Welcome everyone to the official Secret Santa thread for 2023!

We are Secret Santa! Since the last six years went off basically as smooth as a symbiote's bottom, I'll keep things nice and consistent for anyone who has participated before and not 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. It's amazing how much people have embraced this, so let's have some more fun and end 2023 on a high note!

Here's how things are going to go. Tonight 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. I will post in this thread when I am done sending out Santa's, so if after that post you don't have your information, please contact me ASAP. You then will have about a month to purchase gifts and ship them out to your SS. The cut off date will be Saturday, Dec. 16th 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 though. The post office will probably be backlogged again this year, so don't wait till the last minute unless you absolutely have to! You can wrap the gifts individually if you want and send them in one big box 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 and they 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 you off the list. When your SS package arrives, please post in this thread too so the sender knows you got it safe and sound, even if you don't intend to open for a while. People can be worried about porch pirates, so even if the tracking says delivered, your SS wants to make sure you got it and not someone else. 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. If there is one thing we struggle with year after year, it's this. People can put a lot of time and effort into buying gifts and can be very proud of what they buy for you with their hard earned money, so please take a moment to post pictures after opening and say a quick thank you! You don't have to gush over everything and write a super long story, but please take a minute to acknowledge what you received.

Before the fun officially commences, we need to cover some basic ground rules...

*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, please 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...just 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. This will be especially important this year with the shortfalls USPS is likely to have.

*Finally, most importantly, 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 with 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. We haven't had to go there in 5 years, so please let's not have to go there now.

I think that about covers it. Any other questions, feel free to post in this thread or PM me and I would be happy to help. Let's raise those Marty Moose mugs, give 2023 a hot iron to the face and get ready for a better 2024 with the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny #%&$@ Kaye! Let Christmas begin!

2023 Pinside Secret Santas:
1 2Kaulitz
2 67cutlass
3 6point5degrees
4 Ace8Track
5 acitti
6 adava
7 Aflacjack
8 amkoepfer
9 Apinjunkie
10 Arcade
11 Arcadecrazy
12 ArcadeRaid
13 ArcadeTechNerd
14 ArcadeUpKeep
15 Arsenal129
16 ASAC_Schrader
17 Asylum
18 Atari_Daze
19 atrainn
20 aztarac
21 balt
22 B-Born05
23 BertoDRINK1
24 bicyclenut
25 Bmanpin
26 BobTheDegen
27 bowtech
28 BroMan90
29 Brombomb
30 Bumper
31 Capn12
32 Ceckitti
33 Charles_Kline
34 Cheberha
35 CitizenDrain
36 CoachBacca
37 Colsond3
38 Coz
39 CraftBrewSally
40 Crispy
41 CurtisC
42 cws204
43 Daditude
44 Dantesmark
45 Dee-Bow
46 Demonstyl
47 Dexter
48 dnapac
49 docquest
50 drbrain
51 drewbo81
52 Dr-Tommy
53 DukeNuke
54 Dwboca
55 EasternBloc
56 ElJefeSherpa
57 EricInAlaska
58 eyeamred2u
59 FamDocKevin
60 fastdatasci
61 FatPanda
62 Fezmid
63 FLASHBALL
64 FlawlessJS
65 FlipperFreak
66 foobeer
67 freeplay3
68 friscopinball
69 gamer-ace
70 Georgiapinball
71 gerwout
72 Gexchange
73 gliebig
74 Gogojohnnyquack
75 grantopia
76 Grindle3
77 Gritty
78 Habermania
79 Hadojae
80 hanford29
81 HawaiiPinball
82 hawkmoon
83 Hayfarmer
84 Haymaker
85 Hershy
86 HighProtein
87 HighVoltage
88 hiker2099
89 hoby1
90 hogbog
91 homegameroom
92 icanswim70
93 Insane
94 Ironphl
95 Isochronic_Frost
96 j_m_
97 JackG
98 jackl
99 Jaeg
100 Jawa
101 jazc4
102 Jets_1479
103 Jimmyhonda
104 Jkush18
105 jlester1024
106 joefox22
107 JordyRamone
108 jp1985
109 JRBBRJ
110 jrcmlc
111 JustJared
112 K9Marshal
113 KidRichard
114 Kkoss24
115 KSUWildcatFan
116 Ktmat32
117 kyinwa
118 lazySUNBATHER
119 lepstein
120 LesManley
121 Liftserv
122 lowbeau67
123 luckycreature
124 Lucxor
125 maastersplinter
126 madamyates
127 Madsientist33
128 Mando
129 marioparty34
130 matiou
131 matlynch91
132 Mattyk
133 MC35
134 Mcshaney
135 Mfox
136 mickey
137 midcoastsurf
138 Miguel351
139 mikespins
140 Mitoska
141 Mitoska (Son)
142 mjg417
143 Mjonesproperty
144 mrossman5
145 mrSATURN2012
146 Mrsiyufy
147 Mtg381
148 Mudflaps
149 Multiplier
150 Mundy53
151 NatalieB
152 NeilMcRae
153 nerdkiller
154 Nicholastree
155 nickrivers
156 northerndude
157 northvibe
158 NovaCade
159 Number41
160 Numskul
161 Octomodz
162 P1nhead
163 pacmanretro
164 PappaDubz
165 Parzival
166 paulbaptise
167 paynemic
168 per3per3
169 Percula
170 perry1670
171 Petie423
172 pinball_ric
173 pinballjah
174 Pinballlew
175 PinBall-Newbie
176 PinBobF
177 PinPickle
178 Pintor
179 PismoArcade
180 PlanetExpress
181 play_pinball
182 PoMC
183 Ponzie
184 Pot8er
185 Propsnsports
186 pseudonimh
187 Puffdanny
188 Pyromedic
189 radfordian3505
190 RandomTask
191 RC_like_the_cola
192 RCA1
193 ReadyPO
194 redman822
195 Roberto_tron
196 RobertWinter
197 robnotto
198 RoyalJack
199 Sammer
200 SandorGoodheart
201 scootss
202 Secret Santa
203 SgtPin18
204 ShooterMcD
205 Sideways
206 SKWilson
207 SkyKing2301
208 slghokie
209 Sloshy
210 smalltownguy2
211 Soapman
212 SpacelySpliffs
213 spida1a
214 Spunky1562
215 SpyroFTW
216 SterlingRush
217 STLOkie
218 Strummy
219 stubborngamer
220 Swoods5866
221 tbutler6
222 ThatGuyBo
223 the96stang
224 TigerLaw
225 Tomass
226 TonyScoots
227 TonyVrd
228 TreyInJax
229 treyspaghetti
230 TrixTrix
231 TroyS
232 Tusken
233 ULEKstore
234 undrdog
235 UVAJED
236 waltgman
237 wamonkey
238 waymon
239 WindRaidor
240 wireable
241 Wylte
242 Y3AG3R
243 ypurchn
244 ZEN
245 zenbone
246 zlorya

ejxmas (resized).JPG

Still squeezing people in. Up to 243 now.