Whether you're buying for loved ones, loathed ones, ones you barely know but feel an obligation to get something something for or yourself, it's hard to go wrong with a well-chosen toy as a gift. But it's hard to know just what toys you should be looking at, which is where we come in; we've split our choices into three categories: Play, Display and Making Your Life Better, which is to say things that are useful (or, in one case, useless but kind of essential nonetheless). Click through to see our selections.

For Play
LEGO, action figures and things for you to hit other people with safely. After all, isn't that what "play" really means?

For Display
For some people, toys are things to keep on shelves, on their walls or in boxes. Here're a few ideas for the serious collector.

For Making Your (Or Someone Else's) Life Better
In which we suggest gifts offering education, amusement and/or something to hold onto at night. Yes, even that last one.

Additional research by Alex Eichler.

Go Hero Limited Edition Raygun
Of course, if you're thinking a little more retro, this limited edition Buck Rogers raygun might catch your eye. And why not? It's beautifully designed by Dead Presidents' Matt Walker, and comes in a beautifully packaged wooden box for extra old-school thrills. There's even a certificate of authenticity to prove that you owe one of only 25 made.

World War Robot Figurines
Ashley Wood's grimepunk series was tailormade for toys, as this set of 6.5 inch figures of warrior robots prove. Everytime we see these deadly oilcans with legs and guns, we want more and thankfully, they're happy to oblige.

Watchmen Be@rbrick
What says "I bought into the hype" more than this sloganeering piece of Watchmen merchandise, ideal for those who enjoyed the Zack Snyder movie, those who thought the movie was a letdown but liked the original comic, or those who just like examples of really, really boldly obvious branding on bear-shaped toys? Surely we all know someone in all three demographics.

Adult Swim Figurines
Until the day when the toy world wises up and realizes that we all need a line of fully-posible Venture Bros. action figures, complete with accessories (Brock can have a pack of cigarettes! Dr. Orpheus can have a magic book! Rusty can have the crushing sense of self-loathing that he can blame on his over-achieving father!), we'll have to settle for these admittedly wonderful figures from various Adult Swim shows; they're boxed anonymously, so there's no telling which one you'll get when you buy it, so you should probably just buy all the boxes you can in hopes of getting that sweet Dr. Girlfriend one.

Variety reports that the deal was closed at last week's San Diego Comic-Con, and that Wood and Ted Adams - president of WWR publisher IDW - will act as executive producers. WWR the books take the format of war diaries from the end of a long war between humans and robots both on Earth and in space (More specifically, the moon and on Mars). The series - which debuted last year - was described by co-creator Jon Gibson as

Band of Brothers with gun-toting machines... Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, plus it gets kinda political. [It's] also dosed with a bit of "desperation comedy". Like laughing while you're crying.

Is it too much to hope that Michael Bay can get himself involved in some way?

Bruckheimer gears up for 'War' [Variety]

We interviewed Gibson about World War Robot a while back, and he described the IDW graphic novel thusly:

A dwindling band of humans and robots battle it out in what`ll probably end humanity as we know it - on Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, plus it gets kinda political. And we`re attempting a little experiment with a different kind of humor. This war is the tail end of the worst things imaginable - epic catastrophes. So the comic is also dosed with a bit of "desperation comedy". Like laughing while you`re crying.

The bleakness and weird humor definitely come through in the tie-in figures. The Bramble toy costs a cool $250, but it'll probably incinerate anyone who criticizes your messy-ass desk.

Images from Toybot Studios. [Bambaland] Thanks Metaphorge!

World War Robot will first hit the web as a comic, probably with two to four pages appearing weekly. Then you`ll be able to buy yourself a "Bertie" robot toy (designed by Wood himself and produced by Bigshot Toyworks & Threezero) at the New York Comic-Con in April. Gibson says it has "so many points of articulation, it`ll blow your mind." We caught up with Gibson recently, and he gave us a few details about this robotic dystopian war in the making.

So what`s the storyline of World War Robot? What`s it about?

A dwindling band of humans and robots battle it out in what`ll probably end humanity as we know it - on Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, plus it gets kinda political. And we`re attempting a little experiment with a different kind of humor. This war is the tail end of the worst things imaginable - epic catastrophes. So the comic is also dosed with a bit of "desperation comedy". Like laughing while you`re crying.

What comes after that? Further plans for the World War Robot?

It`s all leading up to the release of the first WWR toy, a figure called Bertie that rocks. It`s 1/6th scale, stands 14 inches tall, and has an amazing 43 fucking points of articulation! That`s more moveable joints than grandma!

What`s it like working with Ashley?

Ash is so fucking talented. We`ve been trying to do something together for years on the comic front. He used to do a page-strip for me every month when I edited Play Magazine about 6 years ago - a spin-off of his incredible "Popbot" series. We`d met at E3 while he was working on art for Konami`s Contra: Shattered Soldier, and the rest is robot history.

Below you can check out an exclusive image of the variant version of the Bertie-bot, which will be super rare. Only here at io9!