The MSTie's 2008 Holiday Shopping Guide

Hi, guys! Remember me? There hasn’t been a whole lot to report of late, but I wanted to stop in and recap all the MST3K-related merchandise available for the MSTie on your holiday shopping list. Of course, as usual with me, it’s coming a little late, what with 9 days until Christmas. Still, if you’re in need of some last-minute shopping, give this humble guide a look, after the cut.

And yeah, if you wouldn’t mind clicking on my links for your Amazon shopping, I’d appreciate it. I only blatantly whore myself out once or twice a year, so bear with me. It will help put food in the mouths of all those children I don’t have. That said, I still encourage you to shop around and not take “too expensive” for an answer.

First up, if you’re interested in buying Mystery Science Theater merchandice itself, then 2008 was an interesting year. The year started with the final DVD release from Rhino — a repackaged, revised Volume 10 set — and ended with the first offering from new DVD distributor Shout! Factory. There were also a few new products from Jim Mallon’s official site, of varying degrees of desirability. Here are my recommendations:

• Volume 10.2 DVD set (Rhino) $49.99
• Volume 12 DVD set (Rhino) $36.99
• Volume 13 DVD set (Shout! Factory) $44.99
• MST3K: The Movie (Universal) $14.99
• MST3K: The Essentials (Rhino) $19.99
• “Push The Button, Frank!!” t-shirt (MST3K.com) $16

I definitely want to support more products like that t-shirt, as opposed to the weak merchandice based on the animated series. Apart from that, you really can’t go wrong with Rhino’s last two sets, nor with Shout! Factory’s strong first showing. And no MSTie should be without The Movie‘s rerelease, nor the Essentials two-pack which contains Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Speaking of which…

As you probably know, Cinematic Titanic took on Conquers recently, and it wouldn’t be a holiday gift guide without that on the list. I’m lagging behind in my review schedule due to my having a personal life, but I can tell you right now, if you have to pick up one CT episode, go for Legacy of Blood. It might make for an odd gift, what with all the incest and murder, but you won’t find a funnier episode of the series.

• The Oozing Skull (DVD) $14.99
• Legacy of Blood (DVD) $14.99
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (DVD) $14.99

Look for my reviews of those last two episodes, during the coming weeks.

The gang from Rifftrax continues to release regular commentaries to more modern fare. Their controversial riffing of OMG TEH BEST MOVIE EVAR MADE!!!! (aka The Dark Knight) is an obvious choice for the Rifftrax fan in your life. Rifftrax also recently came out with a DVD collection of some of the shorts riffed by Mike, Bill, and Kevin, which is certainly the most convenient option, here.

• The Best of Rifftrax Shorts, Vol. 1 (DVD) $14.99
• The Dark Knight (Rifftrax / DVD) $3.99 / $14.99
• The Happening (Rifftrax / DVD) $3.99 / $19.99 (buy it used, though)
• Star Wars Holiday Special (Rifftrax / video) $3.99
• Rifftrax Gift Certificate $20

Make sure you’re buying the movie commentaries for a committed MSTie, though. Chances are, most casual observers aren’t likely to want to fiddle with mp3 commentaries, if they don’t have a personal interest in the movie-riffing genre.

And I’d be remiss, if I didn’t mention ye olde Film Crew here. While the series is, in all likelihood, dead and buried, they’re still a fun quartet of DVDs. And if you want to scout them out first, Hulu.com is hosting three of the four episodes free and legally. So, no excuses!

• The Giant of Marathon (DVD) $17.99
• Killers From Space (DVD) $17.99
• The Wild Women of Wongo (DVD) $14.99

Now, your mileage may vary, with the particular items I’ve recommended, but they’re what I consider to be some fairly sound choices. So, yeah. Go buy stuff. Make it a MSTie Christmas, won’t you?