After more than five months of frustrating delays, Star Trek Mission Crate subscribers have now received their second shipment from Loot Crate, which has a nominal theme of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “The Way of the Warrior.”

As you might remember from our previous reporting back in June, Star Trek Mission Crate subscribers have endured significant delays, and Loot Crate hasnot met a single one of their shipping estimates. While subscribers who opted to renew their subscription bi-monthly have just been charged for the fifth Mission Crate, the second is only just reaching their doorsteps.

The third Mission Crate, themed to the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Dark Frontier,” is listed as ‘TBD’ on LootCrate’s shipping calendar, as is the fourth crate (for which no theme has been announced despite the order window closing nearly two months ago.)

Needless to say, the Mission Crate experience has been a mess, and as a subscriber, I opted to cancel my subscription before the fifth Mission Crate was charged to my credit card. The company has made repeated promises about getting back the shipping schedule back on track, but have failed to meet every one of those promises to subscribers to date.

I cannot recommend the Star Trek Mission Crate to new subscribers based on the customer experience, and despite impressive contents in the first Mission Crate, I cannot recommend a subscription based on the contents of this one either.

Everything about this Mission Crate has a feeling of not quite being right, which given the company took an extra five months in order to ship to customers, is unacceptable. Whereas the packaging for the first Mission Crate was impressive, the box that arrived this time around is relatively plain and unassuming.

I also cannot help but note that the box is labeled as Star Trek: The Next Generation, when the crate’s theme is Deep Space Nine. These kinds of errors would not matter if the crates were shipping on time – after all, it is just the box – but this careless attention to detail compounded with a five-month delay translates into the feeling that Loot Crate just doesn’t care all that much about the product they are shipping to their customers.

The Way of the Warrior Mission Crate contains six physical items (plus a Star Trek Online redemption code), with most having some kind of Klingon connection, though it does not feel like the crate ties into “The Way of the Warrior” as neatly as the previous “The Best of Both Worlds” crate did to those episodes — and in this box, all the ‘big ticket’ items have all been earlier available for separate purchase through QMx’s website, really reducing the feeling of exclusivity to the delivery.

Most notably, there was no starship miniature included with this crate. Last time, two models were included – the Locutus of Borg mini-master figure and the Enterprise-D starship model. It seems odd that Loot Crate would not have included a Defiant model, given its prominence in “The Way of the Warrior,” and its absence contributes to my feeling that this crate is very underwhelming.

Worf Mini-Master – The standout piece from the box is far and away the Word mini-master figure, produced by QMx. The figure depicts Worf, in season 5-7 Deep Space Nine uniform, swinging a bat’leth over his head. The likeness to Michael Dorn is decent, and the action pose is welcome given that sometimes these static figures can feel not very dynamic.

While I really like the figure, I also feel like I cannot give all that much credit to receiving it through my Loot Crate subscription. Owing to the significant delays in shipping, this figure has been available for at least a month directly from QMx’s website, and a number of vendors were stocking them at Star Trek Las Vegas earlier this month. There’s nothing special about receiving an item that is already on the open market.

Mirror Universe Tribble – The Mission Crate’s most unusual item is a plush mirror tribble, a non-canon depiction of what a tribble from the Mirror Universe might look like – complete with fangs. While it’s a nice item, it feels like this was something that a licensee had significantly overstocked, and is now being pawned off on Star Trek Mission Crate subscribers — this one’s also been on sale through QMx for some time.

However, while I might not care for it all that much, I am happy to report that my cat finds it very engaging!

Klingon Socks – The Enterprise t-shirt included in the previous Mission Crate has become a favorite of mine, and I am hoping the same is true of this pair of socks with the Klingon emblem adorned on them.

Klingon Emblem Badge – The second-best item in the crate following the Worf mini-master figure is the QMx Klingon emblem badge, a recent release by the company which we first saw at Toy Fair in February, and debuted at Star Trek Las Vegas.

The badge pairs well with the Star Trek: Discovery division badge that was received in the previous crate, and shares the same magnetic clasp that is durable enough to ensure you aren’t worried about it slipping off — you can also get it from QMx’s web shop.

Klingon Sticker – Like many items in the box, this Klingon symbol sticker is smaller, flimsier, and less impressive than the “Resistance is Futile” decal received in the first Mission Crate.

Star Trek: Discovery Lapel Pin – The Star Trek: Discovery lapel pin is the final tangible item in the box. A nice, small way of showing off your Discovery fandom, but very similar to the larger badge that we received in the previous crate — this made its debut from QMx in the summer of 2017 and is available from their shop.

After having received the Way of the Warrior Mission Crate, I have no regrets about canceling my Star Trek Mission Crate subscription. The customer service experience for this product has been excruciating and having finally received the items they are underwhelming to say the least.

I sincerely hope, particularly for those subscribers who paid for a full year’s subscription up front, that the remaining Mission Crates return to schedule and meet their expectations. However, given the company’s track record to date, I’m not holding my breath.

Should you wish to get more information about the Star Trek Mission Crate, you can do so over at their website — but as of this writing, Loot Crate appears to have suspended new sign-ups for the Mission Crate line and listed it as “Sold Out.”

We will see what the future holds for this initiative — but if any more of the promised boxes arrive, you can be sure to find reviews of each delivery here at TrekCore.