I want to give her a Gift, but without all the dying twice.

August 14, 2008 9:38 PM

Buffy Birthday Gift Filter: Ack! I got my dates mixed up, and my friend's birthday is this Saturday, not next! Help me think of Buffy The Vampire Slayer themed (not necessarily branded) gift ideas. Looking for stuff that'd be easy to find in the next day or so. Here's what I've got planned so far...

I had plans to order a few more things for her big bag of fun online but now there's no time! She's a huge BtVS and Angel fan and owns all the box set seasons on DVD, the original movie, etc. She loves Spike & Angel the most.

Right now I'm planning on giving her a big white box marked, I think appropriately, as 'The Gift'. Inside right now are the first two collections of the BtVS season 8 comics. And... well... right now, that's all that's in there. I'm thinking of buying a bottle of Vampire Wine if I can still find it, and maybe some wax fangs. I'd like some other ideas of items that might be related to the show, but not necessarily branded for the show (meaning, a product that gets mentioned or was important in the show at some point).

Any ideas are appreciated!

posted by aristan to grab bag (31 comments total)

Some cheese slices.
posted by liquorice at 9:52 PM on August 14, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

A stake? Maybe a plastic one, if you can find it and she's a Spike fan, otherwise, a wood one.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 9:58 PM on August 14, 2008

A wooden stake called "Mr Pointy".

Bend out a coathanger and chuck it on the stove and you could brand the name on.
posted by pompomtom at 10:00 PM on August 14, 2008

Some wooden stakes?
A little novelty gravestone (you'd probably find them at Hot Topic or Spencer's)
A crucifix, something overdecorated and sparkly?
A Key (like Dawn, you know)?
A bunny (a la Anya's song).
What about the soundtrack to Once More With Feeling (although I bet she has it)?
A GI Joe doll, reminiscent of our men Riley and Forrester
A princess costume like the one in the Halloween ep where Buffy turned into a Princess or a sheet so she can be a ghost like Willow
Some very English things, like a tweed jacket, some Horlicks and Weetabix
Scooby Doo! (Hello, Scooby gang)
posted by tracicle at 10:00 PM on August 14, 2008

If you're at all artsy you could make a little Puppet Angel. A finger puppet or clay figurine would be easy to do.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:02 PM on August 14, 2008

Here's a list of some Buffy-related gifts I've gotten from others or from myself:

-Giant Buffy poster
-The original Buffy movie
-Buffy pencil case
-Joss Whedon autograph
-DIY bookmarks
-Buffy lunchbox
-Tickets to conventions Buffy stars are appearing at
-Buffy calendar

Obviously quite a few things are branded but the other things are just as special, particularly the bookmarks which were just made by getting images of my favourite characters and laminating them.
posted by liquorice at 10:04 PM on August 14, 2008

great ideas so far! More more more!

@tracicle: Not only does she have the soundtrack, she has it as ringtones on her phone. I call her sometimes just to hear Anya sing her bunny theory.
posted by aristan at 10:05 PM on August 14, 2008

You could be morbid and get her an eye-patch.
posted by liquorice at 10:06 PM on August 14, 2008

@liquorice: What is with Whedon and his hatred of the Left Eye?
posted by aristan at 10:07 PM on August 14, 2008

A jar of "blood" and a box of Weetabix?
posted by rtha at 10:10 PM on August 14, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Some version of the cursed mummy hand from the magic shop
A (toy) rat named Amy
A random assortment of herbs with labels of things Willow and Tara might have used (don't ask me to name them, I'm not quite that big a Buffy geek)

I'm really struggling to think of Angel/Spike things though: a made-up business card for Angel Investigations, maybe, and Wolfram and Hart?
Some bleach and eyeliner?

Ooh, one of those little finger-mounted monster puppets so she can go Grr, Argh!

(And instead of my bunny suggestion I'll switch that to bunny slippers.
posted by tracicle at 10:12 PM on August 14, 2008

The new buffy comic book? Available in hardcover from 99.9999% of comic stores (and many bookstores) in the US.
posted by arnicae at 10:24 PM on August 14, 2008

New thought: would she enjoy other Whedonesque gifts? The Firefly boxed set, for instance?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 10:30 PM on August 14, 2008

I had plans to order a few more things for her big bag of fun online but now there's no time!

Does this mean you had great stuff picked out, or already did some shopping online? What you need is not more stuff, it's just more time and some adventure:

Turn the present into a puzzle. Get a classified ad in the local newspaper this week. Give her some clues to the ad (day, section, which paper, etc.), which clues her to where the present is. Have a willing accomplice (your friend? a local store holding season DVD sets + her present? random mailboxes etc. pick-up?) do the exchange.
posted by whatzit at 11:06 PM on August 14, 2008

Buffy's sushi pajamas!
posted by killjoy at 11:38 PM on August 14, 2008

I love tracicle's idea of business cards, but even better: "Rogue Demon Hunter." (I'm a Wesley fan.)

My sister gave me a bootleg video of the original pilot for the BtVS TV show. (Very interesting considering Willow isn't played by Allison Hannigan and the character of Angel doesn't exist.) I think she eBayed it, but that was several years ago, so it may be more widely available. If you could DL it from a P2P, you could burn it to DVD for her. Surely it's floating around somewhere out there. A rare gift for hardcore BtVS fans.
posted by chaplinesque at 12:03 AM on August 15, 2008

I've already decided on a few things from your suggestions that I could either make myself or find easily:

- A jar of Fake Blood (Yay corn syrup!)
- A box of Weetabix
- Angel Investigations Business Cards (Here's Wesley's and a blank one I might put her name on. (these are based off props from the show)
- Wolfram & Hart's calling card. I did one with the LA office's contact information, but it looks a little busier than I think the senior partners would care for. (Based off the logo for the firm used on the show)
- A mockup of what I thought Anya's Magic Box Business Card might look like.
- A stuffed bunny
- A jar of mustard and cheese slices. (buffy references and sandwich potential all in one!)
- The first two volumes of the buffy season 8 comics.
posted by aristan at 1:41 AM on August 15, 2008

Scroll down here for plushy Spike n Angel.
posted by Iteki at 2:30 AM on August 15, 2008

Maybe add a bag of Jelly doughnuts? They were always favourites of the Scoobies, I seem to recall.
posted by Tapioca at 3:40 AM on August 15, 2008

Which reminds me, how about some cookie dough?
posted by liquorice at 4:56 AM on August 15, 2008

The Buffy Board Game is really good if you can find it in a local shop. Or, one of these non-fiction analyses of the show: Buffy and art, gender, spirituality, philosophy...

On the handmade tip, you can use a DVD (or online source) to get a particularly great screen-grab or freeze-frame, optimize it with image-editing software, and send it in to your local drugstore to be printed as an 8x10, which you could then frame.

But then, come Xmas/Hanukkah/New Year, you've got to get her a real prop from the show.
posted by xo at 5:53 AM on August 15, 2008

I think you must throw in a candy bar with a new "Band Candy" label on it
posted by dogmom at 5:57 AM on August 15, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Every Buffy fan needs her own Mr. Gordo.
posted by junkbox at 5:59 AM on August 15, 2008

Did you know that the Christophe Beck score for the series is being released on CD on Sept 9? That's something that a lot of Buffy fans will be looking forward to.
posted by bcwinters at 6:11 AM on August 15, 2008

I *have* to second the band candy suggestion above, along with a plastic rat with the name "amy" on it! Band candy has a special place in the Buffyverse!!
Also, if she's anything like me, Buffy is THE show. I merely tolerate Angel the show and any Wolfram & Hart reference would go over like a lead balloon. My boyfriend and I have gotten into heated discussions about this. Yes, I am a Buffy purist. And obviously a total geek. [listens to buffy ringtones]
posted by hecho de la basura at 6:33 AM on August 15, 2008

You don't have time for this one, but keep it in mind for next time/Christmas/whatever:

Equality Now merch. Or make a donation in her name. (Yes that will put her on a mailing list but they email very rarely.)

In the same vein (haw!), you could make a $50 donation in her name to The Humane Society and give her the plush cat you'd receive, complete with homemade Miss Kitty Fantastico birth certificate/tag.
posted by greenland at 7:29 AM on August 15, 2008

This is a long shot, and not exactly what you're asking for, but if your friend happens to have an old X-Box, and you have any decent second-hand video games stores around, it would be worth trying to find a copy of the BtVS: Chaos Bleeds game. The plot is apparently taken from an ununsed script and most of the actors recorded lines for the game, so yeah, it's *really* fun.

Another long shot, but if you have any British import shops in the region, you could try to get some Jaffa cakes. I recently got to try them for the first time, and I understand now why Giles loves them so.

Finally, it might be fun to do your own takeoff on the "Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres" documentary that Andrew does in the "Storyteller" episode. If making a video is too much, you could probably recreate some of those great whiteboard pictures he drew of the hellmouth and such as seen in this slideshow.
posted by KatlaDragon at 7:55 AM on August 15, 2008

One more idea: another Buffy-loving friend and I eventually developed a long-running joke between us about any big jewelly-type necklaces being 'power sources,' like the ones that Anya & the other Vengeance demons wore. Your friend might enjoy her very own power source too!

While I'm at it, I'll also second the Buffy & philosophy book linked above.
posted by KatlaDragon at 8:03 AM on August 15, 2008

nthing the original pilot. It's really cool to see Willow played by someone else. You'll also get to see the not-so-awesome special effects. It takes like 10 seconds for a staked vampire to dust. It's all stop-motion-y... and instead of swirling in a cloud it kinda just becomes a pile of dust bunnies.
I downloaded this years ago back when Napster was cool. o_O If your friend doesn't have it it would be awesome for her collection. Hope you can get a hold of a copy!

Other ideas:
golden "class protector" umbrella
gourd for the adjoining spell
witch pez dispenser ... maybe a werewolf and vampire too
an Orb of Thesulah (aka a round glass paperweight)
posted by simplethings at 8:23 AM on August 15, 2008

If you know someone who can knit, here's a free pattern for a Mr. Pointy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:11 AM on August 15, 2008

Thanks, Everyone! The Gift was a hit! I needed a whole team of Mefi Scooby fans to come up with ideas, but she was able to get every single reference. Everyone had great ideas, and I'll probably be using some more of these for other birthdays & holidays. I've marked best answer if I included one of your suggestions in this gift.


Thanks so much!
posted by aristan at 11:07 AM on August 17, 2008