By Even if you’re not a fan of all things Nintendo, there are very few people out there that wouldn’t appreciate a little Super Mario and that beloved theme song we all know and love. When I was growing up, the Nintendo game consoles were always my favourite so I’m sure it comes to no surprise that I love collecting games and toys related to Mario and the rest of the Nintendo gang.
When I saw the Super Mario Collector’s Tin in Toys R Us, I knew I had to have it just for the sake of having the tin. I wasn’t even very concerned about what was actually in the tin because I thought the tin was absolutely adorable and that it would be perfect for storing my small-sized retro games, like my Game Boy games. When I took a closer look, I was pleased to see that the tin came with some goodies such as an exclusive trading card, an exclusive delux dog tag, 3 dog tag & foil card bling bags, and a poster. The tin was about £10 here in the UK, which is about $15 in the US, and I think this is a pretty good deal considering that the cost of buying the individual items would cost more than the tin.
The Tin
The tin itself is 6” tall, just under 8” wide, and 3.5” deep. One side of the tin has Mario’s face on it and the other side had Luigi’s face on it. I have seen one another variation of this tin online with Yoshi’s face and Mario’s face, so they may vary. Alone the edges of the tin is a film-reel design with other characters faces such as Kamek, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Roy Koopa, Toad, Goomba, Koopa, Peach, and Yoshi. I think the tin is a great size and looks absolutely great.
Exclusive Content
Exclusive to this Super Mario Collector’s Tin is a Delux Toad Dog Tag, which is a silver coloured dog tag with a toad engraved on it. Also exclusive to this particular tin is a foil Super Mario Bros. U Luigi Card. From what I have seen, all the tins with Mario and Luigi’s faces will have the Delux Toad Dog Tag as well as the exclusive foil Luigi card. Although I’m not particularly a card or dog tag collector, I think it’s nice to see that the exclusive items are of original characters that we are all familiar with.
In addition to the exclusive dog tag and card, we get three Super Mario Dog Tag bling bags and a poster.
The bling bags each contain one dog tag, one foil trading card, one decal sticker, and a checklist of the 24 different dog tags you can collect, not including the gold ones. For those that collect these dog tags anyways, this tin is a real score. Even as someone who does not actively collect these dog tags, I think the dog tags look really nice and I would be more than happy to include them in my collection. I was very lucky to get the three characters I always pick, and even luckier to get a rare gold dog tag, which is meant to be in every 8 tins that were made.
I feel the same about the foil cards as I do about the dog tags. Although I do not actively collect them, I think they were made well and I will be adding them to my collection.
I was actually surprised by my response to the decal stickers. I thought I wouldn’t really have a reaction or care much for them, but I actually think they’re really cute and will be finding a nice place for them. I think the 8-Bit characters look particularly good, as it’s always nice to have anything that screams retro.
The poster. Oh dear, the poster. The poster is 21” x 16” and is actually a really great image. It had so much potential, but because it’s folded into a tin, it won’t really look all that great if you want to put it onto the wall. It’s been folded 4 times and the folds are machine folds, which means they are very deep and very noticeable. The poster is absolutely great if the folds don’t bother you and would look great in any game room. Unfortunately the folds really bother me, which means the poster won’t make it onto my wall, but since the actual image is really nice, I will find a way to include it in the background of my toy display to enhance my display 🙂
I think this Super Mario Collector’s Tin is absolutely great and I recommend it for any Nintendo lover. I wouldn’t say I have a complaint, my only recommendation for this tin is that it would have been nice to see an exclusive toy of some sort, even if it was just a little figure. I was lucky enough to get one of the gold dog tags which made it a little more special, but not every tin will have one. Nonetheless, as I stated before, it’s the tin that is gorgeous and I would have happily bought the tin on its own. So if you’re a fan of Super Mario or Nintendo in general, go to your local Toys R Us or do a quick search online and you should have no trouble getting your hands on one of these yourselves.