Writing Games: Birthday Presents!

    Birthday presents are awesome, and also interesting in the way that they kind of reflect who we are that a certain point. At the very least, the presents we've really, really wanted accurately represent our interests. But have you ever gotten gifts that don't reflect your chief interests, but a smaller aspect of who you are? Like a book about a certain activity that you do in a class--naturally, given by a classmate from that course. In that case, the gift doesn't so much represent who you are, but what another person has gathered about you.
    Wouldn't that be interesting to apply in our stories as a writing exercise? Using birthday gifts as a way to reflect what characters think about each other? The kind of birthday present that the love interest would give the protagonist would certainly be different than the one that the antagonist would give.
    Just like no two people in real life view one person they both know the same way, characters surely would have slightly different views of each other. And any gift is a thing that the giver thinks is appropriate for the receiver. The characters who are really close with the protagonist, mainly the best friend(s) and the love interest, would probably give them a gift that compliments or matches their genuine interests and personalities. Whereas the people they meet only briefly on their adventure would probably give a gift that's more generic, or some kind of reference to something they touched on when they met (like a comment about liking sushi). The antagonist or a rival character, on the other hand, would probably give a birthday "present" entirely meant to jab at the protagonist--it could be something mocking, or it could actually be potentially harmful.
    So what kind of birthday presents would your characters get? Interesting objects? Or are they the kind of character who would really get bland things like a plain coffee mug for their birthday?