Few staff members today at Loot Crate have as much experience with and knowledge of our brand as Mikey Petralia. He’s been with the company almost since the beginning, and appeared in a lot of our content early on so he’s well-known to our long-time Looters!
Mikey’s held a few different jobs here at Loot Crate in the past four years, and we caught up with him recently as he’s just made the transition to a creative force behind Loot Gaming!:
Hi Mikey! What is your current job at Loot Crate?
I’m currently the Creative Lead for Loot Gaming. Which means I lead the theme selection and item curation for the Loot Gaming crate, along with Mine Chest, Halo Legendary Crate & the soon to ship Mass Effect Andromeda Crate.
Now, you’ve worked in a bunch of capacities since you started with the company. When was that exactly, and what other titles have you had?
I started in March of 2013, initially as a Community Manager. Then I moved on to more of a Marketing focus, building & send emails, Facebook ads and build our Influencer network. Then I became more focused and helped launch specialty crates like Fallout and Mass Effect along with new subscription crates like Loot Anime and Loot Gaming.
What was it like being part of the original Loot Crate team not long after launch?
Crazy, in the best way possible. It was a real “do whatever it takes” attitude. creating themes, picking product, creating theme art, unloading trucks of product, packing crates. You had to do a little bit of everything.
How did you come to work at Loot Crate, and what was your background before that?
I saw a job listing online and sent my resume in, but because I wanted the job so badly I went an extra step further and found Matthew’s personal email and sent him a message that was more about myself and my passions. I had an interview not long after that and was offered the job at that interview. Before joining Loot Crate was a product photographer, but I also very active on social media building my own personal brand.
You were an on-camera regular in a lot of the early Loot Crate YouTube videos; do you miss that at all?
HAHAHA, yes and no. Being in the theme videos, Twitch streams & fun stuff around the office was great. It was the interviews at conventions that I’m not a fan of.
What was one of the craziest things you did in the early days, when it was a small staff juggling lots of projects?
Well there was the time we had to unload a 55’ trailer of PEZ dispensers on Melrose during traffic. But probably the craziest was driving from Los Angeles to Austin in the Loot Crate Mobile Command Center a.k.a Bus. It was July and we were heading to RTX driving through Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas. The bus didn’t go faster than 60mph and had NO air conditioning. It was the best and worst road trip I’ve ever been on.
PAX South 2015. Hi Mikey!
You’ve probably had more interactions with Looters than just about any of us; any fond memories from a con or event of meeting folks who get the crate?
At this point it’s all really blended together, but what always sticks out is when walking around a convention just seeing so many people wear shirts we’ve sent or all the pins/buttons. Then having them come up to me and tell me about how long they’ve been subscribed and how much they love it. It’s something you don’t get at a normal job. If you work at a bank it’s not like people come up to you and say “LOVE THAT CHECKING ACCOUNT!”
As an avid gamer, what are you currently playing and what are you most excited about in 2017 in the gaming world?
Currently it’s a balance of Breath of the Wild, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Battlefield 1 & Binding of Isaac. In 2017 I’m excited for more PSVR games like Farpoint. Also i’m looking forward to Injustice 2 & Destiny 2.
What other franchises/fandoms do you geek out on the most?
My top 2 are probably Star Wars & The Simpsons.
As one of the O.G. Loot Crate team, which is the crate assortment you’ve worked on so far that you are proudest of?
OOF, that’s a tough one! How do you pick a favorite child! It’s hard to pick from the ones from 2-3 years ago because of much the company has changed that all of those crates hold a special place in my heart. But more recently the January ORIGINS crate is one of my favorite & stuff I see coming up in the next few months is AMAZING.
Is there any one franchise we haven’t included in a crate yet that you’d want to put in, if it were entirely up to you?
Another hard one because we’ve done most of my favorites in some fashion. But I would love a really rad Lord of The Rings item…mostly focused on The Silmarillion. But honestly I wouldn’t want it to be just one item. I NEED a full crate of items.
Your dogs (Brock and Bacon) have their own Instagram. Why are they so darn photogenic?
What is the secret to cultivating a truly great beard?
Time and laziness….like yeah I could shave but why? But since it’s actually become more massive I’ve had to be more active in it’s maintenance. I have to wash and blow dry it in the morning and oil it at night. I spend more time on my beard than my actual hair.
Any last message for the Daily Crate readers?
EXCELSIOR true believers! No ones ever said that right?
