Posted on: November 19th, 2008 GKS Geek Gift Guide 2008!
It’s early November, and the Christmas trees have been up in malls for three months already. This can only mean one thing: shopping malls start peddling the holidays on us too fucking early. But with the gift giving now only six weeks away, its time to suck it up and venture out beyond your parents basement to the most glorious, stress-free place on the planet… the mall. Fret not though, for GKS is here to help. In this lenghtly guide, we give you plenty of gift ideas for your favorite film/comic geek.
This guide covers everything from books to select electronics, for the dirt-poor to the filthy-rich.
Happy shopping!
COMICS
Watchmen: Absolute Edition
By Alan Moore w/ art by Dave Gibbons
Originally published in 2005 but until now hard to find, this beatuful canvas slip-case edition features brand-spanking new coloring by John Higgins. This large hardcover edition also includes script-samples, concept art, and plenty of extra content to drool over. The must own edition of one of the greatest stories ever told.
Watching the Watchmen
By Dave Gibbons & Chip Kidd
This is the ultimate Watchmen companion, a huge, monstroulsy dense retrospective of Watchmen from the perspective of Dave Gibbons, the books artist. A true fan of the comic can’t be without this collection of storyboards, concept art and page after page of beautiful sketches and making-of notes. Just awesome.
Hellboy: Library Editions Vol. 1 & 2
By Mike Mignola
Collecting two stories each, these oversized canvas bound hardcovers are just beautiful collector’s pieces. With a ridiculously low price tag of around $30 each. Each page is big, bold and beautiful. A must for the hardcore fan, or the casual reader looking for that gateway comic book.
Captain America: Ed Brubaker Omnibus Vol. 1
Written By Ed Brubaker
This hardcover book collects the first 25 issues (starting from 2006) of Ed Brubaker’s phenominal run of one of comics most prolific characters, culminating with the most talked about event in recent comics history, the death of Captain America. Easily some of the best written comics in the last decade.
Daredevil: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Vol. 1
Written By Frank Miller
There’s no doubt that everyone loves some Frank Miller as of late. This nice little paperback collects Frank Miller’s unbelievable run on Daredevil, featuring the best stories with Bullseye, Elektra, Kingpin and the man without fear himself.
VIDEO GAMES
Guitar Hero: World Tour / Rock Band 2
Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii
Who hasn’t sweat their ass of with their friends to Rock Band since last year? Well, in keeping with tradition, this holiday season sees the sequel, Rock Band 2, and its competition, Guitar Hero: World Tour, the hot items on everyone’s wish list. Its business as ussal with both sets, complete with game, guitar controller, drum kit controller and microphone. Red snapper and rolled up dollar bills not included.
Gears of War 2
Xbox 360 only
If the person you give this to appreciated games at all, then they will love you for this. Then you won’t see them for three days.
Dead Space
Xbox 360, Playstion 3, PC
It’s a video game. It’s in space. It’s scary.
Little Big Planet
Playstation 3 only
This highly anticipated, fully customizable puzzle platformer will eat up hours and hours of your holiday season, and put a smile on any Playstation 3 owner not obsessed with hockey or basketball games.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Could the Mortal Kombat franchise get any better? Well, add Batman and the answer is yes. This latest installment in the classic fighting game features your favorite Kombatants taking on the likes of Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and more. Hummina, hummina.
DVD/BLU-RAY
I’ve only recently climbed aboard the blu-ray train, having received a player as a wedding gift. If you haven’t seen a blu-ray movie yet let me tell you, your first time watching one will be a breath-taking experience. And every subsequent viewing of one will be saturated with moments of amazement of how something can be so crisp, clear and vibrant. This makes giving blu-ray discs the perfect stocking-stuffer, or just a small, relatively cheap yet much appreciated gift.
In terms of single-disc or two-disc special editions, you cannot go wrong with effects-laden action movies like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Wall-E and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now, speaking of Indiana Jones, in my opinion, this is the best looking blu-ray to date. Contrary to my original review of the film, I had a blast watching this blu-ray and it just looks terrific in 1080p. All of the above titles are more than acceptable DVD purchases for those geeks without blu-ray players.
Planet of the Apes: 40th Anniversary Collection
Forty years and we still can’t get enough of those damned dirty apes! This 5 disc blu-ray set includes the original classic and its four sequels (an interesting lack of the Tim Burton remake) and a hardcover book, all in a pretty snazzy looking slipcase packaging. The first film is no doubt the anchor to the series, but Iv’e heard some pretty great things about the unrated version of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Who knew?
Hellboy 2 Gift Set
If blu-ray was meant for anything, it was for watching giant devil-men with conrete fists punching sword-weilding elves. I can’t believe that wasn’t the tag-line. This snazzy gift set comes with the blu-ray movie, a digital copy of the film, mini poster, an exclusive book and a kickass minature bust of one of the golden army. For a fan of the film or of the comic, this is the monkey’s tits.
The Sopranos: The Complete Series
In my opinion, the greatest television show ever made, is packaged in its entirety – 33 discs (86 episodes), 3 soundtrack CD’s, episode guide, and a 56 page collector’s album. I’ve seen this amazing set in the flesh, it is massive, weighing in at around 8 pounds, and it is very nicely crafted. A little more on the expensive side, coming in at around $250-$300, but definitely worth every penny.
The Dark Knight: Limited Batpod Edition
You know… because the regular editionn isn’t enough, you need this set that comes with a special display case and batpod miniature replica. Hell, I would buy The Notebook on blu-ray if it came with a batpod. Woops… I hope no marketers are reading this…
TOYS
No gift-giving holiday is complete without toys. These pieces of posable plastic are not just for kids anymore though; it seems that most modern-day toy companies are cranking out the action figures targeted directly at the geek demographic. Flawless paint jobs, correct sculpts and points of articulation are still key, but nothing is more important than the toys figures ability to withstand a good ol’ fashioned barrage of pew-pews. That’s onomatopeia, folks. Here’s some great stocking stuffers, in toy form.
DC Universe Classics
For a toy-collector like me, these are the best figures on the market right now. DCUC is a line focused soley on DC characters, stand 6” – 6.5” and each wave of 5 figures comes with a seperate piece to connect to form a 6th figure. The sculpts, paints and character selection are just awesome, but there’s one problem with this lineup… they are damn near impossible to find. Mattel has had shipment and stock issues since the first wave, leaving collectors foaming at the mouths for these pieces. Your only realy sure-bet is eBay, but be prepared to pay a hefty premium. That being said though, if you do come across any figures in this line, grab ‘em and head for the checkout stand, as they are gorgeous.
Some of the great figures include Batman, Aquaman, Black Manta, Harley Quinn, Green Lantern, Sinestro, Nightwing, Deathstroke, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning and Eradicator.
Marvel Legends Two-Packs
The popular Marvel Legends line has certainly slowed down over the last year, but the recent release of select two-packs still has collectors shilling out their bucks. The first wave of 6” sets includes Ultimate Captain America & Ultimate Nick Fury, Mr. Fantastic & The Thing, Wolverine & Forge and Ronin & Elektra. Keep your eyes peeled for the rare and ultra-cool Skrull Elektra/Ronin variant set.
The Dark Knight – Movie Masters Figures
There’s the regular Dark Knight figure line, then there’s the Movie Masters sub-line. You can tell the Movie Masters ones, because they don’t look like shitty little kiddy toys. These 6” figures come with some immaculate sculpt and paint apps and multiple points of articulation. Much like the DCUC toys, these figures can be a little harder to find – especially the Heath Ledger based Joker figure. The first wave of MM figures includes, Batman, Joker, Scarecrow, and Gotham City Thug. If you’re one of those lucky sonsabitches with a Target store in your area, look out for the exclusive Movie Masters Batpod vehicle – it looks the tits.
So there you have just a fraction of some of the extremely cool gifts you could get for your geeky loved one this year; it certainly is easy to shop for the likes of us.
If you have any additions to this geek gift guide, drop a line below.