His name is MacGyver. He can fix anything.

December 8, 2008 11:09 AM

Help me create a MacGyver.-theme silly present.

In a conversation about old TV, my husband mentioned how much he had liked MacGyver.. As an xmas present, I got him the first season CDs, but I thought it would be really fun to wrap up a bunch of MacGyver.-y type things to go with it. For instance, I already have duct tape and paperclips.

But, I never watched the show, so I don't know if there are some particularly iconic things I should include.

Hope me, MacGyver. fans!

posted by dejah420 to shopping (18 comments total)

I'm not a fan but I have seen a few episodes...

Gum, the kind where the sticks are wrapped in foil. Strike anywhere matches.
posted by JoanArkham at 11:17 AM on December 8, 2008

Duct tape and a swiss army knife are essential. Paper clips and a few sticks of gum for added flair.
posted by lalas at 11:17 AM on December 8, 2008

The only other MacGuyver item I can remember from the show was a chocolate bar, which was used to seal up a crack in a vat of acid.

For the true MacGuyver though, a box full of any odds-n-ends would meet the bill perfectly.
posted by Diddly at 11:18 AM on December 8, 2008

The paperclip is key.
posted by tybeet at 11:19 AM on December 8, 2008

From wikipedia: In addition to his Swiss Army Knife, MacGyver often carried a roll of duct tape in his back pocket, flattened out to make it fit. Other items he often seemed to have on hand were: a watch, strike-anywhere matches, a handkerchief, a paper clip, wire, fishing line, a flashlight, and lock picks. It could be argued that he had time to prepare in advance when he brought things like the lock picks or flashlight, however, it is certain he always had a Swiss Army Knife, his watch, and duct tape. The duct tape was Shurtape brand, as can be seen printed inside the roll in "The Heist." His watch was a Timex Camper for most of the series, with a black and silver chronograph watch appearing on his wrist towards the end. In the episode "Nightmares" which aired January 15th, 1986, MacGyver's captors gave him a Chronosport Navigator watch that had a timer.[29]

MacGyver rarely had any kind of a wallet with him. Although in a few episodes he was shown with a thin ID holder, most often money and IDs were loose effects in his pockets. Whenever forced to empty his pockets for an enemy, a minimal number of things would turn up, usually just an ID card, watch, his knife, and occasionally duct tape or matches. In "Ugly Duckling" it is shown that he had a toolbox in his Jeep, so it seems he had a tendency to keep things close at hand more often than in his pockets. Despite carrying more in his pockets than most people, he still appeared to have been a minimalist about it.
posted by Sassyfras at 11:39 AM on December 8, 2008

A Swiss Army Knife is an essential item anyway.
posted by mandal at 11:50 AM on December 8, 2008

Wikipedia! I can't believe I didn't think of that. Brilliant.


I'm still trying to figure out what the "big laugh" item could be.
posted by dejah420 at 11:59 AM on December 8, 2008

The swiss army knife is far and away the most iconic part of MacGyver. So much so that not any old swiss army knife will do, while he used a few different ones, they were all about the same width (ie number of blades). Don't get one that is too thin or too fat.

But rather than a collection of stuff, it might be more fun to make him have to use the stuff creatively in order to obtain the DVDs. Eg, remove them from the box, hide them somewhere, and replace them with MacGyveresque stuff in the box that is necessary and sufficient for him to locate and obtain the DVDs.
posted by -harlequin- at 12:05 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you want to add a little kick to them, you could put each item in an individual plastic baggie and throw together an "official" MacGyver label for them. I'd laugh out loud if I got a individually packaged MacGyver Paperclip, MacGyver Individual Stick Of Gum, and a preflattened roll of duct tape perfect for pocketing.
posted by Ookseer at 12:15 PM on December 8, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

The first thing he opens should be a mullet wig which he must wear while opening the rest of the items. That should get a big laugh!
posted by ourroute at 12:29 PM on December 8, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Aww heck . . . an online Macgyver STORE.
posted by Sassyfras at 12:34 PM on December 8, 2008

get him a big ol' Angus steak too.
posted by xbonesgt at 12:38 PM on December 8, 2008

For Christmas one year, my aunt and uncle made my then-boyfriend a MacGyver kit. I don't remember everything, but it had paperclips and duct tape and a tube sock among other things.
posted by srah at 1:14 PM on December 8, 2008

I think the idea of a MacGyver Survival Kit is a great idea. You may wish to helpfully label each item with a suggested use: the chewing gum "for averting nuclear meltdown", the paperclips "for thwarting a guerilla uprising", and the duct tape "for everything else." Bonus points if you correctly label each item with an actual problem it solved in the show.
posted by Spatch at 1:24 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The theme song was pretty iconic. I actually used it as a ringtone for a while.
posted by muscat at 1:25 PM on December 8, 2008

Go to survival sites, and print out interesting survival tips. There's one where you make a stove from a soda can, and polish it with chocolate. Make fake instructions for building an anti-personnel device from a thermometer, a life jacket, an earring and a matchbook. Make a really official looking fake MacGuyver ID. Or an ID badge for the Phoenix Foundation.
posted by theora55 at 3:41 PM on December 8, 2008

A rubber band, paper clip, drinking straw (bendy kind preferred), two thumbtacks, a nut-and-bolt set, a length of rope, piece of pvc pipe, table salt, cayenne pepper, and crisco.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 5:14 PM on December 8, 2008

Thanks gang.

I've put together a box of items suggested here, each in an individual baggie, with a label for each like "For fixing cracks in vats of sulfuric acid" on the chocolate bar, and "blow gun and underwater breathing apparatus" for the straw, "everything else" on the duct tape, etc.

It's funny. Y'all rock. Thanks.
posted by dejah420 at 11:21 AM on December 10, 2008