What are these used for and how do I unlock them? I have a feeling it cost me zen to do it.

You need to buy a Master Key. They are available from the Exchange, for 1,250,000ec or... you got it... the C store, for 125z each or 10 for 1125z.

You can get decent items out of the, such as ships, but it is very rare. Current estimates are .01% chance of a ship

If you don't get that .1% ship then you just get other gear?

Right click on the lockbox and select info. That will tell you the content of the box.

It will tell you what you can get out of the box. It will not tell you what is actually in it.

True. It's is a grab bag. The contents are totally random.

I wish it did tell you what was in it. I would have saved A LOT of money...

http://www.stowiki.org/Temporal_Lock_Box

My take on these is that they are a half-price Doff pack with a chance for some bonuses tossed in.

Normal doff pack is 7 doffs, the three I opened gave me 4 or 5. Cost 125z compared to 275z. If I get a ship or anything else in the future, cool beans. If not, I still saved 150 zen.

I also got some fleet mark bonuses that are quite handy, and some Lobi crystals, but not enough to get anything good with yet. I have a temporal Doff mission I haven't used because I'm waiting until I get one more purple doff with the right skills to max my return on it.

If you buy them for the ships... well good luck to you.

But in general, if you look at the zen cost for the items in the box, even at the absolute worst yield on the drop table it is more than 125zen worth of stuff. Now, if none of that common stuff is what you want... then sell the keys for EC and buy the ship directly off the auction house. That's what I'm working on currently as I've got enough doffs for now so there's no good reason for me to open any more.

I reckon they are just about the best investment in dilithium for new/lower level players at the moment. They mostly seem to drop mini doff packs, but also some of the commodities which are hard to get from doff missions for level 50 players. I got a Science Vessel out of one (and possibly thats where my rubbish mirror universe ship came from as well?) so I struck lucky, but stuff like the temporal beacons sell for a pretty penny on the exchange as well.