The New Kapowwe Mystery Box; A Reader Review

3/30/11
By: Jac War

Note:  This review was completed by one of our readers as part of the recent Kapowwe drama, and we want to get it published as his box is much more recent than ours.  We did a quick edit to clean up grammar or the odd subjective, but the review is materially intact as out reader wrote it, so without further ado-

I  have been seriously airsofting for about a year, but my brother has been doing it for almost four years and is a global moderator on www.deepsouthairsoft.com, under his handle, cloakndagger.  This was not my first airsoft purchase, but it was our first mystery box.  Cloak (my brother prefers to use his handle on the internet) has been working on guns for side money for about two years, and hoped to get guns for parts or to further the local airsoft scene as loaner guns. We cannot describe our total dismay at the product, so without further ado, here is the story as we would like to present it…
 
My brother (a four year airsoft veteran) and I (a noob) decided to purchase a Kapowwe Mystery Box, his hope was for the parts and project guns mentioned in many reviews, and I hoped to expand my collection. So we both pooled our airsoft piggy bank resources, ponied up the $23 shipping price (on top of the $100 purchase price), and sat on our hands over a long weekend.

The box arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and we immediately noticed a problem.  The shipping weight listed by the shipper was 30 pounds, but the box was less than half that.  So, with nerves beginning to fray, we cut our way into the box.

We were met by a sea of packing peanuts.  Dipping in, Cloak pulled out a plastic MITCH replica helmet, a hat labeled “Novelty Disguise hat” and a “Novelty Garter Gun and Holster” (this was an interesting find to say the least, its going in the christmas gag gift closet for next years re-gifting).  All three were cheaply made, although the helmet was your standard run of the mill hobby store type.  The hat was some kind of polyester or latex foam, and the garter “gun” was a miniature solid resin ‘just for laughs’ novelty thing.

Digging further down, I pulled out a nice looking spring pistol, new in the box with its mag and standard un-understandable instructions. It was metal, but had no moving parts other than the mag release and slide. By this time we were starting to feel slightly sick, as the box was rapidly emptying with nothing good to show for it. So Cloak dived to the bottom of the box, grabbed a handful, and came out with a FAMAS box and a holster.  Upon opening the famas box, we were presented with an outwardly complete Cybergun FA-MAS AEG and its trickle charger, but no mag or battery (pretty much standard fare for mystery boneyard items from what we’d read).

So, on to the holster that had tumbled out of the box. It was a black no name thigh rig large holster, it is serviceable, no bells and whistles but I cant complain. Finaly, I pulled out the last items, Some .20g G&G Bio bbs, a small neoprene face mask, and the invoice for the whole lot. We dont realy use Bios around here, and .20 is much lighter than we would normaly use, but they are premium and theyll shoot, so no complaints with that. The facemask would not fit either of us , as well as being mostly red, was not very applicable to our airsofting needs.

Zach quickly plugged in a battery he had brought along in hopes of having many guns needing testing. But alas, upon pulling the trigger the gun did nothing. Later, Zach was able to fix the gun, which had a broken trigger linkage in the gearbox which he had to remanufacture out of JB weld.

The invoice, sporting its picture of a large box perched on top of many AEG boxes, was a final rubbing in of exactly what had just happened. We felt physicaly sick. After reading all the reviews we could find online, tracking down friends and acquaintances that had bought the boxes, and shelling out our combined airsoft funds, all we had to show was a broken AEG, a springer, and a bunch of stuff we politely will refer to as junk (Cloak has another name for it).

After splitting up what little we had gotten it was hardly worth the money, to say it was would be a lie. Unfortunately it wasnt a fluke, one of Cloak’s friends had ordered at the same time and had much the same experience with his box.
 
So to recap, In our box we got;

1 Broken Cybergun FAMAS
1 Taurus Metal Springer
1 Bag of G&G Bio BBS Ammo
1 Neoprene Facemask (Small)
1 Plastic Helmet
1 Novelty Hat
1 Garter Holster Novelty
1 Thigh Rig Holster (black)
1 Trickle charger
 
So, Was it worth the $123? NO.

Cloak estimated the total worth of the whole box at about $75 on a good day, IF one could sell the stuff.

We do understand, it is a Boneyard Mystery Box, but Kapowwe should include enough to at least be worth what you pay. And seriously, charging for 30 pounds shipping on a 10-12 pound box is downright thievery.

Will we ever order a mystery box again? NO. Not even from other retailers.

Will we do business with Kapowwe again? NO. NOT UNTIL THEY MAKE RIGHT ALL OF THE BOXES THEYVE SENT OUT IN THIS LAST WAVE OF UTTER JUNK.

I am not asking for a refund, I’d just like to get enough to put my purchase on par with what the mystery box used to be, and maybe a nice apology from Kapowwe posted on their item description. I have never seen a company so radically change a product in such a short time. Kapowwe seems to have seriously ruined their reputation in our opinion.

Its back to trawling forum for sale threads for project guns or really good deals unless something changes.
 
END