You’re a geek with some pocket cash and because it’s the holidays let’s face it, tis the season for giving. Remember the loved ones in your life and what they mean to you and get them something special this holiday season. By loved ones I mean yourself, get the most important person in your world (look in a mirror dummy) something awesome this December.
Don’t Forget a Towel would like to offer one of the only non-sponsored guides to Geek toys this season to help aid you in where to spend your hard earned cash, because buying stuff for everyone else is hard work and you deserve some awesome too!
TOYS
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Mcfarlane Toy’s Negan:
Say what you will about Mcfarlane toy’s inconsistent walking dead figures, they have been making huge improvements wave after wave. If you want a perfect example of this look no further than the recently announced Negan figure. Yes that’s right everybody’s favorite talkative Walking Dead sociopath if finally immortalized in action figure form, and because Batman is nothing without Robin, Negan comes with his trusty sidekick Lucille. Sorry smashed Glen head not included.
Negan comes in both color and black and white variants and will set you back about 18-20 bucks apiece. Negan is sold exclusively online at the moment so we recommend you hit up any online retailer. Expected release date: January 2014.
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Neca Hicks vs. Alien Warrior 2pk:
If there is a company that has mastered the double dip it’s Neca. You’re not getting anything new is this 2 pack at all, but despite that you will find it very hard to turn down. Let me explain why. First of all you get an alien being shot to smithereens by Hicks, which looks awesome but may not be enough for you to shell out close to 40 bucks, which is understandable. Secondly you get another Hicks, this time he comes with the helmet the first release of Hicks was missing and a new screaming (or he’s constipated it’s hard to tell) head.
Most fans could care less about having a second Hicks, and I was in the same boat till I discovered I could pop the head off my extra and add any 7 inch scale head I had laying around to make an instant new marine to get chewed on by xenomorphs. Yeah I have a spare Jason Voorhees mongiloid head on mine right now but whatever man you’re not the boss of me. Buy it today before you regret not buying it a year from now and it’s 10 times the price on ebay.
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Neca Classic video game appearance (NES) Freddy:
On its own this would be another lame cash grab by NECA on milking their Freddy sculpt for every last penny they can, but because Jason Voorheese got an awesome SDCC exclusive NES repaint earlier this year, you kind of need to get this one too don’t you? This is Freddy plain and simple in a classic 8 bit color scheme packaged in a sweet video game themed box you’re going to want to keep to display next to your figure. Look for this kiddie killer at any online retailer for about 35 bucks or your local comic shop if they took a chance on these.
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Neca Pacific Rim:
The movie was face-melting awesome, and now yes you and every other geek from here to the moon wants any and all action figures from this movie. The catch is finding them now. Rest assured they are out there; you’re just going to have to look a little harder or spend a little more than you’re used to. The Jager’s are awesome but it’s the Kaiju that take the cake with this line. There’s nothing like opening these up and having them beat the crap out of each other when no one is looking.
The quickest way to find these are the usual online suspects but we also suggest looking extra careful at your local toys r us or even some places you may not think like gamestop or hastings. And save yourself the trouble in the future, just pre order these guys going forward, because they are one of the most popular lines out there right now.
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Castle Grayskull:
Were you raised by wolves or perhaps in a convent in the Andes Mountains? No? Good then you know what one of the coolest playsets of all time is. Yes that’s right Timmy- Castle Grayskull. He-Man’s sweet bachelor pad is coming this December for Mattycollector.com. Castle Grayskull 3.0 will play with any and all Masters of the Universe Classics figures you might have, or you’re my little ponies, or your transformers, or maybe if you had a really small child like Willow sized they could play inside of it. Sorry- Back on track
This beast of a playset is nearly 3 feet high, it weighs a ton and it has all the great features the old castle had and then some. Trap doors, dungeons, cannons, secret passages, a juice maker, and insane minute details that actually play in to weird accessories some figures came with that people had no idea what to do with, until now!
This big green pile of awesome goes on sale this December and will set you back well over 300 dollars, but if you can think of a better more fun investment than an actual Castle Grayskull for adults, I would love to hear it.
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The Funko Minis collection:
At this point we all have a Funko POP! Bobble head in our collection because it’s hard to say no to something that cute, but have you dipped your toes into their line of smaller blind packaged minis line? You really should because unlike most designer vinyl that’s blind packaged out there, Funko goes out of their way to make sure every figure you get is a winner.
On the shelves currently you’ll find an entire wave of Batman themed Dc minis, Big Bang Theory, Disney, and personal favorites- The Walking and Nightmare Before Christmas. But not to outdo all of those, coming very soon, so soon I already have a case in hand, The Horror Minis.
Just about every modern horror heavy hitter is shrunk down to 3 inches and made super cute. The likes of Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Chucky, Sam, Ash, Hannibal, Ghost Face, Billy, Captain Spaulding, and in a shocking first PENNYWISE all can be yours with this awesome addition to the red hot Funko minis line.
Look for these guys at places such as Barnes and Noble, Hot Topic, and Seven Eleven believe it or not.
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The Star Wars Black series:
It had to happen eventually right? Star wars would one day have to move beyond the 3 and ¾ inch scale it made famous and embrace something more collector friendly. I remember looking at my marvel legends for years and hoping that one day Hasbro would take a chance, and while I feel like its ten years too late, they finally did.
Hitting shelves now is the second series of the Star Wars Black assortment featuring three key characters any collection must have. Slave Leia, Han Solo, and the man himself Boba Fett.
While the price may be a little more than you would like to pay, I can assure you that you’re getting the definitive versions of each character. You’re never going to want another Han Solo in your life trust me, Boba Fett has so much detail packed into one figure you’ll spend hours just looking at it, and while you may not be sold on why you need a super possible half nude Princess Leia, word on the street is that by the end of 2014 you’ll have a Black Series Jabba that is going to need some company.
Also there’s Greedo, he’s the equivalent of a frat boy with a popped collar and he’s kind of a douche. I’m glad he’s dead.
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VIDEO GAMES
If you want a huge rundown of awesome video games DFAT has you covered, and while we know the choice between PS4 and XBOX One can be tough, let us offer a lesser known but equally awesome alternative.
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The OUYA
A crowd sourced mini gaming system that doesn’t pack the power of any of the newer systems, but it makes up for it in a few very significant ways.
First of all it’s small, like a box of pop tarts small which is something I value considering most gaming systems are now like boat engines that take up way too much space. The games you ask? There are no physical games, everything is downloaded via their marketplace, but unlike other systems, everything is free to try, and cheap. But yes that still really doesn’t prove much does it, let me get to the real reason you want this little box of love.
Emulation
The OUYA is fully capable of emulating any video game system up to the ps1 easily and free. It used to be you needed to have a deep understanding of Linux and live in your parent’s basement to do things like this but in a matter of hours I was playing games from the glory days of video games on my OUYA for free. Atari, Commodore, NES, SEGA, Turbo Graphix 16, Gameboy, Nintendo 64, and the real treat MAME.
If you don’t know “MAME” stands for (multiple arcade machine emulation). Basically it’s a program that lets you play old arcade games on any capable device, like the OUYA. Trust me when I say this, playing the likes of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, or The Ninja Turtles Arcade game for free no less beats the hell out of any Call of Duty Game.
While we can’t get into the specifics legally of how you would go about finding game roms for any game emulator, it’s best if you already own the game before you download it online so you’re technically not stealing. Yep I have a fully functioning arcade in my basement so it’s all good.
The OUYA is actually available at Target and anywhere online and will set you back about 100$ and that’s the system with one controller. Screw progress, stick with the classics man!
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So in closing, we here at Don’t Forget a Towel would like to remind you that she doesn’t need to know you bought her gifts at a Dollar Store so you could spend more on yourself. Just remind her love is the greatest gift of all and then continue to have your robots fighting monsters inside of Castle Grayskull. She’ll understand… eventually.
-Michael Ridley
