New teams, a foray into college sports and boxes for smaller fans are all part of FANCHEST’s current plan.
A company that offers a box full of fully licensed sports items sent directly to your home or as a gift for the sports fan in your life sounds like a great idea. So great, in fact, that FANCHEST is already doing it.
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: FANCHEST is not a subscription box service. Unlike other companies that work by delivering assortments of gear and other goodies on a recurring basis, FANCHEST is a completely commitment-free shipment that is sold as a one-time purchase — though the assortment of products does rotate every few months to allow for repeat buys.
What is similar to competing products is the curation aspect. The company provides base level boxes for $59 that contain five items from a specific sports team ranging from apparel (a t-shirt is almost always part of the deal, meaning you’ll need to provide a size) to memorabilia to household items. Everything in the box is officially licensed, and the value guarantee is that the items will add up to at least $80 retail.
For those seeking something even more special and a bit more high-end, FANCHEST also has boxes that go for $159 and up that feature a similar assortment of goods but also include an autographed memorabilia item (picture, puck, mini helmet, etc.) from a specific past or present player from that team. For example, there are Dallas Cowboys FANCHEST boxes with a Troy Aikman signed mini helmet ($249) or one signed by Dak Prescott ($329).
To get an idea of what is inside the typical FANCHEST, FanSided opened up one of the current Seattle Seahawks standard boxes.
Inside was:
- An officially licensed Seahawks t-shirt
- A Riddell mini helmet
- A multi-use decal by WinCraft
- A Seahawks rally towel
- A drawstring backpack by Northwest
Assuming a retail price of $30 for the t-shirt, which is pretty standard for NFL team gear, the FANCHEST definitely surpassed the $59.99 price in terms of value.
Until now, the one drawback to the company’s selection was that its overall lineup was limited to just a few NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams, and the boxes catered exclusively to adults. That’s no longer the case, as FANCHEST has added baby and youth (with products targeting fans ages 7-12) boxes for certain teams.
And it’s branching out into NCAA boxes, beginning with the Florida Gators. Options there include adult, baby, youth and student boxes, as well as high-end shipments with mini helmets autographed by Tim Tebow or Steve Spurrier.
As FANCHEST continues to expand its existing product lines — adding five more NHL teams plus the Cleveland Cavaliers this week — it also wants to hear from the fans to see which teams they want to see next. It’s hard to put the sports fan experience into a box, but FANCHEST manages to do it as well as anyone out there right now.
Disclosure: FanSided was provided with a complimentary Seattle Seahawks FANCHEST II for the review portion of this article.