Editorial Staff
Some traditions are meant to change and fade way.
Others will always stand the test of time.
Ladies and gentlemen, the editors and staff are proud to present to you, the 10 Year Anniversary of the Annual Gift Guide.
Part blog, part infotainment, part J. Peterman Catalog; The Annual Gift Guide started in 2013 as a simple blog post. El Jefe, our Editor-in-Chief, Will Mapp was writing for MoDev, the Baltimore Business Journal, and other news sites at the time. He would scour the Internet and share the year’s most exclusive and smile producing gifts for the gadget lover. The Guide would grow into a source of inspiration for White Elephant Exchanges, last minute gift buyers, and plain, old bad gift givers.
As more people followed the Guide, people began asking for recommendations, and asked to feature gifts that weren’t gadgets, technology, or electronics.
Eventually, the Guide would feature sex toys, clothing, and thoughtful gifts that would ultimately become the holiday season’s favorite things.
We’ve added another first on this year’s Guide, can you spot it?
Those-in-the-know begin asking about the Guide in October. This may be the earliest the Guide has been released in years.
The Guide’s Ground Truth will always be posted at Pinterest.com. There, you can take a trip down memory land and see what was hot years back.
Follow the Guide and checkin all the way up until Christmas Day. The Editorial Team will be adding more stuff you can buy, even at the last minute.
Nothing is off limits. Nothing is too outrageous. Nothing is too expensive.
Enjoy.
AI Pin That Talks Back
$699
We covered Humane’s AI Pin way back in October. The device made TIME Magazine’s list of 2023’s Best Inventions and hopefully it doesn’t disappoint. This, little, wearable communicator is powered by GPT-4 and uses cellular to stream audio and video, has a projection interface like Total Recall, and sports a little camera you can use to capture the world around you. For an extra hunny, you can get it chromed out in white or black. The AI Pin can be bought now, but won’t ship until 2024. El Jefe made the early adopter list and can’t wait to get his hands on it.
Clearly Better Ice
$549
If you’ve strolled through theSync’s headquarters, or anywhere near Washington, DC you’ve probably heard El Jefe preach about the virtues of clear, oxygen-free ice. He’s been freezing the stuff himself since the Darmok and Jalad Show, Live at Tanagra. It’s the first time we’ve included a whole separate ice maker on the list. Most American households have an ice maker or at least ice trays, but why would you drink your cocktail like a barbarian? The Klaris Ice Maker freezes water at a rate slower than most home freezers, and the result is crystal clear coldness. The slower freezing time, freezes out the oxygen which causes cloud cubes. After your loved one unwraps this bad boy, they’ll first ask, “what is this?” Then ask, “why?”
Bond, Bauxite Beaches, Bosomy Beauties, and a Bottle of Rum
$700
The Guidemakers will never tire of booze. They’ll also never tire of burning a hole in your wallet. The whole staff is a fan of 007 and this year’s gift features the 60th Anniversary Collectors Edition (no not a DVD) Bottle of Blackwell Rum. Blackwell Rum was featured in the iconic opening scenes of Dr. No. The 60th Anniversary gift set includes a bottle of the brown stuff, a fold out information placard, and is hand serialized making it a limited edition. Inexpensively priced, it’ll make a great gift for collectors.
For the Nerd Who Has Everything
$779
There are cool gifts, and then there are cool AF gifts. Reva, the Third Sister’s blade is only the second light saber to be featured on the Guide. This thing is badass. Shod in aluminum with all of the sound drivers to make you feel like taking it to some rebel scum, only until you finally meet your once-upon-a-time hero turned dark lord of the Sith. If you nerd has the to scale Millennium Falcon. Or, the Grand Admiral Thrawn model set, they don’t have this. You won’t go wrong.
A Serious Camera For Serious Photography
$9,187
Some moments in time can’t be captured by a simple old point and shoot. Special times that can’t ever be relived deserve more than a pixel perfect iPhone photo. Moments like those only need the best, and the best is Leica’s M11-P. You want more, grain like TRI-X 320, you got it. Perfect blacks and whites like 125PX, no problem. Want to capture perfect texture of the little red balloon bobbing down that Parisian street, the M11-P makes it happen. Lens comes separately.
I’m a Tea Kettle, Tall and Strong
$28.55
You know it must be important if we included decimal points in the price. You can’t accuse us of being impractical after we placed this Amazon Basics tea kettle on the list. Priced just right; and theSync tested and approved, you can’t go wrong with buying your favorite tea drinker or French presser this kettle. Cheap appliances are usually cheap appliances. Thing is, this cheap little kettle puts in the work and reliably delivers boiling water. Trust us. When this is unwrapped by a tea-a-holic you will win points.
Pièce de Résistance
$4,999.00
Decimal points are ours, not JURA’s. I don’t know if JURA’s product schedule is timed just for The Annual Gift Guide, or if they strive to outdo themselves every year. Either way, they never disappoint. We love coffee makers around here, and JURA is our favorite. 35 specialty brew options, a Panorama Coffee panel, Pulse Extraction Process, Intelligent Water System, a one-touch milk cleaning system, and the patented JURA Operating Experience (J.O.E.) is all you need to brew the perfect cup of the world’s most celebrated psychoactive substance. That run-on sentence was worth the joy we feel vicariously enjoying rarefied bean juice. You will pour no finer cup of $5.20 Amazon Fresh Colombian brewed from your $5 thousand espresso machine. Hats off Noah!
Cute, Harmless, and Useless Fun On the Run
$999
Most holiday gift guides will feature an Apple Watch, uh we do this on the Pinterest board, or a shiny, new computer, or some other consumer electronics. No, not us. We feature a suitcase sized, plug-in moped. Honda’s Motocompacto has two little wheels, a little seat, and a little steering wheel that tops out at 15 MPH. Honda is marketing this thing like it’s a Lexus on their website, and we can’t help but laugh and cry with desire. Just look at it. You know the seat isn’t big enough for your butt. You know you don’t have patience enough to zoom at 15 MPH, but you want it. Don’t you?
This is a mere sampling of the goodness on the 10th Annual Gift Guide. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this year’s gifts as we’ve enjoyed researching them. We’ll be updating our Pinterest board all the way up to Christmas Day.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!
- Hatch Sleep Machine
- Crystal Images Engraved Whiskey Glass
- Phillips Hue Gradient Lighting Kit
- Apple Watch 9
- Ember Tumbler 2
- And many more!