TV Junkies:
Breaking Bad Heisenberg T-shirt
No matter how mundane your life, wearing this will make you feel like you’re the one who knocks ($21 at Hot Topic, Queens Center, 90-15 Queens Blvd., nr. 59th Ave., Elmhurst; 718-760-3585).
The Chronicles of Downton Abbey
Prepare for season three with exclusive photos of what’s ahead and a look back at each character’s history, motivations, and ridiculous outfits ($30 at Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway, at 12th St.; 212-473-1452).
Walking Dead Shane and Rick Figurines
They may have fought to the death over unlikable Lori, but as action figures, Grimes and his dirty deputy will band together to keep the walkers away ($18 each at Midtown Comics, 200 W. 40th St., at Seventh Ave., second fl.; 212-302-8192).
True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps
Churning out recipes from this cookbook is almost as good as dining at Merlotte’s. Ask friends to treat you like dirt for the full experience ($30 at Exit 9, 127 Smith St., nr. Dean St., Boerum Hill; 718-422-7720).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Collection
If your 9-year-old self knew he could one day buy every episode of TMNT packaged in a toy TurtleVan, he’d have peed his footed pajamas ($100 at Barnes & Noble, 97 Warren St., nr. Murray St.; 212-587-5389).
Girls: The Complete First Season
Buy two copies of Lena Dunham’s HBO show on Blu-ray: one to watch and one to put in a time capsule so future generations know that sex has always been kinda grotesque ($50 at HBO Shop, 1100 Sixth Ave., nr. 42nd St.; 212-512-7467; 12/11).
Game of Thrones Personalized Poster
No need to fantasize about joining House Stark when you can start your own, complete with animal, motto, color, and name of your choosing. You’re on your own for the furs though($50 at kimrisi.etsy.com).
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Mug
Shamelessly gobble “sketti” from a cup dedicated to Alana’s ex–pet pig Glitzy, the only member of the Boo Boo brigade with an excuse for behaving like an animal ($13 at tlcstore.com).
Homeland: the Complete First Season
One day you’ll buy the complete series packaged in a novelty-briefcase bomb, but until then this Blu-ray version will have to do ($65 at J&R Music and Computer World, 23 Park Row, nr. Beekman St.; 212-238-9000).
Book Worms:
Mark Rothko: The Decisive Decade: 1940–1950, by Todd Herman, et al.
This hefty tome depicts the American master’s artistic evolution from figurative work to abstract colorscapes ($50 at St. Mark’s Bookshop, 31 Third Ave., at 10th St.; 212-260-7853).
Kurt Vonnegut: Letters Edited by Dan Wakefield.
Sixty years of personal correspondence from the sometimes depressed and always hilarious Vonnegut, essential for anyone who considers himself a member of his karass ($35 at Word, 126 Franklin St., nr. Milton St., Greenpoint; 718-383-0096).
Diaries, by George Orwell, Edited by Peter Davison.
Dead at 46, Orwell never had a chance to tell his own story. The diaries here do the job with such detail it’s as if they were meant to be private ($40 at Three Lives & Company, 154 W. 10th St., at Waverly Pl.; 212-741-2069).
Hunger Games Cookie Stamp
Nothing improves a dystopian novel about starving children like munching on themed cookies every time you turn a page ($12 at totalum.etsy.com).
Saul Steinberg: A Biography, by Deirdre Bair.
You’ve seen the illustrations on the cover of The New Yorker, now read about the wit who created them. Or just look at the pictures ($40 at BookCourt, 163 Court St., nr. Pacific St., Cobble Hill; 718-875-3677; 11/20).
Punk: An Aesthetic, by Jon Savage, et al.
It’s not very punk to make a book about iconic punk imagery. But putting that book on your gift list so some conformist uses his slave wages to buy it for you? That’s punk ($55 at Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St., at S. Portland Ave., Ft. Greene; 718-246-0200).
Music Nerds
Reservoir Dogs Original Soundtrack
Quentin Tarantino’s breakthrough film celebrates its twentieth anniversary with colored vinyl for Mssrs. Blonde, Orange, Blue, Brown, White, and Pink ($20 each at Sound Fix, 44 Berry St., at N. 11th St., Williamsburg; 718-388-8090; 11/23).
The Velvet Underground’s Verve/MGM Albums
Rare mono renditions of the first three VU records, rounded out with the band’s “lost album” and Nico’s Chelsea Girls debut ($118 at Permanent Records, 181 Franklin St., nr. Huron St., Greenpoint; 718-383-4083).
Fat Boys’ Fat Boys Pizza Box LP
Lurking behind those elastic waistlines is a stone-cold classic, immortalized in an actual pizza box by the hip-hop historians over at reissues label Get On Down ($32 at Turntable Lab, 120 E. 7th St., nr. Ave. A; 212-677-0675; 11/23).
The White Stripes’ Limited-Edition Seven-Inch Reissues
Three flawless singles from the White Blood Cells era get re-pressed on opaque red vinyl ($10 each at Kim’s Video & Music, 124 First Ave., nr. St. Marks Pl.; 212-533-7390; 11/23).
Reggae Golden Jubilee: Origins of Jamaican Music CD Boxed Set
A former Jamaican prime minister curated this four-disc compilation of the country’s greatest hits, from roots-reggae giants like Marley and Tosh to guilty-pleasure Shaggy ($49 at Turntable Lab).
Bruce, by Peter Ames Carlin.
This biographer—the first writer in more than two decades to be given access to Springsteen’s inner circle—tells the story of the working-class hero and his allegiance to pre-Snooki Jersey shore ($25 at Strand Book Store).
Eccentric Soul: Omnibus Boxed Set
Numero Group, one of the country’s leading reissue labels, crams 45 45’s and a hardback book into a portable case that’ll appeal to anyone curious about the genre’s golden years ($265 at Other Music, 15 E. 4th St., nr. Lafayette St.; 212-477-8150).
Fool’s Gold Loosies USB Stick Compilation
Kanye West’s former D.J. (A-Trak) and an ex-Fader editor (Nick Catchdubs) present a survey of the independent rap scene they helped shape ($30 at Fool’s Gold, 536 Metropolitan Ave., nr. Union Ave., Williamsburg; 347-294-4139; 12/11).
The Beatles’ Stereo Boxed Set
Fourteen Beatles albums finally—finally!—get the high-quality, heavyweight vinyl treatment, complete with meticulous remastering and nerdy details like cardboard band cutouts stuffed inside the Sgt. Pepper’s sleeve ($400 at J&R Music and Computer World).
Movie Buffs
The Big Screen, by David Thomson.
The scholarly critic trains his lens on the history of cinema and its relationship with the people whose Goobers purchases still make it viable ($35 at Book Culture, 536 W. 112th St., nr. Broadway; 212-865-1588).
Bilbo Baggins Action Figure
The face on this six-inch depiction of hobbit Martin Freeman is freakishly realistic. The feet, with painted-on hair, are just freakish ($20 at wbshop.com).
Moonrise Kingdom Two-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack
Twee-o-meters will implode when they get a load of Wes Anderson’s latest—the story of two weird but adorable preteens who run off into the woods together ($35 at Barnes & Noble, 555 Fifth Ave., at 46th St.; 212-697-3048).
Alfred Hitchcock: the Masterpiece Collection
Fifteen remastered movies and more than fifteen hours of bonus footage make this Blu-ray set fifteen times more necessary than any other Hitchcock collection ($255 at Kim’s Video & Music).
Feminist Ryan Gosling, by Danielle Henderson.
Hey, girl, here’s a book of that Tumblr you like so you can look at it when you can’t look at Tumblr ($13 at Urban Outfitters, 2633 Broadway, nr. W. 100th St.; 212-222-3212).
Tarantino XX: 8-Film Collection
This Blu-ray boxed set features the choicest cuts from the director’s career to date, including Pulp Fiction and both Kill Bills ($90 at Best Buy, 622 Broadway, nr. Houston St.; 212-673-4067; 11/20).
R-Rated Ted Plushie
For those who find Mark Wahlberg too hard-bodied and organ-filled, this talking replica of his onscreen bro Ted is the perfect snuggle buddy ($60 at Forbidden Planet, 832 Broadway, at 13th St.; 212-473-1576).
Channing Tatum Boxed Set
Buy 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, and The Vow; wrap them in a banana hammock; and you’ve got the DIY gift of the season ($66, sans hammock, at FYE, 5717 Myrtle Ave., nr. Seneca Ave., Ridgewood; 718-366-0204).
The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Christopher Nolan threefer now comes on Blu-ray with a 64-page booklet-coaster ($53 at Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St., nr. Broadway; 212-253-0810; 12/4).
Pop Shops
Local resources for culturati collectibles.
TV and Movie Props: If it was shot in New York, there’s a good chance it’ll end up at Film Biz Recycling (540 President St., nr. Third Ave., Gowanus; 347-384-2336). The nonprofit is tight-lipped about its connections, but the merch has included desks tagged LOCI (as in Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and bike parts from Premium Rush.
Superhero Stuff: Midtown Comics (various locations; midtowncomics.com) stocks all the newest releases from DC, Marvel, and an army of small presses, as well as eBay gold like Amazing Fantasy No. 15 and X-Men No. 1. rare books: More than 60,000 titles are packed into P.S. Bookshop (76 Front St., at Washington St., Dumbo; 718-222-3340), including out-of-print, first-edition, and autographed tomes. Current stock includes signed copies of Richard Avedon’s The Sixties, Herb Ritts’s Africa, and poet Dylan Thomas’s Death and Entrances.
Heavy Nostalgia: Every square inch of PopFuzz (123 Wythe Ave., nr. N. 8th St., Williamsburg; 718-388-6396) is jammed with DVDs, records, books, graphic novels, collectible dolls, and other blasts from the past 40 years. Where this flashback hub really shines, though, is with trading cards, including the Garbage Pail Kids, Back to the Future, Alien, and Star Wars.
—Jen Ortiz