Atlas Obscura Gift Guide: 8 Out-There Presents For the Big Dreamer
Winter holidays are all about making dreams come true. But, let’s face it, some people have crazier dreams than others. Here are the perfect gifts for the adventurers, would-be Mars colonists, and utopians in your life.
This is one part of Atlas Obscura’s eight-part 2015 gift guide. See the rest.
8. A Map of Middle Earth, Annotated (or not) by Tolkien
$90,000 at Blackwell’s Rare Books; $24 at Etsy
Earlier this year, a map of Middle Earth, annotated by J.R.R. Tolkien himself, was found tucked into an illustrator’s copy of The Lord of the Rings. That particular map has already been promised to a buyer, but a still-awesome (and much more affordable) alternative is a giant canvas map of Middle Earth, to hang on the wall and plan adventures.
7. The Chance to Name a Martian Crater
From $5 to $5,000 (for a really, really big crater) at Uwingo
Mars has almost 600,000 craters, and the International Astronomical Union has only named a piddling 15,000. Uwingo, a company made up of space lovers, is giving the rest of humanity a chance to fill in those many toponymic gaps. (At this point, we’re assuming there’s no native Martian place names to learn.) The chosen name applies only to Uwingo’s map, but Mars One has pledged to use that map on all future missions. Get in on the Martian land rush before it’s too late.
6. Boba Fett Action Figure
Starting at $3,000 at Sotheby’s; $69.95 at Amazon
Feel the power of Star Wars fever. Very enthusiastic fans can try to win one of the rare 1979 action figures of Boba Fett, the menacing bounty hunter after Han Solo’s hide, that are up for auction at Sotheby’s. Fans on a smaller budget can buy the 2010 re-release of the famous Rock-Firing Boba Fett, affectionately known at Atlas Obscura as RFBF.
5. Can of Immortality
$14 at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store
Before your favorite eccentric uncle decides to pursue immortality via monkey testicle graft, provide him with a one-gallon Can of Immortality. It’ll be enough. Trust us.
4. Bioluminescent Dino
Obviously, the best possible holiday-surprise pet is not a cat or dog, but a reincarnated, pet-sized dinosaur. A close second, though, is a bioluminescent Dino Pet, a dino-shaped container full of tiny dinoflagellates, which have a few advantages over actual dinosaurs: they are smaller, glow-in-the-dark, and much less extinct.
3. The Pickle Index
$4.99 for the app at iTunes; $15 for the paperback at Amazon; $24 for the hardback from Sudden Oak Books
A new work of convention-bending fiction, The Pickle Index tells the story of a circus troupe, a dictator, and a prison break. (The index itself is a recipe exchange focused on fermented foods.) The real choose-your-own-adventure aspect is in its form, though: it comes in three different editions–an app in which the story unfolds over 10 days, a set of two hardbacks that complement each other, and a regular paperback.
2. Personal Submarine
Inquire at Triton Subs for pricing
Would you like to reach the deepest point in the ocean? The Triton 36,000/3 will take you there in just two hours. If submarines appeal but the deep, dark ocean does not, buy a grain silo and start building a submarine-like house.
1. A Ghost Town
$250,000 at Keller Williams Realty
All across the country, there are fully abandoned towns; this one in South Dakoka just came back on the market this December. It’s just waiting for a visionary to take over and turn it into a utopian community. Yeah, we know that hasn’t always worked out so well in the past, but we’re sure your idea for paradise on earth is the one that will finally succeed.
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