom Line: I am much happier with the June Sports Crate than I was with May's. I have to admit, May's was kind of underwhelming and I was starting to think I made a mistake purchasing the Season Pass, but this box gives me more hope. Plus, next month's BALLERS figure is Kris Bryant so I'm excited for that!