(Topic ID: 229233)
Burlington, VT
Quoted from Pball:My only complaint about pinball life is that it seems that a day after placing any order I think of something else I meant to order...[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
hehe. that explains just about every one of my ordering experiences with any parts company. pinball, electronics, etc...
I had all intentions to post a pic of me wearing my new awesome inflatable dino outfit that my Santa got me, but I've been sick the last 8 days mostly in bed coughing and running a low fever, and honestly I don't want to infect it. lol Since I can't post a pic of me wearing it right now, here it is with some of my JP dino stuff. My Santa also got me the cutest hatching dino ever, and I didn't realize it until much closer to Christmas when the giant pile of Amazon boxes at my house was searched looking for empty boxes to wrap presents, as it somehow snuck past me one day. So THANK YOU to my Santa, it did get here and I love them both, and I'm so sorry for the delayed pics. I promise once I'm literally back up and running that I'm putting that thing on and stomping around the house. 
F14A859C-AC68-42A8-856F-B83B95A896EF (resized).jpeg05CD4BC8-8917-4429-B8A6-2E02C7BCBC4A (resized).jpegQuoted from blondetall:I had all intentions to post a pic of me wearing my new awesome inflatable dino outfit that my Santa got me, but I've been sick the last 8 days mostly in bed coughing and running a low fever, and honestly I don't want to infect it. lol Since I can't post a pic of me wearing it right now, here it is with some of my JP dino stuff. My Santa also got me the cutest hatching dino ever, and I didn't realize it until much closer to Christmas when the giant pile of Amazon boxes at my house was searched looking for empty boxes to wrap presents, as it somehow snuck past me one day. So THANK YOU to my Santa, it did get here and I love them both, and I'm so sorry for the delayed pics. I promise once I'm literally back up and running that I'm putting that thing on and stomping around the house. [quoted image][quoted image]
Get well soon....STILL, expecting a pic in the costume eventually now 
Quoted from pacmanretro:Get well soon....STILL, expecting a pic in the costume eventually now
I am NEVER sick but have been helping babysit my little niece/nephew lately so my sister could do holiday shopping stuff, and thanks to their germs I got a little cold last month then whatever the heck this is since last Wed. My dad was around them at Christmas and now has the flu. I’m supposed to be “on vacation” until next Wed using the PTO I would otherwise lose, so at least I am not having to work and can rest, but being able to do nothing is pissing me off. Especially when I have a dino costume to try, got new dino stuff to redecorate my JP room, and bought myself one of those plastic 9 foot T Rex skeletons that Home Depot had for Halloween once they went 75% off. It needs to be in my backyard already. Go away damn sickness so I can play dress up.
I just would like to say thanks again to LesManley for organizing this and to my secret santa for the cool stuff I got. It was more fun than I was expecting, especially seeing what other people got. Next time I'm totally swiping the idea of labeling the box to so the recipient know if things are wrapped or not.
Possible thought for next time would be have participants share if there are any food allergies, I thought about sending some food but decided not to in case I sent something that they might not be able to eat.
Thanks LesManley for organizing this, and all the cool pinsiders involved. Not only did I have a blast, but my whole family had fun with it. Waiting until Christmas (well, Christmas Eve) was so hard, but the excitement made me feel like a kid again. Can’t wait for next year!!!
Quoted from merccat:Thanks again Secret Santa, we love the mirror (now mounted in the stairway leading down to the game room), the shirts are geat and looking forward to watching the Spooky doc.[quoted image][quoted image]
Word of advice. Move the Mirror each time you bring a game up and down the stairs.. =)
Quoted from blondetall:I had all intentions to post a pic of me wearing my new awesome inflatable dino outfit that my Santa got me, but I've been sick the last 8 days mostly in bed coughing and running a low fever, and honestly I don't want to infect it. lol Since I can't post a pic of me wearing it right now, here it is with some of my JP dino stuff. My Santa also got me the cutest hatching dino ever, and I didn't realize it until much closer to Christmas when the giant pile of Amazon boxes at my house was searched looking for empty boxes to wrap presents, as it somehow snuck past me one day. So THANK YOU to my Santa, it did get here and I love them both, and I'm so sorry for the delayed pics. I promise once I'm literally back up and running that I'm putting that thing on and stomping around the house. [quoted image][quoted image]
I cannot be the only one ready to see you jump around in your inflatable suit.
2 months later
Quoted from Waderade812:I cannot be the only one ready to see you jump around in your inflatable suit.
Well it wasn’t me in the suit, but I wish it had been. A coworker/friend’s son absolutely loves JP and has been to my house once about 5 years ago to see the pins and dino room, and still remembers more about my stuff than I do. His Bar Mitzvah was yesterday and he wanted it all JP themed, and I couldn’t be there but sent some JP stuff for them to borrow. These are a few of the pics I got, and thought I would share.
It’s been raining so much it has flooded my city, but if it will ever dry out a little so I can work in my garden, I’ll post pics of my little dino egg statue, 9’ tall rex skeleton, and me in the suit in my dino-themed garden.
50E34B04-302D-4B12-8661-8F5252746263 (resized).jpegB233ADBF-1523-421D-A9A2-4CE36C2AB119 (resized).jpegD3237051-8135-4A63-87B8-DAA67F8221A0 (resized).jpegEBC4ECF5-E64A-40AD-9BC5-D8EB2F991E36 (resized).jpeg 3 months later
London
Just wanted to re-iterate my thanks again for the fantastic gift that was sent to me. One of the items was a lamp for my streaming. I went to buy another one today and saw how much it was! Wow! thanks again. The light is epic and is now part of my metal framed streaming rig...
Thanks again.
Neil.
Quoted from NeilMcRae:Just wanted to re-iterate my thanks again for the fantastic gift that was sent to me. One of the items was a lamp for my streaming. I went to buy another one today and saw how much it was! Wow! thanks again. The light is epic and is now part of my metal framed streaming rig...
Thanks again.
Neil.
Awesome to hear people throw up a post about still enjoying and using gifts half way into next year!
I'm still enjoying using my tools, and playing with my baron balls!
The snack treats are LONG gone ;D
Some of my gifts arrived late. It was kinda nice actually to get more gifts past XMas.
Still have to frame that BladeRunner 2049 poster )
Funny, I was thinking about my Secret Santa this morning (got me a shaker motor).
The kids and I got up this morning and played a game of Iron Maiden while I was drinking my coffee.
Got champs on Hallowed be thy name and the shaker motor went nuts.
Awesome friggin gift man.
Regina, SK
Quoted from Dee-Bow:But it's all about the giving..not receiving!
The year I participated I looked forward to having a present to open on Christmas day. Really made my holiday special. I'll always be grateful for that.
LTG : )
Quoted from dnapac:I use all my gifts. The arcade aid is one of the best. Mounted above the headboard. Can’t wait for next year![quoted image]
Cool, that looks just like the opening to Silicon Valley (great show!).
2 months later
1 week later
Quoted from bicyclenut:When we getting 2019 rolling?
Let’s let Halloween happen first!! Sheesh, at my job they already took down all the Halloween stuff and put up Thanksgiving and Christmas now.
Quoted from LesManley:Welcome everyone to the official Secret Santa thread for 2018! Last year we had 61 participants, this year we ended up with 113 participants!
Last year went off without a hitch, so I'm not going to change anything. I closed the old thread since the registration time frame has now passed and I opened up this thread to keep things clean and streamlined. We can use this thread to post announcements, questions, updates, ship dates and of course to show off all our ill gotten booty that we receive from our secret santas.
Here's how things are going to go. Today and tomorrow I will assign everyone a number and go down the list and randomly draw a secret santa for every participant. I should have everyone's e-mail address, so I will send an e-mail to each person with the name and information I have for who you are to buy gifts for. If they gave me any gift ideas or a list of the games they own that they don't display to the public, I will include those as well. If you don't receive an e-mail from me by Wednesday, Nov. 14, please PM me. You then will have about a month to purchase gifts and ship them out to your SS. The cut off date will be Dec. 13th for shipping so all items have a chance to get there by Christmas Eve. You can and should ship them out much sooner as soon as they are ready to go. You can wrap the gifts if you want and send them or even have them directly shipped to your SS if you want to save some money that way. Please do not include your name on the return address no matter what method you choose, use the name "Pinside Secret Santa" instead. That way everyone will know when your package arrives, but won't know who it is from. When you do send your gifts, please send me a PM or e-mail with the tracking information so I can add it to my sheet and cross it off the list. When your SS package arrives, please post in this thread too so the sender knows you got it safe and sound. And of course, this is an important one...after you open your SS package, post the money shots of all your goodies here and give a proper thank you shout out to your Secret Santa for doing their part to spread a little holiday cheer. Lots of people are very proud of what they buy with their hard earned money for you, so please take a moment to post a picture after opening and say a quick thank you!
Now, I wish it went without saying, but we need to cover some ground rules just in case...
*First off, this will be as fun as we make it. If we put in some effort, everyone should have a good time. Please check your SS's public game list on Pinside and the ideas they included (if any) and do some creative investigation. Maybe search their old posts, check out any pictures or their Pinside story if they have one.
You are free to buy what you want, you don't have to get anything that your SS may have suggested for gifts, but please just put the same amount of thought into your gifts that you would want someone to put into the gifts for you and things should be fine.
*On that note, no public bitching on Pinside about what you receive, that isn't the point of this. This is supposed to be about giving, spreading some joy and adding a little of that childhood magic back into the holidays again. If you really wanted an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle...but got a football instead...be thankful for what you received, or at least fake it like you would with your in-laws.
*The dollar amount you should aim for when buying gifts is at least $30. That is not a hard cap by any means. Tis the season, so you can spend as much as you feel comfortable with, but please at least hit that number value wise so no one is short changed from a dollar standpoint.
*I will keep track of who shipped packages and when they were shipped. I will send out a reminder to anyone I haven't heard from 1 week before the deadline, but PLEASE, be responsible and buy your gifts and ship them out before the deadline so we don't run into issues with having to track people down and recipients not getting packages in time.
*No dead beat Santas. If you don't think you can fulfill your end of the bargain for whatever reason, please contact me and I can remove your name from the list now no questions asked. Nothing would be worse for this than someone not following through and leaving someone empty handed. By participating, you are agreeing to be responsible and fulfill your obligation to the recipient. I know unexpected things can happen, so if a Santa runs into any issues, notify me immediately please. The sooner I am made aware, the sooner I can figure a solution to the issue. Once again, if a Santa fails to follow through, and does not contact me ahead of time (to solve the issue), I will have no problem outing them to the Pinside community and we all know how merciless this community can be. This is the only warning you will receive for this, so please let's not have to go there.
Any other questions, feel free to post in this thread or PM me and I would be happy to help. That should just about cover it, so put on those Santa hats and get ready for the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny #%&$@ Kaye and let the games begin!
2018 Secret Santas:
1 2Kaulitz
2 acitti
3 action76
4 Aflacjack
5 Arcade
6 ArcadeTechNerd
7 balt
8 bbriese
9 Ben1981
10 BertoDRINK1
11 bicyclenut
12 bladerunner
13 blondetall
14 BlueIrocGuy
15 BubbaBeast
16 Capinball
17 Charliew65
18 chubtoad13
19 cjmjmm2006
20 cletus14
21 coindork
22 Coz
23 davidldennis
24 Dee-Bow
25 Derick2k
26 dnapac
27 docquest
28 dondon4720
29 drunkbaby
30 Ericc123
31 EvanDickson
32 FatPanda
33 Fezmid
34 fiberdude120
35 fosaisu
36 fxdwg
37 gentrsa
38 Gexchange
39 gliebig
40 h8breed01
41 HighVoltage
42 hogbog
43 homegameroom
44 HotPieceOfSass
45 Insane
46 Isochronic_Frost
47 j_m
48 Jaeg
49 Jawa
50 Jgel
51 joefox22
52 jp1985
53 Lame33
54 LesManley
55 LesManley
56 Liftserv
57 Litedpinballmods
58 LoganJK
59 mario_1_up
60 Matesamo
61 MeNaCeFiRe
62 mercat
63 mickey
64 modfather
65 MrsPin
66 Mudflaps
67 Muskie82
68 NeilMcRae
69 newovad
70 NintenBear
71 northvibe
72 Outlanes
73 pacmanretro
74 Pball
75 Pdxmonkey
76 Phat_Jay
77 Pinballlew
78 PinballStar
79 PinbBackpacker
80 pinjunky
81 Pinsterwmass
82 Pintor
83 Pinzap
84 PismoArcade
85 puck
86 pzy
87 RCA1
88 RobertWinter
89 Rock914
90 rodcom
91 SarverSystems
92 SKWilson
93 Snux
94 Soapman
95 Stosel
96 stpcore
97 swinks
98 the96stang
99 TheHueManatee
100 Tomass
101 tomdtocom
102 TrixTrix
103 troxel
104 Tyamry
105 V_piscopo
106 Waderade812
107 wdpvideo
108 Wharhed
109 Whysnow
110 Wolfmarsh
111 Xerico
112 ypurchn
113 ZEN
[quoted image]
According to this post’s time stamp, it should begin early November.
Quoted from bicyclenut:When we getting 2019 rolling?
It'll be here before you know it.
I come back to this thread every once in a while just to go back and look at all the pictures and posts. Brings a smile to my face.
This is a great, fun activity and one of the many bright spots on Pinside. And LesManley is awesome for coordinating it.
I'm definitely in for 2019 .
I'm actually dropping one of my other secret santas I do so I can enhance this one more.
Quoted from hawkmoon:Lesmanley,I would like to be included in this years SS program! Would somebody tell me how it works,please??
Check out his first post in this thread, it's a bit of a read, but covers everything I believe.
Basically, if he does it again, you have to PM him the info he asks for, promise to participate fairly, no complaints, and enjoy!
He randomly picks matches and lets people know their person's info etc.
Loads of fun and even if not participating, definitely fun to see all the cool stuff and generosity all around!
Quoted from hawkmoon:Lesmanley,I would like to be included in this years SS program! Would somebody tell me how it works,please??
You can definitely be in this year. We still have some time, but I will post in this thread again when it is time to signup. I'll start just after Halloween like last year and keep registration open for a couple weeks, same as before. I'll post all the details again when the time comes, so don't worry. In the meantime, if people want to post pictures of their gifts in action from last year, that can help wet everyone's appetite until the 2019 SS Program officially starts again. It's fun to hear and see that people are using their gifts.
Quoted from Dee-Bow:Some people get pinstadium's.. some get this! Still not sure what to do with one of these.. but this is what i got![quoted image]
People collect Pop vinyls like mad now
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:People collect Pop vinyls like mad now
Maybe that is all he got? Not close to the minimum spend amount? Just guessing.
Quoted from Dee-Bow:Some people get pinstadium's.. some get this! Still not sure what to do with one of these.. but this is what i got![quoted image]
In your previous post about what you received, there was also a ratcheting wrench set. Those are usually pretty expensive. Idk what to do with the Robert Bobblehead lol. Seems like your SS wanted to get something practical and something fun.
I wasn’t your SS btw, just my assumption.
Quoted from chubtoad13:In your previous post about what you received, there was also a ratcheting wrench set. Those are usually pretty expensive. Idk what to do with the Robert Bobblehead lol. Seems like your SS wanted to get something practical and something fun.
I wasn’t your SS btw, just my assumption.
Yes! I did get a wrench set as well & use them more than the Trujillo!! He is the coolest guy in the band tho!! But that's all good.. some peeps just like having something to open on Christmas!! (I couldn't wait) i enjoyed spying on Facebook and getting my pick somethin outside of pinball..nothing too $$ either.. its all fun! Its Christmas!
I can’t wait and still wear my T-shirt and use the tools given to me last year. The plier set really came in handy for not only pinball but other projects around the house. I had a lot of fun giving and receiving...some of you guys are extremely creative and I try to top myself every year in the giving. This first year I didn’t wrap everything, the next year I made sure to which ironically was the same thing that happened when I received the 2 years worth. Unwrapping everything sure made it fun...my kids loved it too. Thanks again to both of my secret Santa’s!
2 weeks later
Quoted from LoganJK:When will 2019 start? Can someone please post here when it does, thanks!
Yeah, I send out and post stuff right after Halloween. I'll post originally to this thread and then create a new one for 2019, so definitely check back here.
1 week later
Ok, Halloween has passed, so the time has come for the moment you've all been waiting for. Here is the new signup thread I created, things will run just like the previous 2 years. Any questions, feel free to ask or post in the new thread and I am sure someone can help. You've got from now until Nov. 15th to sign up for this year.
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