This troper and his brother usually gets gift cards to places like Target, a restaurant, or a bookstore from his grandparents. Part of the reason is that we live several states away, and only see each other about 2-3 times a year. This way, we have a choice as to what we can get for Christmas, and Grandma and Grandpa don't have to worry about me and my bro being disappointed.

RealLife: This troper and her brother for Christmas a couple years ago, received old DVD's their dad got for half price. Brother unwraps his first, and reveals ThisIsSpinalTap. This troper, however, opens hers to find ThePrincessBride. Not knowing any better, she then outright states "how come I get the sucky one?". She soon finds that ThePrincessBride was the better of the two.

This Troper's grandmother always gave two presents at Christmas: An outfit and a toy (turning to cash later in life). The outfit was always in a Macy's box. One Christmas, this troper was given two boxes. The first was the Macy's box with the predictable clothes and the second was... another Macy's box. Cue massive amounts of crying as the thought of the previous night's conversation about being too old for toys (in reality it was my grandfather messing with his grandkids, but when your 5, you take that stuff seriously)sunk in. My father actually had to open the lid and show me that the clothes box actually held the complete set of Transformers toys to make a GiantCombiningMecha. There was much rejoicing and to this date, when possible, all my family puts all the fun presents in Macy's clothes boxes just to rib me.

You got ''Devastator''? Best Christmas Ever!

That's the one. I also got Optimus Prime on Christmas Day (Grandparents gifts are given about a week or two in advance, due to travel issues.) and I got to take both toys to church. How many Christmas' have you had where Optimus saves the baby Jesus from Decepticons, hm?

One Christmas, this troper - a young nerd - unwrapped that year's great new computer game... and promptly burst into tears, thinking that it had been chosen by the less tech-savvy of her parents who hadn't realised that this game would never run on her ancient steam-powered PC. She hadn't noticed the ''bigger'' box under the tree. The game was supposed to be a hint.

I want a steam powered computer now. Oh-so-badly, since that would be terribly, horribly ''awesome''.

It's not hard. Take a regular computer and plug it in in an area where steam is one of the steps to creating power (coal, solar, nuclear, etc.).

This past Christmas (Christmas 2008) this troper received...a calligraphy kit. EVERY year though, she seems to get bath supplies. Every single year without fail since age thirteen. It's to the point where they're like the ties on Father's Day.

This troper typically gets pyjamas from at least one person per year, even when she doesn't need them. She doesn't mind because the pants are ''always'' soft and fluffy and warm, just like she likes them even in the summer.

This troper got a really girly beauty kit for his birthday once that was given to him by a girl named Zara who is a bit of a Ditz and a CloudCuckooLander. He was disgusted by this so he returned it back to her. Yes, he's THAT evil!

You should have asked if she wanted help with her makeup. Or were you too young for that kind of innuendo?

This troper has a grandmother and an uncle who are notoriously bad gift-givers; one Christmas gift from them consisted of a toothbrush holder(with smiley faces on it), tacky plastic jewelry, and pajamas that didn't even fit.

One Christmas, this troper got almost nothing except socks and sweaters. The most comfortable socks and sweaters ever made.

This troper, until she was about fifteen, tended to get typical girly things for Christmas from her relatives, primarily clothes she would never get caught in. While her brother and cousins (all male) got really cool robot toys and games and, on one occasion, freaking awesome pocket knives.

This troper once got math flash cards as a gift, either for birthday or Christmas (forget which). She was pissed and refused to use them.

This troper and his sister are expert at accidentally buying sucky presents for each other (you'd think they'd know each other's tastes after growing up together, but no). As an example he once stated that he liked every season of BTVS but the last, guess what she had got him as a Christmas present. He also hates Twilight with a passion, guess which series has been given to him one book at a time at each Birthday and Christmas. He, OTOH, is so sick of her complaining that he now gives her a gift card to her favorite CD/DVD shop so she can damn-well choose her own present! 'Personal touch' be damned!

On a half-related note, this male troper would love some bath supplies for christmas, as he always feels rather awkward when buying them.

This Tropette's grandfather gave my older brothers batteries for Christmas every year. When I was about 5, I opened a pack of batteries and burst into tears of joy. I'd always perceived batteries as a "big kid" gift, and I was so happy that I was finally a big kid, and old enough to get batteries for Christmas. Good times, good times.

This troper's two boys were enlisted to subvert this trope. When visiting a mall Santa both were more than happy to answer the fat man's question with, "Socks and underwear." Even after being pressed by the confused elf, both boys kept giving the same answer. This troper had to chew on his tongue to avoid laughing; this troper's wife was less amused.

That sounds like something this troper would have done as a kid.

This Tropette (love it; stealing it) can't stand Secret Santa parties for this very reason, both on the receiving ''and'' giving end (does probability ''ever'' work in anyone's favor here or does everyone manage to pick that one person you've only encountered twice instead of their best friend?) As far as the lamest gift she's ever received recently, how about a book of clip art? Clip art done in a "let's draw everything like they do in them Annie-may things the kids like" style. With an entire section dedicated to {{Elegant Gothic Lolita}}s (they clearly had no idea what that even means). Bonus: This troper is a ''freelance illustrator''. Imagine giving your chef friend a booklet of gift certificates to [=McDonald's=] and you'll understand why this was incredibly awkward.

Several years ago this troper got the most horribly ugly sweater from her aunt. Luckily it came in handy this year when she wore it to her college Christmas party and won first place in the Ugly Sweater Contest.

This troper has had it happen a few times over the years. Here's some examples I can remember:

I remember one year, when my grandma gave my older sister was given a Barbie dollhouse (Not the big $100+ ones, but one of the smaller $20 ones), while I just got two Hot Wheels from her (Which probably only cost her $2). However, I was too young to care at the time; I was just happy having more Hot Wheels.

There was Christmas 2001, where I opened up one gift to find some 3rd party Game Boy Color accessories given to me by my parents. I thanked them, as I though to myself "What where they thinking? I don't have a Game Boy Color; just my Game Boy Pocket which is on it's last legs". Lo and behold, the next gift I unwrapped was, in fact, a Game Boy Color.

Also, I remember one year that for my birthday (though a month away, we also celebrated my sister's birthday as well), my uncle gave me a bunch of college textbooks and my sister a freaking laptop. Sure, the laptop was used, but it also showed that he put effort into her gift (The laptop was cleaned up, had its system restore disc, and even had a birthday card included. My gift seemed like something he though of at the last minute).

Out of all the people who gave me gifts, my youngest aunt on my mom's side of the family never seemed capable of giving me a good gift. Some examples include getting a bunch of little kid books at age 8 (stuff that I read when I was 4), a cheap Bingo set at age 10 (they didn't even remove the price sticker, showing that they only spent $1 on me), and cologne at age 12 (probably because my older cousin wore it at the time). Thankfully, she just gives me cash now, which is a lot better.

Ugh, this troper's parents - and lately younger brother - love doing this. Two incidents stick out in my mind. One was on my eleventh birthday in 2005, when I received a ginormous box. I opened the wrapping, and it was a printer. Recognising the box from elsewhere in the house, I continued digging through more boxes, wrapping, and bags and came across a copy of Super Mario 64 DS. I was stunned; I didn't have a DS. Then came the real present, hidden behind a cushion. It was actually rather heartwarming as once my father said (after I had been particularly disobedient) that he would never get me a DS and, well, he did. The second was just last Christmas, 2009, where my brother got me a fairly large box. Upon opening it, it was a boot box. Being knowledgeable enough about this trick, I calmly opened it up to reveal a huge candle and a loosely wrapped gift. Inside the wrapped tupperwear box, digging through a whole bunch of newspaper, I had received the copy of Akira I was eyeing for a while. Oh, another instance (I guess) was when my Dad got me a tablet for my tenth birthday. It's not as good as the ones we have today but I'm appreciative now, even when back then I was severely disappointed because I just wanted more games.

This troper, at age nine, was very upset that her brother had gotten a new video game for Hanukkah when she had gotten a book. That book? HarryPotterAndTheSorcerersStone.

So... was this good or bad?

For This Troper's birthday this year, (2010) the first gift she opened was a small box... That apparently held a thing for putting retainers in. Her parents said that she was getting braces for her birthday, and that she had an appointment with the dentist later in the day. They got her to open the box, though, and inside was a purple iPod Nano. It was one of the best gifts she'd gotten in years!

And actually, a similar thing happened this last Christmas. The first gift was still in the box it had been delivered to the house in. This Troper looked at the labels to see where it came from and saw that it was some company in Pennsylvania. She goes to Lancaster with her family about once a year, so she figured that it was some kind of candle or something, which her mom seemed obsessed with. An okay gift, but not really something she wanted... However, upon opening the box she discovered that they were actually bags of Jelly Babies! She was amazed that her family had picked up on how obsessed she'd become with Doctor Who in the past four months or so.

That's nothing, my parents always get me [=McDonald's=] for Christmas...

Billy!?

This troper always seems to get things she hates. He's always receiving clothing from her aunts. Very ''feminine'' and tight clothing. He's also lately been receiving bath products.

When this Troper was in Girl Scouts, they did a Secret Santa-like gift exchange. Everyone got some sort of toy or game. My gift? A diary, the same kind as one I already had.

My brother and his wife are ridiculously bad at gifts. One year I got a poster for a Heavy Metal band that I detest and recently they gave me a frigging furniture store gift card (seriously). But I suppose that beats saying your giving an Amazon voucher and then "forgetting". Cash or GTFO from now on.

One Christmas, my 5- year old cousin twins got about 3-4 DS games each(most of them were shovelware, but still, getting games is getting games). My wishlist was filled with various Wii and DS games, still I got none. Needless to say, I was kind of jealous. (Nowadays I usually get at least one game.)

Before I got the Wii, and wished for one for Christmas, I got a Xbox 360 instead. It was kind of awkward telling "yeah, this is nice and all, and I understand it's a big and expensive gift, but... I've told you all the time I wanted a Wii, and it doesn't really have any games I like, so... yeah..." We kept the Xbox, mostly for my brother since it was for us both, and he liked the games on it better, and I bought a Wii later. (Now I've even found a few... ''FEW'' Xbox games I like. Mirror's Edge, for example, is great.)

When I was 10, I got a Barbie doll from a friend. I have never, and still haven't ever shown interest in dolls and similar things, so unwrapping it was kind of awkward.

Also, Twilight from my mom. I tried reading it just to see what this was about, but I just couldn't survive more than the first 2 chapters, and it's been hidden far away in my bookshelf, behind everything else, safe for human eyes.

Getting a pair of water skis for Christmas. Now, a lot of you might be going "Awesome!", but there are a couple of problems with that. 1) I live in southern New Mexico. 2) I am ''horrendous'' at water skiing ''anyway'' when I do end up getting convinced to try it.

Once for Christmas, we disguised our father's gift (some WIRED magazines, which he likes) in a cereal box. Subverted when he just LOVED the cereal box.

This troper's nana used to buy her horrifying sweaters for Christmas up until I started asking for something else. They were both ugly and expensive, from the white sweater with an Easter egg popping from its center, to the sweater the color of turds that had a red nosed reindeer adorning the front. And I had to wear them whenever my nana came into town, which practically brought me to the brink of insanity.

I purchased my first car shortly before Christmas one year, and my safety-conscious parents got me all the stock safety stuff for it. As helpful and practical as a can of Fix-a-Flat, a set of jumper cables, and brake pads are, they don't make for an exciting Christmas afternoon.

Once for my birthday, I got Pokemon Diamond, Mario Kart DS... and a package of Chips Ahoy cookies.

*Squee!* You lucky! I never get sweets, just makeup kits...

This Troper's relatives, not counting her parents, used to always give her bad gifts. She hates pink, and often got pink teddy bears, pink clothing, and once, a pink fairy-themed jewelry box. She also got swimsuits on one occasion, and lives far away from anywhere she could swim, and refuses to ever go swimming on the VERY rare occasions she goes to the beach. One year, though, in addition to the various bad gifts, she got... ''The Joy Of Origami'' (this was a while after she'd gotten into origami). Christmas '09 was the best, though, when she got ''Sonic PC Collection''. Seems her aunt took that little rant of hers to heart... sadly though, none of the games would run on any of the computers she had at the time - but in February, she got a brand new laptop, and installed every game she could on it immediately, singing all the while. #QUOTE# ''What goes up must come down, yet my feet don't touch the ground...''

I decided to do this to troll my friend. He unwrapped my present and saw an old and beat up box for scrabble: travel edition. He's a nice guy so he was really appreciative even though it sucked. He opened the box and it was empty. I had written in the bottom "Recession hit hard at my house, this box means we're eating Ramen for a week. But taped to the lid of the box, he didn't see until another friend pointed it out, was an new D.S. game. It was hilarious.