2014 Holiday Buying Guide: Geek Up Your Home with NEW Holiday Items

It used to be my favorite time of year was just after Halloween, when all those amazing, creepy creations went on deep discount and you could fill your cart with junk you don't need....but you can't say no to! As I get older, I've come to appreciate the retailer's change of holiday isles and more importantly, what geektastic new products they hide among the isles of candies, decorations and dancing critters. This year you would expect an explosion of dork-themed items on shelves, what with the explosion of our movies at the box office and full infiltration of TV, but it seems some stores get it, and some stores are hesitant to pull that trigger. Here's a breakdown of killer holiday items we found in stores this year...

NYCC 2014: MEGA Bloks Get Despicable Me 2

This would be one of those times when I'm going...mayyyybe this is news...and mayyyybe this isn't..but it's surely the first time I've heard of it so chances are, a lot of you didn't know either. Alongside Spongebob Squarepants sets that have been out for months and HALO stuffs that COULD be new but hell, it all looks the same to me, were some brilliant Despicable Me 2 construction sets from our buds at MEGA. How cool are they? One of the sets had the whole desk on fire scene. You could practically hear the beedo's coming from the lil guy's mouth. Adorkable. Check it out...

SDCC 2014 Exclusive: Huckleberry's Batman 66 Print, Minions, Kaiju, Guardians of the Galaxy & More

San Diego Comic-Con!!! It's almost "Start Panicking" time for those without concrete plans, whether that be the quest for a hotel room, finding airfare under 700 dollars, or the seemingly straight forward task of finding an outlet that will pay for you to be there! Whatever your situation, know we are with you...with 13 or so years of SDCC pain/pleasure under our belts. I guess that's why we do our best to run down every awesome thing you'll find at the show, before it hits! You've got to make the most of that massive expense, and we'll help you do just that.

Once again, our great friend Hugo sets up shop with the Huckleberry crew (Booth #3449), who always have an excellent array of new properties and classic licenses from all points of pop culture. Where else could you buy a Paranorman figure, an HR Puffinstuff print and a chubby little Deadpool phone cover all in the same place? This year's lineup is similarly geektastic...

Watch For The Minion Mobiles!

In celebration of Despicable Me 2 coming to Blu-ray and DVD on December 10th, Universal Studios Home Entertainment is letting loose Minion Mobiles in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia!

Despicable Me 2 on Blu-ray & DVD December 10th

The  holiday season just got even brighter with the news that Despicable Me 2, the $863 million worldwide box office phenomenon and the year’s #1 comedy, arrives on Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 3D™ Combo Packs, DVD and Digital HD including UltraViolet™ on December 10, 2013, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The film will also be available on Digital HD November 26, 2013, just in time for families to watch on the go as they gear up for holiday travel.  In addition to more than 45 minutes of hilarious and insightful bonus features, Blu-ray Combo Packs will include, from the makers of Despicable Me, three all-new mini-movies starring the film series’ breakout stars, the mischievous but lovable Minions.  For a sneak peek of these mini-movies, and other great weekly offers from Despicable Me 2, call Gru at **DM2 (**362) from your mobile phone.*

Toys R Us Rolls Out Their Top Holiday Picks

Yes, we are still doing Halloween. I freaking promise. Toys R Us is doing Halloween as well...in a big big way, so sit tight and read through and we promise there is spooky in there. Ok? OK. Yesterday saw me train hopping into New York City (my home away from home) at the invitation of Toys R Us to check out the items they've selected as the shiniest for your holiday gift buying. A small, elite crew of beautiful ladies were on hand to walk us through these items, explaining features and giving the answer to the eternal question "What does this button do?" We'll give you a breakdown of what we saw along with blurbs from TRU's press release on the subject and then we'll go in depth with the items you will undoubtedly be most interested in at a later date...except for Xbox One. I'm 90% sure that was just an empty box sitting there and any time I got too close to it, I could hear ninja rustling around behind the drapes. I did pet the box, though. It was a nice box. A green box. Watch for my comments in blue amid the press blurbs.

SDCC 2013: Huckleberry Exclusives

Huckleberry have had an eclectic array of products on shelves for years now...from exclusive collector dolls to McDonaldland character figures to last year's ParaNorman PVC figures. Last year also marked the premiere of their Chara-Cover line of Chibi-esque phone cases with DC and Marvel characters looking "totes adorbz". This year, Huckleberry sends word they are going Chara-crazy at their San Diego Comic Con 2013 booth (#3449 ) with new Chara-Covers and the premiere of Chara-Bricks!

Let's kick things off with the Chara-Cover releases: