5 Merch Gift Ideas for the Holidays (Pt. 2)

Welcome, to the second list of things you can buy your loved ones for the Holidays in 2023. I hope you can find something on this list that someone in your life will love, or that this list gives you some good gift ideas in the least. Let's get started :)

Starting off the list with a band that it seems like everyone loves in one way or another, the legendary Radiohead. Radioheads last album 'Kid A Mnesia' is compilation of two older albums (Kid A & Mnesia) and was released two years ago in 2021. I wish I could've written this article then because the holiday merch would have been way better than what's still available there now. The Kid A Mnesia shop did have scarfs, cookies, and more clothing options overall...but the selection is still pretty good. The main reason why I'm suggesting this is because so many love Radiohead and would love to own some sort of something made by them. The main things in the shop now is mostly artwork prints and vinyl copies of albums, but there is a couple other fun things in there as well. The shop itself suggests that if your buying anything as gift, that in general you should buy it before December 15th. The prices are pretty good, not marked up really at all, just fair prices for what you get in return, so check it out if you or one of your loved ones is a big Radiohead fan. It would be a great gift them.

Image above from the homepage of the 'Kid A Mnesia' merch shop

Decorative washcloths can be a nice gift from time to time considering how not everybody has them, and they just class up a place a little bit with minimal effort. It's a great gift... it's affordable, it's nice, it's thoughtful. Carly Rae Jepsen came out with a washcloth called the loneliest washcloth. The name of the washcloth is actually a play on words on her sixth studio album name 'The Loneliest Time' in case you aren't familiar with her work. The washcloth however looks nothing like the album cover of the album. The design is very minimalistic and Japanese in nature of design. Very minimal but also very clean looking and very good looking. Not only are decorative washcloths a good way to make a place look a bit nicer, the fact that this washcloth already looks nice so that makes it all the, well...nicer. Check it out what it looks like down below and the purchase link is listed down below as well.

Image above is sourced from an Image of 'The Loneliest Washcloth' at the Carly Rae Jepsen merchandise shop online

'The Cure' came out with trading cards to represent each stop of their tour 2023, and you could have a couple views on this item. If your not familiar with 'The Cure' they are an English Rock Band that started making music in 1978. Over the course of their career 'The Cure' have had one song enter the Billboard top 10 list, and 14 songs enter the 'Billboard hot 100'. My first thought when I saw these trading cards was wow, that artwork is amazing. My second thought was wait a minute...if baseball cards go for thousands of dollar because of rarity...how much are these going to be worth in the future? I mean think about... limited edition, made just for their tour. There's not going to be a lot of these in circulation. Making them one of the rarest forms of merch lines that I might ever write about. All that aside though, even if they don't appreciate in value these things are fun. Bright, colorful, collectible they have everything a kid or a nerdy adult could want. These would be an excellent choice of gift for any Classic Rock lover (unless they don't like The Cure ) or any Teenager who recently got into Drums, Drums, Bass, Singing, or music. A lot of older bands are becoming cool again and teens don't have to follow trends as much as they used to, there's just so much available on the internet. They can just like what they like for the most part, and you never really know what's going to become popular again. My point is that a teenager could easily enjoy this gift. I'm sure they would learn to appreciate them even if they truly don't understand what these cards are yet. These are currently going for the stocking stuffer price of ten dollars, but it will be interesting to see what they go for in the future.

Above are some of the trading card options you can buy at The Cures online merch store. There is even more options available when you visit their website, and yes they are all $10.00

Alison Wonderland came out with a graphic novel a while ago but it is still it is a very interesting concept none the less. The graphic novel takes some of the concepts from her Album 'Loner' and then puts it into the form of a story. If you or someone you love likes comic books, art, or electronic music then this should be in your sights as a possible gift or purchase for yourself. Alison Wonderland is a unique electronic artist in the fact that she produces her own music as well as performs her own vocals, if your not familiar with electronic music, then let me tell you, that is a rare feat. Only a handful of electronic artists have managed to pull that off. The comic itself is produced by Z2 comics and is available in Hard Cover, Deluxe Bundle ( with art prints, LONER CD, and a LONER RPG game with a 20 sided dice include) and Signed Platinum editions ( 3 Premium art prints, Signed oversized hardcover copy of LONER, exclusive LONER CD, rpg game with 20 sided dice, and a pair of Crocs painted by Alison herself ). How the Z2 comics website describes LONER is beautiful so I'm just going to quote the website. According to Z2 comics ...

"LONER sees acclaimed DJ and musician Alison Wonderland take us on a highly personal journey of creation and loss, exploring the waves of panic, grief, and ultimately forgiveness that comes with the highs and lows of making something beautiful and meaningful. Ranging from real-life conflicts of bullying and anxiety, to otherworldly sci-fi dealing with metaphysical monsters, LONER also features a fully-playable fantasy RPG module complete with character sheets and map. Deluxe, Super Deluxe, and Platinum Editions also come with an exclusive limited edition CD digipak of Alison's LONER album."

If that description doesn't sell you on this I don't know what will. I feel like we all feel negative emotions at some point in life, and artwork is one of the best ways to help us understand those emotions and not feel so alone. Alison Wonderlands - LONER. Stream it. Read it, Play it. Buy it. It's a brilliant piece of artwork. If you don't like Alison Wonderland then Z2 Comics has produced books of art for other musicians as well including the likes of The Gorillaz, Iron Maiden, Spiritbox, and more...

This is yet another great stocking stuffer and has a little bit of everything for any music lover. By that I mean that they are playing Cards that feature a different artist on every card. In the preview alone you can see the likes of Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Modonna, and Dolly Parton. The rest of the cards feature even more artists, part of the fun of this gift is you don't know who's all on the cards until you open them up and find out. These can be bought from a Swedish company known as 'Uncommon Goods' and that's another great perk to buying these as a gift for someone, they come from Sweden so that's all the more interesting. I'm going to keep this one brief, because their playing cards. It's harder to dive any deeper into that concept, everyone knows what playing cards are. The perfect gift for any music fan or collector. If you don't like the cards you could always try to find something else on their website.

Image above is of the 'Genius Music Playing cards' available from the uncommon goods website

Happy Holidays and I hope you find what you want for you and your loved ones this year, even if it is considered last minute shopping at this point. Better late then never.