Action Figures for Indie Comic Geeks

Suck it Hasbro! I spent hundreds of dollars on your Power of the Force II action figures when I was a kid, and did you ever think to thank me by turning my favorite indie comic heroes into awesome articulated action figures? No!

Luckily, Shocker Toys has stepped up to the plate, and for this I salute them! All comic fans deserve a chance to adorn their rooms with cheap and posable versions of their favorite characters, not just cape and horror fans! I'm guessing The Maxx will be their big seller (and why not), but I'm most excited about the fella after the jump...

That's right, a fully articulated (20 points!) toy version of everyone's favorite explosive robot pal, Scud: The Disposable Assassin. I recently read the complete Scud collection for the first time, and was made a fan over night.

If you're wondering why Scud comes with an Isz from The Maxx's universe, well, I guess Shocker must have made extra, because each toy in the 6'' Indie Spotlight Series I comes with an Isz, as well as extra hands, accessories, and mini-posters. They're priced at a very reasonable $13.95, which has me hoping the paint job will look as good as these pictures. Suffice to say, these aren't vinyl, leave-it-in-the-box toys, these are meant to be played with, dammit!

The rest of Series I includes characters from Kabuki, Shadowhawk (who?), and even Katchoo from Strangers in Paradise, though truth be told I don't really see the resemblance in that picture. There's also a really sweet SOL variant of Scud, which you can see by clicking the above picture. In a truly brilliant and somewhat evil move, if you collect the whole set you can use the proof of purchases to send away for a secret Mr. Gone figure, everyone's favorite sociopathic sorcerer from The Maxx. Not fair, guys. Not fair.

These are all due to ship in December (hint hint, gift season?), but you can pre-order online at the Shocker.

Next on my wish list, Mouse Guard figures with more playability and Sam and Max figures that don't look like this:

Giftanerd: Awesome Shit for the Geeks You Love

Has SantaBot snuck up on you this year? Have you found yourself empty handed with visions of crying geeks dancing in your head? Well don't let it come to that, get your ass on the internet and get some genuine geek shit shipped to you ASAP.

Mii Figurine - $50-100
Take a picture of your Mii of choice, send it out to these guys and you or someone you love will soon be the proud owner of a 3 or 5-inch replica of yourself/him/herself. And if my overzealous forward slashing isn't enough to make your head spin, these prices ($50 for the 3in., $100 for the 5in.) will.

Custom World of Warcraft Figurine - $100
If the Wii isn't your giftee's thing, and he or she is more into, say, World of Warcraft, boy have we got a figurine with his or her fake name on it! FigurePrints is offering great-looking replicas of Warcraft avatars for 100 bones. These things are extremely accurate, down to the low polygon count you see every time you log on. So accurate, in fact, that they'll only construct you with armor and weapons you actually possess in game.

Emoticon Magnets - $15
For either the chat addict or Welcome To Tranquility fan in your life. The designers have made the controversial decision to include the "nose" punctuation for maximum anthropomorphization, but at least they didn't include any of those bullshit ones like :# or :$..... I mean, what the hell is that?

GlaDOS Litograph - $35 ($90 Signed)
Of course, the more obvious item would be the Weighted Companion Cube toys ($30 fuzzy dice versions available, or $100 bucks for the standard plushie), but I'm holding out for the inevitable solid versions. I mean, plush isn't weighted. Nor particularly cubic. So if you have a crazed Portal fan in your life (and who doesn't), why not class it up and get them some expensive art that says, "I'm obsessed with a four hour video game"?

Original Lettering Overlays - $10
Wanna give the gift of original comic art but don't have hundreds to blow on eBay? Hot shot letterer Todd Klein is offering his original handwritten overlays for books ranging from Batman to Tom Strong. $10 will get you FIVE of these suckers. He actually has a ton of cool affordable stuff available at his store, so check it out.

Threadless.com T-Shirts - $10
T-shirts from Threadless are great gifts for dorks, because internet-cool people will approach the wearer and be like, "Oh, is that from Threadless? I love that site!". Instant cred. Plus there are plenty of geek-oriented shirts, from this saccharine moment of nerd nostalgia to typical nerd refrains.

PacMan Belt Buckle - $13
If you can't get laid wearing this, you're hanging out with the wrong crowd.