The Big Secret Santa Wrap Up Post

For the most part I think this year went a lot smoother than last. As far as I know everyone received a package.  Below I've listed everyone involved and added a link to the blog post or Tweet acknowledging the package.  If you don't have a link that means I couldn't find any type of formal acknowledgment. If I left someone out or didn't properly link the post let me know.  If you don't plan on doing anything formal please let the sender know you got the package.

My hope is that by adding links you will find some new blogs.  If you have any ideas on how to keep improving on Secret Santa either leave a comment or send me an email.  Thanks so much for joining in this year.  I plan on bringing it back in 2018...



Trevor P (Bump and Run Football Card Blog)  Sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts)

Peter Steinberg (Baseball Every Night) Sent by Wes (Willinghammer Rising)
                           Part 2


Tom Olson (Waiting 'til Next Year) Sent by Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog)

AJ (The Lost Collector) Sent by Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji)

Greg (Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle) Sent by Captkirk (Captkirk42s Trading Card Blog)

Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only)  Sent by Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary)

Matt Keppel (Diamond Jesters) Sent by Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame)

Dimebox Nick (Dime Boxes) Sent by Bert (Swing and a Pop-Up)

Paul (Scribbled Ink) Sent by Angus (Dawg Day Cards)

Captkirk (Captkirk42s Trading Card Blog)  Sent by Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)

Wes  (Willinghammer Rising via Twitter) Sent by Julie (A Cracked Bat)

Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame) Sent by Matt (Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits)

Mark Hoyle   Sent by John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog)

Tom (The Angels, In Order) Sent by Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only)

Brian (Hightly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary) Sent by Jared (Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out)

Angus (Dawg Day Cards) Sent by Tony L (Off Hiatus Baseball Cards)

Jared (Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out) Sent by Peter (Baseball Every Night)

Jon (Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts) Sent by Dimebox Nick (Dime Boxes)

Matt Prigge (Summer of '74) Sent by Trevor P (Bump and Run Football Card Blog)

Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji) Sent by Sam (The Daily Dimwit)

Julie (A Cracked Bat) Sent by Greg (Night Owl Cards)

Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning) Sent by Tom (Waiting 'til Next Year)

Matt (Bob Walk the Plank) Sent by Adam Sanders (Cardboard Clubhouse)

Bert (Swing and a Pop-Up) Sent by Chris (The Collector)

Shane Katz Sent By Matt Prigge (Summer of 74)

Oscar (All Trade Bait, All The Time) Sent by Greg (The Collective Mind)

Greg (The Collective Mind) Sent by Matt (Bob Walk the Plank)

Tony L (Off Hiatus Baseball Cards) Sent by Tom (The Angels, In Order)

Rob (1988 Topps) Sent by Greg (Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle)

Mike (Not Another Baseball Card Blog) Sent by Oscar (All Trade Bait, All the Time)

Brian (Collecting Cutch) Sent by Kevin (The Card Papoy)

Jim (GCRL, Cards as I See Them) Sent by Rob (1988 Topps)

Sam (The Daily Dimwit) Sent by Jim (Cards as I see them)

Kevin (The Card Papoy) Sent by Adam (Arpsmith's Sportscard Obsession)

Adam (Arpsmith's Sportscard Obsession) Sent by Mark Hoyle

Billy (Cardboard History) Sent by Paul (Scribbled Ink)

Kin (I Feel Like a Collector Again) Sent by AJ (The Lost Collector)

Greg (Night Owl Cards) Sent by Brian (Collecting Cutch)

Chris (The Collector) Sent by Matt (Diamond Jesters)

Matt (Bubba's Bangin Batch of Baseball Bits) Sent by Kin (I Feel Like a Collector Again)

Adam Sanders (Cardboard Clubhouse via Twitter) Sent by Shane Katz

John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog) Sent by Billy (Cardboard History)

Secret Santa

Apologize for spamming the blogroll with these posts, but I'm trying to stay on top of missing Secret Santa packages.....

I got a few emails from Secret Santa participants over Christmas saying that they have yet to receive a package.  Now that we are a few days past the holiday I'm hoping that any missing packages have arrived.  Please shoot me an email and I'll try and see what is going on (mattscott82@gmail.com). 

My plan is to close out things next week by linking all the posts on blogs and thank you Tweets in one final post.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Secret Santa Stuff

I've been in contact with many of you about your Secret Santa packages, but wanted to get something up in case I missed someone.  If you haven't received your package, or have yet to hear from me on the reason why your package is late shoot me an email (mattscott82@gmail.com).  I'll do some detective work to see what the issue is.  Trying to avoid some of the issues we had last year of people not acknowledging arrival of their packages.

I've enjoyed reading all the posts and Twitter shout outs.  I'll write something up after New Years that will tie everything together.

A Not so Secret Santa

Shout out to Adam from Cardboard Clubhouse for being a good sport.  I essentially made him buy me something in order to even out the Secret Santa.  In hindsight I probably should have just recruited another person, but instead just threw myself into the fun.  Poor Adam drew the short straw and received my name.  In hindsight it seemed a little weird telling someone to go buy me something.  Either way Adam agreed and sent me some nice cardboard. Maybe I should just start emailing random people and telling them they should send me cards.

Adam sent a bunch of nice Steelers cards my way.  When I was buying Steelers cards on a regular basis Bettis was probably second to only Hines Ward in my collection.  I love when I can receive Steelers cards via trade (or Secret Santa!) because I would venture to say they are among the most expensive teams to collect.  A rabid fanbase and legitimate superstars create the perfect storm.

 Ugh.....Excuse the quality of some of these scans as I've had to use some phone apps in order to keep the blog from falling behind.  My main scanner is hooked to my desktop computer that is currently not working. For single cards these apps work really well.  For big posts I need to practice some more.

The Steelers have done a good job over the years on what players to give long term deals.  The one notable mess up was Rod Woodson.  He had several really good post Steeler years.

 Prestige is a very nice set. I always liked their numbered parallels.

 I'm not sure if this era of Finest Football is as popular as its baseball counterpart, but still cool nonetheless.

 More Bus!

 One of the best cards I've ever seen pulled in person was from Gridiron Kings.  I was in a card shop and saw the owner pull a Unitas auto.  It was pretty cool.  I'm a sucker for canvas cards so no matter if it is the football or baseball version, I love it.

 XFL superstar Tommy Maddox!

 Sometimes less is more with cards.  Such is the case with Donruss hockey.

 Gravedigger!!!

 International sex symbol John Candy Man Candelaria.

 I'm a sucker for team cards.  Even the new ones I love.  This also mixes nicely with my love of manager cards.

 Collectors Choice was a major part of my youth.  Money is tight as a kid so you needed sets with good bang for your buck.  Collectors Choice was a choice of mine more often than not.  Looking back on it as an adult it was probably even a bit underrated because UD had some great photo choices.

When I think athlete Mike Lavalliere often comes to mind.....

 My favorite card is the blatant screw up by Topps on the Gregory Polanco card on the bottom row middle card.  The picture is actually Aramis Ramirez.  The funny thing is they did it on a couple of sets.  Quality Control!

 I probably buy just enough football because of my WVU collection to form an opinion on some of the sets that are out there.  For me the best looking and bang for you buck set is regular Donruss.

 Sparkly Cutch!

 I'm a sucker for any Pirate related Wakefield release.

You should always end a post with a bang! The batter has no idea how over matched he is.

Thanks for being a good sport Adam.  You definitely took one for the team.  Thanks for sending so many great cards.

Ho Ho Ho

For Those Participating in Secret Santa

Just a friendly reminder to make sure all packages reach their destination by Christmas. Also, if you blog about your gift or make a Twitter post let me know and I'll make sure to add it to the formal write up after Christmas. I try to read all the posts, but I'm sure some will fall through the cracks.  This helps introduce everyone who participated and a nice way for some of the newer bloggers to reach some new readers. 

Happy shopping!

Secret Santa Rules and Needed Contact Information

I've officially closed the sign up period for this years Secret Santa.  It looks like we are standing at 41 so I'll add myself to even things out if I can't find one other person before this goes live.  Here are a couple rules/what is expected for each participant.

- The limit is $10 for the actual gift.  Feel free to add extra trade bait to take full advantage of the envelope.

- Please reveal your identity at some point to the recipient of your gift. This helps me do a nice wrap up post at the end and may help introduce some new trade partners to our community.  Here is the post from last year.

- Our biggest problem last year is that we had a few people not acknowledge that they received their gift. I'm asking that you either create a blog post, Tweet or at the very least email the person that the package arrived.  If you create a blog post or Tweet I'll link them to the main wrap up post.

I'll send out emails to everyone by Friday in regards to the person they will be buying for.  If we've never traded before or have recently moved please send me your contact information and mailing address to mattscott82@gmail.com .  If you have any questions just leave a comment here or send me an email.

Come Join Secret Santa!

It's year 2 of Secret Santa.  Things are guaranteed to be wild and crazy.  Join here!

I'll do a more formal rules/expectations post once everyone has a chance to join in.  Last year we ran into a problem with a few people not letting people know packages arrived and posting the contents of the package.  Half the fun is sharing what the other person put together for you. 

Secret Santa Time Again

CLOSED


It is that time a year again!

While we hit a few kinks last year I thought it went well enough to try it again.  At the very least it introduced some new blogs/trading partners.  The $10 limit worked well, but feel free to throw in extra trade bait where applicable.

I'll close this on Sunday and will throw out a few reminders throughout the week.  No need to pimp the post.  Once we have our participants I'll email everyone individually with the person they are shopping for in order to keep it a secret.  If we end up with an odd amount I'll join in to even things out.

Just leave a comment below to join in the fun this year.