When it comes to birthdays and Christmas, it’s pretty easy to shop for me.  My friends and family know that if they want to plaster a huge smile on my face and get me gushing thank yous, all they have to do is buy me something Jeff Gordon related.  That’s all it takes.  In 2005, when I received both an iPod and my first diecast car for Christmas, which do you think I was more excited about?  Hands down, it was the diecast.

Because I’ve been a NASCAR fan since I was 11 years old, I’m sure you can imagine all the stuff I’ve received or bought myself.  It’s grown into quite an extensive collection.  11 other diecast cars have been added to that first one, which meant that I was extremely happy last Christmas when I was given a diecast car case capable of holding 24 of those scaled-down replicas.  It’s given me an excuse to get at least 12 more cars.

My collection also contains enough hats to get me through a week, not counting the ones I gave to my dad and can borrow whenever I want.  I got my first t-shirt back in junior high.  Since then, I have enough to also last a week, and then some.  In fact, I’m wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt today.  I also own sweatshirts, a hoodie, a long-sleeved shirt, and even a pair of socks to help me through the winter months.  When I go outside, I can don a warm reversible jacket, a pair of gloves, and an ear warmer headband all with 24s emblazoned on them.  At night, I can even sleep in a pair of scrubs with the 24 on them, snuggled underneath two blankets with my head on a pillow I got so many years ago I can’t remember when I got it.  It must have been sometime after 2001, because the car on it has the flame scheme instead of the rainbow.

As if that’s not enough, walking into my room is like a walking into a shine dedicated to Jeff Gordon.  I have a sign that says “Parking for Jeff Gordon fans only” to go with a license plate.  I own posters and trading cards.  I have collectors’ tins bearing Jeff’s face that contains useful items for when I’m at the track, including my credential holders for pit passes.  I also keep my old ticket stubs in there.  A surprise for many would be that one tin contains a signed Jimmie Johnson hat, which was a prize I received two years ago after finishing second in the trivia/fantasy contest that I now host.

My bookcase contains almost as many pieces of Jeff Gordon memorabilia as it does books, including bears, Pez dispensers, bobble heads, a pencil, and a mouse pad.  I even have a birthday card that I’ve kept over the years.  Oh, and let’s not forget the books.  I own Jeff’s memoir which was released in 2003, among other things.  It was a fun read and had pictures in it from his early racing years.  Just recently, thanks to a friend here in NASCAR Nation, I’m now set for 2012 because she sent me a calendar (thanks again, Mid_Night).

The point is, I own a lot of Jeff Gordon stuff and now it’s becoming hard for friends and family to buy me things because I already have it.  I own two of the same Jeff Gordon Christmas ornaments since two different people bought them for me.  Someone once told me they were going to buy me a trash can with a big 24 on it until they found out I already had one.  They don’t know what to do anymore.  Perhaps you’re in my boat or know someone who is.  I’m to a point where I can’t even think of something NASCAR-related to put on my list because I already have it.

That’s when it hit me.  I finally figured out something I don’t own that I would love and perhaps you would, too, if you can find it.  I would love to get the NASCAR yearbook from the year I was born.  They’ve been putting them out for a long time, although I don’t know exactly how long.  Perhaps since Winston became the title sponsor.  If that’s the case, it wouldn’t work for any fan born before the 1970s, but it is something to look at for the younger die-hard NASCAR fans.  It would be something unique and fun for the person you’re giving it to, letting them take a look back at NASCAR as it was when they were born.  The year I was born, you could still tell the difference between the manufacturers.  Dale Earnhardt wasn’t the Man in Black yet because he was still being sponsored by Wrangler.  Darrell Waltrip was still driving for Junior Johnson.  Rick Hendrick was just starting the multi-car phenomenon that is now standard in the sport.  How cool would it be to see what the sport was like back then?  I know I love watching races from that time whenever someone airs Classic NASCAR.

That’s my idea.  Maybe it’s a good one, maybe it’s not.  Maybe you can find your NASCAR-fan-with-everything some vintage merchandise of their favorite driver.  I remembered shaking after winning Jeff Gordon’s rookie diecast car on eBay.  I’d love to get some more of his stuff from 1993 or 1994.  But if that’s too difficult, then there’s good news.  The latest merchandise is already coming out, so keep looking around.  There’s always something new to add to the collection.