My Year With Marvel: Holiday Gift Guide, Part II

A couple weeks back, we talked about a few Marvel trade collections you may want to consider as holiday gifts. But what if your giftee is a die-hard Marvel fan who already buys every book that strikes their fancy? What else can you give them?

Here’re a handful of suggestions, ranging from Super Duper Useful (as is my own personal preference) to Not Exactly Necessary But Still Really, Really Neat.

Okay, I admit it: most of the stuff I'm about to show you is more in the Really, Really Neat category than the Super Duper Useful category. These Deadpool pint glasses, though, are both! Hurray for cool yet useful stuff!

The really nice thing about pint glasses is, you don’t have to put beer in them. Maybe your giftee is a hardcore beer fan, and maybe they prefer to stick to water. Either way, they’re gonna want to drink everything out of these babies. As the Pool himself says, they’re the coolest glasses ever.

Deadpool wouldn’t mislead you about an object's cool factor. Dude's got standards.

Find it on : Amazon (set of two)

I also saw these at Winners (Canada’s version of TK/TJ Maxx) a couple months back, but I had a terrible attack of frugality and didn’t buy them, and the next time I was there they were sold out. Maybe you'll be luckier at your own local discount retailer.

Help your loved one find their way in the dark with this Mjolnir night light/decorative lamp. It’s useful, attractive, and a great conversation-starter. Your giftee’s guests will have a blast seeing who’s worthy enough to pull it out of the wall!

The challenge is, of course, finding a loved one who’ll be able to lift the package at least far enough off the ground to unwrap it and install the lamp they find inside, so take care when selecting this gift’s recipient.

If you suspect the whole worthiness thing might be a sticking point, you can also get lamps shaped like Spider-Man’s web-slinging hand, the Hulk’s fist, Captain America’s shield, or Iron Man’s head.

Find it on: Think Geek | Amazon | Target

Perhaps your Marvel-loving loved ones are super into interior decorating. Fanart prints and postcards make excellent gifts, either as stocking stuffers or as something more substantial if you have them framed before you hand them over.

A quick Etsy search yields tons of possibilities. I'm in love with this Captain Marvel dictionary page print from Loft 817, this set of four art nouveau Storms by Hanie Mohd Illustrations, and this minimalist Spider-Woman by JR Luna. Fanart is also a great way to get more female character merchandise onto your gift list, seeing as how official licensees are so reluctant to produce anything related to our favourite superheroic women.

Maybe everyone on your list is just super into adorable things with big heads. If so, you have to consider getting them a Funko Pop! or two. I mean, I hate owning extraneous things and even I have somehow managed to acquire four tiny superheroes (with a custom Kate Bishop in progress). They’re too cute to resist, especially when their heads also bobble.

Funko does a whole bunch of Marvel Pops!, including the holiday edition of their ever-popular Dancing Groot pictured above. They also produce a fair few t-shirts featuring Marvel characters, like their painfully adorable Black Widow shirt (which, alas, was an SDCC exclusive now available only through resellers) and their Deadpool's Taco Tuesdays shirt.

Find Pops! On: Think Geek | Amazon | Chapters

Canadians, note that Shoppers Drug Mart also has Pops! in their holiday gift section this year, and you can ask Chapters to deliver any online-only figures to your local store at no extra charge.