Quoted from docquest:Yup I think you are right. I googled that and it looks almost identical to that.
I’m not your SS. However I just built a multicade out of a salvaged arcade cabinet. It’s a lot of fun to play and it was a great project. You should be able to pick up a cabinet relatively cheap on Craigslist. You are more than welcome to come over and give it a try. I’m still sifting through the 117,000 games that are on the SD card to get rid of the junk. Mine is raspberry pi based.
Sorry to my SS, I’ve been out of town for the holidays. Thank you for the pic of Pete Vukovich with the greatest uniform ever worn, the 1976 wide lapel White Sox unis. I also didn’t realize I needed a Pinshield pinball mat until I put it in front of Deadpool and played a few games. Glorious! Thanks SS!
image (resized).jpgQuoted from Chisox:Sorry to my SS, I’ve been out of town for the holidays. Thank you for the pic of Pete Vukovich with the greatest uniform ever worn, the 1976 wide lapel White Sox unis. I also didn’t realize I needed a Pinshield pinball mat until I put it in front of Deadpool and played a few games. Glorious! Thanks SS![quoted image]
In front of? You do know that is to cover the glass, right?
Quoted from SKWilson:In front of? You do know that is to cover the glass, right?
Haha yeah totally. 
Quoted from SKWilson:In front of? You do know that is to cover the glass, right?
Yeah, it's for when you want to play a game in Tommy mode - by feel only!
Quoted from Chisox:Sorry to my SS, I’ve been out of town for the holidays. Thank you for the pic of Pete Vukovich with the greatest uniform ever worn, the 1976 wide lapel White Sox unis. I also didn’t realize I needed a Pinshield pinball mat until I put it in front of Deadpool and played a few games. Glorious! Thanks SS![quoted image]
No full body pic with the Pete in the famed White Sox 'shorts'??? lol
They say good things come to those who wait, and WOW did it ever!
For anyone keeping track, I noted on Dec 20 that I was out of town until today. Little did I know, but my Secret Santa gift had actually arrived at the Post Office on December 13th! I never received a notice from the Post Office of a package awaiting pickup so I assumed it was sent after the 20th. Even after my return today there was still no notice. But after getting the tracking info from LesManley I was able to successfully procure the package.
What awaited me was something I had never expected. It was a gift BEYOND anything I had imagined and was the PERFECT gift in every way. My breath was literally taken away when I opened the package.
To my Secret Santa, whoever you are, I applaud you and am truly touched by your generosity. I am speechless. THANK YOU!
So without further ado, here is my gift.
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EHOH banner.jpg
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Quoted from RobertWinter:They say good things come to those who wait, and WOW did it ever!
For anyone keeping track, I noted on Dec 20 that I was out of town until today. Little did I know, but my Secret Santa gift had actually arrived at the Post Office on December 13th! I never received a notice from the Post Office of a package awaiting pickup so I assumed it was sent after the 20th. Even after my return today there was still no notice. But after getting the tracking info from LesManley I was able to successfully procure the package.
What awaited me was something I had never expected. It was a gift BEYOND anything I had imagined and was the PERFECT gift in every way. My breath was literally taken away when I opened the package.
To my Secret Santa, whoever you are, I applaud you and am truly touched by your generosity. I am speechless. THANK YOU!
So without further ado, here is my gift.
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[quoted image]
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
It couldn't have gone to a better home. Congratulations Robert!
Quoted from RobertWinter:They say good things come to those who wait, and WOW did it ever!
For anyone keeping track, I noted on Dec 20 that I was out of town until today. Little did I know, but my Secret Santa gift had actually arrived at the Post Office on December 13th! I never received a notice from the Post Office of a package awaiting pickup so I assumed it was sent after the 20th. Even after my return today there was still no notice. But after getting the tracking info from LesManley I was able to successfully procure the package.
What awaited me was something I had never expected. It was a gift BEYOND anything I had imagined and was the PERFECT gift in every way. My breath was literally taken away when I opened the package.
To my Secret Santa, whoever you are, I applaud you and am truly touched by your generosity. I am speechless. THANK YOU!
So without further ado, here is my gift.
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[quoted image]
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Just for the artwork alone, that's awesome! 
Hi everyone, now that we are past the holiday season, I wanted to make a follow up post for the 2019 Secret Santa Program. It pains me to say that after 3 years and hundreds of gifts sent, we have finally had our first person who never sent their gift. Not only that, but it came from a very unexpected source...a Pinside Moderator. 
Pinsider Xerico has failed to follow through on this SS obligation. After his person notified me that they didn't receive any gifts after Christmas I reached out to Xerico via PM and e-mail without any response from him. I checked on Pinside and he hadn't been on in a while, so I opened a moderator only thread asking if anyone knew how to get a hold of him. He responded to that thread saying he had been sick, that he was sorry and that he would ship out the gifts that weekend...no problem, I understand, things happen. That was 17 days ago. I've sent follow up messages since then and posted in the moderator only thread again asking for an update...no response to anything and his person still hasn't received anything. At this point I have no choice but to assume nothing is coming and that he won't follow through. This is so out of character, I honestly hope he is okay but he doesn't communicate with me so I just don't know.
Because of this, I am going to ship gifts to Xerico's recipient myself. I'm not going to leave someone without gifts. Better later than never in this case is the best I can do. If anyone would like to send a something to this person too, just let me know and I can pass on their information to you, I'm sure they would appreciate it. Hopefully we can help send a little belated holiday cheer and on the plus side, we will all get at least one more gift picture post to see. 
That brings me to the last thing I wanted to mention. This year was great, we set records for participants, some people were amazingly creative with what they did and participants seemed to really enjoy it again...but one issue has popped up more this year than others and that is the posting a picture of the presents and saying thank you. I obviously can't force people to do this, but it was never meant to be an optional step, it is part of what people agree to when saying they want in on the program. I understand people are busy and it may not happen on Christmas Day, but now 3 weeks later, in my opinion there really isn't any excuse for not doing so at some point. I simply have way to many people messaging me, first of all wondering if their person even got their gifts and second being worried that the person hated them because they didn't post a picture. It shouldn't be that way and it's just not manageable for me going forward. Honestly if you don't have time to take a single picture and make a quick thank you post at some point within 3 weeks of Christmas, you really don't have time to participate in the program. That said, there will be a change for this year that anyone who has previously participated but did not post a gift picture and/or thank, then you will not be allowed to participate in SS 2020. I'm sorry and I hate to do it, but I don't know what else to do at this point. It's not fair to everyone who takes the time to do it and who put a lot of thought and effort into their gifts and it's not fair to me try to take a lot of time and effort on the back end to make up for all the people who for whatever reason don't do their part. If this negatively affects participation and next year we only get 50 people then that's the way it has to be, I'd rather have 50 people that are really into it and willing to follow through on their commitments than 150 who may or may not.
Sorry guys and gals, I didn't mean to be a downer with this post. This year was successful beyond any expectations I had going in, but I also need to face reality that when you start getting this level of participation, certain things need to be said, repeated and most importantly enforced. If I don't do it now and next year we had 200 participants it would only get exponentially worse and that isn't fair to anyone. If any one has any other questions or concerns, feel free to post and/or send a message and I would be happy to discuss further. Here's to a hopefully even better Secret Santa 2020 Program. Thanks again
1703150_1 (resized).jpg
I can’t thank you enough for running this.
Seems like it can be a bit thankless at times, but some of us really appreciate it.
I have so much fun not only participating in this, but seeing what other people got. It must be a ton of work to organize.
For what it’s worth, I think the majority of us on here are really thankful for what you do.
Quoted from nascarrey:Many, many thanks for the time you put into this Les!
I'm sure no one will have a problem with next years new rule...…….
You're welcome. And just for clarification, this is starting for this year, so anyone that participated in 2019 and hasn't posted a pic/thank you for any reason, they should do so in the near future if they want to participate in SS 2020. I have to draw the line here before participation gets even higher and the problem potentially gets out of control.
Quoted from Coindork:I can’t thank you enough for running this.
Seems like it can be a bit thankless at times, but some of us really appreciate it.
I have so much fun not only participating in this, but seeing what other people got. It must be a ton of work to organize.
For what it’s worth, I think the majority of us on here are really thankful for what you do.
You are all very welcome. I definitely know that the vast majority of people really appreciate it, put their heart into it and are thankful for it...and that is more than enough fuel to keep me running it every year. I love being able to give back on that kind of level.
Thank you for doing this John.
Sorry one didn't follow through. Compared to other forums I've seen, which usually kills the Secret Santa thing the next season, Pinside has been pretty fortunate.
Do what ever you need to do, so it can continue. A lot of people enjoy it.
Next time you come in I'll give you $5 so you don't have to shoulder the replacement all on your own.
LTG : )
I feel bad for the 1 person that didn't get anything. I would be willing to send a few things their way. My guess is that some other people would as well. Maybe for those people still peeking back in this thread, if most of us pitch in, we can make it up to them.
Last year the recipient of my gifts didn't post any photos or even comment that he got them which was a bummer as I individually wrapped them, wrote little notes on each one, wrote quotes around the box (inside and out) that I shipped in and really tried to make it a fun thing to open. I checked for weeks until I realized it wasn't going to happen.
I will help out on the replacement gift; either getting something myself or helping to cover the cost.
LesManley thanks for all your hard work. This was my first year and I found myself constantly checking the thread to see what people got for gifts. A lot of them were very thoughtful and it was exciting to see what everyone got. If there is anything I can do to help organize it for next year let me know. I would be more than happy to help. Thanks again for everything.
Chris
Thanks for running this @lesmanley. I'm sure implementing some of these rules aren't fun, but I really appreciate the effort you are putting into it and think the new rules will help everyone get maximum enjoyment out of it.
Bummer that it was a Pinside moderator that didn't follow through.
I know it's late to be posting photos and those who did not take the time out but just to give a last chance I suggest you send out a email to all participants and send them what you wrote.I agree with you totally on what you said and keeping those out who did not follow through with pictures and or thanks to those who sent gifts.I just would like to see one more chance to make it right by those who didn't follow through.Also next year their won't be any one who can truly say they didn't get all the chances they may or may not have deserved to make it right.Just trying to keep xmas what it should be a fun and good experience for all.
Ya.. i just seen this thread had a bunch of new posts... hoped my recipient was one of them.. still crickets! Kinda sucks because it was a personal gift and i had to do a lil homework and hoped he enjoyed it..or at least recieved it! The year before my gift (also custom\personal) wasnt shown either!! because it would of gave away who he was SS for as it relayed to the gift he sent.. 
Happy to help out John - let me know how I can send some money your way to make the gift as good as possible.
Quoted from puck:Awesome!
Same here, thanks Secret Santa! Beyond hyped to open it.
Normally I post a video of me opening the gifts! Just haven't finished my traditional video! 
Still in the works however!
Here are some photos! Sorry for the delay!
Thank you Secret Santa and thanks LesManley for organizing again.
Since Christmas 2019 was my first year of participation, I saw plenty of great ideas for 2020. I'm already planning on scouting
pinball shows I attend this year for interesting items. We're only 11 months away. ; )
Murph
Quoted from Crumbalimb:I know it's late to be posting photos and those who did not take the time out but just to give a last chance I suggest you send out a email to all participants and send them what you wrote.I agree with you totally on what you said and keeping those out who did not follow through with pictures and or thanks to those who sent gifts.I just would like to see one more chance to make it right by those who didn't follow through.Also next year their won't be any one who can truly say they didn't get all the chances they may or may not have deserved to make it right.Just trying to keep xmas what it should be a fun and good experience for all.
Rules and suggestions were clear, and multiple people posted reminders and asked where pics, let know it showed up, be thankful, etc...
In my opinion, asking OP to now go thru and send yet more emails/pms isn't fair to him or his time.
He has done a LOT of work for free, and was kind enough to type detailed post as to his feelings, why, and what it means...including stating extra chance. I sincerely don't think it needs to go any further than that.
Very start of this was don't participate if you can't follow rules; to keep it fun and easy. Not hold everyone's hand and give infinite chances.
Just saying.
The generosity of this group never ceases to amaze me. I'm very happy to report that several people have stepped up to say they wanted to send something to the person who didn't get a gift this year. He will have multiple packages coming from different places and from what I know will be on the way to him soon, he is going to be *very* pleased with his gifts.
Quoted from LesManley:The generosity of this group never ceases to amaze me. I'm very happy to report that several people have stepped up to say they wanted to send something to the person who didn't get a gift this year. He will have multiple packages coming from different places and from what I know will be on the way to him soon, he is going to be *very* pleased with his gifts.
From worst to first in one day!!!!! Ha, good on him!
LesManley thanks for running this-I’m sure it’s a ton of work to keep everything organized. My first year in this, and even though I experienced a ridiculous amount of random cancellations and delays from the stuff I ordered, it still put me in a great mood when everything was finally sent out.
Can’t wait for next year!!!
I have had fun every year with participating in this thread and thank you for your time organizing @lesmanley.
My SS’s have been great as well as my recipients. I personally try and top my previous years as a SS and believe I have improved quite a bit. I gain ideas each and every year with all the creative people that participate.
Thank you to all involved that follow and complete their obligations that they agreed to when signing up. Every year this is a highlight of my holidays and I not only love participating in the exchange I thoroughly enjoy seeing all the other exchanges!
Quoted from V_piscopo:I've had fun doing it every year and I appreciate all the hard work you put into it. Real bummer this year did not go as smooth. Hopefully 2021 will be the best PSss yet.
But 2020 will be the worst...?
Quoted from jellikit:Thank you very much Secret Santa, you rock! And let me just say... SLAYER![quoted image][quoted image]
And to follow-up with one of my Secret Santa gifts, the puzzle has been completed. SLAYER!!! I appreciated it challenging my mind and patience, both good things from my perspective.
IMG_20200114_220936 (resized).jpgQuoted from NeilMcRae:ok so I didn't get anything - I must be on the naughty list!
Neil.
I know there was a customs issue with your gift. I had talked to your Secret Santa before and let you know, but that should have been worked out by now. I'm following up on it.
Quoted from atrainn:Final gift from my santa showed up today, some cool keychains for each of my games![quoted image]
Those are cool as hell!! Anyone know where you can get those from?
Quoted from bowz:Those are cool as hell!! Anyone know where you can get those from?
You make them yourself. Get some keychain picture blanks, print your own art, and then install into the blank. Done
85EE74E0-E711-4DE1-95CC-8B89397E710D (resized).jpegHey everyone!! I received my secret Santa gift today. Well, actually not just 1, but 2 gifts from 2 different Pinside Secret Santa’s. Unfortunately, something happened with my original Santa so I never received a gift. After that our awesome organizer, facilitator, and liaison John (aka LesManley) made a post about someone being left out and several other Pinside members stepped in and sent me gifts. I love the people in this community and those acts of kindness continue to show how great you all are. Now on to the gifts!
The first gift had an awesome set of hanging pacman ornaments and several stickers. They put a note in there telling me they were probably too late for the Christmas tree this year but I may be able to find somewhere else to put them up year-round. If not they will definitely be on my tree next year with my Santa playing pinball and defender game ornaments.
The second gift had great stuff too!! There was several promotional plastics as well as tools and Metallica merchandise. The Dirty Donny guitar pick keychain was my favorite and will definitely be going on my Metallica machine. Magnetic pick up tools are always useful and this will be my first with a light on the end, very handy.
Thank you very much Secret Santa’s and John for putting this all together.
79620F4B-54A2-4423-A913-5812E21E6AC2 (resized).jpeg1E8E18DC-08B6-4F89-83A5-3B0393444FEE (resized).jpeg213E28AC-EE45-437F-AD60-01018E10F67E (resized).jpegQuoted from JayDee:You make them yourself. Get some keychain picture blanks, print your own art, and then install into the blank. Done[quoted image]
Where can I get key copies? :b I have so many freaking arcade locks and keys that don’t match up, drives me nuts. I wish there was a place that you could just find all the ones you need. Although I know that would defeat the purpose for arcade owners. One of my associates had that issue, at one of his arcades some patron got a copy and was going into the games and taking all the money.
Just wanted to post and give a big thanks to Les for doing this and thanks again to my SS who did a great job finding appropriate and fun gifts. You did a great job!
Like a few posts I have seen, the only bummer is that my recipient did not post pics after they opened the gifts. They did post pics of the wrapped gifts but nothing after that. Like many others I enjoyed the hunt for gifts and researched appropriate and fun gifts so it was a bit disappointing to not at least see a post with their response after opening. To me that is a big part of the fun.
I will still participate next year as the gift search is a blast and you can discover things you didn't know existed that you may like yourself. It was also fun just following this thread to see all the cool stuff people received. Needless to say there are some future purchases I will be making based on what I have seen.
Here is to a great 2020 for pinball!
So another update here, a small envelope arrived from a 3rd Pinside Santa. Inside the envelope was a pop-up book style pinball machine. I quickly folded it into position and was surprised at the detail it had on the playfield since it was able to lay so flat. It also had a note on the back that said “Good things come to those who wait (Just wait a little longer)”. I will let everyone know when I find out whatever that is.
2D31756D-2176-4ECD-B818-5DFD44F17A98 (resized).jpeg1096D51E-4E65-4CBA-B9E9-941B0CEDA91B (resized).jpegWanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
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