The holidays are here! With the collectibles market on fire lately, it’s been a tough time for people to get their hands on some of the coolest comics, games, cards, and action figures out there. But there’s no better time to go big than the holidays: now is a great time to grab those giant action figures, throwback video games, massive collected editions, and classic cards. And of course, we’re happy to help you find the perfect Marvel gift for the nerds in your life, whether they’re lifelong fans or just getting into your favorite heroes.
FOR THE MARVEL ZOMBIES: What The–?! #10
What The–?! was a parody book published in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Marvel to make fun of their staff, their stories, and their readers. And, for one half of one issue, they actually pulled off a touching Christmas story. It starts with Santa Claus being caught in a massive bear trap atop Doomstadt and then becomes something funny and nice as Doctor Doom has to take Santa’s place on Christmas Eve. This issue is surprisingly not available on Marvel Unlimited, so the only way you can read it is in print, which might account for a few of those $20 prices you’ll find the book for. If you hunt, you can get it for around cover price.
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE SPRAWLING NARRATIVES: Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman
Jonathan Hickman is one of the most influential Marvel creators of the past 15 years. He revolutionized the X-Men and destroyed the multiverse with the Avengers, but his first (and arguably best) franchise work was on Marvel’s First Family. He wrote a Fantastic Four full of love, heart, and hope, and it was one of the greatest runs on any Marvel comic ever. It’s also a nightmare to read in trade: towards the end, he would run stories back and forth between issues of Fantastic Four and FF, and Marvel mostly collected them as separate series. These omnibuses are the best, easiest, most coherent way to read the full run and are a steal at $150 for both.
FOR THE ROCKS OF THE ETERNAL SHORE: Marvel Legends Apocalypse Build-A-Figure
There is an itch that hits everyone who gets a Marvel Legends action figure, and that itch is to finish getting the rest of the massive build-a-figure for that set. Well, I have good news for you and your Elfster recipient: you can just buy the finished product. And one of the best ones is 2018’s Apocalypse. The character has undergone a serious change since this figure came out—he’s no longer the blood-soaked tyrant of the ‘90s comics and is now a hardcore Wife Guy vacationing with his family in a parallel dimension full of demons—but he still looks cool as hell, and this figure is giant. And for about $50, it’s way cheaper than buying the six figures that come with the set.
FOR FAMILY GAME NIGHT: Marvel Heroclix Starter Set
Heroclix is a cross between a pen-and-paper tabletop role-playing game and a Warhammer-esque tabletop figure brawler, and while that sounds complicated, playing it is relatively straightforward and a lot of fun. A big part of that fun is being able to, for lack of a better term, smash all your toys into each other. A starter set makes it super easy to do that with your family: grab some for as cheap as $12, and you can set up several hours of adventure with the kids.
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS GIVE FAMILY PHOTOS: Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1
This holiday issue was comprised of a bookend story, and a bunch of one page shorts by celebs and some top comics talent. Like any anthology book, there are hits and misses, but the hits are home runs: a story from Leah Williams and Marcio Takara with a charming Braddock family reunion; Vita Ayala and Pere Perez taking Gabby Kinney through her Secret Santa process; a Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka story that marks the last time in continuity that Beast was sympathetic; and the best one, a one page bit from Chip Zdarsky cracking on an old, inexplicable panel from a ‘70s annual. This is hilarious and kind, and still pretty cheap at under $7.50.
Spider-Man Into the Spider Verse Miles Morales Figure
From Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys comes this 29 cm tall replica of Miles Morales that comes with 30 points of articulation, multiple heads, hands and accessories, and generally everything you need to tide you over until we get to go Across the Spider-Verse next June.
Marvel Legends Japanese Spider-Man Action Figure
Yeah yeah yeah, wow! Toei’s 1978 Supaidāman TV series was a tokusatsu masterpiece that had the web-slinger facing off against various rubber-suited monsters. Also, he drove a super cool car and flew around in a giant kaiju-fighting robot called Marveller. It was amazing and spectacular, obvs. Although never officially released in the United States except for a brief period of availability on Marvel’s website (Disney+, what are you waiting for?), the show has become such a cult phenomenon that has begun being merchandised for Western audiences. This impressively articulated 6-inch replica of Supaidāman is one of the newest releases in Hasbro’s long-running Marvel Legends line…and the coolest if you ask us.
FOR THE SERIOUS COMIC COLLECTOR: CGC Graded Incredible Hulk #181
We all know and love Marvel’s ol’ Canucklehead, Wolverine. His first appearance as a Hulk villain is one of the most sought-after comics of the Silver Age, and with good reason – Herb Trimpe’s costume design for Wolverine is immaculate and iconic, and Len Wein was a genius to carry him over to Giant-Sized X-Men when he didn’t land perfectly in the Hulk world. But if you’re interested in this issue, be prepared to shell out a small fortune: highly graded copies of this issue are going to run you upwards of $7,500. More damaged copies are much cheaper, but still well over $3,500.
FOR THE CLASSIC VIDEO GAME ENTHUSIAST: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and a Dreamcast to play it on.
Real heads know, and real heads probably don’t have $600 to spend on a ¾ sized arcade cabinet. So instead, go buy a Dreamcast and a copy of the greatest fighting game of all time for under $200, get a case of Jolt, and relive the glory days of 1999. Trust me.
