Monday, December 05, 2005

PopCult Gift Guide/ Day One: Wrestling and Candy

Today's the kick-off for the PopCult Holiday Gift Idea-a-palooza. Here are the rules. I'm going to delve into a myriad of different pop culture categories and come up with three ideas for each of them. I'm shooting for three different price ranges, but that's easier said than done. Your job is to figure out which people on your list go with which gift. You've probably already seen the Animation gift ideas posted to this blog. Now, we're going on to hit two other things close to my heart: Wrestling, and Candy. Dig in!

WRESTLING GIFT GUIDE

The Wrestlemania Anthology: DVD Box Set
Around $220. Available where DVD box sets are sold.

The ridiculously expensive wrestling gift this year is the "Wrestlemania Anthology: DVD Box Set." Clocking in with 21 DVDs and smacking down your wallet somewhere between two and three hundred bucks, this is the perfect present for the obsessive WWE fan on your list. It comes in a holographic box that features DVDs for all 21 installments of wrestling's foremost annual event, Wrestlemania. The set features virtually every major wrestling star of the last twenty-plus years: Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Andre The Giant--pretty much anyone you can think of (except Sting, who never set foot in a WWE/WWF ring). I've seen this set discounted $200, but most reputable dealers have it for around $210. These discs do include all the original commentary, but due to a lawsuit, the WWF "scratch" logo is blurred on those shows that were shot during the Attitude era. Still, this is a pretty incredible gift idea for the die-hard pro-wrestling fan in your life.


The Pro Wrestling Torch, 50-issues plus VIP Web Access
$97 from The Pro Wrestling Torch on the web, or call 952-854-4274

Less expensive, but sure to please the "insider' wrestling fan on your list is the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. This weekly 12 to 16 page newsletter is crammed with all the important inside information about what's going on in the world of professional wrestling. Wade Keller is the mastermind behind the Torch, and has been making contacts and reporting on the scene for nearly 20 years. Keller and his team of correspondents cover the entire industry, from WWE to TNA to the indy scene. Each week you get show results, in-depth analysis of the behind-the-scenes goings-on, and interviews with the top names in the business. On top of that, if you subscribe to the newsletter, you also get VIP access to an ad-free version of the Pro Wrestling Torch website, with bonus content, audio reports (hours and hours of audio reports each week), and a lively forum section, where you can argue pointless details with other obsessive wrestling fans. I've been reading the Torch for several years, and the insightful reporting coupled with the analysis and a healthy sense of humor among the contributors makes the newsletter more enjoyable than the actual television shows that they cover on some weeks. If 50 issues is a bit too much a commitment, you can give an 8-issue subscription for $18, and that still includes the VIP content. And if you don't like print, you can get an e-sub, for even less. Check the site for details.


IWA EAST COAST DVDs
$20 each, available from Smart Mark Video

Lastly, from the land of wrestling, we have my favorite local wrestling federation, IWA EAST COAST. You can buy DVDs of all of their shows, including PSYCHOPATHIC TENDENCIES, which was just held last month! All of the shows have been great, with top-flight commentary from Frank Manhattan and Kevin "Pimpdragon" Pauley, and the wrestling has been astonishing. Stars like The Sandman, Raven, New Jack, Billy Gunn, and Abdullah The Butcher have mixed it up with IWA mainstays like Mad Man Pondo, El Drunko, Chris Hero, and Necrobutcher. You can get the shows on DVD from Smart Mark Video. I usually like to buy them at the IWA EC shows, but the next show isn't until February, and that's too long to wait for an IWA EC fix. There are seven shows available. My favorite tends to be the most recent, but many folks think that "Happy Hour Hatred" was a particular high point. These events were held in Nitro, Dunbar, and South Charleston, and you can see lots of local wrestling fanatics in the crowd. Obsessive PopCult readers can even look for me in the audience (and watch as I lose the eyepatch and 70 pounds over the course of six shows). There's a parental advisory label on these DVDs. It's for language and violence, not the fact that I can be seen in the audience.


RETRO CANDY GIFT GUIDE

SUGAR MEMORIES: 50's, 60's, 70's LARGE BOX OF CANDY
$29.99 plus shipping from Groovy Candies.com

Ready for a trip down Candy Lane? How about a trip to diabetic coma land? The nostalgia will flow with the Sugar Memories: 50's 60's 70's Large Box Of Candy, from Groovy Candies.com. This package is crammed with four pounds of sweets you may not have thought about since your childhood. Included in this dietician's nightmare are Atomic Fireballs, Bit-O-Honey, Bubblegum Cigarettes, Candy Necklace, Clark Bar, Dots, Freshen Up Gum, Jawbreakers, Lemonheads, Mallo Cups, Sky Bars, Zagnut bars, and loads of other "bad" goodies. Do you have a Boomer on your list? One with a handy supply of insulin? Then this is the perfect gift for them!


Peanut Butter Bars (AKA Peanut Butter Logs) 80-count
$8.75 plus shipping from The Candy Company.com

When I was a kid, there was one candy that I'd eat until it made me sick. Peanut Butter Logs were my weakness. My folks had to hide them from me. I'd just tear into them like they were sugar-coated crack. Sometime in the '70s, I realized you couldn't find them in stores anymore. Occasionally,k I'd find some if I were in another town, but locally, I suspected that my parents had circulated photos of me to area candy merchants, with instructions to hide the Peanut Butter Logs if they saw me in their store. (Disguises proved that theory wrong.) For some reason -- just like Quisp, Shake-a-puddin', and Funny Face Fruit Drinks -- these wonderful sugar-delivery systems vanished from the face of the Earth. Until the Internet came along, that is. You can find anything on the Internet! And you can order Peanut Butter Logs in a cool penny-candy dispenser for less than ten bucks from The Candy Company. Just try to control yourself when you're eating them. Nobody wants to clean up Peanut Butter Bar sick.


Wacky Packages by Topps
99 cents a pack at stores that carry trading cards

Okay, this isn't candy. They don't even come with gum anymore, but if you remember these from your childhood, you probably remember buying Wacky Packages from a candy store, or at least the candy section of a regular grocer or drugstore. So I'm listing them here 'cause they're CHEAP! Well, relatively. Topps has revived the Wacky Packages stickers after years of folks like my publisher at Non-Sport Update bugging them to bring these funny little stickers back. These are a delight: Goofy little parodies of the products you find on store shelves, with the sense of humor of MAD Magazine, and healthy touch of subversiveness. Much of the same crew who worked on the original Wacky Packages is back on the new stickers, although Art Speigleman has moved on to higher-brow projects. It's cool to see gags like "Durasmell Cruddytop batteries" and "Chokin in the Sea Gunk Light Tuna in Oil polluted water." If, after seeing a few of these, you want to collect the entire series of 55, you can pick up a nifty little binder to keep them in for only four bucks. I've seen the binder and cards at Target, Wal Mart, and K Mart. Topps has released two series of stickers, and series three is due to hit stores in a couple of weeks. There are six stickers in each package, and some packages include magnets or temporary tattoos. These are perfect stocking stuffers for the 12-year-old at heart.

Tomorrow our epic feature-length PopCult Holiday Gift Guide continues with the best gift ideas in Home Furnishings, Robots, and Comics.

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