Net 54 Secret Santa's Back - Are you in?

[SMPEP]

In an attempt to revive an old tradition … it’s time for the Net54 Secret Santa holiday exchange.

For those of you who have never participated in the Net54 Secret Santa exchange before, members who volunteer for the exchange are given the name of another Net54 participant and will anonymously mail that person a gift. On December 25th, everyone will open their gift and post the results.


Rules (the fine print)

1. Gifts should be in the $25 range. The best gifts are not usually the most expensive. Try to get creative.

2. Envelopes/packages should be clearly marked "do not open to Dec 25" or “Net54 SS” or the like.

3. Open your present on the morning of the 25th

4. Report your present on Net54.


How it works.

1. Reply to this thread and let everyone know you are in BEFORE November 24th (Sorry for the tight deadline – but to get a present, mail it, and get it there on time – we’re actually starting a bit late).

If you were one of the 10 people that already replied in the other thread that you're in - you're in. But please complete Step 2 below to help me out! (IrishDenny - from your response I couldn't tell if you were in or not, so please let me know if you want to be).

2. Also by November 24th … PM ME with your: 1) Full name (there are lots of you I don’t know!), 2) Full mailing address, 3) favorite team/player, 4)Collecting interest from the following categories: Pre-War, Post War, Modern, Non-baseball (FB, Basketball, hockey, nonsports), or any of the above

You will be matched to send something to someone who has the same collecting interest as you do. (So for example, if you have no Pre-War cards, it might not be the best idea to pick Pre-War.)

Feel free to add any addition details here if you wish. Many of us don’t know each other well enough to know each other’s full collections - so any info you give me will be passed on to Santa.

Note to the Santas: you are only expected to hit the CATEGORY the person picked. If you can do better than that – GREAT! Your recipient will love that. But in truth many of us don’t know each other well enough to find the perfect item – so recipients give Santa credit for trying.

3. I will PM you with your Secret Santa recipient’s information (the items above) by November 29th (and sooner if I can swing it).

4. Find something fun, wrap it, mark it "do not open" till the 25th, and SEND IT OUT NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 11th (sorry again for the tight deadline – but 2 weeks is not a lot of time for the Post Office at this time of year).

5. Post on NET54 (in a reply to this thread) that you have mailed the package. If you have not posted by December 14, you should expect that I will be publicly asking you if the package has been sent.


That’s it.

Let the exchange begin!

Patrick

[icurnmedic]

Im In!

[davidan]

Count me in.

[ShoelessBob]

Awesome! Count me in!

[Eric72]

You know I’m in. Thanks again for doing this.

[nebboy]

I'm in-----

Great to have Secret Santa back and Thanks (smpep) for volunteering to do it.

[kmac32]

I am definitely in. Thanks Patrick

[GoCubsGo32]

Thanks again Patrick! I'm in.

[Jay Wolt]

Patrick, sounds like fun, I'm in

[Rich Klein]

IN

[brianp-beme]

As mentioned in the other thread, I am in, and requested info PM'ed.

Thanks Patrick

Brian

[vthobby]

I'm in, thanks and info will be sent ASAP, thanks for organizing!

Peace, Mike

[pawpawdiv9]

As mentioned in other thread-- I am in!!!!
Thanks for putting this together.
Sending my info very soon.

[bbnut]

I'm in, and I already PM'd our Santa dude!

[Nunzio11]

I’m in...Sending PM. Thanks for running with this!

[milkit1]

I'm in!

[SMPEP]

This is just a bump to get this back to the top of the list.

If you want to be in - Please let me know by November 24th - that's this Sunday!

I will be getting names out to the Santas very shortly after that - so don't wait if you want to be in!

Cheers,
Patrick

[stat192]

im in

[toledo_mudhen]

Im In - if not too late

[chalupacollects]

i'm in...

[Highstep74]

I’m in!

[slightlyrounded]

In!

[SMPEP]

Okay, Everyone has been sent the name of the person they should send a gift to.

If you did not receive it - please let me know ASAP!

And once you have mailed your gift - please post that here so I can check track that all gifts have been sent.

Thank you!
Patrick

[toledo_mudhen]

Mailing today

Thanks Patrick!

Okay, Everyone has been sent the name of the person they should send a gift to.

If you did not receive it - please let me know ASAP!

And once you have mailed your gift - please post that here so I can check track that all gifts have been sent.

Thank you!
Patrick

[icurnmedic]

Package in the mail! Merry Christmas!!

[milkit1]

Package sent! :)

[Jay Wolt]

My package is ready to roll & will ship on Friday

[pawpawdiv9]

My package is being processed & shipped.

[Rich Klein]

Cards Pulled for my "victim" told the organizer what I'm sending so if more is needed there won't be an issue.

Rich

[davidan]

Received my Santa Gift today how exciting!!! saving until Christmas Morning per the instructions! :) Will be shipping mine in the next week or so as I am still getting it together.

David

[nebboy]

My package has been shipped out for SS. Have a great holiday everyone!

[Nunzio11]

Package sent!

[vthobby]

Santa has sent the package to TV in MD! That was fun!

Peace, Mike

[stat192]

package received and package sent, thank you,

[kmac32]

Gift received mine going out tomorrow to my victim

[brianp-beme]

Package sent in the Saint Nick of time.

Brian

[slightlyrounded]

Update at my end: The sparrow has left the nest.

[milkit1]

My package has arrived from Oceanside Ca.
Is that close to the North Pole?

[kmac32]

Package shipped out today from Florida

[mattsey9]

Santa's elves (dba Ebay) did their job. My package will be in tomorrow's mail on its way to my giftee.

[bbnut]

Sending off my gift today. Received my package from my secret santa!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Rich Klein]

Dropped off items at my shippers on Tuesday (reminded him I needed tracking #'s) -- will follow up but everything taken care of on my end. Have alerted our host about this as well.

Rich

[milkit1]

Mine arrived and will on my desk unopened (I'm afraid the dog will get it if I put it under the xmas tree) until Christmas.

[mattsey9]

Received my gift from Secret Santa this afternoon! Thanks again for arranging the event!

[davidan]

I received my Santa Package which is under my tree for Christmas!:)
and have also shipped my Santa package to it's recipient.

How fun!!!

[todeen]

My SS present will be mailed on Monday, plenty of time to be delivered by the Big Man himself.

[Eric72]

I have put together a small SS package and shall mail it out on Monday.

[Eric72]

Sent my package this morning. It is now being loaded on Santa’s USPS sleigh. :)

[TUM301]

Secret Santa package went out this A M. Looking forward to another fun event. Thanks again to Patrick for getting the ball rolling ! Cheers, Murph

[x2drich2000]

Sent mine out this morning and received mine last week.

DJ

[uyu906]

I mailed my Secret Santa package out today. Should be there no later than Friday! :)

[slightlyrounded]

Received a package today - thank you Santa!

[Nunzio11]

Put our tree up this weekend. Currently only one package under it and that’s from Secret Santa! Thanks!

[nebboy]

Package received - Thanks to my SS in advance

[SMPEP]

Update: 22 of the 26 packages have been mailed. 10 of the 26 have been received to date. 3 of the 4 remaining packages are expected to be mailed this week. Still waiting to hear from 1 person.

Thanks,
Patrick

[GoCubsGo32]

Santa is here! Received my package. Thank you!

[TUM301]

Forgot to update, secret Santa arrived safe n sound Tuesday. Happy Holidays to all fellow 54`ers !

[pawpawdiv9]

Have NOT got anything yet...maybe one of these late senders will come by this weekend.

[Highstep74]

Secret Santa envelope mailed

[chalupacollects]

Santa package sent today, expected arrival of 12/16...:)

[brianp-beme]

Surprisingly the mail carrier delivered my gift via the chimney, perhaps because the package just seemed like it was from Santa.

Brian

[Rich Klein]

Can now confirm, mine were sent and are scheduled for delivery on 12.16. SMPEP has been provided USPS tracking #'s

Rich

[pawpawdiv9]

Confirming my SS has delivered my bomb-proof black duct tape box.
(Note: you may wanna use clear tape next time, i bet it raised some eyebrows at the PO)

[ShoelessBob]

Secret Santa package sent this morning.

Should arrive by Monday.

Hopefully the victim likes the goodies :)

[Eric72]

Santa delivered a package to me. Can’t wait to find out what he brought. Happy holidays, everyone.

[GoCubsGo32]

Secret Santa package has been mailed today :)

[Jay Wolt]

Rec'd my "SS" gift yesterday
Can't wait to rip er open

[vthobby]

Got my Secret Santa Package today! Thanks!

Peace, Mike

[uyu906]

What is the weekly update on how many packages have been shipped and how many received?

Thanks!

Update: 22 of the 26 packages have been mailed. 10 of the 26 have been received to date. 3 of the 4 remaining packages are expected to be mailed this week. Still waiting to hear from 1 person.

Thanks,
Patrick

[chalupacollects]

My sent package has been delivered!

[Rich Klein]

I did 2 Secret Santas and both have been delivered. So ENJOY!

[toledo_mudhen]

Both shipped and received on my end

[todeen]

Ooops, received my package Saturday and it's under the tree. Many thanks Santa!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Rich Klein]

I know my Net 54 package was delivered so TY

[uyu906]

Has anyone else not received a Secret Santa present yet? :(

[bnorth]

Has anyone else not received a Secret Santa present yet? :(

PM member SMPEP and see if he received a tracking # from the member that was supposed to send you something. With any luck it is a postal problem.

If it is deadbeat like there seems to be everytime we have done this PM me what you collect and your address. I will send you something like I have done for others in the past.

[uyu906]

Thanks Ben -

I PM'd Patrick and will wait to see what he says. Your offer is very generous, and I hope this is just a delay or misunderstanding.

Thanks,
Rich

[chalupacollects]

Santa stopped by today on his trial run!

[GrayGhost]

I sadly missed the deadline as I would have loved to be involved on both ends, esp TY.

That said I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT EVERYONE GETS!!!🎁

[Eric72]

My Secret Santa delivered!

Along with a T206 Bill Bergen, I received a handful of Hall of Famers and Phillies cards. THANK YOU, Santa.

Happy holidays, everyone.

[milkit1]

I received a pretty great xmas gift! Thanks Santa!

378110

[todeen]

Santa knew what this Reds fan wanted! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/0303e47ca207cbffe3e47a5a2367f59a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/6eeabc8a77efc489a374b164b0a227a2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/c87b0c65eedb66eb9ba1ea7ed00c26b1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/f4ab4d2f5b5fc800d4cf82df1e9055db.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[SMPEP]

So, I played a bit of a trick on my Secret Santa - I didn't want him to know I was his match, so I had him send his package to my wife's dog.

And the dog did GREAT!!! Santa delivered a paid of 1933 Goudey cards and an autograph of Charlie Gehringer! (Such neat handwriting - I can assure you mine does not look anywhere close to this good!)

Thanks Santa!!!

from "Dennis"

[SMPEP]

And we had one late entry to the Secret Santa exchange and if you join after the deadline - Sorry you get struck with me.

So my other dog also got a present this year (which is great that they both got presents).

Santa send a pair of Lighthouse cards - which finishes the set - and adds a great looking card from the fun 1951 Bowman Jets, rockets and spacemen set.
Great cards!

Thanks Santa!!

From "Danny"

[mattsey9]

Thanks, Santa! Got my first E90-1 card, and an autographed ball from Cubs legend Ferguson Jenkins. Very nice!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/c8b3297b899d9d5e574ccb262b2bdf67.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191225/c0f80c157fd204d44e8c39281d88691f.jpg

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[bnorth]

Thanks Ben -

I PM'd Patrick and will wait to see what he says. Your offer is very generous, and I hope this is just a delay or misunderstanding.

Thanks,
Rich

Any update?

Great stuff posted so far, Happy Holidays everyone!

[SMPEP]

Hi Ben and Rich (and others),

Assuming I did not make a mistake and accidentally send out a wrong name (which is not an impossibility I suppose) ... the person responsible for sending to Rich posted to this thread that they sent the item on time. I do not think that person sent the package using a tracking number. I am working to track this down, but I suspect the sender is out of town and I'm not sure if he is checking the board or not - so it may be a few days.

Sorry for the glitch Rich, but we'll work to fix this!!!
Patrick

[kmac32]

Big shout out to my Secret Santa from Omaha. You spoiled me!. Have actually played the course in Forest South and love the Billy Herman Goudy insert. Can’t beat Santo and Banks for a diehard Cub fan. Have met Santo on several occasions and Met Ernie once and know Joey Banks from Cubs camp. Thanks so much.

[pawpawdiv9]

My SS (from MA) did a WOW!!!
Some of these pics i never seen before.

[icurnmedic]

Amazing gift! Thanks Santa 🎅

[Rich Klein]

I'm not\at home and have limited time but I've been out all day at my in-laws and if I'm the Rich mentioned-- my gift arrived safely and I'll post details when I get home. Rest assured the SS was wonderful And I know the package I sent was received but I can always send another one if needed.

[Nunzio11]

Thank you to my Not so Secret Santa! Some really cool Jeter and Ripken oddballs and rookies. Joe Cronin butterfinger and a 60s hockey auto. The Loyola College Card was a great throw in, I live 5 minutes from campus and drive by everyday on the way to work. Thanks Mike and Merry Christmas to all.

[milkit1]

Well I'll be dogged!
Glad he like the items lol
Loved getting a Hal Chase card and a M101-4 :)



B][/B]So, I played a bit of a trick on my Secret Santa - I didn't want him to know I was his match, so I had him send his package to my wife's dog.

And the dog did GREAT!!! Santa delivered a paid of 1933 Goudey cards and an autograph of Charlie Gehringer! (Such neat handwriting - I can assure you mine does not look anywhere close to this good!)

Thanks Santa!!!

from "Dennis"

[brianp-beme]

My Secret Santa came through with flying colors...I have been slowly collecting the 1941 Goudey set. My goal is 28 cards (which is minus the 5 short-prints). With these colorful beauties I am now officially halfway to my goal. And a surprise second part came as well and now I own a T3 with a Turkey Red back, which had eluded me until now. And in much loved condition, which is somewhat a specialty of mine.

Thanks Secret Santa(s)!

Brian

[GrayGhost]

Great variety of cool stuff all!

[TUM301]

Thanks very much to my secret Santa, great items and collection additions for an avid BoSox fan like me. Awesome shots of Sox HOF`ers and an added bonus item of "The Cathedral Of Boston" America`s most beloved ballpark, Fenway. Hope all 54`ers have a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year !

[Rich Klein]

I promised I would post the something special about the Secret Santa gift I received. I did cheat slightly and open this on XMas eve since I knew I'd be gone from about 7 to 6 today.

The card sent was wonderful and will have a great home!

I hope this package finds you, and more importantly Dena, happy and in good health....

P.S. I know with medical bills and the like there probably isn't a ton of extra card money right now. I have sent you a couple of bucks to compensate for what you might have sent on someone else.

To me that was even more special than the gift because of the time the person spent to make everything more personal.

[ShoelessBob]

I received some great gifts from my secret Santa. An awesome t206 LeifIeld. I think this card has some of the most beautiful colors of all the T206 cards. Simply a cool card. I also received a card of Cobb and Wagner and some other terrific Pittsburgh cards. Thank you Secret Santa

[slightlyrounded]

Just.....wow.

Thank you to my secret santa, who perfectly filled some holes in my hockey collection and inspired me on a new hobby goal for 2020. For background: I already have a complete run of Wayne Gretzky base cards, from '79 on, but never embarked on his all-star, record, and trophy card run because it frankly was a little daunting. That said, I've been looking at these same 2 pages in his pictorial biography for years thinking 'I'd love to chase these':

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=1227&pictureid=27740

As of Christmas morning I have some momentum to get me going:

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=1227&pictureid=27741

Oh, and while they were making my Christmas, they decided to throw a great looking T206 in there for fun.

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture.php?albumid=1227&pictureid=27739

Thank you - Definitely don't deserve this, but definitely appreciated.

[nebboy]

My SS was in a great giving mood. Thank you soooo much.

[davidan]

Santa has been to my house!!!! How fun :)

https://i.imgur.com/GveexNT.jpg

[x2drich2000]

Sorry no pics, but my SS brought me a nice large poster of a T206 Young portrait as well as a wooden storage box for graded cards. My wife was especially happy to see the storage box so she is now hopeful I'll get the random stacks of cards cleaned up :D

[vthobby]

Thank you to my Not so Secret Santa! Some really cool Jeter and Ripken oddballs and rookies. Joe Cronin butterfinger and a 60s hockey auto. The Loyola College Card was a great throw in, I live 5 minutes from campus and drive by everyday on the way to work. Thanks Mike and Merry Christmas to all.

I was wondering about the "Secret" part when we can all see whom the package is from! lol PS I KNEW that Loyola card was going to go over well! That was cool to find that in my stuff and pass it on to my not so secret recipient!! :)

Peace, Mike :)

[GoCubsGo32]

Thank you NET54 Secret Santa! Nailed it! l Love my gifts! Thank you so much!! Pics to come :)

[chalupacollects]

Posting Santa stash late but here goes! I may have been catfished!!! Thanks Santa!!! lol
379170 379171 ATTACH]379172[/ATTACH]

[bnorth]

Great stuff everyone. Anybody else left to post their cool SS gift?

[uyu906]

I will be happy to post it, when and if I ever get it. :(

Rich

[bnorth]

I will be happy to post it, when and if I ever get it. :(

Rich

Has it been determined if it is a deadbeat(hopefully not) or if it is just lost in the mail?

[uyu906]

Our Secret Santa organizer, Patrick, is still looking into the matter at this time to try to determine what happened.

Rich

[SMPEP]

Hi Ben (and others),

I was going to provide a public update in the next couple of days but since the question has been asked ...

To my knowledge, the Secret Santa was a success outside of the missing package to Rich Saylor. (Sorry Rich!)

I still have not been able to contact his Secret Santa to see where the error occurred (Did he not send it? Did I accidentally give him the wrong name? Did the post office lose it?).

I will offer that his Santa is someone I have participated in other Secret Santa exchanges with in the past - so I suspect this is an honest error and not a deadbeat issue. Knowing this person to a small degree, I also recall the person was not around for the holidays last year so I was going to give him until Jan 3rd or 4th to get in touch with me.

I will provide a public update when this has been resolved.

Thanks to all who participated! I can honestly say ... I would have enjoyed getting more than one of those packages!!!
Patrick

[brianp-beme]

I have made the connection...Frank has been AWOL from posting on Net54, and this package has not made its way to its recipient.

Thus Frank is Deadbeat Santa!

Brian

[uyu906]

Frank, I am still waiting . . . . ;)

Rich

I have made the connection...Frank has been AWOL from posting on Net54, and this package has not made its way to its recipient.

Thus Frank is Deadbeat Santa!

Brian

[Leon]

This was a great success folks. Thanks so much to Pat for doing it. All who enjoyed it owe him a small debt of gratitude, imo. It helped the forum to bring members a bit closer and have some fun. And for that I too am appreciative. Pat gets a T shirt whenever more are made. And that will hopefully be soon...

Now about Dr. Frank and the missing SS... :)

.

[pawpawdiv9]

i want to just thank SMPEP for doing this and many are busy during the holidays. This makes it just more special getting something from someone whom collects and shares the joyfullness in card collecting.
And heres a funny special video:
https://youtu.be/t6Thx2O2P24

[kmac32]

Patrick did an awesome job with this. Hopefully this tradition will continue. Loved what I got and my giftee seemed to like what he got. It was all about the giving and great job of setting it up.

[SMPEP]

So as a final update to this thread -

The bad news is that Rich Saylor never received his Secret Santa present from Sean Schuettpelz - and what's worse is that I have been trying to contact Sean via PM, email, home phone and cell phone since Dec 26th. Sean has not responded to any of my attempts to contact him - so I am just shining the light on this so everyone is aware.

The GREAT news is that Ben North was a more than awesome board member. Ben took initiative and sent Rich a Secret Santa present - even though he wasn't even in the exchange.

THANK YOU BEN!!!! I think it was really generous of you to do this!!!
Patrick

[uyu906]

Thanks Patrick for trying to get to the bottom of this whole deadbeat Secret Santa fiasco. It is unfortunate that someone, Patrick has identified him in the email above, decided to reap the benefits of Secret Santa and put no effort into the giving part of Secret Santa. I recommend that everyone take note of his name, and remember that he could not be trusted to deliver on a Christmas promise when considering doing deals with him in the future.

It really stunk to look forward to the mail during the holiday season to see when my Secret Santa present would arrive, and it never showing up. I agreed with Patrick that we should give him until January 6 (ironically my birthday) to get back from holiday travelling to make things right. His total lack of response to Patrick speaks volumes, as my patience with him was not rewarded.

Surprisingly, this is the second time I have been burned by receiving nothing in a baseball card Secret Santa. The first time being on the old Collectors Universe Board. I guess I am just unlucky. . . .

I would like to thank Ben North publicly for reaching out to me to send two Baltimore Orioles error cards to me from Score in the 1980s. I am mostly a vintage collector, but my favorite team is the Orioles, and I certainly did appreciate this kind act from someone I did not know! Thanks again Ben -

Rich Saylor
https://richsbaseball.webs.com/
Always looking for honest trading partners.

[uyu906]

A couple of people have asked me what deadbeat Secret Santa's Net54 name is. It is Highstep74

Again, he never sent me anything for Secret Santa, nor has he ever replied from to any questions from the organizer of the Secret Santa exchange.

I would avoid him like the plague from here on out!

[SMPEP]

Rich is correct - the user's name is highstep74.

With that said, I will note that in this thread he indicated that he sent an envelope.

But repeated attempts to contact him via PM, his personal email, his home phone (which did not identify him or record messages) and cell phone (which did not identify him or record messages) were unsuccessful. So I was unable to confirm that he sent the item, or to who and where he sent the item.

Patrick

[uyu906]

I want to thank an anonymous Secret Santa who sent me two very cool cards to try to brighten my mood from being stiffed by my original Secret Santa at Christmas. Whoever you are, I really appreciated your kind thoughts and generosity!

[chalupacollects]

cool!

[SMPEP]

Anonymous Santa - YOU ROCK!

Thank you!
Patrick

[uyu906]

Thanks go out today to Patrick for two hits to my wantlist as a very nice after Christmas SS surprise. I really appreciated it Patrick!

Rich