Man Crates, gifts for guys from bacon to bourbon & beyond

Hey we received a Man Crate for review. All thoughts are our own. The name Man Crates in interesting and it kind of makes you smile, doesn’t it? Because at the end of the day, most guys will not tell you what they want, yet they sometimes need gifts. Man Crates seeks to fill that gifting void by providing packaged crates packed with all manner of man. Think of something that a guy likes to do and there is a Man Crate for it.

We chose the Retro Gamer crate to try. True to the mantra of Man Crates a wooden crate arrived that was shipped in a cardboard box. It even has its own pry par to jimmy the top of the crate. Simply take out your hammer and start swinging.

The presentation is one of the big moments of Man Crates. It’s different, fun, has a solid, wooden presence that you can feel and it makes noise. Our kids loved the fact that I had to use a hammer and pry bar to open it. In their minds it must have seemed like I was opening up a relic from a museum.

And in a way I was, except it was the inverse of the final scene in Raiders. The Retro Gamer crate had eight candies that were popular back in the day, a retro-bit NES Console and two classic Nintendo games.  The mistake I made was opening the crate in the presence of my children, who promptly tried to divide up the candy between them. Spoiler alert: they failed and dad ate the majority of it.

The NES Console was a blast from the past. My Millipede skills are still intact, but not quite as acute as they were in 1984. Hooking up the system to our television was simple and went directly into the USB port in the back of the television.

The cord that connects the hand controllers to the NES Console were frustrating short though. It’s a modern convenience that we can play video games without the constraint of cords and that’s the one area of the toy that was frustrating. While it’s cool to like things from back in the day, the cordless aspect of video game play is a welcome one indeed.

Our experience with Man Crates was really good. Now that I know how the presentation works and what to expect I would opt for one of the other crates, like a jerky, snack or cooking crate. If you’re thinking about getting one, don’t be seduced by the coolness of the product because the presentation, in addition to the product has a greater impact.

They also have very prompt customer service. There was an initial problem with our NES Console and a replacement was received within three days of our email.

Man Crate has grown their product line since you saw them last. Now they also have Jerky Grams, Project Kids and Ammo Cans as options. The Ammo Cans are delivered in NATO spec. ammunition cases are air tight, water proof and are virtually indestructible.  On their site you can search for gifts according to interest, hobbies and several of them offer personalized touches, such as drinking glasses.