Quoted from dnapac:

Just to let all know…the gift is a gift. Don’t let the monetary value weigh us down. I know the person who gave a pin wouldn’t want it to become a competition…that said, so cool! But, anything given is a gift and should be cherished…can’t wait for mine, and hope I’ve hit the mark with my santee!

Quoted from Puffdanny:

It's all about putting some effort in not everyone in the hobby can afford to gift a nib pin or even close but bless those who can go overboard it's amazing and spreads joy far past your Secret Santee. I've been in other ss gift exchanges from another hobby where we all make a gift and the nightmares I've seen and been involved in was the reason why I never joined before but seeing all the positive post in the past thread I finally joined. My Secret Santee left little clues for me on or off pinside but I think he will appreciate my effort.

Quoted from Atari_Daze:

One of my favorites about giving:
On Christmas Eve, Della Young discovers that she has only $1.87 to buy a present for her husband Jim. She visits the nearby shop of a hairdresser, Madame Sofronie, who buys Della's long hair for $20. Della then uses the money to buy a platinum pocket watch chain for Jim. When Jim comes home from work that evening, Della admits to him that she sold her hair to buy him the chain. Jim gives Della her present-- a set of ornamental combs, which she will be unable to use until her hair grows back out. Della gives Jim the watch chain, and he tells her that he sold the watch to buy the combs. While the gifts that Jim and Della gave each other can't be used, they know how far they went to show each other their love and how invaluable their love truly is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi

Quoted from Puffdanny:

It's all about putting some effort in not everyone in the hobby can afford to gift a nib pin or even close but bless those who can go overboard it's amazing and spreads joy far past your Secret Santee. I've been in other ss gift exchanges from another hobby where we all make a gift and the nightmares I've seen and been involved in was the reason why I never joined before but seeing all the positive post in the past thread I finally joined. My Secret Santee left little clues for me on or off pinside but I think he will appreciate my effort.

Quoted from Atari_Daze:

One of my favorites about giving:
On Christmas Eve, Della Young discovers that she has only $1.87 to buy a present for her husband Jim. She visits the nearby shop of a hairdresser, Madame Sofronie, who buys Della's long hair for $20. Della then uses the money to buy a platinum pocket watch chain for Jim. When Jim comes home from work that evening, Della admits to him that she sold her hair to buy him the chain. Jim gives Della her present-- a set of ornamental combs, which she will be unable to use until her hair grows back out. Della gives Jim the watch chain, and he tells her that he sold the watch to buy the combs. While the gifts that Jim and Della gave each other can't be used, they know how far they went to show each other their love and how invaluable their love truly is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi

Quoted from BroMan90:

I hope you like them, I know I do!

Quoted from northvibe:

dang! awesome to see people getting gifts... melting my heart like a good hallmark movie should

Quoted from Atari_Daze:

That is pretty much my litmus test. If I would like to get it, I feel good about giving it.

Quoted from undrdog:

Guess I should send out some black licorice, then. Who doesn't like black licorice?

Quoted from Atari_Daze:

Hope my Santee has a strong stomach:

Quoted from Kkoss24:

Thank you Secret Santa .I will be waiting for the magical day to open .Will be ordering mine and sending out tomorrow as I’m down for the count ,got my booster shot and is hitting me pretty good .
[quoted image]

Quoted from dirkdiggler:

Did either of the first two shots bother you? Haven't heard much about the booster causing issues.

Quoted from dirkdiggler:

Did either of the first two shots bother you? Haven't heard much about the booster causing issues.

Quoted from Petie423:

I can not even begin to express how extremely grateful I am for the gifts that I received from my secret Santa. I did not even believe the call I received on Friday saying that I have something coming freight today and when my wife sent me a picture of what arrived I knew that I needed to take my lunch break right then and there, drag my dad from his house to help me, and get this pinball table set up. It still doesn't even feel real to me that, that is what arrived at my house. I will never not be thankful for this incredibly generous gift I received, whoever you are out there, if I could give you a big hug, I would...and dammit, I'm a good hugger.
[quoted image][quoted image]
[quoted image]

Quoted from RandomTask:

My package is on its way!! Toss it in the mail today! 4 Days til it arrives!!

Quoted from ZMeny:

HUGE CONGRATS! I have been asked not to share the name of your Pinside Secret Santa (wouldn't be so Secret if I did), but this is easily one of the most rewarding things that Nicole and I have been a part of. Not to be too sappy, but when I received the call a few months back to help coordinate this unbelievable gesture it brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with hope. This individual is among us in the community and wanted to do something special this holiday season. No agenda, no need for recognition, just pure kindness and love. I can tell you that they have been as excited for you to receive this as you likely were to see that it wasn't a mistake haha. I am honored that Flip N Out Pinball could be a small part of it and I am even more humbled by the support and love of this community. Pinball family and friends are the best. And just like family, we all have our trying times, but at the end of the day, we are here for one another. Congrats again Petie423 and play the hell out of that thing buddy!!! Merry Christmas everyone

Quoted from RandomTask:

My package is on its way!! Toss it in the mail today! 4 Days til it arrives!!

Quoted from jesperpark:

4 days via Canada Post?? Must be in the same city to be that quick

Quoted from PappaDubz:

I just got 5 tickets to a hockey game for me and my kids
Thank you soooo much Secret Santa
It will be my boys 1st hockey game
Iam so pumped not sure what to say
But thanks a million and god bless
[quoted image]

Quoted from PappaDubz:

I just got 5 tickets to a hockey game for me and my kids
Thank you soooo much Secret Santa
It will be my boys 1st hockey game
Iam so pumped not sure what to say
But thanks a million and god bless
[quoted image]

Quoted from northerndude:

Fantastic. Great idea.

Quoted from dnapac:

In the past I have waited…but my little kid in me couldn’t! Sweet R&M mod! I have actually looked at this mod. Thank you SS. Already installed!
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Habermania:

Thanks for saying that. It is a good reminder. I want to make sure that the recipient knows I took the time to consider them with all they receive.

Quoted from Kkoss24:

Made it about 36 hours .I’ll never grow up .Big Thank You to Santa!! They match perfectly with what I am doing with our family favorite.Up The Irons and Merry Christmas !
[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from SkyKing2301:

The amazing 3D printed and decorated Twilight Zone pinball machine kind! This ornament is fantastic, excellent details, apparently an officially licensed product to boot. ***Stay tuned to the end of this post, to see what became of this ornament.*** Next up, #7:

Quoted from SkyKing2301:

Buckle up, ladies and gents. This one's going to be a long one -- and rightfully so, because my Secret Santa clearly went the extra mile to make this special, fun, and personal, and Santa deserves to be recognized.
I received a shipping notification from UPS late last week regarding a package en route from a company I didn't recognize. I wondered if it might be my Pinside SS already ... and a few days later, a sizable package arrived!
[quoted image]
I knew I was in for a treat when I noticed Santa even used the reference number field to include "HO HO HO":
[quoted image]
Then the packing list enclosure caught my eye -- because I could see through the paper that it looked it had lines of printed text:
[quoted image]
Sure enough, I extricated the paper and found it was indeed a letter from Santa, containing clues about my TWELVE gifts!
[quoted image]
Knowing there was no way I could wait til Christmas, I convinced myself to at least wait until the wife & kids were available so we could open them together and make it a family affair. We opened up the box to find a smorgasbord of presents:
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
As instructed, we identified Gift #1 ... we found it odd that it wasn't wrapped like all the others -- it was a pet store take-home carrier box:
[quoted image]
I paused and took this moment to explain to my family about the running joke in Pinside Secret Santa regarding Chinchillas, assuming this box MUST be a reference to that. Everyone was glad I explained this, because then we opened it up and:
[quoted image]
Perfectly played, Santa, this was hilarious and I love the shirt! Very fitting considering the family recently played the new Godzilla game and thoroughly enjoyed it. Next up... Gift #2 in a Santa box:
[quoted image]
The clue was "Use caution what you pick next." We discussed this around the table and decided it was either something caution-striped themed (for our Data East Jurassic Park), or it was a set of tool picks. Our second guess was correct:
[quoted image]
On to Gift #3, in fun Marvel superhero paper:
[quoted image]
The clue here was, "Even our furry friends can join the fun." We had to assume it was some sort of toys for our pets, though we found this somewhat confusing, unsure how Santa knew we had pets.
[quoted image]
Sure enough, it was a batch of wonderful cat toys! And then I realized my Santa had REALLY been doing his/her homework. (Will use "he/his" hereafter merely for probability's sake.) He must have been digging into my Pinside activity and found that we had a cat, either from a few pictures I'd posted, or from this recent story about how this cat had gotten trapped inside our Swords of Fury: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cats-and-pinballs-/page/67#post-6451134
Now ... as it turns out this was an even more poignant gift than Santa had probably realized or intended. This cat -- who the family loves dearly -- has been with us for 16 years. He was orphaned as a tiny kitten, and we raised him -- milk bottles and all. He was the first co-pet my wife and I had together. He's older than our kids. In fact, it dawned on me recently that he's known ALL the other pets we've had over the years -- including three dogs and three other cats. Age and kidney problems were finally catching up with him, though, and he passed away on Halloween this year. (Worse yet, I wasn't even there because I was up at Pinball Expo as a vendor. Thankfully the family was with him until the end, though.) Here he is, our wonderful Gryphon, my Lionman forever. I've printed this picture and it hangs above our Swords of Fury:
[quoted image]
Painfully sad as Gryphon's death was (my 7-year-old son was particularly devastated, as we expected he would be), Santa's gift here still has a happy ending. In recent months, we recognized Gryphon was on limited time -- so given the kids' love of cats and to help soften the blow a little, a few weeks prior to Gryphon's passing we adopted another kitten .... Pinside, meet Rocket!
[quoted image]
So Rocket is taking FULL advantage of these excellent new toys in full rambunctious kitten style -- more than Gryphon ever would have. So thank you Santa, for this thoughtful gift that allowed me to share our furry friends' stories.
Next up was Gift #4:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Sock it to me!" Of course, this one had to be socks:
[quoted image]
Ding ding ding! We were on a roll. Next, Gift #5:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Hope you find this one illuminating." My daughter nailed this one, "It has to be light bulbs!" she said.
[quoted image]
Right she was -- four packs of Comet LEDs, always important to have on hand for whatever machine we shop out next! On to #6:
[quoted image]
Clue: "This one is made to hang around." Given the season, we reached a consensus that it must be an ornament....but what kind?
[quoted image]
The amazing 3D printed and decorated Twilight Zone pinball machine kind! This ornament is fantastic, excellent details, apparently an officially licensed product to boot. ***Stay tuned to the end of this post, to see what became of this ornament.*** Next up, #7:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Do you have a magnetic personality?" I guessed it had to be one of those magnetic retrieval tools -- we all need these and yet they're easy to misplace.
[quoted image]
I was partially correct -- a retrieval tool AND a magnetic bowl so I don't lose small parts and tools! Now, onto #8:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Hopefully this is self exPLANEatory." This one stumped us. Obviously it had something to do with a plane, but we didn't know what kind or why.
[quoted image]
It turned out to be a super cool keychain made from the skin of a retired 747! Again, this was more proof that my Santa had done his research -- I have posts here on Pinside where I've talked a little about my career; I work in the aerospace industry, including the Space Shuttle (9 years), Piper Aircraft (3 years), Space Launch System / Artemis rocket (3 years), and the Atlas V rocket (3 years). So this was a definitely win by Santa; I've never even seen these before.
Onto #9:
[quoted image]
This clue was somewhat more cryptic: "This might be fit for a King, or you could shuttle it off elsewhere." The "King" part really threw us -- particularly with the capital K, so we ventured a guess that it was something to do with the Space Shuttle, either in reference to my career or the pinball machine (which we own).
[quoted image]
An RBF keychain! Makes perfect sense for Space Shuttle, but we were still stumped on the King part. We did figure this out eventually after Gift #12 though, so I'll circle back to this shortly. Now for #10:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Don't forget and leaf these in the toolbox." Great clue -- but I was onto Santa this time ... a tool of some kind, and the likely-intentional misspelling of "leave" as "leaf"? Must be leaf switch adjusters!
[quoted image]
PERFECT timing on this one, Santa, because I'd recently misplaced my only one and really needed to replace it! Next, #11:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Now you've finally grasped it!" We weren't really sure -- my daughter guessed a clamp of some kind.
[quoted image]
We were wrong -- it was a handy bulb grasper! We haven't used one of these despite all the games we've shopped, so we're looking forward to trying these out!
And now ... finally ... the grand finale -- Gift #12:
[quoted image]
The clue: "We always remember our first, topper?" Another somewhat cryptic clue, but obviously a topper was coming into play here.
[quoted image]
It's a custom street sign, labeled as Sky Kings Drive! Now the rest of the clue was clear. Again, Santa did his research -- either through my posts, my collection info, or maybe he even watched my Rocket City Pinball seminar(s), he deduced that Sky Kings was the first game I got when I started my own collection back in 2015. Circling back to Gift #9, now we understood the King-with-a-capital-K reference -- because a Remove Before Flight tag would work just as well on Sky Kings (airplane/skydiving theme) as it would on Space Shuttle.
I still have Sky Kings -- it's over at my parents' house right now, actually, because I ran out of room and my dad loves it -- so I had to swing by to install it and get some nice photos. Thankfully, Santa included some mounting components as well.
[quoted image] [quoted image] [quoted image]
As you can see, the sign is of very high quality manufacture, with reflective properties and all!
So, I have to give a HUUUUUUGE thanks to my Secret Santa. You clearly embraced this activity and dug deep to give thoughtful gifts and to make it enjoyable. My family had a wonderful time trying to solve your clues and opening all the gifts together -- we opened three each -- so you absolutely nailed the spirit of the season and made this so memorable. We're truly thankful for your generosity and effort! I hope you've enjoyed my retelling of our fun evening and have been experiencing a bloom of satisfaction that comes with giving. THANK YOU SANTA, we absolutely appreciate all you've done for us, and I hope I've been able to adequately express it here with this post.
Oh and one more thing ... remember I mentioned something interesting became of the pinball ornament? I recently saw a picture where someone snuck a Yoda figure into their parents' nativity scene, commenting how they hadn't noticed yet. I found this amusingly inspiring ... so while I was at my parents' house installing the topper on Sky Kings, I snuck over to my mom's curio cabinet where she collects those Parade of Cows figures ... and I snuck the pinball machine in there among them. I'm playing the long game on this one -- I plan to wait this one out and see how long it takes for her to notice that it's in there, lol ... once she finally does, it'll find a permanent/recurring home on our annual Christmas tree!
[quoted image]

Quoted from TigerLaw:

That is awesome!!!

Quoted from SkyKing2301:

Buckle up, ladies and gents. This one's going to be a long one -- and rightfully so, because my Secret Santa clearly went the extra mile to make this special, fun, and personal, and Santa deserves to be recognized.
I received a shipping notification from UPS late last week regarding a package en route from a company I didn't recognize. I wondered if it might be my Pinside SS already ... and a few days later, a sizable package arrived!
[quoted image]
I knew I was in for a treat when I noticed Santa even used the reference number field to include "HO HO HO":
[quoted image]
Then the packing list enclosure caught my eye -- because I could see through the paper that it looked it had lines of printed text:
[quoted image]
Sure enough, I extricated the paper and found it was indeed a letter from Santa, containing clues about my TWELVE gifts!
[quoted image]
Knowing there was no way I could wait til Christmas, I convinced myself to at least wait until the wife & kids were available so we could open them together and make it a family affair. We opened up the box to find a smorgasbord of presents:
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
As instructed, we identified Gift #1 ... we found it odd that it wasn't wrapped like all the others -- it was a pet store take-home carrier box:
[quoted image]
I paused and took this moment to explain to my family about the running joke in Pinside Secret Santa regarding Chinchillas, assuming this box MUST be a reference to that. Everyone was glad I explained this, because then we opened it up and:
[quoted image]
Perfectly played, Santa, this was hilarious and I love the shirt! Very fitting considering the family recently played the new Godzilla game and thoroughly enjoyed it. Next up... Gift #2 in a Santa box:
[quoted image]
The clue was "Use caution what you pick next." We discussed this around the table and decided it was either something caution-striped themed (for our Data East Jurassic Park), or it was a set of tool picks. Our second guess was correct:
[quoted image]
On to Gift #3, in fun Marvel superhero paper:
[quoted image]
The clue here was, "Even our furry friends can join the fun." We had to assume it was some sort of toys for our pets, though we found this somewhat confusing, unsure how Santa knew we had pets.
[quoted image]
Sure enough, it was a batch of wonderful cat toys! And then I realized my Santa had REALLY been doing his/her homework. (Will use "he/his" hereafter merely for probability's sake.) He must have been digging into my Pinside activity and found that we had a cat, either from a few pictures I'd posted, or from this recent story about how this cat had gotten trapped inside our Swords of Fury: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cats-and-pinballs-/page/67#post-6451134
Now ... as it turns out this was an even more poignant gift than Santa had probably realized or intended. This cat -- who the family loves dearly -- has been with us for 16 years. He was orphaned as a tiny kitten, and we raised him -- milk bottles and all. He was the first co-pet my wife and I had together. He's older than our kids. In fact, it dawned on me recently that he's known ALL the other pets we've had over the years -- including three dogs and three other cats. Age and kidney problems were finally catching up with him, though, and he passed away on Halloween this year. (Worse yet, I wasn't even there because I was up at Pinball Expo as a vendor. Thankfully the family was with him until the end, though.) Here he is, our wonderful Gryphon, my Lionman forever. I've printed this picture and it hangs above our Swords of Fury:
[quoted image]
Painfully sad as Gryphon's death was (my 7-year-old son was particularly devastated, as we expected he would be), Santa's gift here still has a happy ending. In recent months, we recognized Gryphon was on limited time -- so given the kids' love of cats and to help soften the blow a little, a few weeks prior to Gryphon's passing we adopted another kitten .... Pinside, meet Rocket!
[quoted image]
So Rocket is taking FULL advantage of these excellent new toys in full rambunctious kitten style -- more than Gryphon ever would have. So thank you Santa, for this thoughtful gift that allowed me to share our furry friends' stories.
Next up was Gift #4:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Sock it to me!" Of course, this one had to be socks:
[quoted image]
Ding ding ding! We were on a roll. Next, Gift #5:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Hope you find this one illuminating." My daughter nailed this one, "It has to be light bulbs!" she said.
[quoted image]
Right she was -- four packs of Comet LEDs, always important to have on hand for whatever machine we shop out next! On to #6:
[quoted image]
Clue: "This one is made to hang around." Given the season, we reached a consensus that it must be an ornament....but what kind?
[quoted image]
The amazing 3D printed and decorated Twilight Zone pinball machine kind! This ornament is fantastic, excellent details, apparently an officially licensed product to boot. ***Stay tuned to the end of this post, to see what became of this ornament.*** Next up, #7:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Do you have a magnetic personality?" I guessed it had to be one of those magnetic retrieval tools -- we all need these and yet they're easy to misplace.
[quoted image]
I was partially correct -- a retrieval tool AND a magnetic bowl so I don't lose small parts and tools! Now, onto #8:
[quoted image]
The clue: "Hopefully this is self exPLANEatory." This one stumped us. Obviously it had something to do with a plane, but we didn't know what kind or why.
[quoted image]
It turned out to be a super cool keychain made from the skin of a retired 747! Again, this was more proof that my Santa had done his research -- I have posts here on Pinside where I've talked a little about my career; I work in the aerospace industry, including the Space Shuttle (9 years), Piper Aircraft (3 years), Space Launch System / Artemis rocket (3 years), and the Atlas V rocket (3 years). So this was a definitely win by Santa; I've never even seen these before.
Onto #9:
[quoted image]
This clue was somewhat more cryptic: "This might be fit for a King, or you could shuttle it off elsewhere." The "King" part really threw us -- particularly with the capital K, so we ventured a guess that it was something to do with the Space Shuttle, either in reference to my career or the pinball machine (which we own).
[quoted image]
An RBF keychain! Makes perfect sense for Space Shuttle, but we were still stumped on the King part. We did figure this out eventually after Gift #12 though, so I'll circle back to this shortly. Now for #10:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Don't forget and leaf these in the toolbox." Great clue -- but I was onto Santa this time ... a tool of some kind, and the likely-intentional misspelling of "leave" as "leaf"? Must be leaf switch adjusters!
[quoted image]
PERFECT timing on this one, Santa, because I'd recently misplaced my only one and really needed to replace it! Next, #11:
[quoted image]
Clue: "Now you've finally grasped it!" We weren't really sure -- my daughter guessed a clamp of some kind.
[quoted image]
We were wrong -- it was a handy bulb grasper! We haven't used one of these despite all the games we've shopped, so we're looking forward to trying these out!
And now ... finally ... the grand finale -- Gift #12:
[quoted image]
The clue: "We always remember our first, topper?" Another somewhat cryptic clue, but obviously a topper was coming into play here.
[quoted image]
It's a custom street sign, labeled as Sky Kings Drive! Now the rest of the clue was clear. Again, Santa did his research -- either through my posts, my collection info, or maybe he even watched my Rocket City Pinball seminar(s), he deduced that Sky Kings was the first game I got when I started my own collection back in 2015. Circling back to Gift #9, now we understood the King-with-a-capital-K reference -- because a Remove Before Flight tag would work just as well on Sky Kings (airplane/skydiving theme) as it would on Space Shuttle.
I still have Sky Kings -- it's over at my parents' house right now, actually, because I ran out of room and my dad loves it -- so I had to swing by to install it and get some nice photos. Thankfully, Santa included some mounting components as well.
[quoted image] [quoted image] [quoted image]
As you can see, the sign is of very high quality manufacture, with reflective properties and all!
So, I have to give a HUUUUUUGE thanks to my Secret Santa. You clearly embraced this activity and dug deep to give thoughtful gifts and to make it enjoyable. My family had a wonderful time trying to solve your clues and opening all the gifts together -- we opened three each -- so you absolutely nailed the spirit of the season and made this so memorable. We're truly thankful for your generosity and effort! I hope you've enjoyed my retelling of our fun evening and have been experiencing a bloom of satisfaction that comes with giving. THANK YOU SANTA, we absolutely appreciate all you've done for us, and I hope I've been able to adequately express it here with this post.
Oh and one more thing ... remember I mentioned something interesting became of the pinball ornament? I recently saw a picture where someone snuck a Yoda figure into their parents' nativity scene, commenting how they hadn't noticed yet. I found this amusingly inspiring ... so while I was at my parents' house installing the topper on Sky Kings, I snuck over to my mom's curio cabinet where she collects those Parade of Cows figures ... and I snuck the pinball machine in there among them. I'm playing the long game on this one -- I plan to wait this one out and see how long it takes for her to notice that it's in there, lol ... once she finally does, it'll find a permanent/recurring home on our annual Christmas tree!
[quoted image]