Last minute shopping survival guide for your favorite figure fan

5:00 PM on 12.19.2009   |   Jason Millward

If you're at all like me, you probably only have 6.473% of your total holiday shopping completed. With Christmas only days away, we're left with few options. Buying online is usually the ideal route, but at this point we'd be likely to spend just as much on expedited shipping as we would on the gifts themselves. This leaves us with the scariest option of all: braving the brick-and-mortar holiday hell.

Shopping during the holiday season is a nightmare with the masses of people crowding and fighting for parking spots and the last item in a holiday sale. People in miserable moods shouting at the one clerk who's desperately trying to assist 36 people. This is not my idea of fun, and there's not much to be done to change it. Perhaps with a little understanding, the frustration of festive frenzy can be partially alleviated.

Join us after the jump for Tomopop's Holiday Shopping Survival Guide starring the Wilson family with pictures by Thomas Ruffo. We've also got some action figure suggestions from Robert Oden.

When there is nothing you can do to change the things in life which upset you, it's sometimes best to just accept them. Insight and understanding of others can make these situations much easier to live with. This is true of so many things, including a hectic shopping season.

For instance, as you're waiting for a person to walk by so that you can slip into that perfect parking spot, then another car approaches from the opposite direction and steals it right out from underneath you. That can be cause for anger. Take a moment. Think about how that person may have a condition that only allows for them to walk short distances. You've actually done a kind and generous thing in giving them your spot. Feel good about it. You're a great person.

It's rough when you've got many people bumping into you and pushing past you while trying to beat you to an item in an aisle that you weren't even headed for. Understand that some people were emotionally abused by their fathers during childhood when they failed to achieve. A competitive nature was instilled into them that haunts them to this very day. That guy probably still hears his father's voice in his head: "Andrew, you've got to be number one. I won't tolerate any losers in this family... WIN! WIN!" These are troubled people. Instead of being upset, be thankful for what you have.

When you have a question about an item, it can be really hard to find someone to help you out. Sometimes it seems as if the clerks are intentionally ignoring you. This may not be the case. In fact, that clerk may have been dealing with a terrible deformity in their inner ear which prevents them from picking up certain frequencies. Sadly these are the frequencies that happen to be emitted by the voices of the kindest and best people on Earth. Do you know how many great relationships that poor person has missed out on because of not being able to hear the words of somebody fantastic?

Having someone cut in front of you in the longest line you've ever been in is always very annoying. Keep in mind that it may be for your own good. That person may just be an agent of an anti-terrorist organization. The items that they are about to purchase are needed to creatively interrogate a suspect who is refusing to give up the location of a nuclear weapon in your very town. I'm sure if you asked about it politely, that person would say "You've got to trust me!" This would be followed by a summary the rough day that's they've been having leading to this situation. They likely will go on for two paragraphs without once stopping to inhale.

This leads us to the most aggravating part of shopping which only intensifies during the holidays: parents being unable to control their unruly children. It always starts off the same way. Cute kid being adorable and happy. Then they see something that they want, and it all goes south from there.

Screaming and crying and demon-like behavior are sure to follow. How can people raise their children as if this kind of conduct were acceptable?

Did you ever stop to think that maybe that child really is a demon? I'm guessing you didn't. You should really be more understanding sometimes.

Have you ever tried to go up against a demon? Do you have any idea what they can do to you? Let's just say that it isn't pretty. Sometimes the best that can be done is to let them scream and yell. Trying to interfere will only get them really mad. And a really mad demon is no good for anybody. Raising demon children is a burden that none of us would want to go through.

It's best to understand the plight of people in unfortunate situations. It can cause them to exhibit behaviors that will negatively affect the rest of us. But they all are trying their best. Just like we all have to do every day. Sometimes you have to give them a little slack. It's a tough world, but keeping an open mind really makes things easier for the people around us. It also makes things just a bit less frustrating for our selves. And we all could use some of that around the holiday season.

Not knowing what to give a person can also be a tough situation. Your gift selections are much more limited when you're shopping in a store as opposed to the limitless variety of internet commerce. To help out, Robert Oden has compiled some picks of awesome action figures which should be easy to find at your local toy store.

Who doesn’t love UFC? Is it the violence? The drama? Sweaty men grappling in compression shorts? Whatever the reason, the new UFC Deluxe line by Jakks Pacific is full of incredibly detailed 7 inch versions of all of your favorite fighters including Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell. The likenesses are perfect and each figure has 29 points of articulation so they can be just as athletic as their real life counterparts.

Need a gift for the Marvel Comics fan in your life?  Consider Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Two-Packs. Each boxed set contains a couple of 6 inch figures that share a common theme, multiple heads, hands, and character specific accessories. With fan favorites such as Nick Fury and classic Iron Man, you’re bound to wind up with a very happy geek on Christmas morning. 

If you were born after 1984, more than likely you have a soft spot for the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Well this holiday, the original line up is back in stores with an all new 3.75 inch action figure line. Sure these figures are smaller that the ones we grew up with, but the sculpts are great, they each come with their own light-up glider, and are each under 6 bucks.

DC Universe Classics have been hot all year so you can be sure that they will be a welcome gift this holiday season.  The current wave, 11,  includes Green Lantern John Stewart, The Question, and Deadman. If the figures themselves weren’t cool enough, each figure comes with a piece of the “Collect and Connect” figure, Kilowag. Tis’ the season for the Green Lantern Corps!

[Special thanks to community member blahblahface for donating his family to our cause. The Wilsons are the greatest family ever. Speaking of my favorite people, big thanks go to Thomas Ruffo for doing another bang-up job with the photographing, and to his girlfriend Monique for the big help during the shoot.]