Monday, June 11, 2012

Fantastic Father's Day Gifts

I was in Barnes and Noble yesterday, getting a graduation gift for a cousin (Lev Grossman's The Magicians, incidentally, which makes a great gift for graduates, I think), and as I was standing in the checkout, I was reminded that Father's Day is coming up by a display of cute and/or clever books with advice for fathers.  My favorite, by far, was Jeffrey Brown's Darth Vader and Son, which we pointed you to a few Fridays ago.  You can page through quite a bit of it over on Amazon--it's hilarious, and definitely worth taking a look.  My favorite is one of the last pages of the preview: "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

This book got me thinking--what other gifts are there out there for fantasy/scifi-loving dads?  Here's a quick look at some of the other things we found; we'd love it if you'd post any of your ideas in the comments!

There are, as you might expect, quite a few Star Wars related gifts.  In addition to these cards, we really like this clock with pewter Star Wars figurines at each hour mark.  ThinkGeek also has these Star Wars belt buckles, as well as a number of Star Wars novelty ice cube trays, including one of Han Solo frozen in carbonite.

Of course, if your dad is more of a Trekkie, there are plenty of Star Trek-related gifts as well!  There are these Star Trek mice, a Star Trek electronic door chime, and my favorite, a Starship Enterprise pizza cutter!

There are quite a few fun fashion items for dads as well, including this great Woot! T-shirt, a variety of geeky cufflinks (check out these UFO ones and this Space Invaders set), a LEGO tie clip, and this set of Superman socks, complete with capes!  I also really like this matching set of shirts, one for dad and one for the child--although I think it might be more appropriate if the child shirt was the "leader" one.

Finally, here are a few other fun things that might be handy to have around the house: a letter opener modeled after the sword Sting from Lord of the Rings; robot measuring cups; and these amazing vintage-style art prints.  And while it's not technically scifi/fantasy-related, I'm really taken by these ice cube trays that make a chess set--you have to play the game quickly enough so that you're done before the ice melts!

Let us know if you have any other fun gifts for geeky dads!  Happy shopping!