Yes, it’s that time of year again. Santa Claus is taking a look at his list of children both naughty and nice, checking it twice to see who gets a shiny new toy and who gets an ugly lump of coal. You’ll likely also find yourself among the hordes of shoppers at the mall, digging through the bins as you seek out the perfect present. Last year, I offered some possibilities for the fighting game fans in your life. This year, I turn my attention toward people who happen to be pretty enthusiastic about retro goodness. They yearn for the days of yore when the yellow Sony sports Walkman was the hippest thing on the block.
How can you appeal to the 80s geek (and beyond) in your life? Here are ten of the best possibilities as we take a look at the gift guide for retro geeks.
Flash Rods Delorean Time Machine Hard Drive
Go ahead and jump back to the future with this Delorean external hard drive. No joke, this 1:18 scale model is an exact replica of the time-traveling vehicle of choice for Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown.
Naturally, it’s not going to reach the speeds necessary to take you to the time of your mother’s youth (that was an awfully creepy situation), but it will be able to back up and store all of those fantastic remnants from years gone by. If you want to give an extra special gift to your time machine-loving friend, load up this Delorean with a digitally remastered copy of “Never Gonna Give You Up” and a batch of your favorite Aliens wallpapers. The USB port is in the back.
Be prepared to open up your wallet for this DMC-12 replica. The 500GB portable hard drive goes for a cool $250US. That’s in 2010 dollars, thankfully, and not 1985 dollars (which would work out to $462 in today’s money, in case you’re curious).
Lego Brick USB Flash Drives
We all grew up with these little bricks. Some kids were lucky enough to get the real sets, spanning all sorts of genres and areas of interest. The rest of us had random buckets filled with an eclectic assortment of blocks, piecing them together to build whatever our imaginations could dream.
You might still dabble in the Lego system, but your Lego-loving compadre may appreciate some of the Lego USB flash drives available through MyZipZip.com. There are three different varieties available — classic, clear, and glow in the dark — but they all take on the same 4×2 total brick size. Prices range from $35 for a 2GB drive to $90 for a 16-gigger.
Searching through places like Etsy, you can find other Lego possibilities, including more than a few USB flash drives that are actually minifigs. That’s pretty cool. But if you are looking for something even more unique, designing custom flash drives for those on your list, will make that gift even more special.
Olympus PEN E-PL1 Micro Four-Thirds Digital Camera
Do you have a shutterbug in your life? Before you head out and buy them a Digital Rebel or a compact point-and-shoot, you might want to consider the micro four-thirds format pioneered by Panasonic and Olympus. More specifically, Olympus has revived the PEN line of cameras from ages ago for its range of M4/3 cameras.
Currently, the newest of the bunch is the Olympus E-PL1, which happens to be my current camera. It rocks the retro look, a 12MP sensor, interchangeable lenses, and several art filters. For an even more classic appearance, you can consider the E-P1 or E-P2 instead, both of which are also a part of the Olympus PEN line. The E-PL1 sells for about $500US though I’ve seen it go on sale for as low as $400US.
Money is no object and you’d rather go with the real retro appeal of film? Look no further than the Leica M7 35mm shooter. Unfortunately, it costs about five thousand smackeroos, not including any accessories that you may want to toss into the bundle.
Motorola DROID R2-D2 Special Limited Edition Smartphone
Everyone’s favorite bleep-blooping tin can is now a smartphone. That’s right. You can get the Motorola DROID R2-D2 special limited edition smartphone, completely clad out like C-3PO’s little buddy. It also comes loaded with a bunch of exclusive Star Wars-themed content.
Underneath the shell, the R2-D2 phone is really just a Motorola DROID 2. It comes powered by Google Android 2.2 and a 1GHz processor, features a slide-out hardware QWERTY keyboard, and rocks a sizable 3.7 FWVGA display to go with its 5MP camera and 3G connectivity.
Pick it up from Verizon Wireless for $249.99 when you sign a two-year agreement and handle the mail-in rebate.
Power A Darth Vader Wii Sensor Bar Holder
Sticking with the Star Wars theme, we turn to the Dark Side of the Force. Darth Vader has invaded the Nintendo Wii with his own licensed Wii Sensor Bar Holder. The sensor bar effectively becomes his red lightsaber.
Does it serve any real function? Aside from holding the sensor bar, no, not really, but it looks really cool. (Isn’t that all that matters?) It sure beats out a lot of the other Wii accessories that you find in the marketplace and Power A has done a great job with the craftsmanship. The Emperor would be proud.
Pick up the Dark Lord of the Sith for $49.99 US.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Replica Phaser
Do you have a Trekker on your list rather than a Star Wars geek? Then it might be appropriate to pick up the Star Wars: TNG replica phaser. Sporting the exact same look that you saw in The Next Generation, this phaser can’t really be set to stun. Or to kill. It’s just set to, well, exist.
The good news is that, at $10.99, it’s a pretty nice gift if you happen to be on a tight budget and want to put a smile on the Picard geek in your life. Make it so, number one.
Oh, and if the person on your list is more aligned with Captain Kirk, there are varieties of phasers available from the original Star Trek universe too. They’re priced similarly.
Crosley Radio CR1701A iJuke Jukebox
“I’ve got you under my skin. I’ve got you deep in the heart of me…”
Whether he’s a fan of a crooner like Frank Sinatra or he’d rather shake his hips to Elvis Presley, the Crosley iJuke CR1701A makes a pretty awesome holiday gift. The desktop music player is styled after classic jukeboxes, but it actually functions as an iPod speaker dock. The “eternity lighting” completes the retro appeal.
The iJuke from Crosley carries an MSRP of $199.95, but online retailers have been known to sell it for a fair bit less.
Portable LP to MP3 Turntable Converter
Sticking with the musical note, you may have a friend with a sizable vinyl collection. He or she may have these irreplaceable records, but no way of actually enjoying those tunes in the car, at the gym, or while at the office. That’s where the portable LP to MP3 turntable comes into play (no pun intended).
This compact device will take vinyl records (both 33 and 45rpm) and play the music inside through its integrated two-watt stereo speaker. Perhaps more importantly, there is a USB connection included that lets you “rip” the record into WAV format (which you can then convert to MP3). Rounding out the package are FM transmission, line-out port, and your choice of using either six AA batteries or the included AC adaptor.
Find the portable turntable at Hammacher Schlemmer for $149.95 US.
Nintendo Wii GoldenEye 007 Video Game
To some people, the Nintendo 64 isn’t quite retro enough and they’d rather go all the way back to the NES or even Colecovision. However, one of the biggest classics from the N64 has been given new life and it’s well worth a nostalgic mention.
We saw the Nintendo Wii remake of GoldenEye 007 while at E3 earlier this year and now it’s available for purchase. The developers have taken arguably one of the best first-person shooters to ever grace Nintendo’s last cartridge-based system and converted it to the modern era.
Some of the graphics have been updated, to be sure, but they’ve left more than enough of the old school appeal for those who grew up on the N64. From Oddjob to Jaws, the multiplayer extravaganza can be a lot of fun. For single-player, they’ve swapped Pierce Brosnan (from the original) to Daniel Craig.
GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo Wii is sure to be a hit at your holiday party, especially if you happen to pick up the special gold Wii Classic Controller Pro to go along with it. It’s not quite an N64 controller, unfortunately, but it has its own golden appeal.
The game bundled with the special controller retails for $69.99. Alternatively, you can gift the software alone for $49.99.
Stay Puft Quality Marshmallows (with Caffeine)
I went into producing this retro-infused holiday gift guide with the intention of finding gadgetry and toys that would appeal to fans of yesteryear (however far back you choose to define “yesteryear”). However, I just couldn’t help but to include an item on this list that isn’t a gadget, game, or technological product at all. It’s just too awesome.
What you see here are Ghostbusters-inspired Stay Puft Marshmallows that have been infused with caffeine. They’re marketed as the world’s first caffeinated marshmallows and they’re made with all-natural ingredients. The box is kinda squishy too.
We ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Pick up some Stay Puft marshmallows for $19.99 from ThinkGeek.
It’s the Thought that Counts?
They say that giving is better than receiving… so you might as well give the best possible gift. From hard drive-infused Deloreans to replica Star Trek phasers, from classic cameras to caffeinated marshmallows, there’s definitely something out there for the retro geek on your holiday shopping list.