It's no secret I'm a fan of Star Trek. Perhaps you've seen my necktie with the Original Series cast on it, or the Next Generation lunchbox I had in elementary school, or the Deep Space Nine graphic novel I picked up on my last big comic shop run, or my review of Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force on GameFAQs, or the model Enterprise NX-01 that served as a makeshift star atop my Christmas tree last year.
Perhaps you've seen my collection of three sets of the Star Trek: The Next Generation PEZ dispensers.
The first one I brought home from the gift-swapping segment of last year's company holiday party. The second one I received from my family for this past Christmas. The third one came from a friend just this weekend. Now, I do collect PEZ dispensers, and I think it's the coolest thing in the world that my friends, family, and coworkers were thinking of me, and spotted this nifty gift that I otherwise wouldn't have known existed. It's also become a ridiculous running gag that I keep getting these PEZ dispensers.
This isn't the first time this has happened, though. I bought myself a Mega Man E-Tank mug when I first saw them on ThinkGeek. Then a friend bought one for me. Then another friend bought the Fangamer version of the mug for me. Don't get me wrong—I'm still appreciative, and you can never have too many mugs. (That's a lie. You can. But all of these see frequent use.)
But wait, there's more!
A friend sent me an e-mail the other day with a link to a plush Mega Buster and Mega Man helmet set that can be used both for cosplay and as a stylish pillow. I thought this was hysterical, and very clever. Then someone posted the same link to my Facebook timeline. And then another person.
ME: Oh, jeez. #3 person to share this. I should clear some room in the back closet in anticipation of Christmas...
FRIEND: Nah, I'm broke. Maybe you should just diversify your interests?
ME: I ALSO LIKE MEGA MAN X, THANK YOU.
Aside from Star Trek and Mega Man being the two fandoms I talk about most often--in large part because I'm slowly but actively watching through every episode of every Star Trek with my wife, and because I'm locked into in the Mega Man mindset thanks to daily comments on my YouTube videos—I suspect part of the issue here is that many of my other interests are more obscure, rarely seem to come up in conversation, and/or are tricky to buy for. I can tell you I like listening to James Taylor, but that narrows your options down to buying a CD I most likely already have, or springing for pricey concert tickets (which my parents have done twice now, because they are very cool parents). I can tell you I liked that Ralston Batman cereal they made for a limited time in the late '80s, but your response will be, "What the heck am I supposed to do with that information!?"
Star Trek and Mega Man are more mainstream than they've ever been thanks to J.J. Abrams, Mega Man 9-10, and all the merchandise and publicity that have gone with them; you'll never come across something like The Space Quest Companion as a gift idea unless you're doing some intense research, and know I'm enough of a Space Quest fan to be interested in something like that in the first place. I only pay attention to all the old, obscure stuff you can't get anymore, anyhow; anything that's mainstream, brand-new, and related to my interests is a great gift idea.
Still, I'm wondering what to do with these other two PEZ dispenser sets that doesn't involve painting them with goatees and evil eyebrows to make them look like they're from the Mirror Universe.
Perhaps you've seen my collection of three sets of the Star Trek: The Next Generation PEZ dispensers.
The first one I brought home from the gift-swapping segment of last year's company holiday party. The second one I received from my family for this past Christmas. The third one came from a friend just this weekend. Now, I do collect PEZ dispensers, and I think it's the coolest thing in the world that my friends, family, and coworkers were thinking of me, and spotted this nifty gift that I otherwise wouldn't have known existed. It's also become a ridiculous running gag that I keep getting these PEZ dispensers.
This isn't the first time this has happened, though. I bought myself a Mega Man E-Tank mug when I first saw them on ThinkGeek. Then a friend bought one for me. Then another friend bought the Fangamer version of the mug for me. Don't get me wrong—I'm still appreciative, and you can never have too many mugs. (That's a lie. You can. But all of these see frequent use.)
But wait, there's more!
A friend sent me an e-mail the other day with a link to a plush Mega Buster and Mega Man helmet set that can be used both for cosplay and as a stylish pillow. I thought this was hysterical, and very clever. Then someone posted the same link to my Facebook timeline. And then another person.
ME: Oh, jeez. #3 person to share this. I should clear some room in the back closet in anticipation of Christmas...
FRIEND: Nah, I'm broke. Maybe you should just diversify your interests?
ME: I ALSO LIKE MEGA MAN X, THANK YOU.
Aside from Star Trek and Mega Man being the two fandoms I talk about most often--in large part because I'm slowly but actively watching through every episode of every Star Trek with my wife, and because I'm locked into in the Mega Man mindset thanks to daily comments on my YouTube videos—I suspect part of the issue here is that many of my other interests are more obscure, rarely seem to come up in conversation, and/or are tricky to buy for. I can tell you I like listening to James Taylor, but that narrows your options down to buying a CD I most likely already have, or springing for pricey concert tickets (which my parents have done twice now, because they are very cool parents). I can tell you I liked that Ralston Batman cereal they made for a limited time in the late '80s, but your response will be, "What the heck am I supposed to do with that information!?"
Star Trek and Mega Man are more mainstream than they've ever been thanks to J.J. Abrams, Mega Man 9-10, and all the merchandise and publicity that have gone with them; you'll never come across something like The Space Quest Companion as a gift idea unless you're doing some intense research, and know I'm enough of a Space Quest fan to be interested in something like that in the first place. I only pay attention to all the old, obscure stuff you can't get anymore, anyhow; anything that's mainstream, brand-new, and related to my interests is a great gift idea.
Still, I'm wondering what to do with these other two PEZ dispenser sets that doesn't involve painting them with goatees and evil eyebrows to make them look like they're from the Mirror Universe.
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