It’s that time of year when we try to think of the best gifts for our friends and family that are still on our holiday gift-giving lists. With X-Men as popular as ever in human history, one might tap into this niche market for the best gifts possible.
We’d ask Jonathan Hickman if we could, but he was too tied up answering your questions in today’s X-Men Monday!
What would an X-Men fan want, and what do you get an X-Men fan who has it all? Below you’ll find ideas that range from toys, collections, T-shirts, and even Etsy store finds. Across four staff members, we think up the very best X-Men gifts for 2020.
Dave Brooke:
There are a few essentials when it comes to X-Men buyers guides one of which is brand new and not even out yet, but can be preordered and delivered this January! That would be the X of Swords Omnibus which runs 720 pages long. It retails for $100, but Amazon is currently listing it at $60.
This one is for the fan who loves X-Men but couldn’t get themselves to the comic shop each week X of Swords came out. This omnibus collects the whole event for the collector who wants it on their shelf, too. This massive book collects X OF SWORDS: CREATION, STASIS and DESTRUCTION, X-MEN (2019) #12-15, EXCALIBUR (2019) #13-15, MARAUDERS #13-15, X-FORCE (2019) #13-14, NEW MUTANTS (2019) #13, WOLVERINE (2020) #6-7, CABLE (2020) #5-6, HELLIONS #5-6 and X-FACTOR (2020) #4 it’s everything a trade waiting fan could want!
X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series
Out in October, this is the latest and greatest making-of for the X-Men: The Animated Series you can own. X-Men Monday editor Chris Hassan even reviewed it and gave it a high score. While we wait for Marvel Studios to get into gear and reboot the series this is the best way to rekindle the love of the show save for rewatching it on Disney+ in an endless loop!
Hasbro Marvel Legends Series X-Men 6-inch Collectible Action Figures Psylocke, Marvel’s Nimrod, and Fantomex Toys
I picked up the Hasbro Marvel Legends 3-pack mostly because Nimrod is so dang colorful. The now-famous villain got an update in the House of X/Powers of X series and the figure is not just colorful but chunky! It’s a must-have for the Dawn of X crowd. But wait there’s more, don’t miss out on the HOX/POX Marvel Legends figures announced last week. You can preorder them and they are expected to ship in March.
T-Shirts
X-Men fashion is only going to get better with Tom Muller at the design helm for the series, but what about clothes I can buy today? That’s where t-shirts come in, especially since many of us are working from home during the pandemic and can wear whatever we want. This Weapon X t-shirt, and this Jean Grey t-shirt are choice–also they are officially licensed so it’s above board–but how about this Rasputin and Cardinal tank top?
Christopher Franey:
That three-pack Dave suggested is pretty amazing and if you want to continue building a HoX/PoX set of X-Men then keep on the lookout for a wave of figures from the new era with Moira, Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, and the new Omega Sentinel! Now if you really want to get into playing the X-Men there is the Heroclix game from WizKids which will be released in December. I personally don’t play the game but I do collect them as it is a great way to have these miniature statues grace my bookshelves.
So if the lure of Hickman and company’s “X-pansive” line of comics has brought you to the new era of X-Men then I would like to share some origins of the X-Men with you; the most recent trade paperback that would feature a modern telling of the origin would be X-Men: Uncanny Origins which contains the recent Season One version of the first couple of adventures of the original five (O5) X-Men. Now if you want a recommendation from a fan of the O5 I would love to point you to this hidden gem called Professor X and the X-Men which was an 18 issue series that took the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby adventures and modernized them; of course, this was back in the early 90’s so they’ll be dated but it is nice to see the O5 personalities grow as their team does. You can find those issues in the back issue bin with online dealers or your local comic shop.
Ben Morin
It’s hard to believe that this year we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first X-Men film to hit the big screen. Here mainstream audiences were first introduced to the world of mutants and a superhero film that really took itself seriously. For me, this series served as my introduction to the world of superheroes and sparked my interest in comic books. Though the tight leather suits and early 2000s CG may seem a bit dated by today’s standards, X-Men (2000) retains its heart and thematic resonance.
This film trilogy even went on to launch a cinematic universe that would become the precursor to the modern MCU. X-Men (2000) marked a turning point for the superhero genre in cinema and laid the groundwork for all other superhero films that followed. This 4K 3-film collection delivers the original trilogy in the highest quality available and makes it well worth revisiting these landmark films.
Chris Coplan
Cool Stuff from Etsy
Sure, you could go the traditional route and pump more money into the already-deeply lined pockets of some huge corporation. Or celebrate your love of all things X-Men and uplift a small business by hitting up Etsy. Not just the place you buy a loved one some jewelry when you’re out of ideas, there’s a surprising amount of X-centric gifts and goodies across the online retailer. Like, the set of X-Ladies pins that are perfect for a jacket or coat for that “I’m edgy but still approachable” look. Or, why not get the child in your life their very own set of Wolverine claws — or keep it much safer and gift them with a Storm headdress instead. And that’s only scratching the surface: there’s plushies, car decals, a leather jacket from Origins, truly tasteful wall art, cufflinks, and much, much more. (Seriously, the listings go as deep and as weird or wonderful as you could ever imagine.) There’s something about homemade or bootleg items that just feel right when you’re dealing with such a delightfully geeky franchise as the X-Men. And on the upside, you can keep that Rogue wig for yourself if anyone wants a return.
X-Men Minifigures
Here’s why I like the X-Men: they are both deeply cool and simultaneously extra cheesy. It’s the canon where you can have your cake and eat it too — if your cake is savage badasses like Wolverine and also lovable dweebs like Glob Herman. And there’s no better representation of that dynamic than the X-Men Minifigures. As you might expect, eBay is also rich with these fun little figures, from an old-school Charles Xavier and Polaris to Emma Frost and everyone’s real favorite, Trance. Minifigures are cool because they reflect something truly essential about the X-Men franchise: a coolness that comes with holding your favorite hero in action figure form while recognizing the inherently weird and geeky choice to make these superpowered demi-gods into blocky Lego people. What you do with these figures once their gifted is up to the recipient, but we suggest trying to set up a recreation of this scene in the backyard somehow.
X-Men Novels
Over the years, the X-Men have made their way into a few different mediums beyond the comics. But while film and TV are obvious standouts (especially when it comes to gift-giving), spare a minute or two for the many X-centric novels that have been published. Some of these may be a little cheesy, like the 1995 YA novel X-Men: Cyclops and Phoenix, which follows Scott and Jean on a “time-traveling honeymoon.” But some are actually fairly promising; back in 2005, Eisner-winning writer Marjorie M. Liu penned X-Men: Dark Mirror (come for the Nightcrawler appearance, stay for Wolverine apparently “stuck” inside a woman’s body). But my personal choice has to be 2006’s Watchers on the Walls, which one reviewer described as “good” and not “bogged down with science stuff.” Some fans may only appreciate the comics, but the novels are a chance to see these heroes and storylines develop in new and interesting ways. And if that development process sometimes involves wacky romance scenes, then that’s super cool.
Need more shopping ideas? Check out our other buyer guides from AIPT:
Spider-Man Man Buyers Guide 2020
AIPT science buyers guide for kids under 3 years of age
AIPT Comics podcast buyers guide episode.
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