I can't remember how long after Christmas it was that Matt did the wrap-ups for the two previous year's worth of Secret Santa's, but the middle of January seems like reasonable amount of time to have waited (at least to me), so here it is!
I would like to thank everyone again who participated this year, I haven't heard any grumbling, so I'll have to assume that we can call this year's outing a success. And I know that I've already said it at least once before, but I'd like to say thank you again to everyone who helped promote the Secret Santa on their blog this year, I truly do believe that that was the difference maker as far as people joining in went.
You'll find a list of who sent to who below, with links to everything that has been shown publicly, or at least everything that I've seen that was shown publicly. If I've somehow missed anything, just let me know and I'll update list.
Shane Katz (Off The Wall via Twitter) sent by Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog)
Peter (Baseball Every Night) sent by Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary)
Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog) sent by AJ (The Lost Collector)
Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse) sent by Andy (Stadium Fantasium)
Nick (Dime Boxes) sent by Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB)
Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession) Paul (Scribbled Ink)
AJ (The Lost Collector) sent by Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)
Brian (Collecting Cutch) sent by Angus (Dawg Day Cards)
Bulldog (Nothing If Not Random) sent by Colbey (Cardboard Collections)
Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji) sent by Matt (Diamond Jesters)
Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog) sent by Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse)
GCA (The Collective Mind) sent by Shane (Off The Wall)
Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) sent by Nick (Dime Boxes)
Angus (Dawg Day Cards) sent by Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog)
John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB) sent by Brian (Collecting Cutch)
Andy (Stadium Fantasium) sent by gcrl (cards as i see them)
Colbey (Cardboard Collections) sent by Billy (Cardboard History)
Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB) sent by Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog)
John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog) sent by Roy (Nothing if not Random)
Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary) sent by Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji)
Matt (Diamond Jesters) sent by Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB)
gcrl (cards as i see them) sent by Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame)
Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog) sent by John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB)
Paul (Scribbled Ink) sent by Chris (The Collector)
Chris (The Collector) sent by Mark Hoyle (Twitter)
Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB) sent by GCA (The Collective Mind)
Mark Hoyle (Twitter) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts)
Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame) sent by Peter (Baseball Every Night)
Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning) sent by Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession)
Billy (Cardboard History) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) filling in for John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog)
I didn't know if I should mention it or not, but just in case anyone's wondering about the last entry on this list, John Sharp ran into some difficulties (of the personal variety) not too long after the names were randomized and given out. He sent me an email to let me know that he was going to have to drop out, given who he is and what he was going through (not to mention what time of the year it was), I asked him to stay in to receive his gift, and that I would take care of Billy for him. Knowing most of you as I do, I didn't think that anybody would have a problem with this arrangement, but if I'm wrong and someone does, well, you know where to find me.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
This recap is great to see and it's nice to have everything in one place. I'm excited to see how other people did. The generosity and kindness of this Cardboard Brethren is truly heart-warming. Thank you again for organizing the Secret Santa.
ReplyDeleteCard bloggers truly are the most generous people out there, if the rest of the world would take note... and follow suit!
DeleteThanks so much for all the hard work you did on this. It was definitely a success, and appreciate everything you did to make this happen!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for responding to my Twitter invitation, it definitely wouldn't have been the same without your participation.
DeleteI have no issue with that.
ReplyDeleteI know the time of year is stressful at the best of times. I just hope things are better now for John.
I didn't think anybody would, but you never know.
DeleteThanks for running the SS. Always fun to see what gets sent and received
ReplyDeleteI will just copy and paste what I said to AJ above, as it applies to you as well "And thank you for responding to my Twitter invitation, it definitely wouldn't have been the same without your participation".
DeleteNice job running the operation!
ReplyDeleteI was just keeping it warm until Matt decides to come back and take over.
DeleteGreat job . I know it takes quite a bit of effort for this. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt did, more than I thought it would, but at least I have a new found appreciation for what Matt did the previous two years.
DeleteGreat stuff, thanks for hosting the exchange, you are a gentleman and a scholar.
ReplyDeleteGentleman? Maybe, or at least I try to be. Scholar? No, not in any sense of the word, but it was still nice of you to say so.
DeleteThanks for taking on the responsibilities of hosting this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for playing along!
DeleteLooks like it was a rousing success.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the turnout was much better than I expected.
DeleteSince I don't blog, I didn't really have a forum to show off the goodies I was gifted, and it's been a while since they arrived (and subsequently filed into the various areas of my collections), but I do know that GCA provided me with a couple of OPC team sets of Phillies for my collection as well as a slew of others that were on my want list. This was a great way to help celebrate the season. It was fun getting stuff for Matt.
ReplyDeleteThat's okay, Dan. It was a given that the non-blogging TCDB participants wouldn't likely be showing their goods, it was still great to have you guys be a part of this thing, and hopefully they'll be a few more of you in next year's SS.
DeleteI certainly have no problem with it. I just hope John is OK!
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for John of course, but from what I've heard, it sounds like at least a few things might be improving to some degree.
DeleteCould you be any greater of a guy? Thanks for making it happen this year!
ReplyDeleteYes, there is an infinite amount of room for improvement when it comes to me trying to be a better person.
DeleteSeeing the full list really highlights how popular this year's exchange was. I'm glad to hear everything went well and I totally understand about John. Thanks again for taking the time to keep this tradition going!
ReplyDeleteIt did pretty well, hopefully next year's SS will be even better, no matter who ends up hosting it.
DeleteI didn't participate this year, but I had a blast reading the posts! Thanks for picking up where BWTP left off!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you'll reconsider joining the party next year?
DeleteThanks again for running this! My post on the cards I received is obviously a bit late, but it'll be up within the week.
ReplyDeleteWell, when it does drop, I'll be sure to update the list.
DeleteThanks for organizing this! You did a great job! Very cool (and generous) of you to help out a fellow blogger when he was going through a tough situation.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it was cool, or necessarily generous, it just seemed like the right thing to do, that's all.
DeleteHey Jon, seriously you are da man! You did a very nice thing by taking the reins of the 2018 Secret Santa project. And then you really stepped up helping out a fellow blogger. You are definitely the 2018 Secret Santa MVP!Outstanding job!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the kind words, Andy! But I think everyone who joined should get a slice of that MVP award, so... 30-way tie?
DeleteYou pulled this together so well - like you'd been Santa all your life! Thank you for being so sweet, surprising me with a little something even tho I didn't participate this year. I wish I could do more for you but for now - thank you Pennysleeves! :)
ReplyDeleteIf I'm being completely honest, I was more like Krampus during the first half of my life. Now that you've seen the success that we had, maybe you'll reconsider coming back to the fold next year? And I should be thanking you for all of your positive energy that you so graciously share with me, and everybody else, it's appreciated much more than you could ever imagine :)
DeleteKrampus! Hard to believe you were anything like that. My sister loves horror movies. She's been telling me to watch this one for years so I finally did over the holidays. What a great twist at the end. I'll never see snow globes in quite the same way again.
DeleteOh yes, it's true, sometime in the next couple of months I will be writing a very long, and very personal post, part of which will be about the old me.
DeleteWhile certainly not perfect, I enjoyed the movie as well. There's an old episode of Tales from the Darkside called "Seasons of Belief", parts of Krampus very much reminded me of that episode.