It's that time of year, when Captain Comics quaffs an eggnog or two and makes gift recommendations for the geeks in your life.

To get in the mood, I don my Yoda Holiday Hat, a Santa Claus hat with Yoda ears, which cost only $9.99 from the Overlords at Think Geek (thinkgeek.com). Then I decorate the tree with "Star Wars" holiday lights that light up Yoda or R2-D2 with festive, futuristic color, also from Think Geek ($19.99-29.99).

Think Geek has plenty of actual gifts, too, which is where I satisfied my itch last year for a Star Trek Starship Enterprise pizza cutter. I've got my eye on a few more items this year, like the Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver Programmable TV Remote ($89.99), the Game of Thrones Stark Direwolf Bookends ($69.99) and the Lord of the Rings Etched Bar-Ware (glasses and mugs, $29.99). That's just a sampling from a company that specializes in scratching the geekiest of itches.

Speaking of itches, avoid them with comfy superhero bathrobes from DC Entertainment (shopdcentertainment.com). Soft, oversize cotton robes with Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman styles will set you back $69.95, but you can go cheaper with Green Lantern or Joker fleece robes ($49.95). There's plenty more DC-themed material at the site, including DVD and Blu-ray sets of superhero movies (the Dark Knight trilogy, the Superman films) and TV shows ("Flash," "Adventures of Superman," "Smallville"), action figures, various apparel and so forth. I've already got the Bat-robe, plus the Bat-slippers, a Bat-backpack, several Bat-shirts and Bat-boxers, but there's always room for more!

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the Bat-boxers. Let's clear our mental palate by thinking about the Avengers, which is a franchise with lots to offer this year.

The movie itself is out in various formats -- Blu-ray and DVD, in two discs and four, in 2-D and 3-D, beginning at $18 for the DVD version (with prices rising with additional extras). Of course, if your intended recipient doesn't have the prequels to "Avengers," you might toss in "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man," "Iron Man 2" and "Thor," all available wherever movies are sold.

But aside from the usual action figures, T-shirts, games, etc., I think the crown jewel of Avengers paraphernalia has got to be the Stern the Avengers pinball machine. Yes, it's pricey, at $5,699. But it's an old-fashioned, working pinball machine, and it's as cool as the other side of the pillow. (And if Avengers isn't your plate of shwarma, Stern also offers Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man and X-Men machines.) Navigate over to sternpinball.com to order (or just to drool).