Secret Santa Sign up and Dates
 

And we'll use this as our go to page to ensure everyone who signs up (I missed one last year) will get something for the holidays

You can either post here or DM me if you want to be in. The amount you spend it totally up to you as the saying goes it's the thought that counts as much as the $$$. I will need you to DM me or email me at Sabrgeek@aol.com with your address and interest (s) so to make sure you will get something.

Dates:

Let's do signups through Wednesday November 27th. I'll do the randomizer on that day or a day or so later. That gives everyone a couple of weeks to chase down gifts for their person.

Let's set the deadline for purchasing on Wednesday December 11th. That gives you 2 weeks or so to find item (s)

And gifts should be in the intended hand by Tuesday December 24th and on or around 6 PM EST we can start opening and showing what we all got

Signup Deadline: Wednesday November 27

Gift Purchase Deadline: Wednesday December 11

Gift Receive Deadline: Tuesday December 24

I'm ready! Are you?

Rich

People Confirmed as being in

Ken McMillan

Ryan Cambi

Daryl L. Wingo

Chris Millican

Donny Muth

Brian Raney

John Hanssen

Brian Parker

Matt Galvin

Eddie Smith

Jeffrey Kuhr (responded on the 1st Santa post)

Scott (responded on the 1st Santa post)

Giovanni Nicosia

Luke Allen

Buzz Dowling

Dan Slade

T.J. De Marzio

Filip Reich

I’m in for sure:

Ken McMillan
Kmac32

Interests are as follows:

Chicago Cubs
Ernie Banks
Hank Aaron
Anything Prewar

That all looks/sounds great Rich.
Email with address and collection interests sent 👍

Count me in

Me too
 

Please include me as well. I will email you my info tonight.

Thanks,
Donny Muth

Please add me to list

Pm sent address and info

I am in as well...pm sent.

Brian

In!
 

I’m in and excited to partake in this great tradition!

I’ll email you my list Rich. Thanks!

Matt Galvin

Secret Santa 2024
 

Wanted to get this back up to the top. A lot of fun here gents. A recent Xmas, I let Rich know I was building a T206 set, my Secret Santa hooked me up with these!!!

Bumping this up.

Looking forward to starting the next part this week.

As an aside, in the new card world, my most local LCS is part of a double digit store group that does Secret Santa (mostly newer unopened) but they have a great party every year. I'm doing that for the 3rd straight year and it's always fun to hang out with card collectors old and new

Rich

Just a reminder to sign up for this fun little gift exchange...I have really enjoyed it since this became a thing many a Christmas moon ago.

Don't be a Grinch, give the gift of cards that will brighten the Christmas tree undercarriage of some hobbyist, while your undercarriage becomes laden with the gleam that only the cards from a like-minded Net54'er can bring.

Brian (to summarize...time to brighten and shine those undercarriages by signing up to this Secret Santa gift exchange, and do so by tomorrow)

I'm in
 

Count me in. This sounds like as much fun as I could have on Christmas. Don't tell my wife! ;). Email with details by tomorrow. Thanks for running this.

Cmon guys we can get more people than this
Let’s get this up to 20or more
It’s always fun

I am in, sounds fun

Definitely in
Sounds like fun

If I get Mr. Kuhr...I'm not sure I can get any of those cards ☝️☝️
: )

hi rich,

i'm in if not too late. will send you my details via email and facebook dm if that's ok.

thanks for doing this

- tony

TJ is a good hobby friend of mine
 

And although he missed the original deadline, if someone else wants to join in the fun the two of you can be each others Secret Santa.

i have his information ready for whomever wishes to join in

Rich

His SS gift is easy to find: check lot #1 in REA.

Mr. Kuhr also has on his list a much more accessible grouping of cards to get. He's not that expensive to buy for.

Now. if someone wants to gift me with Lot #1 on REA I promise I will send 20 percent of all proceeds from that card to the non profit of my choice :) LOL

Rich

Thank you Rich.
I’ll be a good gift giver :)

TY Filip
 

We got TJ a Secret Santa gift partner. We always have room for more. As long as I/we can get 2 people to join we can add you to this fun event!

Rich

Funny but I also enjoy oddities like these
One has Paula Abdul in background
One has Drake in background
One has Mendez brother in Background
One has George Bush in Backgorund.
I also have the Billy Ripken Fuck Face Card just could not find picture
Sorry 1 did not upload

Just not part of my “collection” just part of my fun stuff

But to be transparent If someone gifted that I would humbly accept it

One has Drake in background

Which card has Drake in the background? I will add that to the COMC data base thereof.

Rich

That is the one I trade and was unable to upload after many attempts and even copying the picture

It is the 2016 Pannini Dunross Optic Paul George Card

Checked the Data Base, both the Paul George and the Paula Abdul cards were already note.

Rich

If you still need one person to make a pair count me in…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Tim! We now need at least one more
 

To pair up with Tim. And make the "unofficial" goal of 20 people participating.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Rich

Bump to see if we can got one final match or two
 

Looking for another person or few to include as we approach deadlne time

Still looking for a last minute match
 

AND

If you have already shipped out your gift, I (we) thank you and please let me know so I can keep track of that part of the puzzle as well

Thanks on both accounts!

Rich

Hi Rich

Thanks for doing the coordination.
I shipped mine and the UPS trackers says it will be delivered tomorrow

I have plans sending ss gifts Wednesday

I’ve shipped out a medium flat rate package on the 5th.

Hope your SS is good to all of you. Always fun to be a part of this tradition.

Mine shipped out today!

Items Sent --Rich i sent you the tracking #'s
FYI- postal lines are slammed at the post office.

shipped mine via ups ground on Dec 6 to help avoid the holiday package traffic.

Secret Santa arrived at my home today.

Package sent out on Wednesday. Secret Santa has already arrived at my house.

Sending mine out today Rich

Mine is going out tomorrow, thanks!

Received mine today. Keeping it closed till Dec 24? CHALLENGE :p

Mine was shipped, delivered on Dec 12!

Mine went out today for an in time arrival! Should I have put shipping insurance on the REA lot we were talking about?

Nah the postal people will find it and pocket it for their nefarious means ;)

I remember the great Dan McKee post on this board to never add additional insurance to packages lest they go missing.

Shipped priority today and have received my SS package.

hi rich,

let me know if you would like me to setup a Tuesday December 24th (around 6pm set) microsoft teams meetings for those available.

That would be great and we also should ensure that gets posted here. And for those who don't want to show their faces, just showing what you received is perfectly fine as well during that chat.

And obviously posting here is always good as well

That sounds amazing! Great idea and fun way to gather the community

Got my package today
Wasn’t sure about the box as I didn’t know the
Sender on it nor any mention of SSNet54
But figure that what it is

All good this come in small packages - Santa/mailman just dropped off something from someone call (ss Net54)

Have the best Holidays everyone!!!

now we know your secret and who ever gets it will know it is you. :)
Love the idea we should have all done it that way

mailed
 

Mailed out yesterday via USPS priority mail.

UPDATE: received my package today!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just got mine in mail. And the one I sent was delivered so mission accomplished
And now the hardest part is the wait.
I am excited and tempted
Feel like a kid in the canabis store. Oops meant candy store. Times have changed

deleted

6 PM East is a good time. And I know one person who might not yet receive his gifts unless Fed Ex's sleigh arrives today. (i do have the tracking on that one)

Rich

Haahhahahaahahaa!!!!!

Hey Rich. Just sent you an email.

Rich and I spoke. MS Teams (like Zoom) invite will be for later this week. Not today.
DM me your email if you would like an invite.

Less than 10 minutes to go
 

So if you are able, start getting ready to show the GOODIES

Sorry I could not join you

But I opened mine with the family and Santa nailed it

I got this great 1910 T212 Obak James Whalen and a great 1933 News photo of the A’s (but sadly the uploads kept failing)

Exceeded my expectations and talk about rare not only is the T212 Obak Whalen rare but as a player Whalen was even more rare. Only 1 at bat as a pinch hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals in April of 1913 for his entire MLB Career.

Thanks Santa

Loved it

Secret Santa Sign up and Dates
 

I apologize for not being able to join the Teams meeting, but I wanted to post the amazing gift that my Net54 Secret Santa sent to me.

I have admired and collected Ryne Sandberg off and on since I was a kid. There wasn’t anything better than having my parents drop me off at the mall on Saturday morning to take a few bucks into the local card shop to search for any Sandbergs I did not already have. At one point, I had every major issue in Beckett except for the virtually unobtainable early 90s inserts. As an aside, speaking of Beckett, one of my fondest memories was seeing my name in an issue one Summer in the mid-90s when I won a 6-month subscription for sending a small list of prices I was seeing from that same LCS.

It wasn’t until my parents bought our first computer with dial-up internet access that I discovered additional Ryne Sandberg cards beyond what was printed in the monthly Beckett. The earliest card I ever owned from that extended checklist was the 1982 Red Lobster issue. I only could observe the early minor league issues online and drool, especially the 1980 TCMA Phillies pre-rookie, which is his earliest card.

I regrettably sold my original Sandberg collection when I left home for college, but as I gotten back into the hobby off and on in my adult life, collecting T206 first and later E105 Mello Mints, I have bought back some of those Sandberg cards and memorabilia for display in my office. I even placed a few bids on a 1980 TCMA in Collector Connection earlier this year, but bowed out early.

Well, I was absolutely and pleasantly surprised at the unbelievably generous gift my Net54 Secret Santa sent to me, along with a terrific personal note:

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This is now, by far, the centerpiece of my Ryne Sandberg collection. It has also motivated me to take a bit more seriously the project to rebuild the collection of my childhood. Thank you very, very much, Secret Santa!

Merry Christmas,
Daryl

Great Sandberg card. Reminds me along the dumb trades Paul Owens made as our GM. Love this card.

Too much!
 

Knowing I'd love some tobacco, Santa was TOO GENEROUS.

I got this beautiful Hal Chase. Only my second T206. And I will be honest, I did not know how good of a player Chase really was. Also, something I did not know, sounds like personality wise he was quite a complicated person (putting it mildly). Really happy to add this card to my collection.

Glad you like it Phil. I still need that one (& the pink portrait) for my own t206 Hal Chase collection. Yeah, Chase would probably be in the HoF if he weren’t gambling degenerate & supposed game fixer
very happy it arrived on-time. Merry Christmas.

Hal's story makes Pete Rose's gambling habits seems trivial :)

I found this interesting online article on him:

https://jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/...-of-hal-chase/

Thank you, Secret Santa
 

My Secret Santa put a lot of effort into gifting me six different cards. I am always happy to get any Phillies cards, especially a pre-war Hall of Famer. I was only marginally familiar with the W516 set previously, so I was not even aware that poor Dave Bancroft was misnamed in the set.

You can't get much different than pre-war baseball and modern Formula One racing, but thank you, Secret Santa, for including one of my other interests. Ayrton Senna is one of my favorite drivers to collect because he was such a compelling (and tragic) figure, but I did not have any cards from the 1992 Grid set. I love any Senna cards that I did not have.

The Senna card is also the first time I have had a CSG slab in hand. They feel a little more substantial to me than some other slabs.

Thanks again for all your effort, Secret Santa. :) I love the cards.

My other four cards from Secret Santa
 

I had to post my other four cards from Secret Santa separately. I kept getting a "failed" message. The top two cards are a pair of 1968 Topps cards. The bottom two cards are a pair of Upper Deck Hall of Famers. Thanks again, Secret Santa.

That is a great memory. Maybe Secret Santa was touched by that story when looking at your previous Net54 posts. ;)

Keep the posts pouring in!

Merry Christmas to all!

I unfortunately missed the arrival of my package by a day. I’ll have to post on the 27th.

Love seeing these awesome gifts so far!

Thank you Secret Santa for the great varirty of autographs

some really cool stuff so far

Love the variety and the quality.

Glad I did it this year

Got some nice cardboard
My brother loves the unopened box
Pulled some nice refractors
Thanks Santa 🧑*🎄

My Secret Santa got me this:

But wait ——— somebody has a humerus prankster side to them. Of course I have never had a pack of cards in my hands that I didn’t want to rip open right away! And to my surprise inside of each 1990 UD pack was a special insert from my favorite team. Nice job of resealing those packs. I tip my Santa cap to my SS for the ingenuity and generosity.

Greatly appreciate the thought/work put into my gift from Secret Santa. I'm building a binder with each page being its own theme. Santa was able to hit on something I hadn't considered, that being the incredibly talented athletes the sports world lost in 2024. This will go great with my collection, so thank you very much. Also, a great reminder we only get to celebrate Christmas so many times, so hopefully everyone is enjoying the day with friends and family!
Thanks again Rich for making this happen!

First, I would like to wish everyone in this amazing group a very Merry Christmas and I hope you’ve been able to spend it joyfully with family.

My wife can attest that I got pretty emotional when opening my secret Santa gifts. I’m not sure if I was suppose to, but I received two packages and both took my breath away. I love old photos and tickets because I learn something new every time I look into them, and I truly feel more attached to them because I can almost feel the stories of the photographer or game attendee. So my first Santa sent amazing Newark Bears photos, a Cedric Durst photo, and a few other amazing gems including the Muesel brothers being treated to a kings return after being in the World Series, and the Yankees listening to the Red Sox on the radio to determine their pennant
fate in 1947. Thank you so much for these visuals and a smile that is hurting my face!

My second Santa sent me a picture of the Glassboro College ‘Profs’, as well as a truly special 1938 Yankees Vs Tigers ticket that has the original matching streetcar ticket! I mean, come on!! As I am a professor myself and former college baseball player, the Profs photo hit close to my heart.

I am truly thankful for this whole group and for this special Christmas tradition with Net54, and will add another thank you for my Santa’s gifts.

With gratitude,
Dan
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