Well hell, if Oprah Winfrey can do it, then by golly so can I. Okay, a little background:
Every year, the media mogul, 69, shares an expansive gift guide filled with a range of products like kitchen appliances and cooking supplies, furniture and home goods, clothes and accessories, and skin, hair, and makeup items.
And 2023’s is no different. With 109 items in total, this year’s list has ideas for fashion lovers, at-home chefs, food connoisseurs, beauty gurus, and workout fanatics.
As expected, her list is full of useless shit like face creams and bubble baths: not the kind of thing on a Real Man’s list unless he’s buying stuff for his wife / mistress / both.
So without further ado, here is Kim’s Favorite Things List (Part 1 — Part 2 next Saturday) with something for everyone. Oprah did 109 items; I will only do 100 because unlike Oprah (who had staff to do all the work), I had to do it all by myself.
Aside: I’m also 69, so there we have it: battling lists from two Olde Pharttes.
Oh, and one last thing: all the items below give me a warm & fuzzy feeling when I look at them: it’s a “favorite things” list and no more. (Unless you’re very wealthy, it’s not much good as a Christmas list either — unless of course you’re wealthy and want to indulge yourself.)
Buckle down: this may take a while, but hey, it’s Saturday: what else are you gonna do? Let’s kick off with the spendy stuff (all prices are approximate), and there is no order of preference or cost. It’s all good.
1. 2002 BMW Z8 (4.9-liter V8) — $212,000
Anyone can have a silly Ferrari, Aston Martin or whatever that breaks all the time, for even stupider money. But there are only a couple thousand of these Beemers left in the world. (And yes, the hard top is removable.)
2. Mauser M98 Standard Diplomat (in your favorite caliber; mine would be 9.3x62mm) — $14,700
…with manly iron sights, of course. The optional companion piece:
3. Kahles K 3.5-18x50mm scope — $3,300
…or, if you’re going to be using your M98 for close-up dangerous game:
4. Kahles K16i 1-6×24 3GR Reticle — $2,200
5. Annual Range Membership (your choice) — $600-$25,000
(This is Texas Defensive Shooting Academy — TDSA — but whichever is closest to you. Dallas Gun Club, FYI, costs $25,000 per annum last time I looked, and there’s a two-year waiting list.)
6. African Hunting Safari (flight, luxury lodge accommodation only; add $10,000 for several small-game license fees, up to $35,000 for lion, buffalo etc.) — $15,000 per person
7. Handmade shoes from Ludwig Reiter (Vienna) — $660-$1,200
Buy once, wear for life.
8. Matched pair of shotguns (links in pics) — $40,000-$$tupid
…for those of the “Over and Under” persuasion. But for the more civilized amongst us:
9. Classic watch (e.g. this Omega Genève from the 1970s) — ~$2,000-$5,000
You may have to search around, but the search is part of the fun.
10. Sickafus Montana Shearling Coat — $1,700
Unless you live in the tropics.
11. Martin D-35 Standard Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar — $3,500
Possibly the best-sounding off-the-shelf acoustic ever made.
12. Saddleback Hardside Suitcase — $1,000
13. Zeiss Victory RF 10×54 Rangefinding Binoculars — $4,000
14. Browning Buck Mark Medallion Rosewood .22 LR Pistol — $600
Add the Vortex red-dot scope, for $300
15. Mini-Moke Classic Electric — $30,000
Yeah I know, it’s a damn Duracell car; but I’d make an exception for this one.
16. Rhino Ironworks Gun Safe — $6,000
Ugly as hell; but how cool is it…?
17. Chiappa Firearms Kodiak (.45-70 Govt) — $1,750
18. Leathercraft Conner Recliner — $5,000
19. Winnebago Solis Pocket Camper — $150,000
Don’t need much more than that, really. We are not rock stars.
20. Canon EOS R6 Mark II — $2,500
21. London’s Lights (Leonid Afremov, 60″x40″) — $900
22. Longines Avigation — $2,700
23. DW Collector’s Series Purpleheart Drum Kit — $9,000
…add over a grand when you add the cymbals, stands, bass drum pedal and stool. All worth it.
24. Hacker-Craft Destroyer — $375,000
I’m not even a Boat Person, and I love the look of this thing.
25. Karl Hauptmann Double Rifle (.375 H&H Mag) — $40,000
26. Angora Executive Desk — $25,000
27. 1972 BMW 1602 (1600 cc 4-Cyl. 4-Spd manual) — $20,000
Before Beemers got really fuuuugly.
28. Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard — $5,500
29. Beretta Mod 74 Target (.22 LR) — $850
30. Orient-Express: Paris to Istanbul — $20,000 (per person)
That’s the cost of the Grand Suite; smaller cabins are (not much) less.
31. 1997 Land Rover Defender 110 — $66,000
32. Mesa/Boogie Fillmore 50-watt Tube Combo Amp — $2,700
33. Seychelles Vacation (Four Seasons Mahé) — $15,000/week
Excludes flights.
34. Five-Rifle Set — $1,200
Every so often, J&G puts one of these deals together and at the price, they’re an utter bargain.
35. Breitling Transocean Day & Date — $3,500
…or you can drop an extra $5,000 and get it in gold.
36. Mont Blanc Meisterstück Around the World in 80 Days LeGrand Fountain Pen — $1,000
37. CZ 457 Varmint MTR .22 LR — $850
Same hole, all day long. And for its glass:
38. Trijicon Huron 2.5-10×40 30mm BDC — $700
39. Fazioli F308 Concert Grand Piano — $290,000
To my ears, the best-sounding grand piano of them all.
40. Viking River Cruise: Amsterdam – Vienna — $7,500 (per person)
41. Fender Precision Fretless Bass — $2,500
My #2 choice for a bass guitar.
42. Wiesmann MF4 Roadster / GT — $150,000
…if you can find one, that is.
43. FN 49 Luxembourg Contract (.30-06) — $2,100
Shoots smoother than a Garand. Still regret losing mine in the Brazos.
44. Stetson El Amo Premium 500x — $1,100
45. Driven Pheasant Shoot (UK) — $1,200/day
Assumes a 20-bird tally per shooter. Ammo, food, booze etc. not included.
46. Colt Single Action Army 3rd Gen. (.45 Colt) — $5,000
47. Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Stereo Amp — $1,250
… unchanged since the 1970s, it’s one of the longest-lasting and most popular guitar amps ever, and deservedly so. As is the next one:
48. Fender ’68 Custom Twin Reverb Amp — $1,800
One of the cleanest-sounding guitar amps of all time. Except when you don’t want it to be, and then it gets dirtier than Miley Cyrus on a Saturday night pub crawl.
49. Longshore Tides Dolores Bar Cabinet — $4,500
50. 1975 Rickenbacker 4001S — priceless
Why is it priceless? Because that’s mine, is why.
Next week, the “budget” 50 favorite things.
Kim,
I am a working man. So the few scopes I have are all well under 300 bucks with the rings.
Got cheapies but the cheapies work.
That being said, your wish list for an optic if money was no object is Kahles?
If I was a multi millionaire, (which we all might be soon enough with the BidINFLATION) I would NOT settle for Kahles.
I’d go for Schmidt & Bender. The very best optic made.
Safe would be a graffunder, and it would cost a fuck ton more than $ 6,000 bucks.
Vehicle would be a 4 door crew cab Toyota Tundra. A used one made 2014 to 2021, it’s gotta have the naturally aspirated 5.7 V8, fuck the 2022 and newer twin turbo 3.4 V6. While I’m sure Toyota made sure its reliable, small turbo engines in full size vehicles are not for me. There’s no replacement for displacement
(If a smaller suv or sedan has a turbo fine. But I do prefer natural aspiration when given the choice over forced induction).
Spare vehicle would be a 2010 to 2014 FJ cruiser. The 2010 to 2014 had some minor upgrades and improvements over the 2007 to 2009 model years.
Gun would be an Sig P226 in your fav 9MM europellet.
22 LR gun of choice would be a Ruger 10 22 done up to the max with volquartsen parts.
And of course. 3 to 4 pounds of beef (steak, burgers, brisket etc) Every day to cook on the Webber grill.
To each their own.
No, I just like the Kahles’s clarity. This is not a “greatest” list by any definition, merely things that I love.
I hate it when a guitar is “upside down” in a case.
??
If you’re 69 years old why do you want three wristwatches?
.
Morning, Noon, and Night?
What he said. Also, I didn’t say that I WANT one, just that I like them.
Nice list – who knew Kim might have such interests.
I’m going to go way out on a limb and speculate that next week’s list of smaller items might include Gin, British Beer and Ammo. Of course, our host may have an entirely different perspective on what constitutes a ” budget” item.
My heart skipped a few beats when I scrolled to the BMW 1602 — that was my first car, albeit it was a ’69 with 100K miles on it when I picked it up for $800. Loads of fun, but a pain in the rear with many repairs.
BMW – Barely Moving Wreck
No matter how wealthy you are , get at least 2 vehicles
1 – the unreliable overpriced piece of shit dream car if you so choose.
2 – something from Toyota or Lexus to actually be able to get where you are going. The Japs build quality shit that lasts.
Side note – so called American cars built in Canada and Mexico? What was the old saying? “I don’t like what the fuck is going on here”.
$25,000 per annum range membership? Are you fucking kidding me?
I live in a Houston suburb and go to one of the best ranges in Texas, I only pay about $400 per year. Jesus. For $25,000 per year I’d buy my own piece of Texas and build a custom range just for myself.
Seriously, even if I won the mega-lottery I wouldn’t spend that much on membership. Hell, my mortgage isn’t that much.
Also that coat? It never gets cold enough in Texas to need that. I guess if you got that kind of scratch you can travel.
I didn’t want to pick on Kim’s range dream too bad either because to him my items I like might seem frivolous, but I do agree $ 25,000 a year for a range membership is off the chain.
For $ 25,000 A year they better have Rachel Ray cooking lunch topless while Jennifer Tilly reloads my magazines topless. (Yup that’s on my list. To each their own)
Seriously though, $ 25,000 times 10 years , 250,000 you could get one hell of a piece of private property and build your own range and make your own rules.
Side note – What in the actual fuck do you get for $ 25,000 a year…. Unless that fee is for a normal range that uses the high fee to keep the riff raff out.
Side note = answer
“31. 1997 Land Rover Defender 110 “
Better add item 32 – full time mechanic and spare Japanese vehicle to do auto parts runs.
Land Rovers have the name brand badge
Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota FJ cruiser and Toyota 4Runner are far far far far superior at much less cost.
Again. To each their own.
Just – if anyone puts Dunkin’ Donuts coffee on their list , that it indefensible and they are fucking retarded and must like drinking liquid horse shit.
Kim = Liquid Horse Shit Drinker
No offense but have you ever tried Mcdonalds coffee? It’s honestly better and cheaper than Dunkin. I live in New England and I can’t drink Dunkin. Used to be good. Not in the last 10 years.
Starbucks I go to maybe once or twice a year when I have coupons. Most of their shit sucks.
Panera bread has decent coffee and tea as well
And get yourself a Keurig machine. You can use any k cups you like, and you can also run hot water through it and make tea, instant hot cocoa and coffee if you like that and even instant mashed taters
Sorry, but I just can’t drink Dunkin.
Doesn’t Charbucks own Panera? Coffee’s most likely the same at both.
First, let it be known I haven’t had commercial coffee in well over twenty years. Back then, I just couldn’t find any that met my needs. Charbucks was always way too expensive, and they never learned that roasting their beans to the point where they were about to burst into flame was just overdoing it. I tried Keurig and learned that if you brewed coffee in it, everything else (tea, chocolate, etc.,) came out tasting like coffee. And Keurig never brewed strong enough for my tastes. So, I run Black Rifle Coffee’s Just Black coffee through my drip machine. I can make it as strong as I like it and start my day with the evil grin on my face that people have come to know and love.
I haven’t been inside a McDonalds in about thirty years.
Dunkin’ is better than Starschmucks. Just sayin’.
Hey, I finally got my login password to work! Woohoo!
*ahem*
It looks like we are a man of similar tastes, though my rifle would be a Mannlicher-Schoenaeur M1903 carbine in 6.5x54mm M-S, with the full-length forestock and double-set triggers. I *will* have one, someday.
And my car would be a vintage Ferrari, preferably a 275 GTB/4. With a full-time mechanic to keep the damn thing running. And I’d keep my Kia as a daily grocery-getter.
Pistol would be an Alchemy Custom 1911 in .45 Auto, or .38 Super if I could prevail upon them to build one (they don’t list .38 Super as an option in their catalogue).
The Orient Express is probably the number 1 trip on my luxury list, alas I don’t think it’s hauled by steam locomotives anymore….
*men of similar tastes. D’oh!
Must be my age, late 70’s and I have most all of the stuff I want or need. I am well covered on the guns, several o/u shotguns, lots of surplus military and several nice bolt action centerfires that I no longer use to shoot deer. Were I able to choose some nice vehicles I would probably replace my 2008 F-150 with a new truck and not an overloaded super big tire thing, just a little bit new truck and maybe replace my wife’s 2000 4-Runner with a little over 100K miles, lives in the garage and looks almost new, we really have plenty of transportation right now. I had four brit sports cars over the years so a nice clean TR3 or Healy would be fun to have in the garage. Maybe a newer fishing boat but not too much, I am too old to mess with too much boat and usually had one or two and I still have a canoe and small fishing boat that I don’t use enough.
I have plenty of fountain pens, I used to work for Montblanc and have several however, I would recommend Pelikan over Montblanc, lot more value for the dollar. As for watches I have two nice Swiss Movement watches and they are just fine and will last me the rest of my lifetime. I am not interested in traveling and I would pay money to not go on a cruise of any type. I was in jobs for years that required travel and I have pretty much seen all I want to see unless there are friends at the destination to visit with.
I was alway a dream of mine when I was a kid growing up to go to Africa and shoot some critters but now at my age and with the problems over there I will pass on that one. I have had friends who had a great time shooting over there in Africa and they were treated well. I have had the chance to do the pheasant tower shoots here in the USA a few times and that is great fun, I might want to do that once more and avoid sitting on a plane heading to Scotland for one of those wonderful shoots.
As for gun clubs in my area, I am a life member at the Bandera Gun Range, kind of a down home, good old boy range. I an an annual member of the Hill Country Shooting Range in Kerrville and a member of our local Boerne Gun Range, one of the oldest in the USA having started in 1864 and been in continuous use since then. All of those are out door ranges less than 40 min. from my house and the local range is ten minutes away, on weekday mornings I can go unlock that range and use it by myself.
Were I younger I would start another Brittany to hunt birds, I had to put down my last of three about three years ago and in the past I did enjoy hunting birds, lots of quail and pheasant. Now I am just a dove hunter having missed one opening day in the last 30 years. Damn I love that hunting stuff and with a decent guide, here in Texas opening day of Dove Season is a High Holy Day and ab excused school absence.
When I retired ten years ago we slid into home plate and with our simple life style we have enough and plenty of stuff, I still need to throw and give away a lot more. I have given guns to kids and one of my grandsons who lives up North now needs to come get the canoe that I have stored and gave to him a few years ago. It’s fun too look at all the expensive, wonderful stuff and I don’t begrudge anyone for liking those fast expense cars, guns and other goodies. Life is good !
Second the recommendation of Pelikan over Montblanc. They were my favorite for quite a while. These days, my preferred fountain pen brand is Sailor. The Japanese nibs run finer than others which fits my writing a bit better.
It is a wonderful list. I am no musician, so the musical items are out for me. If I were to start a list, my dream car would be a 1960’s pagoda top Mercedes Sl, either a 230 or 280 would work. Manual transmission for sure. The camera and binoculars, never would imagine spending that much money. But, if I won the lottery, why not. I would love to collect antique guns, the couple I have, I cherish. The Viking cruise grabbed me, as did the Orient Express. I am not a cruise person, but I would love to tour places like Greece and Italy, and closer to home, the ancient sites in Mexico, Central and South America. Ahh, if only I had my health, oh the classic airplanes I could put down! But money can’t by that, and I am fortunate that I may not be able to Pass a FAA physical, I am doing well otherwise.
With your well-known love for God’s Own Pistol, I’m surprised a custom 1911 was not on your list. Some gun porn for your viewing pleasure.
https://www.heirloomprecision.com/gallery/
That’s not gun “porn”
This is gun porn, Gabby Franco
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com%2Ff%2F8ead570c-4ff5-4b30-96b8-84acf583f2bd%2Fddh5w1n-13cd4399-eca6-4569-b4d0-cccea79b8957.jpg%3Ftoken%3DeyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzhlYWQ1NzBjLTRmZjUtNGIzMC05NmI4LTg0YWNmNTgzZjJiZFwvZGRoNXcxbi0xM2NkNDM5OS1lY2E2LTQ1NjktYjRkMC1jY2NlYTc5Yjg5NTcuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.DGM_imgbWKI5-OtSpwmdjHQvtVdsOj8-3cYcbvrZupE&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2Fyankee30%2Fart%2FGabby-Franco-814888571&docid=eOw5OxsyfRwm-M&tbnid=I2vX0meAYg7wNM&vet=12ahUKEwjhgYD3rNCCAxU3lokEHeOJCxEQM3oECEwQAA..i&w=639&h=960&ved=2ahUKEwjhgYD3rNCCAxU3lokEHeOJCxEQM3oECEwQAA
BMW has problems with V-8’s. I would pass. Your list is a bit more pricey than my list. My everyday watch is a Citizen Eco Chronograph. The classic is a Bulova Accutron skeletonized from the early to mid 70’s with a simple brown leather band. The high end would be a Rolex Sub-mariner. Those are my 3 working watches. Almost, the Rolex is overdue a $$$$ service as it looses about 7 minutes a day. I have the Fender Precision Base but it has frets and was highly used when I got it in the late 70’s. I rebuilt it with a custom paintjob in 82. Everything new except to the tuning keys. I pull it out two to three times a year to remind myself I am just so-so with it. The cruises, binoculars, and war rifles I have little interest in. I have my rifles of choice, hate boats, and I have a great set of Bausch & Lomb binoculars that can make out craters on the moon. I traveled with work and only have one or two bucket list tourist spots that are no longer attractive due to the proliferation of the followers of Mohamed. I had a ragged out 2002 BMW. I spent 2 years fixing the all of the nit-noy problems putting new brakes, valve adjust, after-market turbo, suspension refresh, and major tune up. The biggest problem was the Turbo was coked up with carbon, plugs were burnt, and the car had service neglected for too long.