Both my SS are on there way now. Decided to go with two SS this year, one in Canada and one in the US. Had a fellow pinsider help me with the shipping and wrapping for the US shipment since I am in Canada. I think next year I might do 4 SS, that way at least I get some gifts for Xmas as the family sucks at buying me gifts. Hope they like them HOHOHO.

Well, I held off for a couple days, at least! I opened my box to find...wait for it...

A box!
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Obviously I couldn't stop there. Digging in, the first thing I found was a nice handwritten note that makes me think my Secret Santa did a bit of pro-level cyberstalking, along with visions of a forthcoming flying Deadpool to dance in my head. Our cats might hate you, Secret Santa, but I won't!
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Next up, a neatly wrapped pile of presents! The Disney-themed paper was a nice touch.
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Starting with the squishy one (always start with the squishy one, it's a rule), we have a sweet Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy t-shirt! Douglas Adams has been a big part of my life from a very young age, so this is perfect.
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Next up is a truly stunning, photo-filled, behind-the-scenes look at the sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell to Earth, along with George R. R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging. Tongue-in-cheek sci-fi? Yep, my Secret Santa's got me pegged.
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Last but not least (seriously, it's gigantic), is a gorgeous look at the artwork of concept artist extraordinaire, Syd Mead. I'll be staring at this for hours.
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Thanks a ton, Secret Santa!

Santa stopped by the JJP Factory yesterday! I'm the 'open on xmas' kinda guy, so hopefully my 360 eggs don't go bad by then

Will post pictures of what's inside after xmas!

Thanks SANTA!!!

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Yep, the shipping alone on what I sent was over the $30 threshold as well.

In the years we've all been doing this awesome thing (always, thank you John), I don't think any of us have discussed shipping costs to be factored in or not.

Of course it's all up to individuals, really.

Personally, as one who has spent that much in shipping too, I never really factored shipping in as part of the item money.

No matter what, everyone always is great in this thread!

Can't wait to keep seeing everyones items!

You say 360 "eggs".

But I'm betting each of those little egg tray sections holds a baby chinchilla rather well

Shipping costs are wild, just a tip, there are websites out there that can give you major breaks on shipping. I like a website called pirateship. They cut my shipping costs by more than half from the standard rate for my gifts. I use them quite frequently for my ebay items as well. At my work we send a ton of packages and have a substantially lowered negotiated rates, pirateship is very close to those rates even. Just a tip if anyone still needs to ship anything.

Very good tip!!

I only recently found out you can go into your PayPal and purchase a discount shipping label through there. But I can't ever find the link in PayPal; have to Google it for some reason.

I had recently seen that pirateship site too, and planned on trying them next; to see if they are even better.

With pirateship, is there a membership or anything? Or is it just create a free account online, sort of thing?

Thanks!

Seconded, I used Pirate Ship for my SS box too.

Yep it's free to sign up for an account and the rates are far better than paypal's discount

My gift arrived safely. Im going to open it with the kids this weekend. Thanks SS!
..And nice wrapping job!

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www.paypal.com/shipnow is the link. But they are converting over to another service in January, IIRC. Shipstation maybe? The UPS rate savings are quite significant as it is right now.

My SS hit it out of the park! Very generous gifts and I love them all! Thank you very much! And Semper Fi my brother! Special place in my heart for fellow veterans. Merry Christmas!

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Second gift showed up! Thanks Santa

Planning on opening these the 23rdish

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I received yet another package from my secret santa the other day. We opened it this morning. thank you so much we will be putting this together tonight. Your generosity has resulted in three different fun family moments these last few weeks. That’s really cool.

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It’s here! It’s here!!!!

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That’s a big box!!!

Lots of chinchilla could fit inside….with toys even

Those dots cheese curls are fkin legit! Better than cheetos imo!

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Oh man, this was GREAT! The SS did some digging

The kids helped me open the gift before they got kicked out to the in laws.

Opened the box and there was a foam tube anddddd the kids found the sticker immediately. My daughter has already claimed the stickers and used one. Before I could tell her to wait until she got back home :-p

I tipped the tube and some bad ass Pac-Man socks and a T-shirts slid out. I love wearing fun socks, specially on airplane rides, and I have one this next week! Pumped to wear them. The T-shirt hahahah, amazing timing. So the other week (tmi) my daughter wouldnt stop itching her butt and my wife told her this same thing. “He who sleeps with itchy bum will wake up with stinky thumb”. Hahahahahhahah. My wife laughed so hard. This shirt will be awesome to remind my daughter.

Then….I unrolled the foam… SS you amazing person!!!!!! They got me the MB alt translite from Brian Allen AND artwork with many wms games. Yessssss!!!!!! The artwork will be awesome in my gameroom and the translite is already in MB

Boooyaaaaa Santa!!!! Thank you thank you! Merry Christmas!!!!

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To my SS, thank you so much! It's under my tree and I will post when I open it Christmas morning!

Hey ... I haven't gotten a gift !

I got my package yesterday but we had a ton of snow so I didn't get a chance to post. I opened the box, unsure of what it was, and then realized it was my SS gift. If I had thought about it, I would've put it under the tree but gifts now are cool too.

I got my first ever PinGulp! I never really wanted one before because I rarely drink when playing, but my Santa must've sensed my panic when I had people over a couple of months ago and someone put a can on the glass of my AIQLE.... This will be a good thing to tell my guests to use to save my stress levels!

I love movies (have a nice home theater) and my daughter LOVES shark movies but has never seen Jaws so I'm looking forward to watching this with her over Christmas break!

I'm a huge Bills and Sabres fan, so the Sabres stickers are cool. I took the one of the logo and put it up over my workbench. Bonus because this one has horror movie characters on it so fits the movie theater well. My daughter claimed the rest of the stickers for her water bottles.

I was confused about the USB powered snowman, but he actually looks really cool. We have a USB plug on our counter outlet, so he's sitting next to our Amazon Echo.

And sadly we still need masks, and this pinball one is way better than the one I had so the old one will be retired!

Thanks, SS! My family just buys off my Amazon list which isn't very festive, so this gift exchange is a highlight of every Christmas for me. Thanks to Les as well for continuing to grow this great tradition!

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My secret Santa present hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ve got to share this wonderful present from my wife tonight.

"Santa demonstrates his pinball wizardry."

You actually pull the plunger back and release to turn it on and launch a little pinball. The pops blink and the sounds are great- chimes. NIB 1996

Look at Santa's face! And you can see from his stance that he is really getting into his game.

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That shirt!!!! Lmao!!! Love it

That's a nice one Mike, Babette is definitely a keeper! Merry Christmas

Opened my gift to find a really cool Mario Bros. shadow box!
Thanks SS!

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I received a secret Santa package the other day. I’m very excited to open it. I doubt I will hold out I have no self control

This Santa is getting a little nervous. Tracking shows delivery to my person’s porch last week but I haven’t seen anything come across about getting the box.

Please remember to post when your delivery arrives even if you aren’t planning on opening until Christmas.

Decided to open my SS package and wow, I really appreciate my Santa gifts! Thank you SS!

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I have that mini tmnt machine it's surprisingly close to the Data East machine and plays way better. Everyone that tries it is impressed.

Pm the op and they can shoot an email to your recipient to make sure they got it

Sent mine a couple of weeks ago, but still awaiting Santa to visit my house. No worries, still a couple of weeks away.

Got my secret Santa gift today. It was extremely well done and gifts from Santa, Rudolph, the Elves etc. our favorite was the Homemade Jam from Mrs Claus. The entire family was fighting to try it. It’s incredible!!

Thank You Secret Santa!!!

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I'm not sure which part of the gift exchange is more stressful. awaiting your gift, or knowing that your package was delivered and your recipient not posting anything?

on a complete [un]related topic, I wonder how many days chinchillas can go without food or water?

What's Saskatoon Jam taste like??? Never heard of it before, but found this: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/saskatoon-berry/
"The berries have a sweet, earthy flavor with a rich almond/marzipan undertone due to the flavor of the seeds. They are rich in iron and vitamin C with antioxidant properties comparable to blueberries."

Saskatoon berries are very similar to blueberries.. really good! I shipped out my gift and came home to see a big box on the porch! Only to realize it was a bunch of frisbee golf discs i ordered a while ago! Hahaha.. i was like, "how did he know i like all these discs!"

My gift arrived today, very nicely gift wrapped. I received a Llama T-shirt, book, flipper alignment tool and a replacement custom shuttle for my Space Shuttle. Thank you secret Santa

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Santa definitely did some research! Got back to town today and was blown away by what I received.

A pinmat and EBD beach towel, a miniature NGG machine that has taken its rightful place in the manger, a slick glass Williams shooter rod that will likely end up on Whirlwind this week, a ton of fliers for games I both own and plan to own some day, an ornament, and some cat themed swag. The reviews are in on the cat treats and it seems like a winner!

Oh, a pinball backglass puzzle too that I couldn't get a proper picture of because the kid dove right in!

Thanks Santa, absolutely awesome!

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Does the flipper alignment tool give you angle of playfield as well? Or just left/right level

Not sure I haven’t tried it yet.

I want that pinball cat shirt. It’s pawesome!

Wanted to ask the same thing. Aligning flippers alone is a pain in the ass, I want one of those!

If it can do angle too, thats the best pinball tool ive ever seen!

Who makes that shuttle repo, haven't seen that before? Vary cool.

This box had been sitting in my basement for 2 weeks .I thought it was just a regular barstool my wife ordered for our basement build .Today ,I was down low prepping trim to be painted when I seen a IM tag on the bottom .My first thought was, “no way did she get this for me”.My second thought was, “shit I went on another whisky driven spending spree “ .Then I seen the packing slip that revealed it was my Secret Santa ! I cannot thank you enough you jolly ,snuggly bundle of goodness it’s perfect !!

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Given the crazy and wonderful gifts so many of these generous Pinsiders have made this year, you should absolutely up the price to play poker in 2022. Also, you might consider running two price entry points, one at a lower buy in for those folks on a budget and then the premium line. No cap for gifts in either line (tis the season after all) but if you enter the premium line you are committed to a higher figure. Just a thought.

My thoughts on your thoughts for what they're worth. I appreciate where you're coming from and I agree given what people gift maybe the minimum should be bumped. However, the idea of a tiered system seems to take away from the true Spirit of giving which makes this such a special event each year. Personally I'd be happy with a pinball themed coffee mug if that's what my SS is comfortable sharing. That said ,would I be happier with a nib pin,of course. It just seems to me if you have a tiered system then you participate on the higher level in hopes of a bigger payout, then it becomes more about what you might receive rather than what you give. This is only my second year participating, but I upped my game from last year after seeing all the wonderful things and thought that people put into their gifts. Now that has come back to bite me in the ass as my Santee has received their gift but elected to wait until Christmas to open it. Now I have to patiently wait until Christmas to see their reaction,and their reaction is the reason I'm participating. Anyway, not dissing your opinion just sharing mine. Happy holidays to all the participants and the lurkers that seem to enjoy this thread quite a bit also. And once again hats off to John for making this happen.

Pro, Premium and LE Secret Santa thread?

Yeah not a fan of two tiers either. Mainly that's more work for Les.

I am OK with raising the floor - $30 seems way too low. Maybe $50 or $60. Then again, it's not like (m)any do the minimum anyway so maybe it's all a moot point.