Article 38Z8E Boing Boing Gift Guide 2017

Boing Boing Gift Guide 2017

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Gift Guide
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Here's this year's complete Boing Boing Gift Guide: dozens of great ideas for stocking stuffers, brain-hammers, mind-expanders, terrible toys, badass books and more. Where available, we use Amazon Affiliate links to help keep the world's greatest neurozine online.

Gadgets + Gear | Books + Music | Home + Kitchen | Toys + Games | Naughty + Nice Gadgets

Cory

Edu-Toys Night 'n Day Mechanical Globeanimation-8.gifElenco's Night 'n Day Mechanical Globe uses a system of translucent, exposed gears to rotate an internally illuminated globe that displays the seasonally adjusted, real-time night/day terminator as it spins. [Read More]

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Xeni

iPhone 8 Plus6s5hpOY-4.jpgNow on its eighth numbered generation, the iPhone remains my entire creative studio and almost everything I need to do my work: it replaces my fancy camera, my audio gear and everything else I had to lug around. This thing really is everything. I go big on screen size and storage capacity, with that in mind: the Plus, and 128 GB.

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David

Audio Technica AT-LP6081gRPnybNJL._SY355_-5.jpgForget those vinyl-destroying, vintage-inspired all-in-one units. They're all crap. The Audio Technica AT-LP60 is a fantastic beginner (or revivalist) turntable for the price. Its built-in pre-amp means all you need to do is plug it any powered speakers with an audio input.You won't find a better turntable than this for under $100 unless you hit the second-hand market.

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Mark

Flitt Flying Pocket Selfie Camera Drone ($100)610T7jgCv-L._SL1000_-5.jpgI honestly didn't expect that this tiny fold-up drone would perform as well as it does. It does a great job of hovering in place, and is easy to control with a smart phone. It's the first drone I can fly without crashing it into a wall or getting it stuck in a tree.

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Rob

Kano Computer Kit71Su1lB52B-L._SY500_-4.jpgBuild your own computer and learn to code art, music, apps, games and more with the Kano Computer Kit, an introduction to the bare metal you just won't get with crap-laden commercial machines. Hundreds of schools use them, and Includes everything you need, including the Pi that acts as its brain, case, speaker, wireless keyboard, RAM, and cables. And unlike most edumuacational computer gear, it looks absolutely cool as heck.

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Jason

An airbag for your motorcyclist41-Hy1koPDL-5.jpgDo you love your motorcyclist? This simple, tether activated airbag inflates less than .10 of a second after a rider becomes separated from their bike. Helping to secure the neck, and protect the torso and internal organs, the Helite Turtle, is a top choice for next-generation motorcycle safety.

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David

Kindle E-reader loaded with free classics61QG2uHzY3L._SY355_-5.jpgFor $50, the entry-level Kindle E-reader is priced right, and comes in black or white! This model has a 6" display and the battery lasts for ages between charges. (If you want to get fancy, go for the Kindle Paperwhite with a built-in reading light so you don't bug bedmates.) Load it with free classic books from Project Gutenberg before gifting!

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Mark

Igloohome Deadbolt2 ($238)igloo-deadbolt_preview.jpegThe Igloohome Deadbolt2 has a programmable keypad instead of a keyhole. It took me about 20 minutes to install on my door. You can send your friends or other people single-use PINs. The smartphone app can also be set so the door unlocks when you touch the keypad - no PIN needed.

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Mark

Mixcder Wireless & Wired Over Ear Headphones ($80)71UvCvLEujL._SL1500_-5.jpgI bought these relatively inexpensive headphones for my daughter, who wanted wireless headphones for when she paints and sculpts. These are comfortable, have good sound quality, and pair easily with an iPhone.

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Mark

PacSafe Transit Travel Hoodie ($130)Transit_Hoodie_Mens_90000127_Heather_GreThe thing I like about this pocket-covered hoodie is that the interior pockets have little line drawings indicating what you should put in them - pen, eyeglasses, tablet computer, phone, passport, earbuds, wallet, etc. I like having a garment that tells me what to do, it keeps life simple while traveling.

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Rob

Elf ear earbudsTB2s6eRc.5O.eBjSZFxXXaaJFXa_1927024727-1Once hard to find, these low-end but unique earbuds are now at Amazon. For elves who can't quit their record collection even for a moment, they're still, sadly, only available in lily white. But cheap, at just $13.

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Rob

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B91w0ZSOxX2L._SX522_-5.jpgThe best $35 you can spend on a wee yet straightforward and accessible barebones computer, Raspberry's Pi is now in its third generation and lives atop a vast and growing ecosystem of accessories, cases and general craziness to have fun with. The latest flagchip model has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU with twice the Pi 2's performance, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, and backward compatibility with earlier models.

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Xeni

Black & Decker CHV1410L 16-volt Lithium Cordless Dust Buster Hand Vac41kVO1HjrgL._SX425_-12-5.jpgStill the best selling hand vac for keeping your office, home, workshop or hackerspace tidy. CHV1410L has strong suction, and a bagless dirt bowl that's easy to see and empty. Holds a charge for up to 18 months when it's off the charger. High efficiency Lithium ion chargers protect it by automatically shutting off when the battery is charged, so you can store it on the charger.

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Rob

Arduboyphotooriginal-345b5b75595d86d1a1893be8d2Beautiful 1-bit graphics in your wallet! Arduboy is an open-source platform to create and share games and the hardware is made to the dimensions of a business card. Best of all, this tiny toy is only $50. Want more? The PocketChip, at $70, plays Pico-8 games with a dazzling 16 colors; the dev community is more mature and there are countless games already.

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Rob

Second-gen Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch 61IOrYpin3L._SL1000_-5.jpgWith the lastest 12.9" model I've changed my mind about Apple's biggest iPad. Its unmatched pencil latency and powerful processor leave Microsoft (and even Wacom) trailing, while markedly improved third-party applications make Photoshop less critical, at least for me. Finally.

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Books and Media

Mark

The EC Artists Library Slipcase (Vol 3 $54)51uxZo0rvLL-6.jpgThis high quality box set of four hardbound books has 904 pages of the very best comics of the 1950s. Volume one of this series is out of print and sells for over $250. Volume three is just $54. With art by greats like Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, John Severin, and George Evans, this set is a must-have for comic book aficionados.

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Cory

Canadaland Guide to Canada (Published in America), by Jesse Brown and friendsthe-canadaland-guide-to-canada-978150115Brown finds plenty of hilarious awfulness in Canada's past and present, especially in the way that Canadians talk about themselves when they expect Americans might be listening to them. From Justin Trudeau (who talks about refugees abandoned by Trump but takes no action to improve their lot, because he's too busy taking away the citizenship rights of naturalised Canadians with objectionable politics, greenlighting climate-destroying pipelines for the Tar Sands, and making the most of the sweeping surveillance powers he promised he'd abolish after taking office) to Rob Ford to Quebec separatism and the long, deplorable traditions of drunken, racist Canadian leaders who are remembered as wise, even-handed leaders, Brown punctures ever bubble that Canadians have ever blown over the border toward our American cousins. [Read more]

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Cory

Briggs Land Volume 1: State of Grace, by Brian WoodAPR170014-6.jpgStories matter: the recurring narrative of radical Islamic terror in America (a statistical outlier) makes it nearly impossible to avoid equating "terrorist" with "jihadi suicide bomber" -- but the real domestic terror threat is white people, the Dominionists, ethno-nationalists, white separatists, white supremacists and sovereign citizens who target (or infiltrate) cops and blow up buildings. That's what makes Brian Wood's first Briggs Land collection so timely: a gripping story of far-right terror that is empathic but never sympathetic. [Read More]

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Cory

Kindred (Graphic Novel), adapted from the novel by Octavia Butler9e8380f8-a742-4c86-98e5-ea862969cbdf-6.jKindred is the story of Dana, an African-American writer married to a white man in 1976, who finds herself being violently yanked through time and space to the side of her distant ancestor, Rufus, the son of an enslaver who lives on a plantation in antebellum Delaware. Rufus -- a self-destructive, traumatized and spoiled child -- periodically puts himself in mortal danger, and when he does, Dana is torn from 1976 to save him, and is stranded in the violent, totalitarian south until she experiences mortal terror, whereupon she returns to her present, only moments after she left. Luckily for Dana, mortal terror is a commonplace occurance for black people in Delaware in the 19th century. [Read More]

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Mark

The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery ($4)41WT635H6PL._SX347_BO1204203200_-6.jpgThis 1990 BASIC programming book is long out-of-print, but is still valid and a great way to explore fractals and artificial life. I loved this book when it came out and just bought a replacement for my lost copy. Use copies are cheap on Amazon. Get it for a smart kid in your life.

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David

Voyager Golden Record CD1-6.jpgIn 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, on a grand tour of the solar system and into the mysteries of interstellar space. Attached to each ofthese probes is a beautiful golden phonograph record containing the story of our planet expressed in music, sounds, images, and science. It's a message for any extraterrestrial intelligence that might encounter it. And now you can experience on Earth as a lavish 3xLP Box Set or 2xCD-Book edition.

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David

The Photographs Of Charles Duvelle - Disques OCORA And Collection PROPHETv600_IMG_2592__1__copy-6.jpgDecades before the term "world music" became common parlance, Charles Duvelle was traveling the globe recording the sounds and sights of indigenous people around the world. To enable us see the world through Duvelle's eyes, Sublime Frequencies' Hisham Mayet in collaboration with Duvelle released this magnificent tome contains field photographs from 1959-1978, a deep interview, a report he prepared for Unesco in 1978, and two CDs of music that will move you.

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David

Art Sex Music by Cosey Fanni Tutti41M2BMlgEuAL._SX324_BO1204203200_-6.jpgThe stunning memoir of musician, artist, and cultural provocateur Cosey Fanni Tutti is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of avant-garde music, performance art, underground culture, radical living, and female empowerment. Best known as co-founder of pioneering industrial groups Coum Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (famously called "wreckers of civilisation" by a British MP), Cosey has also explored the fringes of sex, music, and creativity as a pornographic model, video artist, electronic composer, and, yes, writer. This is her story so far and it's a doozy.

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David

Little Book of Wonders: Celebrating the Gifts of the Natural World by Nadia Drake9781426216893National Geographic contributor Nadia Drake's science writing sings with knowledge, rigor, and her own infectious curiosity. This slim and delightful book is no exception. A lovely miniature wunderkammer of Earth's magical places, startling phenomena, and amazing wildlife, it pairs beautiful photos with Nadia's poetic and informative captions that spark the imagination and instill a sense of wonder about our world.

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David

Dali: The Wines of Galadali_vins_de_gala_va_gb_3d_04682_1710191First published in 1978, Salvador Dali's The Wines of Gala is a stunning and strange guide that groups wines "according to the sensations they create in our very depths" such as "Wines of Frivolity," "Wines of the Impossible," and "Wines of Light." Featuring more than 140 of Dali's surrealist illustrations, this is the most bizarre, sensual, and sensational book about viticulture and libations that you'll ever experience.

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Cory

THEFT: A History of Music, by James Boyle and Jennifer JenkinsTheftcover-1-6.jpgTheft traces millennia of musical history, from Plato's injunction against mixing musical styles to the outrage provoked by the troubadours who appropriated sacred music and turned it into bawdy songs about wanting to have sex with hot teenagers (a trick Ray Charles repeated hundreds of years later!); from the racist outrage over rock and roll's challenge to white supremacy to the fights over sampling and the exploitation of African-American musicians who were ripped off 40 years ago versus the interests of their musical progeny whose sample-based music has been distorted and even outlawed by the same musical corporations that screwed the R&B artists, in the name of defending those artists (!). [Read More]

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Cory

The Free, by Lauren McLaughlin30335358-6.jpgIsaac West is a mixed-race kid who never knew his dad; he and his sister have raised their alcoholic, abusive mother as much as she's raised them. But Isaac has a plan: his little sister Janelle is smart, better than he'll ever be, and he's going to get her out of their mutual hellhole and into a private school -- and to make that happen, he's graduated from petty theft into grand theft auto, under the supervision of his high-school auto-shop teacher, a cut-rate Fagin who trains and oversees a gang of junior car thieves. [Read More]

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Rob

The Complete Elfquest Vol. 461BFQ2c2BrUL-6.jpgFresh out in November, this volume contains some of the most exquisite and touching episodes of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest saga, a great alternative to genre fantasy and its grim 'n' gritty modern counterparts. One of America's best indie comics, it's illustrated by Wendy's wonderful artwork - even at its most lighthearted, unanswerable questions of identity, family and freedom lurk between the lines. (Newcomers should not feel they have to start at the beginning, but it sure helps. And you don't have to be a fan to appreciate Line of Beauty, a deep-dive biography of Wendy penned by Richard himself)

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Cory

The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware, by Andrew "bunnie" Huanghardwarehacker-6.jpgThe book draws heavily on Huang's own hardware projects, which have included substantial manufacturing in south China, with many hard-won lessons about how things can go wrong and how to make them go right. This is more than a checklist or memoir: it's nothing less than a masterclass in modern manufacturing, and even if you never plan on manufacturing anything, reading these chapters will explain the material world around you like few other texts. [Read More]

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Cory

New York 2140, by Kim Stanley RobinsonRobinson_NewYork2140_HC.png-1-6.jpgIt's 2140 and trillions of dollars' worth of the world's most valuable real estate is now submerged under fifty feet of water, resulting from two great "surges" where runaway polar melting created sudden, punctuated disasters that displaced billions of people, wiped trillions off the world's balance sheets, and turned the great cities of the world into drowned squatter camps. [Read More]

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Cory

WAKE UP!, by Rick Lieder and Helen FrostLieder-Wake-Up_Cover_1K-6.jpgLife is a continuing cycle of newness, then growth, and then gone: then birth and growth again. Photographer Rick Lieder started thinking about that theme of new life and new beginnings several years ago, and WAKE UP!, published by Candlewick Press, is the result. Working with his collaborator, poet Helen Frost, our book is about opening eyes-our own, first-and pointing to the world that's right here, containing us all. Helen and rick are both based in the US Midwest, so we started there, with a world that we didn't need to travel far to explore, only wake up enough to actually see. [Read More]

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Cory

Penguin Galaxy Boxed Set, introduced by Neil Gaimanall_anglesp-1736x1200-6.jpgLast October, Penguin released its Galaxy boxed set, a $133 set of six hardcover reprints of some of science fiction's most canonical titles: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin; Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein; 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke; Dune by Frank Herbert; The Once and Future King by TH White; and Neuromancer, by William Gibson. [Read More]

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Cory

Brutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete Capitalbrutal-london-construct-your-own-concretBrutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete Capital tells the stories of nine of London's greatest brutalist structures (with an intro by Norman Foster!), including the Barbican Estate, Robin Hood Gardens, Balfron Tower and the National Theatre -- and includes pull-out papercraft models of these buildings for you to assemble and display. [Read More]

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Cory

SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL v.1: Earth Girl Made Easy, by Cecil CastellucciSTL045411-6.jpgLoma Shade, as her own unique character, was a way of being steeped in the world of Shade the Changing Man, while being its own thing. Some people say that Shade the Changing Girl seems to be a direct sequel of the Milligan run. I say not so. I've always approached it as a kind of side-quel. Creator Cecil Castellucci wanted to take care to have nods and echoes to them both, but to be able to stand narratively on its own. It was a way of striking out in a new direction while plucking elements from the Ditko original and the Milligan run. [Read More]

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Cory

Paper Girls 1, 2 and 3, by Brian K VaughanSTL021790-2-6.jpg.maxheight-1500-2-6.jpghttps://boingboing.net/2016/12/14/brian-k-vaughan-and-cliff-chan.html https://Paper Girls stars an all-girl cast of newspaper delivery kids for a fictional Cleveland newspaper, circa 1988 -- they are instantly and wholeheartedly likable, like the Goonies or the cast of Stranger Things. They convene on November 1, when the mean teenagers of Cleveland are still out an about and making mischief, picking on the likes of them, and they band together in mutual self-defense. (Don't forget books Two and Three) [Read More]

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Cory

Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults, by Laurie Penny9781632867544-6.jpgIf you've followed Penny's work, you'll know that the thing that sets her apart from other enraged columnists is her empathy: her ability to understand the self-serving rationalizations, radioactive bullshit, and emotional damage that drives men to threaten her with rape and murder for pointing out that things aren't exactly fair. [Read More]

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Cory

Lizard Music, by Daniel PinkwaterIMG_20170713_135427-6.jpgLizard Music is a novel about Victor, a kid who falls asleep while doing a model airplane and wakes up when the local TV station is going off the air, who discovers that the true late-night programming comes from humanoid lizards who live in a secret nearby volcano and worship Walter Cronkite. [Read More]

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Cory

Landscape With Invisible Hand, by MT Andersonlandscape-with-invisible-hand-1-6.jpgIn 2002, MT Anderson blew up the YA dystopia world with Feed, his zeitgeisty, prescient novel about "identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains" -- in his latest, Landscape with Invisible Hand, Anderson takes us to a world where neoliberal aliens have sold Earth's plutocrats the technologies to make work obsolete and with it, nearly human being on earth. [Read More]

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Rob

Stories of Your Life and Others51WmTH6uJYL._SX322_BO1204203200_-2-6.jpgTed Chiang's writing is rare and precise, weaving threads of science fiction into something so haunting and humane I've woken up dreaming about it more than once. Here you can read most of his published work, including the novella that was recently filmed as Arrival and is currently in U.S. theaters. But my favorites are the Borgesian "Tower of Babel," about an engineer breaking through the vault of heaven, and "Division by Zero."

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Cory

The Power, by Naomi Alderman51v11X2BwcIL-6.jpgIn The Power, a day dawns, not so long from now, in which every 15-year-old girl finds herself with the power to deal out electric shocks, emanating from an unsuspected organ called "the skein," which rests along the collarbone. What's more, any woman can do the trick, once a 15 year old shows them how. Chaos. Glorious chaos. [Read More]

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Cory

Archangel, by William GibsonSTL032364-1-1-6.jpgFrom the start of its run in 2016, Archangel went from strength to strength, packing in so many goddamned O.G. cyberpunk eyeball kicks per page that it felt like some kind of cask-strength distillation of all the visual and action elements that gave the original mirrorshades stuff its dark glitter. [Read More]

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Cory

Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches, by John Hodgman05020056c026d-1c66-4d42-9fae-a8e96df290cMy first impression of Vacationland was that I'd found a modern version of Steve Martin's classic Cruel Shoes. Hodgman is so very witty, and as he sets up his memoir -- the story of how he was a weird kid raised by loving but largely unconcerned parents -- he has so many tinder-dry asides and beautifully turned sentences and jokes with long fuses that unexpectedly detonate paragraphs later that I was really getting ready to relive my own childhood. [Read More]

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Home

David

Under The Weather SportsPodmypod-NO-logo-RED_grande-1.jpgAs seen on Shark Tank, the Under The Weather SportsPod is a single-person pop-up shelter to sit inside that my big brother Rick came up with a while back. (He was sick of getting soaked at his kids' soccer games and was inspired by a portable toilet he saw by the field.) Under The Weather is designed for spectator sports, fishing, and other outdoor events where it's raining, windy, or cold, but you are either obligated to watch or having so much fun you don't want to leave.

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Xeni

Sport-Brella XLA1fijIcGShL._SL1500_-12-5.jpgPortable wind, sun, and rain shelter that's easy to set up. Can you open an umbrella? Can you drive a couple stakes into the ground? You got this, then. Haul it to the beach, outdoor gatherings or events, camping, sports, and you feel like you have a little private room outdoors. Comes in 6 different colors. Provides UPF 50+ shade. Opens to 9 feet wide, has a metallic undercoating for additional sun protection, internal pockets for stakes, valuables, and gear, plus top wind vents and side zippered windows for efficient airflow. Water resistant, weighs only 11.5 pounds. I first saw someone else on our local beach use it, and asked them where they bought it. Amazonned one for myself. Now I use it nearly every weekend, and love it.

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Rob

3" Glass Pyramid61fkeYYUPvL._SL1200_-7-5.jpgMade of "optically clear crystal" and three inches tall, Amlong's Crystal Pyramid is the best Crystal Pyramid. My bacon is fresh, my airspace dangerous, and my undertakings favored.

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Mark

OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop ($15)scoop-5.jpgThe old ice cream scoop we had wasn't really an ice cream scoop. It was a disher, and was more suited for scooping mashed potatoes than ice cream. When the trigger mechanism on it finally broke, I happily got rid of it and replaced it with the OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop($15). This surprisingly heavy scoop is made from a solid chunk of stainless steel with a comfortable rubber grip, and comes with a pointed end that digs right into hard ice cream, especially if you run hot water over it. It's supposedly dishwasher safe but why put it in the dishwasher? Just rinse it and dry it with a towel.

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Xeni

Brondell Source71zejgw4v1L._SL1500_-12-5.jpgI bought the Brondell Source in 2015 and it alleviated allergy symptoms; here's the latest model, adding a touchscreen, remote control and an adjustable air quality sensor. Rids the air of dust and dander and tiny particles you don't need to be breathing-but also filters volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Three-stage advanced purifier system includes certified True HEPA and Granulated Carbon technology. Glowing light indicator tells you when it's working. One time my dog farted a particularly noxious plume and this thing kicked into high gear with an emergency red glow. That's when I knew I'd be giving it a five star recommendation.

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Mark

Lynx Sonoma Stainless Steel Countertop Natural Gas Smoker ($2500)61yXXsj7gsL._SL1100_-5.jpgThis capacious, ultra high-end smoker has a digital control panel, smoker chip box, an instant-reading meat probe. It's got built-in Wi-Fi, of course, so you can monitor the process wherever you are.

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Jason

Wise Owl Camping Hammock912BCOQwTr-L._SL1500_-5.jpgThe comfort to weight ratio of a good camping hammock is off the charts. Durable and easy to set up, you'll be happy anyplace you can find two appropriately spaced trees.

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Xeni

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processorcuisinart-12-5.jpgThe latest model of the best food processor for people who are serious about broadening their happy foodie horizons. Shove entire fruits and veggies into the giant feed tube. Listen to the 720-watt motor fill a 14-cup work bowl with steel slicing and shredding discs. It still comes with a free recipe book.

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Toys and Games

Rob

Rainbow Slime81MgHcU6HzL._SL1500_-4.jpgA glittery additive mixed with kid-safe Elmer's glue, Rainbow Slime is what you make of it. Fun when forming and flexible when dry, the results are beautiful, weird and extremely cheap at $6 or so.

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Jason

The Intellivision Flashback Console91V2mJSUW8L._AC_-5.jpgRemember the unlucky kid with the parents who got them an "Intellivision" instead of an Atari? Make someone that miserable again! With games no one can remember except maybe that OK one with a snake that couldn't touch its tail but isn't SNAFU, the Intellivision really sucked.

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David

Ejector Seat Button For Your Carscreenshot-5-6.jpgA perfect stocking stuffer, this very clever eject button fits into most automobile cigarette lighter sockets. Unfortunately, the product listing clearly states that it's "designed for show only." It is a functional cigarette lighter though so I guess they mean it won't actually trigger your ejector seat.

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David

Swish card gameSwish-1512-LoResSpill-5.jpgA beautiful and deeply compelling card game, Swish is challenges your spatial perception to find matches of balls and hoops on transparent cards. It's a wordless game of pattern recognition that has entranced my entire family including our youngest child, age 8.

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Rob

Bulk Generic Lego51D6d-rp0cL-7-5.jpgYou can get 1000 random pieces of off-brand building bricks for less than $30, guaranteed to "fit tight" and come with "less filler" than the even-cheaper bulk buys.

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Mark

Palomino Blackwing 602 Pencils ($23/doz.)61rUb-sBDdL._SL1000_-5.jpgThis is a faithful reproduction of the Eberhard Faber original, which is no longer being made. Blackwing 602 have dark, soft lead (the motto printed on the pencil reads"Half the pressure, twice the speed") and features a unique eraser holder. I've been using them for years.

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Jason

Make your own Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty71cZnazYM2L._SL1024_-5.jpgThe one thing my 10-year-old enjoys more than making her own floam or slime is playing with Thinking Putty. Textured quite like the legendary Silly Putty of yore, Crazy Aaron's putties come in a rainbow of colors and styles. This set lets you design your own! I am pretty sure Mark could be easily distracted by a can of magnetic Thinking Putty.

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Rob

Copic Ciao Marker Set71FgCZ7b8UL._SL1050_-4.jpgAt about $200, a full set of 72 Copic markers is a pricey proposition. But that's because they're the absolute best, with perfect colors, easy blending, and a big brush tip good for detail and wash alike. Dip an elbow in the water with a relatively inexpensive 12-marker set; great deals on partially-used sets can also be found haunting eBay.

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Jason

Because cats are totally down with the Dark Side71Nm74Qj9jL._SL1500_-5.jpgYoda and Chewie as mice for your cat to attack, because all cats align with the Dark Side. Except for Loth-Cats for some reason, but I wouldn't exactly trust them either.

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Jason

Star Wars Viewmaster gift set51t2BYykn1iL-5.jpgI am not sure how the whole putting gifts in a sock thing works, but this Darth Vader themed Viewmaster Viewer looks like it'd fit in a traditional Christ inspired gifting sock. Star Wars Viewmaster reels are always pretty sweet. This also makes a good Hanukkah day 4-7 gift for kids who can pull off the entire 8-day challenge. My kid starts getting a hug after day 3.

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Jason

You sank my holiday experience!81-QIPMJ9NL._SL1500_-5.jpgWhile it doesn't look much like the genre-defining 'This game isn't as much fun as a commercial made it look' toy of our youth, Electronic Battleship is now more exciting looking while boastin' the same old lows in game-play disappointment! Eeeeelectronic Battleship is no more fun than regular old Battleship, which is also a pretty god damn boring game. This is an excellent gift for someone you do not like, but want to appear you gave a cool gift at opening time.

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Jason

Prison Life Roblox51st2GGi0OL._SL1500_-5.jpgKnow a kid that just can't behave? Maybe a co-worker? Make sure they understand a life of crime will come to no good.

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Rob

Mysterious and Indistinct Shirtmysterious-and-indistinct-shirt-black-chFabulous yet classy, the Mysterious and Indistinct Shirt is a premium youth tee and "wears rough and tough for kids who play the same way."

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David

Mastermind81wHQ9Y3wPL._SL1500_-5.jpgInvented in 1970 by an Israeli telecom expert, Mastermind is still the terrific game of strategy, logic, and deduction that you might remember from childhood. True, the packaging lacks the Bond-inspired photo of the dignified man and woman that appeared on the original box, but the game is just as elegant and addictive.

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Cory

Largemouth bass sandals71n-7d1T41L._UL1500_-1-5.jpgYou will look amazing in sandals that look like gasping largemouth bass, seriously (max size is a Men's 10, so only the dainty of feed need apply, e.g., not me). [Read More]

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Rob

Blank Playing Cards31i9PnnyckL11-7-3.jpgMake your own games! Or just stare at them. Whatever.

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Naughty + Nice

Mark

Wink Plus ($79)Wink__GM__63555.1486590489.1280.1280-3.pIn William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch, Steely Dan III from Yokohama was the name of a stainless steel sex toy. The USB-chargeable Wink Plus vibrator from Crave is probably not what Old Bill Lee had in mind, because it is quite small, but it is made from stainless steel, and packs quite a vibrational wallop, with five intensity levels and two patterns.

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Rob

Wolf Crotch Underwearwolf-underwear-7-3.jpgWith a "convex design, large space and breathable," the 3D Wolf Head Crotch Underwear "make man looks sexy and wild" and can be yours for as little as five American dollars.

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Jason

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