It’s Christmastime, and that means gift-giving, shopping lists, and above all celebrating the birth of our Savior. If you need a few ideas of what to get a friend or loved one, or want to spend some Christmas cash on something for yourself, I have just a few great ideas here to get your holiday shopping sprees started.
Diamond Select Toys
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are one of those pop culture mainstays that never really fade away, but move from one iteration for another so they can make a new generation of fans. Ever since their comics debut back in the 80s, there have been countless comic book series, television shows, and movies based on the Turtles, with hardly any downtime in between.
Oh, and toys, of course. So many toys. Our pals at Diamond Select have quite a few figures and pieces based on the Turtles franchise on offer, including this really cool Minimates set.
With packaging that looks like one of the Ninja Turtles’ most recognizable vehicles the Turtle Blimp, the set includes figures of Donatello, April O’Neil, the Shredder, Bebop, and a Foot Clan soldier. The sculpts are really fun, with a surprising level of detail on Shredder and Bebop in particular. Check out the latter’s head sculpt and those chains around his wrists, and the adorable little spikes all over Shredder’s body. Quite impressive.
Each figure has appropriately themed accessories, like Donnie’s bo staff and a microphone for April, and have a decent amount of posability considering their diminutive size. Pair them up with other Turtles Minimates, or have them duke it out with those of another franchise and you’re sure to have hours of fun either way.
If you want something a bit better suited for display, you can’t ever go wrong with one of Diamond and Gentle Giant’s animated-style miniature statues. Their take on the Fantastic Four’s ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing is particularly excellent, with a fun pose and great detailing.
Just look at him.
He looks so happy to be clobbering.
The thing about, well, the Thing is that he has such a unique look that isn’t ever entirely consistent, in that nobody is drawing every single crag and plate the exact same way every time. As long as you get the spirit of his design right he’s recognizable, but it’s easy to overdo it too. Get his brow wrong, or add too many or too few rocky sections and it will just throw everything off. This figure hits the sweet spot all around, looking like the Thing should look while also evoking the charming animated stylings of this specific line. It’s a great figure, and dare I say, it’s even… fantastic.
If you or someone you know is looking for something a bit larger to display on the shelf, let’s head back to the Ninja Turtles and look at one of the more mature stories to come from the franchise. This Last Ronin bust is one I’ve been waiting for for quite a while, and I am not the least bit disappointed. It looks great, packed full of detail and story that capture the tone of the tragic comic series perfectly. With a dynamic sculpt and pose, Michelangelo has tons of weaponry adorning his body, and the nicely detailed base has a few Easter eggs and surprises sprinkled in to boot. What’s more, it comes in both a “standard” coloring style and a black and white version too, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Which I totally am.
Factory Entertainment
Factory Entertainment are also a great place to get your pop culture merchandise fix, and they’ve provided a few pretty sweet items this year too.
I absolutely love these adorable Ultraman and Gomora plush figures. By themselves they look great, particularly Ultraman, who has one of my favorite character designs of all time. The flat red and shiny silver of his outfit contrast against each other really well, and give the plush some nice dimension.
What Gomora lacks in intimidation he more than makes up for in being cute and cuddly, what with his big head crest and those sleepy eyes. As far as designs go, he isn’t as intricate or detailed as Ultraman, but he definitely hits all the marks for “cool looking kaiju.”
Both of the figures have a light up eyes feature too, with a small button housed in their left hands that activates the bulbs. Ultraman’s are centered better on mine, and work better with his bulging eyes over Gomora’s, which are flush with the rest of his head. Even still, it’s a fun inclusion in some all around great little plush toys.
Factory Entertainment have a nice selection of prop replicas too, like phasers from Star Trek, all sorts of Batarangs, and even Hawkman’s mace. Their mini replicas are tons of fun, packing the same great detail from their regular scale pieces into a smaller package that, in many cases, is much easier to display. I mean, sure, a full-sized Mr. Fusion would be nice to have, but without a flux capacitor in your car, what use would it be? It would just sit around and take up space until time travel is invented, so why not shrink it down a bit so it will fit on your desk?
That’s exactly what FE have done with one of the most iconic aspects of the Delorean from Back to the Future, and it and many more pieces are available for you to peruse and add to your own Christmas list.
Insight Editions
You know I’m always down for some good books, and Insight Editions consistently deliver on that front. Whether it’s graphic novels, scripts, or cookbooks, they have plenty to offer for fans of any and all movies, television shows, comics, video games, and more.
This holiday season, they have two brand new books to add to their already impressive stable of product, which are both excellent in very different ways. For those looking for some trippy reading material, or for huge fans of the Beatles, their adaptation of the Yellow Submarine film would make a great gift. Spearheaded by a stacked creative team that includes Bill Morrison, Andrew Pepoy, Tone Rodriguez, Nathan Kane, and Aditya Bidikar, this graphic novel looks like they ripped frames directly from the film and made them into a comic.
I mean that in the absolute best way too, as Morrison’s penciling and Kane’s colors nail the surreal aesthetic of Heinz Edelmann’s artwork and design. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen the movie, so I can’t attest to how closely it follows the film’s story, but it’s a fun and entertaining read regardless. The visual storytelling is funny and incredibly creative, with some genius layout choices and playing with the comics medium that wouldn’t work anywhere else but here.
I’ve recently become a big fan of Insight’s cookbook offerings too, thanks to the wide variety of properties from which they draw inspiration. To celebrate 100 years of Walt Disney’s studios, Insight have Disney Cooking with Magic: A Century of Recipes for Disney fans and cooks of all ages. The book features dozens of recipes based on nearly all of Disney’s theatrical animated films, along with some that are inspired by animated short subjects. Some recipes are for dishes directly from the films, like Mushu’s “Happy-To-See-You Porridge” from Mulan, Tiana’s beignets from The Princess and the Frog, and Julieta’s “magical” arepas from Encanto, while others are inspired by films and characters.
There’s a wide variety of dishes available, from appetizers to entrees to deserts and drinks, and they’re all accompanied by easy to follow recipes, high quality images of the dishes or screenshots from the films, and a fun little blurb describing each movie. My one complaint? While almost every single theatrically-released film is represented, The Great Mouse Detective is notably absent. Its omission could be understandable if the movie didn’t have a piece of food used as a plot point, as several characters eat cheese biscuits throughout the film. Surely one more entry could have been allotted for these treats.
Regardless, it’s a celebration of all things food and Disney, and well worth it for any and all fans of either.
Comics
And where would we be without comics? Whether you’re on the hunt for some back issues, reading the latest releases on the stands, or catching up on a series through trade, the options and possibilities are endless. Head down to your local comic shop, hit up eBay, or even subscribe to a service like DC Universe Infinite or Marvel Unlimited to get your four-color funnies fix.
Have a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year, everyone.
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