Advent Calendar Ideas Needed for Geeky Adult Male.
November 15, 2013 2:45 PM Subscribe
My husband is a big fan of Christmas so I would like to do him up an Advent calender to count down the days. I have the actual calender idea sorted, I am going to wrap each present in tissue paper and number them and hang them from a decorated branch that we hang our Christmas cards we get on.
I am looking for smallish reasonably priced present ideas, say no bigger than say a paperback and around a few dollars for each present. He is a typical Geek guy, programmer by trade and loves his computer games, table top games and dungeons and dragons.
I have thought of getting a pound of assorted dice from Amazon so he could have a few bundles of mixed dice, gaming themed mints and a few of his favourite candies, some bones figurines for different games but that gets me no where near 24 presents.
So basically silly, fun, geeky, smallish, cheap things a guy would like, he's parents will be seeing the gifts so I'd like to avoid sexy things or "coupons for hugs" type things.
Any and all ideas appreciated.
Best answer: check out american science and surplus and perpetual kid.
posted by koroshiya at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2013
posted by koroshiya at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2013
Best answer: This same question from three days ago may offer some ideas.
posted by mykescipark at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mykescipark at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Lego mini-figs. D&D minis, if he plays D&D with minis. New dice bag? Gog.com has a ton of classic games that work on current computers, and you can gift them. Several D&D or D&D style games on there. So you can get some and print box art and wrap that. Magnets. nerdy bumper sticker?
posted by Jacen at 3:10 PM on November 15, 2013
posted by Jacen at 3:10 PM on November 15, 2013
Best answer: If he's a drinker, mini airplane bottles of booze.
(My geek dude doesn't drink, so I'll be following this discussion closely!)
posted by homodachi at 3:21 PM on November 15, 2013
(My geek dude doesn't drink, so I'll be following this discussion closely!)
posted by homodachi at 3:21 PM on November 15, 2013
Best answer: Is the Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar too easy?
posted by ansate at 3:30 PM on November 15, 2013
posted by ansate at 3:30 PM on November 15, 2013
Response by poster: OK I totally missed the previous post and I did a search and everything. Great minds think alike is all I can say.
posted by wwax at 4:09 PM on November 15, 2013
posted by wwax at 4:09 PM on November 15, 2013
Best answer: Smartwool socks (expensive but pretty great)
Mexican wrestler bottle opener
Masonic money clip/tie clip (random and weird)
Magic flip book
Fluxx (fun game if you don't know it...it also come in Zombie FLuxx, Pirate, Star Trek, Monty Python)
posted by biscuits at 5:14 PM on November 15, 2013
Mexican wrestler bottle opener
Masonic money clip/tie clip (random and weird)
Magic flip book
Fluxx (fun game if you don't know it...it also come in Zombie FLuxx, Pirate, Star Trek, Monty Python)
posted by biscuits at 5:14 PM on November 15, 2013
Best answer: Well, if you're not sure where to get the dice, Chessex is pretty great; you can buy their dice in sets or individually.
If he drinks tea, an ounce of nice tea would work nicely. Coffee too. There's a lot of tea-related "stuff" you can get too-- strainers, the bags for make your own teabags, stuff like that.
Paracord.
Stickers or buttons. (Topatoco has a lot of these.)
If he plays any card games, booster sets. If he does figurine-type gaming and paints his figurines, paint.
Mass Market Paperbacks are cheap as hell at used bookstores and I bet you'll find stuff from authors he likes there. Short story collections in genres he likes are cool too.
If he plays 4th edition DnD, that creates little cards for your special abilities and character stats if you use their online character creator. If he does that and uses that character creator, a handful of card protectors can be super helpful for keeping track of them instead of little pieces of paper. You can just put playing cards in the back. This is sort of specific though.
Subscriptions to gaming magazines of interest can be really inexpensive and you can leave a note with them. Also, Asimov's is pretty physically small.
Dice bags or boxes if he keeps his dice separated. I keep wishing I put my d10s in a separate container whenever I play World of Darkness.
Tiny plastic ninjas from grocery store vending machines. Other little toy figure type stuff can be fun too-- little dinosaurs and such.
Also, I bet going into your local game/comic book/etc shop and telling them what you're doing will yield good results.
posted by NoraReed at 1:21 AM on November 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
If he drinks tea, an ounce of nice tea would work nicely. Coffee too. There's a lot of tea-related "stuff" you can get too-- strainers, the bags for make your own teabags, stuff like that.
Paracord.
Stickers or buttons. (Topatoco has a lot of these.)
If he plays any card games, booster sets. If he does figurine-type gaming and paints his figurines, paint.
Mass Market Paperbacks are cheap as hell at used bookstores and I bet you'll find stuff from authors he likes there. Short story collections in genres he likes are cool too.
If he plays 4th edition DnD, that creates little cards for your special abilities and character stats if you use their online character creator. If he does that and uses that character creator, a handful of card protectors can be super helpful for keeping track of them instead of little pieces of paper. You can just put playing cards in the back. This is sort of specific though.
Subscriptions to gaming magazines of interest can be really inexpensive and you can leave a note with them. Also, Asimov's is pretty physically small.
Dice bags or boxes if he keeps his dice separated. I keep wishing I put my d10s in a separate container whenever I play World of Darkness.
Tiny plastic ninjas from grocery store vending machines. Other little toy figure type stuff can be fun too-- little dinosaurs and such.
Also, I bet going into your local game/comic book/etc shop and telling them what you're doing will yield good results.
posted by NoraReed at 1:21 AM on November 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A flashlight that charges in the cigarette lighter is a nice thing to have if you have a car. Also, lighter adapter that accepts 2 USB cables would be handy. Sometime 2 people want to charge phones in the car. I'm on a flashlight binge, so a small flashlight & batteries. Tools - I got a cheap knockoff multitool at a Big Lots store, and it lasted years and was super handy. Screwdrivers, pliers. really good chocolate truffles. Forever stamps.
posted by theora55 at 12:01 PM on November 16, 2013
posted by theora55 at 12:01 PM on November 16, 2013
Best answer: Poke around on Cool Tools for things like this or this.
posted by BoscosMom at 4:44 PM on November 16, 2013
posted by BoscosMom at 4:44 PM on November 16, 2013
Best answer: Sugru.com - putty like substance can be used for all sorts of interesting repairs.
posted by MadMadam at 11:18 AM on November 17, 2013
posted by MadMadam at 11:18 AM on November 17, 2013
Response by poster: I took ideas from pretty much everyone so I marked them all best answer, thanks everyone for your ideas.
posted by wwax at 1:24 PM on November 22, 2013
posted by wwax at 1:24 PM on November 22, 2013
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posted by janey47 at 2:56 PM on November 15, 2013