My April 2016 Owlcrate vs Uppercase is here!!! 

If you've seen my instagram photos, you know what's in there, but I still want to share my thoughts and comparison on the two.

Image from Owlcrate Facebook

OWLCRATE:  A monthly subscription box service. Every month, a theme is chosen (for the month of April, it's 'Dystopia'), and a carefully selected brand new Young Adult novel (new or soon to be released), along with 3-5 bookish items to keep. Many times, they will work with designers to custom design something exclusively for Owlcrate to tie into the month's theme. You can order personal or gift subscriptions starting with 1, 3 or 6 months at $29.99 + shipping for one month. Subscribing to several months at a time will save you a little more money. More plan options are available online.




UPPERCASE:  A monthly subscription box service. Every month a carefully selected brand new Young Adult novel (new or soon to be released) that includes a signed bookplate (or signed in the book) by the author.  Along with the book,  1-2 "high quality" custom and exclusive bookish items to keep.  There's also a bookmark/card with exclusive content and special reading experience related to the month's book that you can check out online (link and password provided on said bookmark/card). A special handwritten and personalized note about the book or the items.  Typically there is no theme, but this month, a little teaser was out for Harry Potter fans. Now that is one good spoiler! Like Owlcrate, it is available in a various quantity of months you choose. The difference is that with Uppercase, you are able to choose a subscription of just the book (Book Exclusive Plan - $17 + sh) or the book with the goodies (Expert Plan - $23 + sh).



Now let's get to it! The first Owlcrate vs Uppercase comparison!

APRIL 2016





-  Owlcrate's Dystopia Theme Card
-  Brand new Flawed by Cecelia Ahern
-  A letter from the author and exclusive mini poster
-  Shatter Me inspired coaster designed by Evie Bookish
-  The Hunger Games inspired minimalist magnets from Half Blood Prints
- Notebook from Manuscript featured artwork from the UK 1st ed. of 1984 by George Orwell
- Mockingjay bracelet from The Geeky Cauldron
- Wicked decal created by Shailey Ann Designs inspired from The Maze Runner
- Quote card from The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi





MY THOUGHTS

At a glance, what do you think? Which one would you choose?  How about a more detailed comparison?



PACKAGING:




BOOK:


There was a slight mix-up and Uppercase never sent my 'box' out. So they had to rush it to me, and therefore I didn't get the nice little note with the list of items in the 'box'. Also the personal note was a tad simple. I've always loved Owlcrate's note cards with such pretty designs and the back providing a little more than a list of items. 




BOOKISH THINGS:





Lets see. The Magical Thinking notebook from Uppercase has lined paper, whereas the 1984 from Owlcrate consist of blank pages. Both usable for different tasks. And both designs and quality are decent.  The Uppercase Harry Potter quote poster is adorable and would be lovely to frame. However, it was folded in half to fit in the 'box', giving it a very prominent crease line that won't be easy to get rid of, or fix. The corners are a little wrinkled inward due to the fact that the 'box' is a bag. Owlcrate's The Star Touched Queen quote card is beautiful and will frame nicely.  I LOVE the Harry Potter bookmarks from Uppercase.  The I Read YA pin arrived damaged (pin broken on back), so it's not usable.  And that's all from Uppercase this month.  Even though Owlcrate includes several more items, they don't really excite me.  The Mockingjay bracelet from The Geeky Cauldron was on my radar, but I was sorely disappointed with the quality. It was cheaply made, and the latch was flimsy.  Evie's coaster would be a great addition, but the printing was not superb. If you blow up the picture, you can see streaks, and it being a coaster, I assume it will be able to withstand moisture. This coaster doesn't seem like it will. It really is just there to look pretty.  As to the vinyl decal or the magnet, I'm not super thrill about either.  With that said, even for the extra items from Owlcrate, I'd say a DRAW here, because nothing really stood out, except Hagrid & Buckbeak's bookmark. 






Well, honestly, I'm a little disappointed with both boxes. Possibly, it is due to having high expectations based on the previous month and this month's theme.  So, for the month of April, since I'm a fan of signed books and out of the two boxes' bookish items, I loved the Harry Potter bookmarks the most, Uppercase it is.