Bladebox Equipment Subscription

[FigureSpins]

I saw a promo for this on FB and it's a little short on details, but you can buy a monthly subscription to receive hand-picked FS equipment and accessories.  I had expected it to be a mail-order sharpening or skate maintenance service, but I was wrong.  Sort of like the old Columbia House Records subscription, I guess, where they send you random cassettes but I don't see anything that says you can send back the items if you don't want/like them. 

https://mybladebox.net

The prices range from $35 to $125 per month, but they have a one-year subscription options for a little less.  The yearly subscription includes one free box, so it's a 13-month subscription.  I hate subscriptions, so it's not for me at all, but I have to wonder: what's in the box at each price point? 

Tights? Socks? Laces?

I dunno ... new guards once a year?  Sure.  Every quarter?  Nah, unless you give them away or split the subscription with other skaters.

What do you think?

[AgnesNitt]

And the skates in the ad are nasty.

[MCsAngel2]

This seems like an odd idea.

[tstop4me]

And the skates in the ad are nasty.

As is the ice surface in the ad.  What image of figure skating is the company trying to project?  Down and dirty, instead of elegant and refined?  If so, they should be offerring mystery boxes for hockey instead.   

This seems like an odd idea.

This seems to me like a really, really dumb idea.  Mystery boxes for figure skaters at $35 - $125 per month?  I wonder whether they did any market testing at all. 

On the other hand, if the offers were to include private sessions with Dorothy Hamill, I'd be game.  And if they were to include private sessions with Peggy Fleming, I'm sure Bill would be game.   

[Bill_S]

Did someone say Peggy Fleming - 

Concering Bladebox - I'd probably end up with pick scrunchies, or sparkly blade protectors. No thanks.

[FigureSpins]

 

[MCsAngel2]

As is the ice surface in the ad.  What image of figure skating is the company trying to project?  Down and dirty, instead of elegant and refined?  If so, they should be offerring mystery boxes for hockey instead.   

This seems to me like a really, really dumb idea.  Mystery boxes for figure skaters at $35 - $125 per month?  I wonder whether they did any market testing at all. 

On the other hand, if the offers were to include private sessions with Dorothy Hamill, I'd be game.  And if they were to include private sessions with Peggy Fleming, I'm sure Bill would be game.   

Hahahahahahahahaha. Make that Torvill & Dean or Scott Hamilton or Brian Boitano and I will agree with you.

I just wonder who they're targeting? Don't tell me I'm the only adult skater, with money to spend, who already threw a couple K down on skates and accessories and stuff just to start out. I don't have anything left to buy.

[tstop4me]

Hahahahahahahahaha. Make that Torvill & Dean or Scott Hamilton or Brian Boitano and I will agree with you.

I just wonder who they're targeting? Don't tell me I'm the only adult skater, with money to spend, who already threw a couple K down on skates and accessories and stuff just to start out. I don't have anything left to buy.

I don't think adult skaters will bite.  Maybe parents with excess bucks who wish to indulge young girls?  When my daughter was little, she loved surprizees (she's all grown up now, and she still does).

Subscriptions, particularly for mystery boxes, can make sense when you want to constantly explore new varieties of items or activities that you normally wouldn't on your own:  CDs and DVDs (in the old days), books, toys, games, science projects, arts and crafts, cook-it-yourself meals, wines ....  Subscriptions can also make sense for products that you consume on a regular basis:  medicines, food, cleaning supplies, cosmetics ....

But gear for figure skating?  I don't get it.

[FigureSpins]

I remember, years ago, someone from at an ISI conference told us that the winner of their local challenge series had a winner-take-all attitude.  Her family spent something like $10k that year on a non-qualifying skating competitions.  She didn't compete in US Figure Skating competitions, it was all about winning this (really: recreational) competition series.

I've met parents who buy whatever is new and fashionable.  It's a way of competing off-ice with status symbols and appearances.  I once remarked that light-up hard guards don't make the skater skate better and that money would be better spent on more practice.  Someone overheard the comment and said "it makes my daughter feel confident, so it's worth the price."  Ohhhkaaay.  Same woman whose daughter wore a $200 blinged-out skating dress for a Pre-Preliminary Moves test where everyone else was wearing their synchro jackets and skating pants.

[Query]

I imagine a rich relative who didn't understand skating buying this for someone who skates, without realizing that tastes and needs vary.

Perhaps you get a new pair of laces. Or boot cleanser and polish. Things the skater whose boots are shown in the ad might appreciate.

Now - if a "blade box" included new blades every month... But that would cost more, and sizes vary. But some skaters have tried so many blades that a "Blade of the month club" might be perfect.

I used to belong to a student-age book of the month club. But I got to choose from a selection of books.