RF Generation Message Board

UPDATE 11/20
All matches have been sent out.

UPDATE 11/10
We're going to keep the signup open for about another week.  If you haven't sent your letter in, try to get it sent by this Friday the 15th.

It's Secret Santa time again!  Here is how the RF Generation Secret Santa 2013 works:

Step 1 Reply to this thread with something like "I'm in" and I will add your name to the list

Step 2 Send an email to rfgensanta@gmail.com The subject line should look exactly like this:.

User Name-Your Country-Country or Countries you are willing to ship to

EXAMPLE

Wildbil52-USA-USA, Canada

Copy and paste this text for the body of your email and fill in the blanks

Dear Santa
I’ve been a VERY ___________ boy/girl (choose one) this year, so I feel like I have earned all of the __________ that I will probably get for Christmas from all my family and friends.

But I also want video games.

If I could get just one box of video games and/or video game related items with a total combined value of at least $20 before shipping costs, I would hope that the box would have___________ in it.

And I would prefer that it didn’t have any __________ in it.

Since I am a responsible collector, my entire collection has been meticulously entered on rfgeneration.com so that you can see what I already have.  You can also check my wishlist to see what I really want more than anything in the whole wide __________.

Please remember to send out my domestic package by December 10th or my international package by December 1st so that I don’t receive my package late and have to resort to _________________ on Christmas morning.

Thank you, Santa!

Sincerely
(RFGen User Name)
(Real Name and Shipping address here)

A note on writing your letter

As far as your wishlist goes, Be as specific as you want or as general as you want just remember that the more options you give your Santa, the easier you will be to shop for.  Say things like:

I would like any NES carts not already in my collection

or

I would love to get some spare controllers for NES, SNES, Genesis, or Saturn.

or

I would really like to get any of the following SNES games: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, etc.

Add as much room as you need, you don't have to say what you would like to get in just a few words.


Step 3
Once it arrives, or on Christmas morning, post pics of your Secret Santa package here (and in Small Scores if you like)

The MINIMUM value of the items you must send to your Secret Santa is $20. You may give more if you choose, but $20 is the minimum.  There have been issues in years past with people feeling a little short changed so if you are unsure about what you are sending, give a little more, after all, it’s Christmas!

Due to the scams of years past, The RFGen Secret Santa 2013 is available to established RFGen members only If you are a newer member and would like to participate, send me a pm first and we will make decisions on a case by case basis.  Having an established member vouch for you will go a long way in the decision to approve your participation.



Participating Members

a bold member name signifies that Santa has received and reviewed your letter and no further action is necessary.  Please allow a few days from when you send your letter for your name to turn bold.

*=Package received!

A8scooter*
bickman2k*
Crabmaster2000
Deadman
den68*
Diedraneous*
Fleach
GamerNick*
InvadErGII*
RetroRage*
russlyman*
Shadow Kisuragi*
singlebanana*
slackur
Socialiste*
Techie413*
techwizard*
thegreatska
TheSaintofPain*
Wempster*
wildbil52*

You know I'm in.

EDIT:
I'll personally volunteer to match up with someone international - actually prefer it.  :laugh:
My wife's in as well (Diedraneous). She's been asking when we'll start it up for the past couple weeks.

You got it!  I wanted to wait until at least Nov 1st so we didn't steal any of Halloween's thunder.  Last year's didn't start until Nov 12 so we are ahead of the curve this year.

Sign me up! Im ok for international as well. Now I have to get my collection updated again.

I'm in!

%$^#$%@#$
Crabby, you reminded me I have to re-add 2,000 games in the next 2-3 weeks into my collection.

I've been wondering when this would start up again. I'll join the fun.

I'm in the same boat. My collection on here currently consists of about 250 NES games and nothing else. Its going to be tough to find time, but I'm going try and get it updated to make things easier on my SS partner.

I'm in.

i'm in!

I think i'll try this out this year!  ;)

Let's do this. In.

Just to clear things up: what does the line "And I would prefer that it didn’t have any __________ in it." refer to?

Is that just anything a person doesn't want?

In of course.  Intl is fine.  I look forward to this every time. :D

Yup

I just put "Funyuns" there....

thats the spot you enter 32x

:)

Yeah, I'm in for my first Secret Santa here.  I figure if Zagnorch thinks you're "important" enough around here to screw with your avatar, then you're definitely established.  ;)

Had fun last year.   Throw my name into the hat!

Definitely in once again.  International is no problem.

Oh. Well that makes sense.

I'm in! This was a blast last year.

I'm in!

As far as your wishlist goes, Be as specific as you want or as general as you want.  Say things like:

I would like any NES carts not already in my collection

or

I would love to get some spare controllers for NES, SNES, Genesis, or Saturn.

or

I would really like to get any of the following NES games: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, etc.

Just to clarify...the more specific you are, the less likely it may be that you get something you want (and less items that you may end up with). Giving Santa more choices often results in higher quality gifts. ^.^

when i do it i usually put 2 or 3 very specifiic things in and then something really general too, that way both sides of it are covered

I signed up, first time I try that, I have good things to give :-p

It's nice to see some new faces in the thread here. ;D
If you see some names here you don't recognize, it's because they're typically active on the database side and not the forum.

I'm IN!   So, so, so VERY in!    I could not be more IN unless I were physically placed TRON-style within the bits and bytes of this thread....

Deadman's in! WOO!
I was prepping a PM to let you know too.

In.

Ill give it a go this year, ive gotten tons of OT so i can afford to be in it.  Im in

sign me up I'm In.  had a blast last year. Can't wait to work on some cool custom stuff too heheheheh

That's awesome! Whoever gets some of those custom goodies will be very lucky.

We're going to keep the signup open for about another week.  If you haven't sent your letter in, try to get it sent by this Friday the 15th.

So we should get our matches in about two weeks?

If all goes well, matches should be sent out in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks for doing this again Bil.

No problem;)

bump bump come on people. Last year was a blast so lets get some more people signing up!!!!

Thanks Shadow!    Always glad to be back and I'm excited to have a reason to get out there and find some cool stuff for someone else!  :)

Finally sent my letter in. Cutting it close!

I still need to send out my letter...

Me too...

me three...i'll have it done sometime today though.

I DID IT!   I finally did it!   I got my list to Santa!   WOOHOO!

I did forget to mention that I will ship anywhere though. 

Can't wait!

I wanted to join in but i can't go buy anything this year (been out of work and off unemployment almost all year) and would only be able to mail out stuff i already own.

Since i couldn't be sure i would hit the 20$ mark for someone since my collections diversity is very lacking i decided to sit this year out. I would feel bad if i sent out stuff someone didn't really want and got stuff i was really interested in.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone gets this year. Maybe next year i can join in the festivities again :) Or maybe create a new event before then :D

whoops i totally spaced out on sending the letter in time, i've got friends coming over but hopefully i should be able to remember to get it done tonight after work.

Can't wait to see what everyone gets this year.

letter sent! nothing like leaving it to the last minute.

just a note - the reminder PM you sent me bil had an extra L in the gmail address to send the letter to (rfgensanta@gmaill.com instead of rfgensanta@gmail.com), not sure if that was copy/pasted to everyone or if that was just in the one i received. looks like the one in the forum post here is right though, just letting you know because i copy pasted the address to the "to" box, and didn't notice it was wrong until i got the delivery failed return message :P

Yeah, noticed that too. I need to still send out my letter, but I'm on a rampage of getting things done this morning. I'll eventually run out of time since I have to work at some point. :P

FWIW, if anyone signs up late, or there is an odd number, I will personally volunteer to match up with them. I've shipped to Canada and Europe in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to send priority if needed...

oops

Yep, noticed the extra L as well, just got rid of it.   

Sent my letter yesterday.

All letters received and approved.  Watch your email inbox from RFGen Santa for you match.

Yay! I'm looking forward to shopping for my match.

Got my match. Looking forward to it again this year!

Well now...pleasant surprise on the matches my wife and I got. This will be an EASY year for Secret Santa gifts for us.

Oh, this is going to be fun.

Got my dude today.

Hint, It's not you.

I knew it wasn't me.
So who is it?

Got mine the other day. Should be a fun one!

I... may have already received mine...

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

payday and black friday sales! printed off the wishlist for my recipient, should be able to pick up some stuff today :)

Been sick... I've had the packages ready, but haven't gotten them sent out yet. :'(

Had some sales at the game store over the weekend. Picked up a few games. Going to wait to ship to find some extra stuff.

Waiting for one more item to come in the mail (should be here by Friday) then all I have to do is wrap up my gift and take it to the post office... I mean Santa's workshop. ;)

found some stuff that was on the wish list for my person, will send it out asap.

Been having a lot of fun getting my partners gift together. I'm really excited to see what they think when it arrives :D

well, i just realised that i forgot to wrap my SS gifts before putting them in the shipping box.

...forgot about that myself.

Thanks for reminding me, guys. I still have a little time to do mine, so I'll be sure to wrap them. :)

Package wrapped boxed and ready to go! One of the games I was really surprised I was able to find.

Package wrapped boxed and ready to go! One of the games I was really surprised I was able to find.

Just got my package in the mail. Hooray.

Just got my package in the mail. Hooray.

Package sent! Sorry but when it arrives it won't be a surprise. Since it was an international shipment I was required to put my name and the contents of the box on the package. They didn't believe when I said I actually was Santa.

Package sent out last Friday. :)  Remembered to wrap mine this year.

Sent mine out today. I'm pretty happy with what I found.

Package arrived yesterday. Now to see how long I can hold out before opening!

I mailed my match's gift yesterday. I normally wrap Christmas paper around the box then regular brown paper on top, but I didn't have enough Christmas wrap. Hope my match doesn't mind putting a bland box under the tree.

Mine's going out by the end of the week.

Sent mine out yesterday. Cant wait to see if my partner enjoys it. Tried to make it a fun package to open :)

For those that sent from Canada -> US, did you send priority? Wondering how close my window is since I'm sending to Canada tomorrow.

According to Canada Post the deadline for regular expedited shipping is today. Express is December 17th, and Priority is the 20th.

That's from Canada to US. Might be similar the other way too, but I'm not sure.

As for me, I made the expedited cut-off so that's the option I went with. My gift will still arrive on time.

Expedited  takes 6 business days according to the nice lady yesterday.

Expedited != Express...
Just as an FYI, we did Priority last year and it took ~4 days to get to BC, which surprised the hell out of me. If it gets too late, I'll send Priority. Being sick sucked up quite a bit of my extra funds to bills, and I haven't had time to get to the post office nearby since it's only open during normal business hours. Thanks guys.

Also, spoiler alert - Den, your Secret Santa isn't from my household this year, for the first time since we started Secret Santa. ;)

Guess I'll find out once I open it.

I thought expedited was the slowest at rough a week to two weeks. Then express and priority. Priority will always be less than a week. Shadow is right.

Shipped my package out today priority to my Santa recepient.

i had gone by the international recommended cutoff date for mailing set by wildbil52, dec 1. went with the cheapest option, which last year i did too and they had told me 1-3 weeks even around christmas. can't remember the name of the cheapest one though.

I finally sent mine out on Tuesday after being iced in for the end of last week and weekend.     I hope my recipient enjoys their stuff, as I really struggled this year finding things on the list.    I guess we will see!  :)

Well i think I got my package from a secret santa.. ( its a box from someone I didnt expect one from so i assume its from here). Also I never got my name and list to shop for. I just emailed to see who it is so whomever is still waiting as soon as i get an answer back from the match makers Ill get my hind end in high gear shop for soemthing great then get it off priority so you have it by christmas. Cant wait to get shopping for it. :)

I should have specified in the rules to mark the package with RFG Secret Santa on the outside.  Oh well, we'll get it right next year. 

Feel Free to post here when you know you have received your SS package and I will mark people off on the first page.

My wife and I received ours. Sending ours out tomorrow morning.

Sent out mine today priority. Hope they enjoy!

Mine went out today as well!

Sent my package out awhile ago.  The person I sent it to may have already made a comment about receiving it.  Or not.

Yeah next year will get it right. First timers always mess it up ;-)

The two of ours were sent today.

Important note for next year for shipments to Canada:
First Class and Priority take the same length of time to ship to Canada, according to the post office employee I talked with. The only difference between First Class and Priority is that First Class is required to be less than 4 lbs in weight, but the difference in cost was close to 200%.

I think I got my Secret Santa gift a little while ago. It's from another RF Gent but I don't know if this person was my match. Anyway, it's happily sitting under the Christmas tree.

My gift was sent on Saturday, and I received mine earlier last week.  Can't wait to open it!!

My gift showed up yesterday, all the way from a mysterious foreign land. Exciting!

Hopefully my Secret Santa Gift will be here this week.

Think I updated the original post with people that have received their packages. Let me know if you've received yours and we'll add it to the list so that we know who's still waiting.

I received my package and will ship out a fellow members tomorrow, Priority so it will get there in time.  Last minute, but the recipient will appreciate the compilation.

Got my package today!! I can't wait to open it!! It's all snug under the tree...saving it for last :)

My matches package was mailed out and should be there no later than Monday or Tuesday just in time for Christmas.

My package I chose to open early before Christmas since I will be working 911 in Newark and East Orange NJ this year. So as people he said post pics of what you got this season I elected to do a video of the package on Youtube and share the joy with all my subscribers.  I must say my package this year is sparking me now on a new avenue of Atari 8 bit collecting and gaming crossing over to the 5.25 diskette games. Ive been weary of it for a while but now I am gonna play em and also do a PC back up of ATR files that could be placed on a memory card and that into a cart like Atarimax. Should be a good experience. Thanks to my Santa for bringing this new life to my ever growing and loving base of A8'ing.  To all a happy and safe holiday. I dont want to be called out to anyones house this Christmas cause you had too much eggnog and thought you could be a super Elf and injure youselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJYP46X6qPM

Got my package yesterday.   Can't wait to bust it open

Package received. :)

Package received too, just forgot to tell :-p

Been extremely busy these past couple of weeks, so I never did come in and say that I had sent my package out a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time ago, and I really hope that my match enjoys what I got them.  And I just picked up my own package earlier today, so thanks to my Secret Santa for that.  And I am waiting to open my stuff until Christmas Day, so I and the rest of RF Gen will find out what I got then. ;)

I got mine almost a month ago now. It's been taunting me...

Mine also was sent out a while back.

Okay, so I went ahead and opened mine early so I could get pictures and a post up before tomorrow since we'd be incredibly busy.

To begin, I got a letter from Santa! He informed me that his elves were unable to make any SNES games, but that his helper Socialiste told him that I have a lot of PC games in my collection.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AOJnSOVQtbM/UrmgFN2_s2I/AAAAAAAAdAE/7o2ePRE2XMI/w523-h697-no/IMG_20131224_085357.jpg)

I have actually begun playing more PC games as of late since I got a new laptop. Included in my package from Santa was a copy of The Journeyman Project Trilogy!

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3-dVqXwBK1A/UrmgJthyTnI/AAAAAAAAdAQ/ewf6vjWc-XE/w523-h697-no/IMG_20131224_085412.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZinTMLJUpcU/UrmgOEGzA8I/AAAAAAAAdAc/9sEMb7Vy_ws/w929-h697-no/IMG_20131224_085436.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gmaDhej-0tI/UrmgTMa5gZI/AAAAAAAAdA0/w12Dr9nDe7U/w929-h697-no/IMG_20131224_085449.jpg)

This is a very cool set of games! Thank you very much Santa and Socialiste!

Hopefully my recipient gets his package today.  I scheduled two different pick-ups from the USPS site, and the mailman didn't grab any of the 4 packages I had out for either but he delivered my mail.  I was able to catch him on Saturday afternoon.  New guy that says he wasn't trained on everything and wasn't aware that the mail was outgoing.  It's always confusing for me, trying to remember if the sender address is in the middle or the upper left of the label...  He was apologetic and grabbed the packages, but now the USPS site still shows the package sitting in the local post office.  They are truly pathetic. 

Journeyman Project - awesome. Worth noting that Socialiste already uploaded scans for it into the DB, so I'm not going to bug you for them. ;D

outgoing is always in the middle :P return address in the top left. hopefully they didn't mix it up too badly

I opened my package a little bit before christmas since the paper was already a little bit ripped from rough transport. The good news is that only the paper was ripped, the gifts are fine.

I asked for Kool-aid Man for Intellivision, I got it, complete. with a custom made T-shirt!

4 NES Games: Dirty Harry, Jaws, Days of Thunder and Bubble Bobble

Blaster Master - The novel

2 sets of candy: 1 shaped as Blinky from Pac-Man (sour cherry) and 1 shaped as a Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet (well, yellow, can't tell the taste)

and finally, to brush my teeths after the candy: 1 Angry Bird toothbrush with pouch and protector.


Thanks a lot, Den68, I really appreciate the gifts and the effort you put into finding and wrapping them.

Love the Kool-aid Man shirt.

my package came in today! bigger than i was expecting, and i think i can guess who it was from ;). i couldn't wait so i opened it early, will post pics later

Actually, I bet you can't guess... ;D

I didnt get mine in time for x-mas. I'll keep you posted over the next week Bil. Awesome gift Den!! Blaster Master the novel looks awesome

I know there are still 2 packages to arrive out there that are accounted for, and I believe 5 people yet to confirm they've gotten a package. Yours is accounted for, Crabby. We're keeping track in the Staff thread (somewhat cryptically since you're the only staff member yet to get a package).

My wife and I opened our gifts tonight since she'll be working 'round the clock to get her class work complete before Friday, so we picked a time when we had time to enjoy what we were unwrapping.

I'll keep our gifts and Santas "secret" until late tomorrow, and I have pictures of what Santa sent us. I do know one thing for my Santa:
I know who you are, and now where you live (again). I owe you a designer box and gifts from the last time. I actually kept the box you sent me last time THROUGH my house move and up until recently, had it put up against the wall waiting to be sent back this year. Unfortunately, we were cleaning the garage out from all of the boxes we had from the move, and my roommate tossed the box in with the recycling after I went to sleep for the night. Expect a return gift sometime during the year. ^.^

EDIT: I swear you're a stalker. You knew exactly what I was missing from my collection, what I collect, and what I'm interested in with a very small amount of information from my collection. Congratulations sir.

Just a few more hours!

This may or may not be from my Secret Santa but thank you very much for this great little bundle of games, Bil. I'm going to enjoy playing these.

[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2751_zpsbc14c2f1.jpg[/img]

Merry Christmas Everyone!! Opened my Secret Santa Package with much anticipation and I got a wonderful surprise!!

The two SNES boxes are War 2410 and Uncharted Waters :)

[img width=700 height=526]http://i.imgur.com/3BkMbZh.jpg[/img]

Thanks Slackur!!

I opened mine. I got 4 PS3 games. Mass Effect 2, Infamous 2, Fallout New Vegas and Dragon Age Origins. I just got a PS3 on Black Friday so looking forward to firing it up.

I must confess I don't know who my gift came from. I have first initial, last name and location but no RFG name.

Whoever you are... THANKS!!

;)

Here's a link to me opening mine.

http://youtu.be/(null)

[img width=478 height=640]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/26/aba4e6yr.jpg[/img]

As hinted to earlier, posting up our packages now...

Fleach contacted me about Gerri's list, since we didn't have everything documented. She doesn't post much on here at all, but she does follow along and knows just about everyone's names. ;D

Here's what Fleach rounded up for her. She LOVES the Sonic package, and the Skylanders are two that we do not own (somehow). I think that brings us down to only needing 1 (2 if you count our non-functioning Swarm) Giant Skylander. Great job Fleach - also, I now understand why your handle is Fleach. ;D

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a5NVx7iSQPg/Urti08tVIpI/AAAAAAAABM8/h0lZ1LyKjwo/w800-h600-no/WP_20131224_003.jpg)

---

Here's the box I got from Deadman a couple years ago, that made the move with me and just recently got tossed out before I could send him a return gift from the last time:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1iQ6RH8Mn3E/TvEl_tZbv_I/AAAAAAAAAMg/qBv-hph6Ai0/w800-h600-no/WP_000239.jpg)

I mentioned whomever got Deadman would have a packed box. He did not disappoint:
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z_7cXqzMEHo/Urtiso3_4eI/AAAAAAAABMg/MFJ8-0nrybY/w800-h600-no/bc5f85e6-b8b0-45d4-8484-c669273052f5)

Contents of the box:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tgbiqxfJ5nA/UrtizqAApAI/AAAAAAAABMw/tcWeF4HVXuQ/w800-h600-no/WP_20131224_006.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PqHWKqjHndU/UrtizvPwqxI/AAAAAAAABMs/aMUHC2mTDpg/w800-h600-no/WP_20131224_005.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-I2QLlWlDPIk/Urti0_RW3aI/AAAAAAAABNA/1vmZG5zgvn8/w800-h600-no/WP_20131224_004.jpg)

Taz in Escape from Mars [Mega Hits Series] is something I own, but somehow you managed to send me a variant of it that I didn't own (love Majesco variants). Space Battle, SOMEHOW, I don't own for INTV. I started wearing the Beast Mode shirt you sent me a couple years ago - it's extremely comfortable, but I was having concerns that if I wore it too much that it would fall apart. Now I can wear it all I want without worrying about it! You seriously picked systems I have decent collections for and somehow filled in holes that I didn't have documented. Always love the extras you toss in too - the A-Z book looked like a great read. Fantastic job as always, Deadman.

[img width=700 height=393]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/11560232776_fc693b284f_c.jpg[/img]

These are courtesy of my own Secret Santa, Bickman2K.  I was especially surprised by the sealed Fighters Megamix, as, I mean, who in their right mind wants a Game.com game in any shape? :P  In all seriousness, this was a really cool little package to open up on Christmas morning.  I sincerely appreciate the gifts, and hope you and yours had a great Christmas.

Just wanted to mention I'm already through 40 pages of the A-Z Computer Games book (read it while at the in-laws waiting for dinner to be ready). The writer has a good sense of humor, and it's an interesting take so far on the history of the ZX Spectrum.

Well, I don't really know what to say about my Secret Santa this year. I was fortunate enough to be drawn by the oh so generous Crabmaster this year and the guy didn't disappoint. Over the years, I have met many great people through this site; sure, the overwhelmingly majority of us have never met in person, but I think several of us have become great friends and gaming colleagues nonetheless. Since I joined RFGen, I've been overwhelmed by the trust, generosity, and overall kindness of this community. Rarely do you find a place on the internet where people don't compete for collections and scores, but have a genuine desire to see the joy in others when they fulfill a dream(s) in finding a certain title/system or complete a specific collection that they are going for. Sure, there are disagreements from time-to-time about some members' preferences, but I've yet to see any disagreement get out-of-hand or become nasty; everyone seems to have a certain respect not only for each other, but the site as a whole. That IS RFGeneration and that's exactly how I describe it when talking to others. Sorry for the gooey introduction, but during the holiday season, I often like to reflect on the things that I am thankful for in life and a big part of that includes this site and the wonderful people I have met here. Someday I hope to meet some of you in person and thank you face-to-face for your kindness and generosity.
As I mentioned before, Crabby's gift to me this Christmas, was extremely generous and I am overwhelmed by the kindness. In slimming down my collection earlier this year, I had sent him two huge boxes of games and systems to help in the opening of his store and over the years, he's been the recipient of a good number of NES titles for his collection from me. Crabby always looks out for titles I need and has really helped me whittle down my remaining licensed NES set. He has always been fair to me and I can say that I have always done my best to return the favor. All I can say is, "Thanks buddy!," not only for the games, but also for the friendship over the years. Hope that you and your family had a Merry Christmas!
In the famous words of Buzz from "Home Alone 2," "Alright, enough with this mushy s@#t," let's see the scores:

A nice CIB lot of INT games. Now I need a little over 50 titles for a complete set. Hell, might as well go for it now. :)
[img width=700 height=522]http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y359/necrom99/2CBDECFE-2D09-4E27-8AF4-CC4A9901A909_zpsi0bru02f.jpg[/img]

Some sweet titles in here including Cyborg Hunters (SMS) and Soldiers of Fortune (SNES), which Crabby was already holding for me. Also, Aero Busters and Ninja Spirit for the TG16, Dukes of Hazard (Coleco), Sin & Punishment (Wii), and the belle of the ball, a boxed copy of Romance of the 3 Kingdoms 2 (NES). Down to 11 licensed titles for a complete set. WOOO-HOOOO!!!
[img width=700 height=522]http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y359/necrom99/35B0570C-4835-4EB2-9FD6-5D68CFCD8654_zpsh9fbtc3j.jpg[/img]

Not only did I get some really great games, but I can't fail to mention that I also got to participate in a "treasure hunt" while opening my gift. Crabby left several clues directing me toward my end goal, which was this. What I didn't know, and would have, if I had followed the instructions and played Rot3K2 first, is that the sneaky bastard had swapped out the board in Rot3K2 with the one in Silent Service. Had I not already had a security bit, I would probably wanted to strangle him :P. This gift was a lot of fun and gave me quite a good chuckle while I quickly sorted through it in my room with a household of non-gaming and intoxicated family members downstairs:

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aha! methinks a hint. THANKS!!

You're welcome! I had a tough time with it, since I don't own any of the more modern systems. However, some of the guys on the site and some of my friends at my local game store helped me by coming up with some good suggestions. Hope you enjoy them.

You are Welcome Shadow!   I remember having you as a SS before, but couldn't remember if I had put a shirt in that one or not, so I hope you don't mind the double.    I did have a tough time this year because it's been SOOOOOO slow in finding items locally so I didn't have a huge stash of items to choose from.     I tried to adhere to your collection mantra, only sending complete in box items which also cuts it down a little more.     I hoped you didn't have the cardboard box versions of those Genesis games and glad it worked out.    

Hope everyone had a Merry Xmas - the packages look fantastic!    

Merry Christmas Rich :)
I was really psyched to get your name as it was a perfect opportunity to payback a small portion of the years of generousity you've sent my way. You've been one of the biggest helps (and most trusting people) by picking up games for my NES collection and holding them occasionally for months until you got payment. Hooking me up with that fantastic lot when I opened my store was just amazing too.

To echo the banana I really do consider many of you guys friends and I hope you all had a great Christmas ;)

So cool to see so many happy Secret Santa gifts this year.  Mine was great as well, but I'm hoping to make a video and post it here.  If that doesn't work out, I'll just put together some pics.

I do indeed. Thanks again!

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My RFGSS was very generous and gave me a nice piece of art work to add to my nerd room.   I'm pretty sure it's the same  person as last year....

Forgot to mention that my parcel from Bil included a much needed Genesis AV cable. Thanks Bil! Now I can finally use my Sega!

Well I got my package today and am very happy, almost overwhelmed with my SS's generosity!    A fantastic variety of fun, innovative games and other items all packed into one box - as I opened it they just kept on coming and coming and coming...  :)

[img width=128 height=100]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x100q90/c/203/fiu4.jpg[/img] (https://imageshack.com/i/5nfiu4j)

Let's start out with the NES group.    All of these games are loose, but Silent Service comes with the manual and sleeve.    My boys are infatuated with Pokemon, so it's going to be tough for me to hold onto the GBC Pikachu case, but I will do my best!

[img width=150 height=99]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x100q90/c/89/t15d.jpg[/img] (https://imageshack.com/i/2ht15dj)

Mortal Kombat box and manual complete that game for me, Kenseiden is complete, and Zero Tolerance adds another box to my Genesis boxed collection!    Mega Man Powered UP for the PSP - I didn't even know about this title?!  Awesome!  The GC and PS2 games are appreciated, as my collections are very sparse on those systems so that gives me another reason to fire up the consoles.    I never see Wonderswan or Game Gear stuff here, so to get a game for EACH system in this box is fantastic!!    "Another Heaven" is complete and "Shinobi" is something I've been looking for a long time.

[img width=121 height=100]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x100q90/c/855/25qb.jpg[/img] (https://imageshack.com/i/nr25qbj)

Some VERY cool items, including a Kiss Love Gun metal lunchbox, sticker, and a Kustom KISS Khristmas card!   Nice!   Also included are the Mario treats, 3DS screen protectors (need them), the Xbox auto RF switch, and "Halo: Fall of Reach" novel (one of the few that I didn't have).    The F-355 DC game is case and manual only, which is PERFECT because I have the game loose!   The sealed DC VMU will look great in my DC collection next to my boxed consoles and sealed DC controllers (Dreamcast is one of my all-time favorite systems so this sweet!)  Turning Point for the PS3 is one I've always wanted to check out, and the sealed Operation Shadow for N-Gage is awesome - I NEVER see NG stuff around here!   :)

All in all a FANTASTIC job by my Secret Santa!  I could tell he checked my RFG collection and provided many games to fill holes in my collection as well as some other fun things to make it feel even more like Xmas.    I could not be happier - Thanks RFGSS!  :D

thanks santa!

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We had a backlog of books for you. The 32X game was sent due to the recent redefinition of the "cool" RFGentlemen requiring both Silent Service and a 32X title. The others are just fun games. ;)

Those are from my wife Gerri. We also have a special gift for you pending a commission from our very own russlyman as well - a custom GameCube controller. I just need to send him the donor controller and art. We can discuss over PMs.

i figured it was you because florida and who else would have had so many books to send me? ;)

@the gamecube controller idea that's so awesome! you guys went over the top with what was already sent

I'm glad to hear that my fellow Kiss fan received his package, and looks like some of our members received some loaded lots.

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Nintendo e-Reader cards, a couple of Hockey titles (I already had NHL 96), and GBAs: Spider-Man, TMNT 2, and Operation Armored Liberty.

I'm speechless..........................

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I can't thank you enough Ray. I was pretty confident that whoever got my name was going to find me a pain to get a gift for. Not only did you get me exactly what I wanted, you got me 6 exactly what I wanteds. This is one of the most generous gifts I've ever received. I recently had a deal fall through for a James Bond Jr. as well so it was pretty awesome to get another one so soon. All 6 of these are also games I'm pretty psyched to actually play too.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Consider a gift for the store opening and your Christmas gift. It's likely one of the few gifts I've got left in me for the next few months, and I'd been holding onto them for you for quite some time. I was going to string you along by putting Bil or Rich's address on it, but it was late anyways. Sorry it arrived so late - guess the post office lady lied to me on destination timing, as tech's was sent at the same time.

I received a package from a mysterious and horrifying land known as Canada! What was inside?

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A couple of games on my wishlist that bring back a lot of great memories - Batman Forever was one of my favorites in 5th or 6th grade, I think. Bloody Roar was a favorite post-high school. Such an odd and interesting series.

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I definitely neglect the portable side of my collection, and these are awesome additions! Plus there's more where those came from...

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Awesome! Two classics, and both with working batteries. I don't actually know who my Santa was this year, but whoever you are - thank you so much! These are great.

Side note - I haven't seen a post from my recipient yet. If you're reading this, at least let me know you got it...I hope everything is there and working.