It's Turbo Time!

I'm sure you all have been good little boys and girls the whole year, so now it's finally time. I triple-dog-dare ya to join this year's Pinside Secret Santa! Let's get a little jump start again this year and now officially set our sights on Christmas with the 6TH ANNUAL PINSIDE SECRET SANTA PROGRAM! We've gone from 61 participants the first year to 175 last year in 2022. The world has improved a lot since being on the threshold of hell in 2020, but I think we can agree that people could still use some extra cheer this holiday season. So let's put a smile on that face come Christmas morning. Have fun with this, be a big kid again and get creative or go the extra mile to figure out what to get your person this year. I'll keep the Secret Santa sign up open until Saturday night, November 12th, which should still give us a little extra time this year to buy and ship gifts. So shout it, shout it, shout it out loud...we don't want anyone to miss out that wants in. After November 12th I really have to close it down so I can fire up the WOPR to match up participants, send out Secret Santa information and people can start buying their gifts. I am a big softy so I will probably still be able to get latecomers in, but please do your best to get yourself and everyone you know signed up before then. Once the sign up period has ended, I will create a new thread for all the participants and link to it in this thread as always.

**Because inflation has gone crazy with costs of goods and shipping, I was thinking about raising the minimum spend from $30 to $40 if participants wanted it. But because it hasn't been a problem in the past since so many people go above and beyond anyway and I would like to keep this as approachable for everyone as possible, so I will leave that up to individual Santas again this year with how much they want to spend with the usual minimum of $30.

If you are totally unfamiliar with what this SS Program entails, here is a quick synopsis:

Everyone who chooses to participate sends me the information requested below via private message and is put on the Secret Santa list. After registration is closed on Nov. 12th, I will randomly choose recipients for each Santa. Every Santa will receive the Pinsider name, list of ideas/information (if any were sent to me) and address of their recipient. They then do some investigation into their recipient's games and likes, they locate/purchase gift(s) and send to their recipient. Everyone who participates will send a gift(s) and receive a gift(s) to open whenever they choose this holiday season to hopefully help end this year on a good note.

If you want to check out the complete details and/or you just want to relive all the joy we had in previous years, here are the Secret Santa threads from the past...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2021-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2020-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2019-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2018-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2017-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread

*THIS PART IS VERY IMPORTANT:

If you want to participate here is what I need from you via private message...

-Your full name and mailing address

-Your email address

-Your t-shirt size

-Suggestions: I suggest providing a list of ideas to help your Santa out, but ultimately your Santa will decide what to get you. Not required, but if you update your collection on Pinside, include a list of your current games in the PM to me and/or mention that you also like arcade games and/or things like Disney or Funko Pops or 80's/90's nostalgia for instance, that could also help give your Santa ideas and direction. Please don't come into this with huge expectations, or have hard feelings if you get something that isn't on your list, just enjoy what's received. Remember, this is as fun of an experience as you make it!

I think that's everything. I'll update usernames as I can from PMs as they come in in this thread as well, so everyone knows I got their message and that they are included. Feel free to post in this thread that you are participating or share past stories and encourage others to do so as well if you want. The more the merrier!

Current 2022 Secret Santas:

1 2Kaulitz
2 67cutlass
3 6point5degrees
4 acitti
5 adava
6 Aflacjack
7 amkoepfer
8 Apinjunkie
9 ArcadeTechNerd
10 ArcadeUpKeep
11 Asylum
12 Atari_Daze
13 atrainn
14 Axaios
15 balt
16 bicyclenut
17 biglaw
18 Bmanpin
19 BoilerUp
20 bowtech
21 BroMan90
22 Ceckitti
23 Charliew65
24 Cheberha
25 ChrisPINk25
26 CoachBacca
27 Colsond3
28 Coz
29 Crispy
30 cws204
31 Daditude
32 Dan_Halen
33 Dantesmark
34 davidlldennis
35 dddanielll
36 Dee-Bow
37 Demonstyl
38 dirkdiggler
39 dnapac
40 DocFinlay
41 docquest
42 drbrain
43 drewbo81
44 Dr-Tommy
45 EasternBloc
46 ElJefeSherpa
47 EternitytoM83
48 FamDocKevin
49 fastdatasci
50 FatPanda
51 Fezmid
52 FLASHBALL
53 freeplay3
54 Fulltilt
55 gamer-ace
56 Gexchange
57 gliebig
58 Gogojohnnyquack
59 GoldenBeard
60 grantopia
61 Gundam_Pilot_
62 Hadojae
63 Happy81724
64 Hayfarmer
65 Haymaker
66 HighVoltage
67 hoby1
68 hogbog
69 homegameroom
70 icanswim70
71 illiterate
72 Insane
73 Ironphl
74 Isochronic_Frost
75 j_m_
76 JackG
77 Jaeg
78 Jawa
79 jazc4
80 Jenniebear
81 jesperpark
82 Jimmyhonda
83 Jkush18
84 JNYRein
85 joefox22
86 jonnyqtrek
87 JordyRamone
88 jp1985
89 JRBBRJ
90 Judgeworm
91 K9Marshal
92 Karl_Hungus
93 KidRichard
94 Kkoss24
95 kool1
96 KSUWildcatFan
97 LesManley
98 Liftserv
99 lowbeau67
100 luckycreature
101 MacJedi
102 madamyates
103 Madsientist33
104 Mando
105 marioparty34
106 matiou
107 Mattyk
108 MC35
109 Mcshaney
110 Merendino
111 mickey
112 midcoastsurf
113 Miguel351
114 mikespins
115 Mitoska
116 Mitoska (Son)
117 Mjonesproperty
118 Moelabby
119 Mopario
120 Mrsiyufy
121 Mtg381
122 Mudflaps
123 Mundy53
124 NeilMcRae
125 northerndude
126 northvibe
127 NovaCade
128 Nstone4425
129 Number41
130 Numskul
131 Octomodz
132 pacmanretro
133 Palmer
134 PappaDubz
135 Parzival
136 paulbaptise
137 paynemic
138 Pdxmonkey
139 Percula
140 Petie423
141 Phat_Jay
142 Pin_Fandango
143 Pin4myboy
144 Pinballlew
145 Pinballmonkey
146 PinBall-Newbie
147 PinBobF
148 PinPickle
149 Pintor
150 PlanetExpress
151 play_pinball
152 PoMC
153 Ponzie
154 Propsnsports
155 Puffdanny
156 Purplecheesemonk
157 radfordian3505
158 RC_like_the_cola
159 RCA1
160 redman822
161 Roberto_tron
162 RobertWinter
163 robnotto
164 rockwell
165 Saltimbanco
166 scootss
167 Secret Santa
168 ShooterMcD
169 ShrinerDave
170 sidetrackedbrew
171 SKWilson
172 SkyKing2301
173 slghokie
174 Sloshy
175 smalltownguy2
176 Soapman
177 somenerd
178 spida1a
179 Spunky1562
180 Staythirsty
181 SterlingRush
182 Steve_d71
183 stubborngamer
184 tbutler6
185 ThatGuyBo
186 the96stang
187 thedarkknight77
188 Thegeekyhusband
189 TigerLaw
190 Tlw7409
191 toasterman04
192 Tomass
193 TonyScoots
194 TonyVrd
195 TreyBo69
196 TroyS
197 Tusken
198 twinmice
199 undrdog
200 vabeachrunner4
201 wamonkey
202 waymon
203 wesh
204 WindRaidor
205 wireable
206 wolffcub
207 ypurchn
208 ZEN
209 zenbone

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Me too!

There are usually a few international Santas. I match up Canada to Canada and International to International to save on shipping the best that we can.

Last year was Americans = 160, Canucks = 11, Internationals = 4.

It gets tricky with shipping times and cost for international Santas, but I make it work if people want to do it.

It looks like I already have 32 PMs to go through. Good start, especially for a Friday night.

Looks like we are pushing 70 people already. I have to pay to renew my Heart+ membership and the link isn't working right now, so I can't PM everyone back at the moment. As soon as I can, I will. Check for the updated list by tomorrow too to make sure you are in. Thanks!

Awesome turnout so far.

Just 48 hours in we are already at 76 participants (43% of the total participation last year). Plus we already have 27 new participants that didn't participate last year.

If you wanted in and I don't have you on the list in the original post of this thread make sure to contact me via PM with your info. Thanks!

Up to...

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Up to...

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Up to 138 now and I haven't even sent out the reminder e-mail to everyone who participated last year.

Up to 145 total now and with 12 participants the Canucks have already outdone themselves compared to last year.

Knocking on 150's door with 149 now.

Up to 169 now. Only 7 more people to go to break last year's participants record.

New participants record. Up to...

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Good news on multiple fronts! We are now up to 190?!?! Knock, knock, knocking on 200's door. Yeah...yeah...yeah, yeah, yeah.

Up to 203!?!?!

The Canucks have really stepped up their game from last year. Up to 17 Canadians now already compared to 11 last year.

Still several hours to get in, so please send me your info if you haven't already and make sure to check the list of Santas in my original post for your username too!

Looks like we ended at 207 for now. Wow. I updated the list in the original post. If you wanted in and don't see your username on there, send me a PM ASAP. Soon I'll close this thread down and open the 2022 participants thread to keep things nice and tidy.

Sign ups for 2022 are now over. So what comes next you ask? I'm going to shut it down here and create a new thread for all participants to follow to keep things clean and simple. That thread is...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-2022-pinside-secret-santa-participants-thread-

If you are still late to the game or know someone else who is, you still have a chance to get it before everyone is matched up. Just shoot me a message...quickly. Other than that, moderators robin please shut down this thread since registration is now closed. Thanks again!

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