Some of us robots got together to give you some ideas of what you should get your geeky loved ones this holiday season.
Swank-Mo-Tron’s Picks:
Pathfinder’s Beginner box: This is the perfect gift to give to a geeky family or a geeky group of friends. In my family, it’s a tradition to open a new board game on Christmas Eve and play until we’re exhausted and I think if you’re interested in starting this tradition, you may as well go all the way and pick up the beginners set of Pathfinder. It comes with everything you need for you and four friends or family members to play. It has premade characters, a legion of monsters, all the rules you need, dice, and a map to play on.
Batman: The Court of Owls: Scott Snyder has revitalized Batman in an precedented way. His first Batman story was about Nightwing facing a terrifying Gotham, but it was nothing compared to the paces he’s put Bruce through in this relaunch of Batman for the New 52. It’s a stunning book with incredible art from Greg Capullo and any fan of Batman will enjoy this story.
Thor Walt Simonson Omnibus – Walt Simonson is, in my opinion, the greatest writer and artist to take on the Norse God in the Marvel Universe and the recolored Omnibus collection of his run is one of books in my collection I cherish the most. It’s whimsical, fun, epic, and above-all it’s entertaining. If you liked the Thor movie, or Thor’s part in The Avengers, you’re going to like this run. And for loved ones who liked the movies and are interested in getting a sneak peek at the movie, it includes the stories involving Malekith, played in the new movie by Christopher Eccleston.
Citizen-Bot’s Picks:
If I were getting a cell phone this holiday, I would only shop in the Samsung Galaxy family. The SII’s, now that they are the older model, are becoming more affordable, even being given away free or for as little as $50 with new activation or re-upping your contract. But the real mack-daddy is the Galaxy SIII, which has all of the features we wish we had on the new iPhones. No offense, Apple fans, but a lot of the upgrades you will be waiting for on the iPhone 6 are already here for us Android peeps with the SIII. Share a contact, a file, an mp3, a playlist, just by bumping your phones to each other. Boom. And with Android’s newest Jelly Bean operating system, lots more is coming. Speaking of Jelly Bean, the Samsung Galaxy Note II is for the giant in your family. It can’t quite figure out if it is a mini tablet or a super-huge phone, but I’m a large guy, and so this phone looks normal size in my hand and against my face. Plus, the added stylus adds a lot of ability to draw, take notes, and so on. The SIII and Note II are new, are expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. If money was no object, these would be my ultimate gift this holiday. (But since we have limited budgets, we’ll probably get just the Wii U and a couple of games for it).
Sith-Bot’s Picks:
Wii-U: Simply put, this will be the hottest thing on the market this holiday season. Game systems always do well, but the launch of a the first next gen console is going to blow sales out of the water; oh, and the thing is pretty damn cool too. With a new Super Mario Bros, ZombieU, a kick ass controller with a built in touch screen tablet, and the ability to control your home entertainment center from one device, the Wii-U will appeal to people of all ages and gaming demographics to make it THE must own item this year. $299-$349 and you will be lucky to find one at any retailer that sells video games.
iPad 4: I’m not a huge fan of Apple as a company, but I’ll be damned if they don’t make great stuff. My iPhone works great with my MacBook and AppleTV, and the iPad offers the best tablet experience out there. Not only does it have amazingly fast specs, but the way that it interacts with and works flawlessly with all Apple has to offer, makes it the best tablet to get. We’re in a post PC world, and the iPad 4 is the best thing out there. $499-829 at Target, Best Buy, Wal Mart, Verizon, AT&T and Apple stores.
Kindle Paperwhite 3G: I’m a huge reader, but I’ve held off on getting a Kindle for the simple fact that I like to read in bed, and most times, my partner is asleep, so I can’t keep the light on. Unfortunately, every accessory they have put out to read your Kindle in the dark hasn’t really worked for me, so I’ve been relying on the smartphone app for years now. Sure, the Nook Glow offers a nice experience, but it still had the eye strain problem my phone would give me, and almost all of my purchases were for the Kindle. Enter Paperwhite. I can easily say it’s the best e-reader ever invented; not only is the contrast even more like normally reading a book, but the LED lights in the device actually bounce off the screen, thus taking away the problem of eye strain. Throw in the ability to download books anywhere you want, and you’ve got the perfect reading device. They’re already somewhat hard to find, so pick one up now before they’re completely sold out! $179 and will be available at Best Buy and at Amazon.
Scarlett Robotica’s Picks:
Steven Spielberg: A Retrospective I love Steven Spielberg. I love books. Therefore, a book about Steven Spielberg simply sings to me. This book has over 250 pictures and even includes Spielberg’s latest film Lincoln. The majority of my Spielberg books were published right after the critical success of Schindler’s LIst, so it will be great to have something more recent that covers the second half of his career.
Yoda USB Desk Protector Think Geek has a Yoda Desk Protector, and though I’ve seen this online before, I don’t own one yet. (hint!!) It’s a motion detector with a lightsaber that lights up, and he says one of six phrases, none of which are actually from the movies. He can also detect motion from six feet away. Strong in the Force is Yoda. And in addition to his warning system, he looks so cute on your desk! Your co-workers will be jealous.
Katniss Everdeen Barbie I’m not a huge Barbie collector, but I’ve been known to pick up a random Disney limited edition on occasion. And when I saw this Katniss doll, I just loved the look of it. The detail on this doll is pretty incredible, down to the tiny mockingjay pin on her outfit. And she has her bow and arrows! This is one of the toughest looking Barbies ever. If you have a Hunger Games fan on your holiday shopping list (that also likes dolls), then this may be an idea for you.
Proletariatron’s Picks:
Monfrotto ML360 MiniLED: Continuous light for shooting DSLR video. Much cheaper than a full light kit and gives you control over the brightness and put out a consistent 5600k to help with white balance if you’re using Magic Lantern.
Rode VideoMic: Along with your nice warm light you’re going to need something to pick up sound at a much higher quality than your DSLR is capable of. Put this guy on your hot shoe mount and you’ve got a nice little set-up for starting out DSLR videography.
Sandisk 32GB Class 10 SD card: This card will handle 8 hours of video and if you feel really nice, throw Magic Lantern onto it before giving it to your budding videographer. Coupled with the 2 accessories above it will give them a solid start.
We’ll be putting new installments together, but this should give you a great start for a wide-variety of your geek shopping needs this holiday season.