Junkyard Advent Day 2: what built today’s snowman?

Now that we started the Christmas countdown (C-23, by the way), it’s time to take a look at some Christmas ideas.

A bit of background…  My wife’s family is scattered to the four winds.  By this I mean 3 in Ireland, 1 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Switzerland and us in the US.  And since there are so many of us, we don’t have the ability to all get together for the holidays which is more than a little depressing.  So, like many families, we partake in the age old tradition known as: “secret Santa’s”.  This is family-based, not individual, whoever we get, means we get for that whole family.  This is important because it means there can be no coordination between the families.  In other words, my sister-in-law can’t ask my wife whether or not I have a given item.  It’s purely a game of chance.  This would make many run from the idea of buying someone like me a Doctor Who gift!  (I’ve been collecting Doctor Who merchandise for a long time.  In fact, some of our readers weren’t even born when my collection began!)  To reach out into that veritable cornucopia of Who-merchandise and try to find something for me that I don’t already have would require the “luck of the Irish”.

How fortunate that my wife and her family are, in fact, Irish.

And so, the Doctor Who “Secret Santa” Christmas gifts of years past, in no particular order…

Doctor Who: The Vault: Treasures from the First 50 Years by Marcus Hearn

This is a beautiful “coffee table” book.  There’s a tremendous amount of information about the making of the show, merchandise, pictures galore… it is a stunningly nice piece. A good deal of the information therein can be found elsewhere but not as beautifully.  Many of the pictures are from the early days of the series.  There’s a section on my favorite novels, the TARGET novelizations that I grew up on; this always makes me smile.  On top of that the book feels great to hold.  It’s a large volume but is a mix of hard cover with soft padding for easy holding!  It’s one of those “pride of place” books that you want to keep on display.  I do!

Special thanks to my in-laws in Switzerland!

Doctor Who: Wit, Wisdom and Timey Wimey Stuff – The Quotable Doctor Who by Cavan Scott

Speaking of books that feel right to hold, there’s this smaller hardcovered book.  It’s lightweight for a book of over 300 pages.  Just for fun, I enjoy grabbing it and reading random quotes.  For me, it’s not so much a question of looking for “wisdom”, but the fun I have allowing my brain to replay the scene in my head.  Like many books of quotes, categories range from love and relationships, death, time, humor, danger, life without the Doctor, living life to the fullest, appreciating beauty and dozens of other fun categories.  First and last words are fun reminders of our Doctor’s best openers… and their sorrowful goodbyes.  It even has some really nice artwork interspersed throughout.  (I felt bad for my wife and kids when I got this, because I realized how many quotes I’d be using daily, but the kids reminded me, I do that anyway…)

Special thanks to my in-laws in Tipperary!

Adventures with the Wife in Space: Living with Doctor Who by Neil Perryman

This was the strangest as it is an unofficial release that I’d never heard about.  It’s written by Neil Perryman about how he and his wife watched all of Doctor Who and what they both thought of the many stories.  It’s an incredible enjoyable romp through Time and Space getting other fans perspectives.  His wife is often cynical when talking about it, but that adds to the comedy, making for some very fun reading.  Since my own wife has to put up with my love of Doctor Who, I’m quite sure this book rang true on many levels.  She watches it with me, but I’m under no misconception that she’s a “fan”!   Thankfully for me, I have her to share the fun with!  Thankfully for her, she has me, so she never has to miss an episode.  This book should have an air of familiarity for many of us fans.  It certainly does for me.

Special thanks to my in-laws in France!

One other item requires an “honorable mention” though not a “Secret Santa”, strictly speaking!

When my wife and I were first dating, we talked about Christmas gifts and said we’d get something small for one another.  I was ill-prepared for what the Irish mean when they say “small”.  It would be the first of many mind-boggling gifts from her.  As I’m opening the handful of boxes, I left the one that looked like a clothing box for last.  (You know the ones: they are Macy’s boxes of a certain size and invariably have a garment of some sort.  Maybe you can’t tell but I could use help in this field or I might be found wearing a multicolored coat in public!)  But when I opened the box I was delighted to see that it was not a box of clothing!  Nor was there any way this would fit the category of a “small gift”.  And when I protested, her simple comment was “it was from Ireland” as if that made it cheaper – when the truth is quite the reverse!  (She had been there a few months earlier and had managed to secret it away, like a secret…santa!)

 It should be noted that I am an adult contrary to some opinion; I don’t play with toys!  But for the love of all that is fun in the world, I have a kids soul, so when I opened this box, I might have cartwheeled.  I make no promises that I handled myself with adult decorum!

That gift?

The Eleven Doctors Boxed Set

I’ll let the picture do the talking for me.

Extra special thanks to my wife!

I’ve added to it with Capaldi’s Doctor and the War Doctor.  Most recently a Father’s day brought Omega to his old pal, Rassilon. They now lord over them all.

The tinsel is a Christmas tweak; it’s only up for the holidays!

If you need some good gift ideas for yourselves or your fellow Whovians, you can’t go wrong with these items.  It just adds to the joy when they are gifts!

I’d be delighted to hear about other good Gallifreyan presents materializing underneath the Christmas tree!

Happy Shopping!   ML