To get it straight, I’ve never done it. Not intentionally.
The closest would be the Diablo II expansion. I bought if for my wife about six years ago because she was a big fan of the original. And play it she did. She got her levels. She beat Diablo.
Then other things took her attention away, and I’ve been playing it. Ever since. I haven’t beat it yet.
Six years.
But anyway, she (being my now-ex) bought a gift for our daughter a year ago that I cannot think but was for our enjoyment as much as the kid’s.
She gave her the complete DVD series of the Gummi Bears. I was amazed.
We put the first disk in and we started singing. And then we watched another episode. And another. And another. And another.
We watched the whole first disc just laughing and singing the theme song while our kid watched on and tried to keep up.
It was great. But I don’t know if I should really feel bad.
So what have you gotten for another and enjoyed much more than they?
The occasional videogame that I’ve given my brother and I’ve turned out to like more than him. In fact, we have similar enough tastes in gaming that we synchronize our lists, so as to avoid duplicating games. And we share games on a regular basis. So in essence, a game given to one of us is in effect given to both of us. So giving each other games that we like for ourselves as much as for the other has become sort of a tradition.
My ex husband was famous for this when our kids were younger. He would buy them Christmas gifts or birthday gifts but if it was something that he also wanted to play (video game) or watch (DVD) and they were to remain at his house.
Any toys such as Matchbox cars or Barbie sets were allowed to return with them but the others had to stay.
I think the only thing I have ever bought that was a two-fer was a TV antenna. I had a boyfriend several years ago that had an old crappy TV with no antenna. You could only get two clear stations. The one that broadcast the football games on Sunday was not one of them and the wire hanger and aluminum foil could only do so much.
So for Christwas I bought him a $20 TV antenna. I didn’t even wrap it. I had a key to his place so I went over when he was not home, hooked the thing on and left one of those crappy “100 bows that never stick to anything for a dollar”, taped on it.
I am putting a few things under the tree this year that are for the whole family. I’m putting them as being for the whole family on the tag, though, and “from Santa” so it’s not quite as lame, but potentially much more corny.
This happened quite a few times in the years I was with my ex boyfriend. Actually it still happens because he’s still my best friend and I still stay at his house when I’m in MA.
Let’s see:
Got him Diablo 2 for his birthday one year. He was a huge fan of the first and he got me playing it when we first met. Two came out about a week after his birthday so I reserved the collectors edition about a month in advance. He was delighted. So was I. He was the kind of person who’d sleep until 3PM on weekends so I’d get up early and play it while he slept. I also gave him the expansion for a birthday gift.
Got him City of Heroes AND World of Warcraft as birthday presents. In both cases, he wanted to try the games but didn’t want to make the investment in case he didn’t like them. So, I got them and he used the free trial and ended up playing them both a lot. I also paid for City of Villians (random gift) and The Burning Crusade (Christmas Gift). I actually had no interest in either game but once he had them, I tried them and fell in love. When I got around to buying my own computer, I bought my own copies of both games. And the important thing to remember is that I didn’t just buy him the games I wanted. I also got him just about every Star Wars game, Warcraft III, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Stronhold, Evil Genius, etc. The only computer game he ever got for me was The Sims and I didn’t even know I wanted it at the time.
Many DVD’s - such as Deep Space Nine, Red Dwarf, Roughnecks, George Carlin, Ron White, Jeff Dunham, etc.
The first DVD player
The digital camera
Keep in mind one thing though when you feel guilty about doing this (I never did). When you are in a relationship with someone, it is understandable if you end up liking the same things. It stands to reason then, that you will give gifts that you both want. The important thing to remember though is that you can’t take them with you if the relationship breaks up.
He only ONCE bought me something he wanted too. That was the year he got me the Battlestar Gallactica Collector’s Edition.
There’s a reason for this - and it’s a good one. It’s not that I’m selfish. It’s that he’s cheap.
He will wait and wait and wait for something he wants to go down in price. The only problem is that a lot of the things he wants are quite popular and will not go down in price for a long time. If I want something badly enough, I will get it. So, the things that we both want but I want more, I get for myself and he has to actually be creative around Christmas and my birthday. Since I know he wont buy this stuff for himself because he still firmly believes they’ll get less expensive, I have never had to struggle when buying him gifts.
Hell, even when he got me Battlestar, it was actually more of a ploy on my part. I knew how badly he wanted it. I wanted it too. But, I only started watching it because of him. He was the one who watched it when it was first on TV. He was the one who watched the marathon every year (I think it was around Christmas). I knew he would never spend that much money on the set - for himself. So, I asked for it. I got it. We were both happy.
I bought matching new monitors for SWMBO and me this year. They are sitting in huge boxes in the hallway. She hasn’t got a clue as to what they are.
Heh, heh, heh, bwahahah…
Definitely lingerie. I bought a French maid outfit, a red/black corset reminiscent of “old timey” brothels, and I don’t even remember what else. They tended to be Valentine’s Day gifts.
Hubby DeathLlama most certainly did not object to opening a box and seeing lingerie. He told one of his friends he “practically got wood as soon as he opened the box.”
I actually thought this thread would be about gifts you bought for others you liked so much, you ended up buying for yourself as well. In that case, this year I bought my mom–and me–a laptop lap rest thingy, and also I bought my father in law–and myself–a copy of Roger Ebert’s book Your Movie Sucks.
But I really did get it for him. I’m more into still photography.