It’s the holiday season, which means that you probably have a giant list of people to buy gifts for. Lucky for you, we’ve come up with a fandom gift guide to help you out!

Even though it’s much easier today than it has ever been to find fandom-themed gifts (thanks to merchandisers who are finally seeing the light), we all need a bit of help every now and again.

We’ve put together a list of the best places to shop, fandom gifts to be looking out for, and ideas for specific people/fandoms in your life. No matter your price range, creativity level, or access to physical stores (because, if you’re in college, we know it’s practically impossible), we’ve got you covered with our gift guide.

Places to shop

Brick and mortar stores

Hot Topic

Nowadays, Hot Topic is your one-stop shop for all of the fandom things you could really ever want or need. Over the last ten years or so, Hot Topic has started to expand their merchandise beyond just music (not that we don’t still love buying band tees from them). First, it was a few popular movie franchises like Harry Potter and The Pirates of the Caribbean (each having only a few merchandise options).

Now, Hot Topic carries merchandise from so many fandoms that it’s impossible to keep track of them all. Orphan Black to Marvel, Disney to Supernatural. If you want to find something cool and affordably priced, Hot Topic should be your first shop. (Besides, they have so many locations that you can ship directly to a store for free or just skip internet shopping altogether!)

Barnes and Noble

Good old Barnes and Noble. No, we’re not talking about our favorite nickname for our favorite Marvel duo. We’re talking about the store that sells so many books that our heads spin with the possibility of what we could find on their shelves. However, Barnes and Noble doesn’t just sell books. They also sell music, TV seasons, desk accessories, and fun collectibles like Funkos!

Rock America

Like Hot Topic, Rock America has started cultivating a larger collection of fandom-themed merchandise. Shirts, collectible lunch boxes and pint glasses, seat belt belts… Rock America has a ton of fun things for Doctor Who lovers, superhero fans, and more. Because Rock America isn’t incredibly popular with a lot of fandom people, you won’t have to try to wrestle your way through crowds or figure out how to move past that one person who’s taking up a ton of space in front of the shirts.

Online shops


Via college-life-crisis.tumblr.com

Amazon

It’s no secret that Amazon has everything. Because it really does. Books, movies, toys, scarves, air fresheners… You’d be hard-pressed not to find a gift for your fandom-loving friend or family member on there. Be on the lookout for great Amazon seller ratings and free shipping. Not sure what to buy? Set aside a few hours one day and just type the fandom you’re looking for into the search bar and scroll endlessly through the options.

If that doesn’t work, strike up a conversation with your giftee about the ads you see on your Facebook timeline. Their response may give you a crystal clear indication as to what gift to get them because those ads always keep track of what you look at on Amazon.

Tip: Just be vigilant with checking where your gifts would be shipping from and see if it’s feasible for you to receive them before the big day. While this is true for all online shopping, it’s especially true for shopping on Amazon.

Etsy

Etsy is a rabbit hole that we love going down. There are just so many wonderful things to look at. Beautiful scarves, impressive artwork, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces… We lose ourselves in the site every time we visit it. One of the great parts about it is the sheer variety of things you can find there. There’s something for every fandom to be found on Etsy. Best of all, you can purchase your gifts from talented artists who deserve your business!

We love any and all reasons to purchase from talented fandom artists, so Christmas is the perfect excuse. (Confession: We’ve already made quite a few purchases on Etsy this season!)

Entertainment Earth

For all of the Funkos you could ever dream possible (and then a few), look no further than EntertainmentEarth.com. We stumbled across this site in September when it was announced that the Dancing Baby Groot Funko was a “go.” This site was one of the few that had a preorder for the bobblehead. Plus, their Funko prices are really reasonable! In fact, they have some of the best prices we’ve seen.

In addition to Funkos, EntertainmentEarth.com carries a ton of collectible busts and figurines for your favorite shows and movies. They even have plush toys, prints, and accessories. Entertainment Earth is a treasure trove just waiting for you to discover it.

TeeFury.com

TeeFury is the place to find witty and intelligent gifts for your giftee. T-shirts, sweatshirts, ugly Christmas “sweaters,” and now shoes! That’s right! TeeFury sells totally awesome fandom shoes now! Because not a lot of people know about TeeFury, it’s almost as if everything you buy from there is one of a kind. Buy a gift for your giftee from TeeFury and they’ll be hard-pressed to find someone near them that has the same piece of cool merch.

Other fun shops to try

1.ThinkGeek.com
2.LookHuman.com
3. Target

On page 2: Some of our favorite gift recommendations

Hypable’s top picks for the best fandom gifts

Funko Vinyl Pop! figures

It’s no secret that we here at Hypable.com love Funko. They’re one of the most popular and most fun companies around, and we can’t help ourselves from buying almost every bobblehead and figure in sight.

Funkos are affordable and easy-to-find gifts that any fandom-lover will go crazy for. (And, if for some reason your giftee doesn’t go crazy over the Funko you got them, you can just send it to us. ;) )

 

Chromecast

Created by Google, Chromecast is a new way to enjoy videos and media! Chromecast connects your computer, iPad, phone, or other device to your TV so that you can watch everything that you could possibly want on a larger screen. It looks like a flash drive and plugs right into your TV’s HDMI port.

Unlike other services, with Chromecast you only have to pay the one-time price of the flash drive. That’s it! Want to show your friend that funny YouTube video you have bookmarked? Throw it up on your TV screen! Want to watch an episode of your favorite TV show on Hulu? Use Chromecast to have it play on your TV! Chromecast takes streaming to the next level.

 

Mugs

Seriously, though. There are mugs for everything nowadays. In fact, we just visited the Disney Store the other day and saw a really awesome R2D2 mug. Mugs with cats on them, mugs with inspirational quotes, mugs shaped like your favorite characters… There are mugs to match every fandom and tickle every pop culture fan’s fancy.

 

‘What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions’

Okay, so, confession: We haven’t read this yet. But it has gotten such great reviews and looks hilarious. But let’s back up. Like last year’s Hyperbole and a Half, What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe is a print collection of all of the best “what if?” questions asked of the xkcd web comic writer.

Questions like “What if everyone on earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon at the same time?” From what we hear, this book is incredibly enjoyable and will entertain anyone and everyone.

 

Themed candles

If you’ve ever had hours of free time and browsed through the depths of Etsy (of if you’ve ever seen a gift guide from Buzzfeed), you’ve seen all of the hundreds of kinds of candles that exist for fans of all kinds.

In addition to fandom-themed candles, you can find candles that smell like old books or that are based off of old movies. For anything that you or your giftee loves, there’s bound to be a corresponding candle. Find them on Etsy or fun shops like Fandlemonium.com.

 

Seat belt belts

They seriously last forever. They’re fun, but also really useful and practical. Unlike other belts, seat belt belts don’t rip or tear all that easily. You don’t have to worry about making extra holes in your belt, nor do you have to spend a crazy amount of money just to hold your pants up.

Seat belt belts make a statement about the fandoms you (or your giftee) loves and are quite the conversation starters.

 

Anything from Her Universe

Her Universe is one of the best clothing lines we’ve seen in a long, long time. The clothes, made just for women, are fandom-themed and awesome.

Fans of Marvel, Doctor Who, Star Wars, and more will love gifts from Her Universe. The shop has really cute and fun designs and the clothing is extremely comfortable. Buy a few gifts from Her Universe and your giftees will never want to wear anything else.

 

The year’s best comics

There are good years and there are not-so-good years for comic books. Lucky for you (and your giftee), 2014 has been a really good year. There have been so many amazing comics that we’ve read this year and, at this point in the year, a lot of them are already in collected works-form.

While we could give you a giant list, there are a few specific collected works that we think would make for a pretty great gift (even for people who’ve already read them): Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More, Hawkeye Volume 3: L.A. Woman (Marvel Now), and (of course) Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal. Also be sure to consider the comics for the new Marvel event, called Axis. They have a really interesting premise that brings together The Avengers and X-Men.

 

Gift cards

While they may seem boring to you (the giver), gift cards are loved by all giftees. You could really never go wrong with a gift card.

If you know your giftee loves a certain store, definitely give them a card for that. Otherwise, gift cards for places like Target, Walmart, or Amazon are pretty safe (and awesome) bets.

 

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Blu-ray

Because duh. You’re welcome.

On page 3: Hypable’s writers share what they want this season

We asked our writers to share some additional ideas for the fandom lover in your life. Here you go!

Disappearing Cheshire Cat Mug

Porcelain chocolate owl mug

‘The Walking Dead: A Continuing Story of Survival, Book 1’

‘The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel’

‘Boyhood’ Blu-ray

‘We Can Slay It’ tee

Have any recommendations of your own?

Hit the comments and let us know!