Comments on: Subscriptions that aren't to magazines?

Question: Subscriptions that aren't to magazines?

Marquis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:27:59 -0800

What are some wonderful things I can buy subscriptions to, other than magazines and newspapers?

Curious about interesting subscriptions for things that aren't magazines, zines, journals or newspapers. For example, Amy Lam's My Topics art series, or I guess McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, but really I'm most keen on things that aren't books either. Toys? Sculptures? Cool Maps? Stuff that comes in the mail monthly, quarterly, biannually... Stuff for adults, or stuff for kids.

An etsy search brings up some things, but mostly lacklustre cards/soap/baked goods/lame crafts. I know there are subscriptions out there, but I'm curious about the wonderful ones.

By: Sassyfras

Sassyfras — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:29 -0800

Tie of the Month. There is also fruit of the month and stuff like that.

By: CathyG

CathyG — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:55 -0800

Pencil of the Month Club.

By: otherwordlyglow

otherwordlyglow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:32:35 -0800

Wine, beer, bacon, flowers, fruit.....do you mean only non-perishables?

By: arco

arco — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:34:14 -0800

Art!

By: gregjones

gregjones — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:35:01 -0800

You can get a subscription to the coloured versions of FieldNotes

By: jocelmeow

jocelmeow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:36:35 -0800

For foodies: Zingerman's monthly clubs, Vosges 13-Moon Club Haut-Chocolate, and Melissa's Exotic Fruit Club. I've done gifts from all of these and they've been gratefully received.

By: radiosilents

radiosilents — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:36:36 -0800

friend of mine had a subscription to a Bacon of the Month thing. i tried to find you a link to the actual place, but google suggests multiple sources for this kind of service.

By: The Michael The

The Michael The — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:36:42 -0800

Coffee!

By: calistasm

calistasm — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:42:55 -0800

Powell's Books has a subscription service called Indiespensables. Mostly books and textual products, although sometimes there's food and music. See past editions here.

By: alms

alms — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:43:03 -0800

Go wild with the Month Club Store.

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:43:51 -0800

So which of these are truly wonderful?

(I'm in Canada, so US food subscriptions are less appealing. But please keep them coming!)

By: jamaro

jamaro — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:48:24 -0800

Carnivorous Plant of the Month! It's insanely cool, however, I don't know (and doubt) they ship to Canada.

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:49:29 -0800

Mighty Goods put together a subscription gift guide for the holidays last year, including tshirts, bacon, and playdough. Also featured: underwear, shirts, jerky.

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:51:32 -0800

Oh man I want this one so much: 500 colored pencils.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:55:19 -0800

Probably not your bag, but you get all the latest and pre-market Microsoft software with a TechNet subscription.

By: arco

arco — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:00:49 -0800

Project Dispatch, the art subscription service I mentioned above, is described in more detail here.

By: ocherdraco

ocherdraco — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:05:55 -0800

There's Wholphin: A DVD Magazine of Unseen Films.

By: arm426

arm426 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:22:43 -0800

Along the lines of Wholphin, you can also subscribe to McSweeney's

By: neuron

neuron — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:23:11 -0800

I subscribe to my favorite popcorn (Jolly Time Crispy 'n White) via Amazon; they send me a case every 3 months for less than the store price. (Note that this item has the wrong picture.)

By: aimedwander

aimedwander — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:26:48 -0800

A farm CSA is a lot like a weekly vegetable subscription; you'd have to do a search locally, though.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:38:23 -0800

I'm in Canada, so US food subscriptions are less appealing.

Provocative statement. Hassles in getting stuff across the border? How so?

By: Serene Empress Dork

Serene Empress Dork — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:46:14 -0800

Some theaters sell subscriptions to their shows. I have a three-play subscription to the Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier; a friend buys a yearly subscription to another venue and receives something like seven shows for the price of five.

By: bradbane

bradbane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:48:05 -0800

Thirding Wholphin.

By: soleiluna

soleiluna — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:48:08 -0800

Another different art subscription: THE THING. Their website describes it as "a periodical in the form of an object," created by artists, filmmakers, musicians, and writers.

A friend takes part in this and she's gotten some cool stuff, including work by Miranda July and Jonathan Lethem. Past art works viewable here.

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:03:38 -0800

> I'm in Canada, so US food subscriptions are less appealing.

Provocative statement. Hassles in getting stuff across the border? How so?

Yes. (Perishable) food, plants and things like that are often held up.

I've favourited some answers to signal the kind of things I'm most curious about, but please keep ideas coming. This is amazing!

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:30:51 -0800

Lego!

By: min

min — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:38:25 -0800

MeFi's own Woodblock100 makes gorgeous woodblock prints, and you can subscribe to a series. I have a couple of his annual gift prints from last year, and they are really beautiful.

By: assasinatdbeauty

assasinatdbeauty — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:56:19 -0800

Tea of the month club from Teavana!!!

By: Bunglegirl

Bunglegirl — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:35:01 -0800

Threadless has a t-shirt of the month club

Insound has a free "recommended track of the week" that you can sign up for.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:12:41 -0800

Probably not what you're looking for, but I'll toss it out there: eMusic is subscription-based, and you get a set of download credits each month. No roll-over, which is a pain in the arse, but it's kind of fun to have new credits to peruuze downloadable DRM-free MP3.

By: drlith

drlith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:33:58 -0800

Your local symphony/fine arts performing venue. I guess it doesn't come in the mail, though. A Time-Life music collection in the genre of your choice would, however.

By: sandra_s

sandra_s — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:48:39 -0800

Amateur porn of your particular fetish (not all porn is sex). Stress the AMATEUR. A lot of the amateur women out there doing it are actual enthusiasts of what they are doing and your support helps keep them from diluting their forte.

Not all girls in porn set out to or want to be the next "star" You'd be pleasantly surprised with the quality and imagination of what you will find that isn't studio or corporate produced.

By: chickadee

chickadee — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:25:38 -0800

indie yarn/fiber dyers often do a yarn/fiber of the month.

blue moon is famous for its hand-dyed sock yarn club; spunky eclectic is a woman from maine who is a talented dyer and runs a fiber club.

these groups can be pretty coveted and exclusive; i LOVE the mad drama on ravelry when someone shows their yarn that they weren't supposed or (my god!) SELLS it to someone who is not part of the club!!

OH NOES WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE YARN

By: armage

armage — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:18:44 -0800

Meat!

By: bearwife

bearwife — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:28:09 -0800

My favorite subscription (for the BOOKS): audible.com

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:27:39 -0800

I'm in Canada, so US food subscriptions are less appealing.

Provocative statement. Hassles in getting stuff across the border? How so?
posted by IndigoJones at 3:38 PM on October 29

You'd be surprised at how many Americans, in a desperate bid for affordable healthcare, have tried to smuggle themselves into Canada by hiding inside assorted foodstuffs. Let's just say there are some Canadians, who, to this day, cannot look at a cheese blintz without vomiting.