2010 Holiday Guide: Unique Gifts

West Islip is home to quite a few businesses that feature everything but run of the mill items or services. So if you have those "hard to buy for" people on your list, take a look at some of the suggestions below to see if you can find the perfect gift. 

Grand Slam Collectibles

Attention sports fanatics, this is your place to shop.  All the New York teams are represented with several items, including autographed baseballs, jerseys, plaques, cards, pennants and so much more.  They even have Giants and Mets versions of Monopoly.

"We have Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments on Mondays and Fridays from 5-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 2:30pm-7pm. We also host kid's parties, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts events and other fundraisers," said life long West Islip resident Frank Lyons, who opened the store in 1998. A chance to see his coveted 30-year-old Yoda statue alone is worth a trip to the store.

Also, if you are in need of extra cash this holiday season, Grand Slam buys unwanted gold, silver, platinum or antiques for cash.

If you know someone who has an old cherished family photo that is in bad shape, have it restored and framed at Swan Studio as a special gift. Or if somebody on your list has been talking about converting treasured old family movies from 8mm film or VHS tape to a DVD, bring them by Swan also.

"All the work is done in house. Custom framing normally takes a week but we can do it in two or three days for the holidays," said owner Frank Miragliotta, a Riverhead resident who has been a professional photographer for over 30 years.  He opened the West Islip studio four years ago.

Swan Studios also custom frames special documents such as diplomas, certificates and awards.

West Islip resident Ed Palm moved his comic shop to West Islip from Islip two years ago. Two of the unique items you can find here include a set of KISS action figures and a KISS monopoly game.

Palm, a West Islip resident since 1982, also sells card games, which in turn bring people into the store to play.

"We have the first tradable card game that started the whole craze, Magic: The Gathering. We also have Pokemon events on Saturday and Sundays," Palm said.

The store is open seven days a week and the hours vary. 

If kids and teens were the only ones on your list, this might just very well be your one stop place for gifts. Many of their items can be custom painted and personalized, and there are a lot of items to choose from: barette holders, piggy banks and sports-themed banks, storage trunks and lockers, toy chests, picture frames, wall plaques, storage clip boards and more.

The store also carries children's wooden rocking chairs, which can also be painted in any color, including the colors of a child's favorite sports team.

"For the bigger items people want hand painted, they should come in as soon as possible. For the smaller stuff, we can usually do that in a day," said owner Lori Sitkoff.

Some of her choices for gifts? "The barette holders are $17 gift wrapped, and we can personalize it with a girl's name on it. The rocking horses, the chairs and the piggy banks are very popular, too," she said.