Kismet Reviews Mystery Dice Goblin Offerings
Recently, I was contacted by the kind people at Mystery Dice Goblin, and they offered to send me some of their dice in exchange for a review. This is the first time a shop has contacted me thus, so I wanted to be sure they were legit first. I visited their website and found it well organized and fast-loading, with sections for dice, accessories, gifts, subscription boxes, game resources, and wholesale offerings. I was able to find good reviews elsewhere, including entries on Trustpilot, so I agreed to give their products a go. And even though they're in England, the package arrived in Los Angeles in good time and in good shape!
(Ouija board novelty dice tray not from Mystery Dice Goblin)
I received the It's Fine I'm Fine Cat Pin and the Sarcasm +5 Pin, and I like them both a lot! They're not very heavy so they probably won't drag down or rip through whatever material you put them in. They feel sturdy, though, which is important because I can be a bit hard on my things without meaning to be. I don't see them breaking easily. The safety pin clutch on the back isn't too hard to pull off but grips well, so the pin should stay in place. The colors on the cat pin pop nicely, but the sarcasm pin is a little light on the ink and may be harder to make out at a distance.
The Dice
I also received 3 mystery dice pouches, each with a reusable zip closure. Since the pouch's design fully obscures what's inside, I had to open them to see what I got and what they're like. I was pleased that each pouch had a full set (1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20, and 1 percentile die), and they were unique from each other, which was cool. They all seem to roll decently well, which is always nice.
It appears that they're all from Mystery Dice Goblin's resin/acrylic offerings, and that's probably why they're so light. One of the first things that struck me was how light they felt in my hands. If you're worried about heavy dice leaving dings on a surface, like a table, these are the dice for you!
The first set I saw had marbelized gray dice with black numbers. These dice might be difficult to read from a distance, but they're sleek-lookng and give off a masculine vibe. (I asked my husband where the Axe body spray was to go with them and he laughed.) The dice also have a slightly different tactile feel than the others; I'm not sure why, but I like the feel of them. I couldn't find the set listed in their current offerings online, so they could be phased out.
The turquoise mist dice set has such vivid colors and good constrast that it really pops into view! The marbelized turquoise surface is lovely, and gold stylized font works well on it. Even though the font face isn't standard, the numbers are big and still easy to read.
The clown multi-colored dice set isn't one I would have chosen, but it's currently sold out on their site, so there's definitely an audience out there for it! (You can sign up at Mystery Goblin's site to be notified when a particular set is back in stock, by the way.) As multicolored dice on a white background, they do stand out! Some of the numbers are difficult to decipher because of the colors splotched more heavily on some sides, but some of the faces are easy to read.
All in all, they're fun and useable and worth the asking price. You can see each set in the slideshow above!
The Website
I asked about buying some of their enamel pins because they looked fun and I was curious about what the buying process was like. They simply added two of their best-sellers to the package and sent it off, which was very nice but also means that I can't tell you what purchasing through their site is like. They offer chat and email 24/7, take many forms of payment, and offer to replace items damaged during shipping, though, which should help the buying experience go well.
I was glad to see good reviews and ratings on their site via Etsy, though the reviews on individual pages aren't necessarily related to the item you're looking at - they're reviews for items site-wide. I couldn't find a way to track reviews for particular items. Descriptions are easy to read and understand, with minor errors, usually in capitalization.
Dice
While the dice pages spell out which dice and sizes you should expect in your order, the descriptions don't specify what individual sets are made of, such as the type of metal. This doesn't make a difference to me but may to others. They specialize in complete dice sets for Dungeons and Dragons, with the usual lineup of 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20, and 1 percentile die. You can order mystery dice in one or two scoops, and it seems like those scoops will include dice from various sets.
Their Mystery Dice section includes a variety of amusing options:
Order mystery dice sets like the ones I received.
Be brave and order by the scoop if you want mixed dice.
Try some novelty dice, such as the Dice of Disappointment.
Grab holiday-themed sets.
Pick up party packs for game nights.
Use their bulk rates for 10, 15, or 20 sets.
One thing that impressed me is that most of their sets offer good contrast and should be easy to read. Some of their sets come in a stylized font that looks good without obscuring the numbers. So chances are good you won't be squinting at the dice, trying to figure out if you're looking at at 3 or an 8 because a fancy font makes them appear too similar.
There are some exceptions, of course. Their filled dice and multi-colored sets seem harder to read than most other types. Their sharp dice remind me of Vegas-style edges, which means they really do look sharp, so be careful, because it won't take much for them to turn into nastier-than-usual caltrops! The prices are reasonable for what you get - including their metal sets, which often cost a lot more than standard - with some items clearly marked down for sale.
Accessories
In their Bags, Mats & Trays section, I liked the dice trays they offer, which are foldable leather with snaps to give them structure; they seem ideal for gamers who travel for their sessions and want to keep their load light. The stitching and textures of their leather goods looked good in the pictures, as well, which is always important with leather items.
They have some very fun pins in their Enamel Pins section that would make great, affordable gifts for your group. They have designs for enamel pins that would make good stickers but don't seem to be available in sticker form (and vice versa). Maybe sometime in the future, they'll match them up and let users know the designs are available in different formats.
Since they mention sending stickers with some orders and they offer over 50 designs, I was a bit surprised that they don't have a stickers sub-section under Accessories, but you can find them through the search box. It would really help them to update the images which show their stickers a few at a time. Some of the images are darker than others, which is probably just due to lighting but might make buyers wary of ordering. The stickers are numbered but their dimensions aren't included, though they really should be. It's nice that you can specify which ones you want or order groups of random selections, however. For the record, I like stickers and want them to be easy to buy!
In the final tally, I'm glad to know about Mystery Dice Goblin and can see myself ordering from them in the future. Thank you for the chance to try and review your goods, Mystery Dice Goblin!
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