One of our favorite nerdy items in this store is Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities . Non-nerd types are likely to love the assortment of Ten Thousand Waves body products, or a fair-trade wooden xylophone, or a set of 20 iron-on decals in the shapes of birds and foxes and porcupines. Then there are the shelves of children’s books, the stamp sets, the boxes of beads and the stacks of cookbooks. And don’t miss the natural-material clothing, jewelry and hand-stitched wallets.
Red Light Green Light
Red Light Green Light is primarily an educational play center for kids. There are costumes and crafts, giant Legos, and books about chemistry and agriculture. But in addition to offering classes and hosting parties, RLGL also has a cute little shop right up front with tons of fun, educational toys. There are MindWare games like Zenith and BrainBoxes, and model fire trucks and tow trucks that can be assembled with nothing more than brain power and a screwdriver. And then, of course, there are dolls, puppets and board games. You’ll excite the little ones in your life while getting their minds multiplying and memorizing.
Kaboom Test Labs
This brand-new comic book store is loaded. Sure, there’s plenty of reading material for the people on your list, from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer lovers to the Spider-Man followers. But it’s the unexpected gems in this place that really make it cool. Take, for instance, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Archive Series: Story , a 224-page tome bursting with storyboards dating back to the animation giant’s beginnings. Or pick up Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share (of course, feel free to sub out the “dad” in that title for your family member of choice). Beyond the books, there are also tons of games, figurines, buttons, bobbleheads, dioramas, Hello Kitty gear, even T-shirts that are designed in-house. You can probably knock out half of your holiday shopping at Kaboom. Plus, and this may be of particular interest to a certain Albuquerque artist we know, it carries a huge stock of Pez dispensers.
