Mystery Kit Box Reviews

I picked up a few kits over time, mainly from teams I support, but in recent years I've widened my collection.  One of the ways I've done this is through "mystery kit" boxes.  That accelerated a bit through the pandemic and I've now gotten kits from a number of different companies, so I figured now was time to do a review of them.

What is a "mystery kit" you ask?  Well while every company has its own twist on things but the basic idea is that you order a kit from one of these companies, tell them your size, tell them any rival team you want to avoid (so no Burnley for me, or no FSL if the company does MLS kits), and they go off and pull something from their collection and ship it to you.  Its a mystery what kit you get until it shows up in the mailbox.  Generally, because you're not ordering a specific kit and taking a risk you're getting a brand new kit for significantly less than it would cost you from something like World Soccer Shop.  Of course, you have to be open-minded about what you're interested in, if you don't like wearing a shirt from a team you don't directly support or a style you don't like this isn't your thing.

If you're wondering about sizing or duplication, most of these sites know which manufacturers run small or large and adjust your requested size accordingly.  They also include a text field on the order where you can list the kits you've already received.  And if you're concerned if these shirt are legitimate, they all come with tags or if they don't they're guaranteed genuine. 

I've got reviews of 4 different companies I've gotten kits from below, along with a 5th I follow on Twitter but haven't yet ordered from.  These companies all offer other items as well, either different type of mystery kits, non-mystery kits, or other gear.  I'll list some of them in the details.  I've been happy with all my orders and dealings with these companies and would recommend any of them, its really a matter of what you're looking for and what you want to spend. 

Away Days Football: 

Mystery Kit Price: $30 + $6 shipping

Kits Received: Brentford (then English Championship), Sunderland (then English League One), Lyon (France Ligue 1), Olympiacos (Greece Super League), Fenerbahçe (Turkey Super Lig), Rapid Wein (Austria Bundesliga), plus Montpellier (France Ligue 1) and AC Milan (Italy Serie A) child kits for my nephew.

Other Offerings: Mystery kits by year, Mystery scarves, lower-league U.S. kits (non mystery), plenty of other things

Away Days was the first of these companies that came to my attention.  As far as I can tell they were the first of this group to get started but don't take that as verified fact.  They were also the only one, until recently, to be based in the U.S. with the shipping benefits that provide.  As you can tell because of that and their low prices I've ordered multiple kits over the last few years and my sister gave me a 3 month subscription for Christmas one year.  

Away Days' selection seems to be largely "big" teams, either top level teams or bigger lower league teams like Sunderland.  You do get the occasional second tier team like Brentford or Montpellier but don't expect some small club you've likely never heard of.  Martin started the company as a one-person operation a few years ago and is super-responsive to questions.  Before Christmas a couple of years ago I wanted to get a second kit for our nephew but he hadn't re-listed kids kits yet, when I reached out he set me up with an order a week or so before he got them relisted on the site.

Non-League Football Shop: 

Mystery Kits Price: £30-£35 + £15 = $57-$63 including shipping

Kits Received: Hinkley AFC (United Counties League Division One; Level 10)

Other Offerings: Non-league shirts (non-mystery)

As you can tell from the name and pricing, Non-League Football Shop is a UK-based site that focuses completely on non-league teams.  If you're wondering what non-league is, its everything under the top 4 fully professional leagues in England, Level 5 all the way down.  When I say all the way down I mean it.  My mystery kit from them was Hinkely AFC, a 10th-level club outside of Leicester.  Certainly one I had never heard of before.  

Non-League Football Shop offers two slightly different mystery kits.  The more expensive 35 pound offering is their New Mystery Box, a brand-new with tags (if it originally came with tags) shirt from a non-league team.  The 30 pound offering is their Collectors Mystery Box, a kit that's not guaranteed to be brand new, but will be pre-worn.  Also along with that shirt will be a piece of football memorabilia.  I went with the latter option for my order because I was curious about the piece of memorabilia (and I liked the lower price), in my case I got a program from the 80's from lower league and now defunct side Princes End United.  Also of the three kits I've ordered from the UK they had the fastest shipping, but that could just be luck.

I love non-league football so they will definitely be getting another order from me at some point.

Bundesliga Boxes: 

Mystery Kit Price: £59 + £24 = $105 including shipping

Kits Received: Alemannia Aachen (Germany Regionalliga West; Level 4)

Other Offerings: Non-mystery kits, other Bundesliga merch

As you can tell from the name Bundesliga Boxes focuses on one country, Germany.  They also have a slightly different model in that they do their mystery boxes in waves.  They just about to open up ordering for Box 21 on Saturday morning (UK time).  Each wave tends to feature a small number of kits in the boxes, so everyone who orders gets kits on a theme.  They also have surprise boxes in the wave with player-worn or other rare kits.  All boxes include merchandise along with the shirt, thus the higher price.

I had been following them on Twitter for a while but not yet pulled the trigger on an order when I won one of their contests for a box of goodies, including a Sports Club Map, socks, pins, stickers, etc.  I figured if they were going to ship that to me from the UK I should make it worth their while and order a shirt along with it.  It was a great package that you can see here, the shirt and everything on the right came as part of the purchased box, the stuff on the left of the shirt and the two prints below it was the prize I won:

Obviously you're making a larger investment if you go with Bundesliga Boxes, but you're getting more than just a shirt for your money.  If you're interested in German football, especially outside of the top level, this is the way to go.

Surprise Shirts:

Mystery Kit Price: £35 + £20 = $69 including shipping from their UK site OR $68 + Free shipping from their U.S. site

Kits Received: Samsunspor (Turkey TFF First League; Level 2)

I was getting ready to write this review post as we came into the international break and I was lucky enough to win a free mystery box from Surprise Shirts, who I follow on Twitter but had not yet ordered from.  So perfect timing to include them.  But it is a little different in that I haven't really been their customer yet, just gotten a prize.

That said, they did just as well as any of the other companies.  All they do is mystery kits, with nothing additional, but they do send a small Haribo treat with every order.  They also include a sticker on the box with details about the shirt and team, which isn't something the other companies do.  I will say, following them on Twitter, that they seem to have the widest variety of shirts of any of the companies.  They regularly have people post pictures of their mystery shirts that include clubs from smaller European leagues, African leagues, and Asian leagues (they had one from a Singapore club they were sending out for a while that was one of the better looking shirts I've seen).  So if you want a good chance at a club you've never heard of from outside the "big" countries, this is who you should go with.

They've just recently opened their U.S. site which means shipping is much cheaper for us Americans.  I mentioned to them that I was writing this post when I won the shirt and they gave me a discount code to share with my readers.  If you order through their U.S. site (linked above) you can use the code FRIENDS20 for 20% off your order.

Mystery Football:

Mystery Kit Price: $45 + $18 shipping

Mystery Football is another company doing mystery kits but I haven't ordered from them yet.  They seem to have a good selection following them on Twitter.  They also have two different boxes at the $45 price point. a club box and a national team box.  So if you want a mystery National Team they may be a good choice for you.  Their site also handles pricing in U.S. dollars, which is nice.

If I had to rank my top 3 mystery kits I've gotten, in no particular order, it would be the Rapid Wein kit from Away Days, the Hinkely AFC kit from Non-League Football Shop, and the Samsunspor kit from Surprise Shirts.  I have no complaints about any of the kits I've gotten though and would gladly order from any of these companies again.  Hopefully if you're interested in a mystery kit you've found a good option here.