2024 Holiday Gift Guide

For the pop culture someone in your life

This week marks the return of that most sacred of American traditions—Black Friday. The orgy of consumerism is no longer constrained to a mere day, but now stretches across several weeks. It’s almost enough to feel nostalgic for the days when people fought over budget big screen TVs and $5 toasters.

We all know someone for whom movies, books, and games are as vital as food and water. I am that someone, and I offer my services to you. Use my knowledge, I beg you.

All links are affiliate but I only pimp stuff I actually like.

Movies

One set to rule them all: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: The One Ring Gift Set (picture above).

I own Lord of the Rings already, because of course I do. I have a really nice Blu-ray set, and bought the 4K version last year. I don’t need another copy of these movies. I know that. But the heart very much desires this precious, which is expensive but includes all sorts of cool stuff. Including your very own One Ring to quietly admire while everyone around you grows increasingly jealous.

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Gladiator I haven’t seen the completely unnecessary sequel yet, but I’ve heard that it’s meh, which is both unsurprising and disappointing. Instead of wasting money seeing the sequel, how about a nice 4K steel book of the original?

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Dune: Part Two I’m not gonna say the Dune sequel was the best movie released in 2024, but it was easily the best 2024 release I saw, and that should count for something.

TV

Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way The complete series, for the Lasso enthusiast in your life—no longer must they be tethered to an Apple+ subscription.

I tend to opt for the Blu-ray in these situations—assuming 4k is unavailable—but the set on DVD for less than $50 strikes me as a good deal.

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Andor I appreciate that Disney is giving their best shows physical releases, as one might argue locking their customers forever in the Disney+ vault is the very definition of a kept audience. Fortunately, they like to bleed us in multiple ways. Even better, these Disney+ releases are spectacular.

The 4k steel book is the cheapest option, for some crazy but welcome reason. You or someone you love can own the best Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back!

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The Penguin Okay well, technically this isn’t the greatest Christmas gift because the set doesn’t release until March. But think of it this way: Everyone gets their gifts in December. It’s practically unheard of to get a holiday gift in March.

The sting will be greatly lessened given The Penguin is one of the greatest shows ever.

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Peacock is the least exciting streamer, but through some bizarre distribution rights they have Yellowstone, which is something. They’re offering an entire year for $20. Yellowstone alone is worth that.

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Books

The Road: Graphic Novel The Road is one of my all-time favorite novels. The movie adaptation less so. The graphic novel is what the movie could’ve been: gorgeous, nuanced, haunting.

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Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy For a reason I don’t quite understand, a lot of fantasy readers flock to Brandon Sanderson when there’s a much better writer who’s nearly as prolific and a heck of a lot funnier.

The First Law trilogy is Joe’s first, and a great place to start. My favorite book of his is Red Country, a fantasy western. It’s basically Old Man Logan: Fantasy edition. It takes place in the same world as the First Law and involves a couple of the same characters, but is mostly standalone and can be enjoyed without first reading the trilogy.

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Kindle Paperwhite I buy a ton of eBooks and even read a few of them. I own a perfectly fine Kindle, but that hasn’t stopped me from eyeballing the updated Paperwhite.

Tabletop Games

2024 D&D Player’s Handbook I wrote an opinion / review piece on this already, but suffice it to say, I’m in love.

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Amazon has marked down the entire ruleset for The One Ring system. Including the Moria Adventure Module which I’ve been waiting for for literal years. If you ever wanted to roleplay as a Tolkien dwarf, as opposed to a D&D dwarf, now’s your chance. (The difference mostly amounts to a lot of singing.)

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Ticket to Ride My single-favorite board game. An absolute steal for $25! Good prices on several of the expansions too.

Pop Culture Feng Shui

Homer Simpson Chia Pet A brilliant marriage of function and design, based on one of my favorite gifs ever. I gotta say, the Chia Pet people are quietly doing some extraordinary things. This company used to be a joke! Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia!

One of the great glow-ups of our time.

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D&D Wall Decals These are so colorful and fun! Even if you don’t have a D&D room to call your own. I suppose you could put them on your laptop. Or toilet.

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That’s all, folks

Drop questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to help. Happy shopping!