With Father’s Day just around the corner, we thought we’d use the date as an excuse to suggest some cool things to get for the Starburst reading father in your life. Or just use this as a list of things you may want to treat yourself to. Of course, the best gift you could possibly wish for is a subscription to STARBURST Magazine.
Assuming you already have one of those (and why wouldn’t you?), let’s take a look at some quick, last-minute gift ideas.
If you’re a certain age, you’ll have very fond movies of this ’80s sci-fi classic directed by the brilliant John Hughes. This is an unforgettable movie featuring Kelly Le Brock as the genie-like Lisa and the lovely folk at Arrow Video have packaged it all into a Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD for your viewing pleasure.
Trust the Folio Society to create a perfect gift for DC comics fans. This gorgeous book comes with a 68-page replica of Action Comics #1, a slipcase and a beautifully bound book compiling the first issues of all the iconic DC heroes.
Transformers The Movie Blaster & Eject
Fans of the ’80s Transformers comics will have fond memories of Blaster, the Autobot cassette player, and his little ally Eject. Hasbro has a lovely version of this heroic character on Habro Pulse. You, too, can now re-create the Decepticon Shuttle Ambush scene from Transformers the Movie.
Marvel Crisis Protocol Earth’s Mightiest Core Set
A double whammy of Marvel comic books and miniature model making, Crisis Protocol is a miniatures battle game that uses small units (superheroes) in a detailed skirmish game. It’s perfect for older geeks; the games run quickly, the models are very detailed, and, importantly, they are fun to paint. This is just enough of a time-sink with plenty of rewards.
Savyll’s Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
As we age, sometimes we just want the flavour of a cocktail without getting completely blasted in the morning. Savyll’s offers a range of very nice canned beverages that taste great without any alcohol. We found these surprisingly tasty, and of course, you may want to keep them cool, which brings us to our next item.
Intended mostly for teens, Canal Toys do a version of their fun little mini-fridge in black, so you can pretend it’s a mature and sensible purchase. This is a perfect pick for a mancave or gaming set-up. It’s a little USB-powered fridge that can hold up to six canned drinks. It’s basically a powerful fan and heat sink that functions as air-conditioning for your drinks. It’s designed for cans rather than food storage and is very much a must-have party accessory.
Stormtrooper Space Race Low Alcohol
An officially branded Star Wars beer doesn’t exist, but the closest thing is Stormtrooper beer, which has the license to use the original Stormtrooper armour created by Shepperton Design Studio back in 1976 as the inspiration for its various ales and helmet-themed goodies. In addition to helmet-themed bottle openers, desk tidies, and beer mats, they do a strong range of decent beer, including a rather nice low-alcohol one. Another thing to stick in your mini-fridge.
Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer
Another quirky gift choice is the Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer. Again, aimed at younger folk, this is actually a very useful tool; it’s just that this set is very reasonably priced and comes with some good accessories. It’s a thermal printer that connects to your phone and can be used to print out silly pictures as well as actual photos. It comes into its own when you load it with sticky label thermal printer paper, turning this piece of childish fun into a useful and versatile label maker, as well as a way to create your own stickers. It doesn’t run out of ink (but needs special paper), fits in an everyday carry bag and is surprisingly practical.
Magic: the Gathering: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
Steampunk Outlaw Cowboys, fighting Planeswalkers in the Magic: the Gathering cosmos? Sign us up, but you might want to use the Commander Decks, as they play right out of the box.
Playmobil Naruto Ichiraku Ramenshop
Who needs LEGO when you have Playmobil? You may not be able to run Naruto as quickly as you want any more, but this fun replica of the Ramen shop from Naruto is incredibly detailed and has a crazy amount of fun. It’s robust and cute and also comes with movable curtains, a counter with three chairs, a well-equipped kitchen, and a secret hideout on the roof, as well as a load of Playmobil Naruto heroes. The best thing they’ve done since the Klingon Bird of Prey.
Membership To Glasgow Worldcon 2024
Worldcon is the world’s longest-running science fiction convention, but really, it’s more of a conference for folk who take science fiction fandom seriously. If SF is truly your passion (so much so that it’s either your job or your all-consuming hobby), you would do well to attend. Joining in June also means you get to vote in the Hugo Awards and can access the Hugo Voter’s packet, a massive collection of electronic files for pretty much everything nominated for a Hugo Award this year, including books, video games, and movies. Buy one for the special SF geek in your life.
