Godzilla (Pro)
Stern, 2021You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider SkyKing2301.
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omggggggg it's here it's here it's here!!! Sizable box arrived, I'm in for a treat -- the packing list attached to the outside (which I almost didnt open for fear of spoiling it) was actually a note from my Santa with clues and indications there several gifts inside!!!!
No way I can wait til Christmas ... but at a minimum I'll wait til the kids get home from school. Some of these clues are very tantalizing....
Full report to follow.
Quoted from docquest:Nice score! I've been thinking about adding putting some banners in the gameroom for the Stern games I have one of these days.
The banner was your key takeaway there? Unless I'm interpreting things wrong, it appears that Secret Santa gifted an BRAND NEW MACHINE. Absolutely incredible, this community is amazing.
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!
I knew I was in for a treat when I noticed Santa even used the reference number field to include "HO HO HO":
Then the packing list enclosure caught my eye -- because I could see through the paper that it looked it had lines of printed text:
Sure enough, I extricated the paper and found it was indeed a letter from Santa, containing clues about my TWELVE gifts!
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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:
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:
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:
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:
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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:
On to Gift #3, in fun Marvel superhero paper:
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.
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:
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!
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:
The clue: "Sock it to me!" Of course, this one had to be socks:
Ding ding ding! We were on a roll. Next, Gift #5:
Clue: "Hope you find this one illuminating." My daughter nailed this one, "It has to be light bulbs!" she said.
Right she was -- four packs of Comet LEDs, always important to have on hand for whatever machine we shop out next! On to #6:
Clue: "This one is made to hang around." Given the season, we reached a consensus that it must be an ornament....but what kind?
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:
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.
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I was partially correct -- a retrieval tool AND a magnetic bowl so I don't lose small parts and tools! Now, onto #8:
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.
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:
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).
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:
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!
PERFECT timing on this one, Santa, because I'd recently misplaced my only one and really needed to replace it! Next, #11:
Clue: "Now you've finally grasped it!" We weren't really sure -- my daughter guessed a clamp of some kind.
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:
The clue: "We always remember our first, topper?" Another somewhat cryptic clue, but obviously a topper was coming into play here.
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.
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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 from Dee-Bow:Cheers to Gryphon, welcome Rocket
Thanks for that! Gryphon's truly missed around here -- especially when I visit my 3D printers, because he'd always come hang out with me over there -- but Rocket has been filling that void in spectacular fashion, for the whole family.
Bwahaha love the mini-pinball placed in the nativity. My mom still hasn't found the one I put in among her cows, even though my daughter tried to blow its cover the other day. "Nana, let's look at your cows" ... be cool man!
Quoted from Apinjunkie:Just wanted to say thanks again to my SS for this awesome t-shirt. I love the graphic. But like this thread, it just keeps on giving. I just discovered last night for the first time... That it glows in the dark as well. Awesome!
[quoted image][quoted image]
Haha, I had the same thing happen after I visited there a few years ago on a work trip -- came home with a souvenir pin, only to discover a few weeks later that it glowed! lol
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O'fallon, IL