The Source Secret Santa 2018

[tsabo_tavoc]

2018 Christmas: Secret Santa from the Source

Thanks to many volunteers putting a lot of effort in the past dozen of years, our community has kept the spirit flowing. After its booming and flourishing years, the event has seen a decrease in attendance for the past 2 years. Nonetheless, I can attest they were as sweet as ever to experience:
2017 thread: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32088-Official-the-Source-Secret-Santa-2017-edition
2016 thread: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?31186-Secret-Santa-2016
If you feel like giving out something special and forging some friendship in this cyber space, don't miss out this time! Much credits to UseLess for a lot of copied rules from his post!

Your profile
- A contributor to this forum;
- Able to send a package worth bragging by insured shipment before 14 December (or 7 December for overseas);
- Willing to show your appreciation and share your gift in the bragging thread :cool:

Participation
Send me a PM with the following information before 23 November:
- A brief motivation if you are not sure being recognized as a contributor to this forum;
- Name and full address + alternative contact (mail/phone number/etc)
- Shipping region (within EU, North America, or no restriction)
- Your budget range *
- Your wishlist **


Budget information (Courtesy of UseLess)
With respect to the budget, I’ve seen very wide ranges over the past years of SSS. Some people have more to spend and/or give than others, but we should all remember that this is not a contest who can give most or who can give the least but get the most. You should participate if you like the idea of the gifting, doing something nice for a fellow sourcer and hopefully getting a nice package yourself that makes you remember this event.
Ideally, I’m going to pair people that have similar budget ranges, in order to avoid major disappointments. That said, people should always realize that even if budget ranges are the same, that doesn’t mean everybody can buy the same amount or type of cards with it. In particular between the EU and US, there can be some large price differences, so what is expensive in the US may not be expensive in the EU, and vice versa. Some people may buy at local shops (to say support those) where things might be more expensive than some online stores.
In short: appreciate the gift, not the value. Don’t expect to make money from this event. I will of course try to avoid having someone who spends $100+ on his gift get a gift from someone who has a range of $20-30, but value differences between giving and sending are unavoidable.

[**] Wishlist information (Courtesy of UseLess)
I will directly forward your wishlist to whomever will be giving you your present. Please make sure that your wishlist consists of at least some cards that are generally accessible by your average legacy player. Not everyone can get their hands on nice cards in Japanese foil. Also, be realistic. Don’t fill up your wishlist with only $40+ cards, even when your own budget is $50-100. If you include some lower value cards, you can often get more from your actual wishlist than if it’s just a bunch of expensive cards. If you prefer to participate in this event without a wishlist, you can state that as well.

The Christmas spirit (Courtesy of UseLess)
To spice up your present and give a real Christmas feel, consider also sending something in addition to cards! Things to consider:
- A personal letter for your ‘victim’
- Other magic related articles (sleeves, deck boxes, playmats, etc.)
- Candy, chocolate or other food/drink related goodies
- Souvenirs typical for your home country

Important deadlines
- Registration closed: 23 November 2018
- Pairings information sent: 25 November 2018
- Overseas shipment due: 7 December 2018
- Domestic shipment due: 14 December 2018
- Receipt and bragging: as early as you wish, but please do support the community by sharing your experience!

Stay tuned!

Santa
- compacta_d --- sent --- bragged
- Dan Pyre --- sent --- bragged
- Goin Aggro --- sent --- bragged
- Krasman --- sent --- bragged
- meffeo --- sent --- bragged
- mistercakes --- sent --- bragged
- Mr. Safety --- sent --- bragged
- PirateKing --- sent --- bragged
- ronco --- sent --- bragged
- spartan117 --- sent --- bragged
- taconaut --- sent --- bragged
- tsabo_tavoc --- sent --- bragged
- UseLess --- sent --- bragged

[meffeo]

I'm in, as usual.

[PirateKing]

Much better start than my 2016 attempt.

I'll join in as usual, thanks

[mistercakes]

Count me in again!

[taconaut]

I'm in, as well!

[tsabo_tavoc]

Much better start than my 2016 attempt.

I'll join in as usual, thanks

Thank you PirateKing, we all remember you single handedly rescued the tradition :smile:

[UseLess]

Great to see this initiative taken to keep the SSS alive! I had given up on seeing a thread emerge by now, but very happy Tsabo that you're taking the effort now. I'm definitely in for overseas :). I think last year went pretty well, so I have good hopes for this year! You'll get a PM with my info and wishlist a bit later. I got to figure out what to put on that list first.

[Goin Aggro]

I'm in

[Dan Pyre]

I'm in again for this year! Looking forward to shipping something across the pond :)

[ronco]

I'll do this this year. Sounds like fun. PM incoming.

[Mr. Safety]

I'm in.

[tsabo_tavoc]

Thank you all for participating! We are about to reach 10 people, and will for sure have some fun :laugh:
Please remember to send me a PM in the next 3 days!

[tsabo_tavoc]

Deadline in 1 day, hurry up for registration :eek:

I will then send the pairings during the weekend.

[spartan117]

In for the 4th time if I may join :laugh:

EU would be best!

[tsabo_tavoc]

The pairings have been sent on Sunday.
Since more people have shown interest, I will keep the registration open. For the second rounders, if you want to know your pairing by this weekend, send me your information (read opening post) before Friday, 30 Nov!

[UseLess]

Yes, target has been acquired. An interesting wishlist that gives some nice options for a good package!

[compacta_d]

PMed. I may be too late though. Hope everyone has fun!

[tsabo_tavoc]

PMed. I may be too late though. Hope everyone has fun!

Nice try, welcome to our party :laugh:

Wish everyone a nice start in December!

[ronco]

Tsabo, I'm having way more fun putting this together than I thought I would. I hope the receiver enjoys it. Still putting the finishing touches on the package....

[tsabo_tavoc]

Tsabo, I'm having way more fun putting this together than I thought I would. I hope the receiver enjoys it. Still putting the finishing touches on the package....

Glad to hear, that's how we got addicted to it :laugh: You certainly have one of the more exotic wishlists, and let's look forward to the bragging in a few weeks :smile:

[Dan Pyre]

My package is almost complete! Just missing a few pieces to send with it that I should be able to acquire today. However, I'm currently on graveyard shifts. I'll probably be asleep while the post office is open today before my package is finished. If I get it into the post office before it closes on Saturday the 8th, will that be an issue or should I eschew sleep to get it in today?

[mistercakes]

I'll also send out tomorrow. :)

[tsabo_tavoc]

My package is almost complete! Just missing a few pieces to send with it that I should be able to acquire today. However, I'm currently on graveyard shifts. I'll probably be asleep while the post office is open today before my package is finished. If I get it into the post office before it closes on Saturday the 8th, will that be an issue or should I eschew sleep to get it in today?

Nice to hear the international shippers are getting ready. The rules are general guidelines, and please send your package at your convenience.
Happy dredging at your graveyard shifts, and hope you will have a fresh reanimation :laugh:

[ronco]

I have all the items for mine. I'll be getting it out probably early next week once I get it all packed up! Hoping the recipient enjoys!
Btw - do we provide tracking anywhere? Or just hang on to it to make sure things get delivered?

[mistercakes]

sent out! :)

[tsabo_tavoc]

I have all the items for mine. I'll be getting it out probably early next week once I get it all packed up! Hoping the recipient enjoys!
Btw - do we provide tracking anywhere? Or just hang on to it to make sure things get delivered?

Glad to hear! You can PM the tracking info to me, and I will only check it in case of no receipt until Christmas. Otherwise, it is a nice tool to track how close is your package to their recipient.

[ronco]

Sent!

[Dan Pyre]

I'm the absolute ~worst~! :cry:

Posting here for accountability, sending this morning the moment the post office is open!

EDIT: Package sent! I'll have the tracking number to you in PM soon.

[tsabo_tavoc]

The first gifts have arrived!
However, I got PMs about high import tax, which is frustrating to experience as part of the Secret Santa. I think it makes sense to open up a discussion here what is the best way for international shipment for this year (mostly too late) and the coming years. Personally, I have very limited experience dealing with customs, and a ~20% import tax into Germany is not too unreasonable. The delay and extra efforts of course suck. What would you do? Mark as gift, estimate a value below threshold, etc.?

[ronco]

I'll just share what I did (shipping from USA to CAN):
filled out customs forms broadly but honestly, and put in the dollar value (individual items were off, but the total was correct), and marked as gift. I could send it express for $50 bucks or "first class" for ~$25. So I chose the latter. I can't imagine canada having issues not delivering packages, but I guess we will see! I sent through USPS. Has anyone sent via fedex/ups and if so, what were the rates for those?

I havent shipped to europe in a LONG time (like 15 years - back when workshops were $150 and duals were $40 :cry:) I've always put the dollar value on there as what it is for 2 reasons:
1 - I don't want to do anything illegal and I feel like that is something they would take seriously, even if the variance was "small."
2 - If something does go wrong and I need to claim insurance I want to make sure I'm adequately covered.

As far as the import duties (and this goes for commercial sales, not necessarily this), Ive figured that just a cost of buying overseas for the buyer. They knew they were buying from the states and presumably know their country does things the way they do things, so I just let them deal with it. After a small number of sales created big headaches I stopped selling to Europe.

[Mr Miagi]

I apologize if this comes too rough for some but these sort of things really grind my gears and I'm always amazed by the lack of knowledge, ignorance and pure idiocy when people are shipping items.

All you (not pointing any fingers; general term), as a seller, had to do is to declare the value below whatever is the taxation line for the country you were shipping to, that is worldwide roughly 20$. So why was it so hard to just declare value of the package at let's say 5$ and everything would be fine.. but hell no, some ignoranus decided to declare full value, preferably from the highest online site just cause... WHY? So the recipient can pay 30% more on tax/duties. Here's get bent and Merry Christmas gift for you.

And to all the people who say "that's why I never ship to X country or outside of my hermetically sealed bubble I'm living in" just grow a pair and fill in the customs form/declare value (you do this at post office when you hand in the package). That's all you have to do, post officer can help you, it's not that hard.. it's basically you just being lazy (afraid?) af and taking an easy way out. And as said before there's no reason to declare real value except when you are paying for insurance. there nothing more moronic than paying tax to state for trading MAgic card. And what are you going to say to customs officer, "Sir, sir but have you checked the prices lately, after the UMA reprint, that Engineered explosives is now 30$ instead of the declared 80$" .. they won't care (it's arbitrary af is what i'm saying).

Disclaimer: Customs can always stop, open the package and raise queries to the recipient even if value is below the taxation line, but that's, even if unlucky, something recipient has accepted when signing up for SS 2018 international edition. But recipient sure as hell didn't sign up for the buttfuckery that will now happen because somebody decided to go ham and declare full value of items. Marking package as gift is basically a customs trap and in great majority fails horribly so just never mark it as such hoping for "Oh it's a gift, now I can send a Ferrari. I bet customs officer will be cool about it". Sure buddy, sure, maybe one day you will climb over that mountain where the sun goes down.

ps: I've done thousands of sales and buys internationally and from my end I've never had issues with customs. But I did have some rare instances where sellers were just too .. let's call it uneducated.

[compacta_d]

You're being harsh.

As for me, this was my first time shipping to another country. The FedEx person didn't say anything about import duties. I was unaware such a thing even existed, as again this was my first time. I asked everything I could think to ask. I declared value, because the original thread SPECIFICALLY SAID TO and I was following instructions. As expensive as it was, I certainly didn't think my recipient would have to pay almost the same price. Why wouldn't they charge ME for that when I sent it? Had I known all that I would have figured out an alternate method.

[tsabo_tavoc]

ronco, Mr Miagi, compact_d:
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I appreciate the veteran's insights as well as views from first timers.
The Source Secret Santa has a tradition encouraging oversea exchange. Going forward, we should make it as friendly as possible to all parties involved, including the customs.
My proposal for the future editions would be international (i.e., across tax zones) shipment should have a declared value below 20$. There is of course more freedom about how much value one would pack in. MtG cards fluctuate in value, and there is foil/altering/signature to factor in. It is impossible to determine the value except by transaction records, which do not apply to Secret Santa gifts. However, to keep us at peace with all parties, nobody signed in for international should send or expect 100$ in 'market' value. There is still room to explore, as many of us are here for the sentimental value of Secret Santa.
It was hard for this year as we don't have many participants, but I kept shipping across tax zones under a half. I'd like to hear better proposals for future Secret Santas and hope this discussion will serve us good for the coming years.

[ronco]

Geez.

Don't know if Mr. Miagi was directed towards my post or set off by it or just a coincidence, but I'll reiterate my point again for clarity

As a SELLER (and not as a gift sending) - I put the sale value of cards on the customs forms. If a card sells for 30, I put 30 on the form. If it's 200, I put 200. It's a federal offense to put anything but the value of what is being sent so that's what I put on there because I have records of it selling for that amount, thus, that is the value of the contents. Its the same as any insurance I put on, if I choose to. That way everything matches and is done by the book in the event of disputes or audits or what have you (whether the law is correct or just is a different story).

I don't believe anything is different for gifting vs a commercial transaction (that was part of the reason I wanted to stay in NA as well). If the source wants to encourage other behaviors or find some other way around this I'm all ears. As for what I did for the gift, I followed pretty much the same process. Marked as gift, put the value as roughly what the contents were worth on the forms, ie my recipients target/my budget for this and sent it on its way.

[compacta_d]

The declared value on mine was higher than the contents, which led to higher taxes (i believe after googling).

I was following what FedEx told me, but clearly it was not the right thing (or correct thing, or legal thing) to do.

Clearly I would not do that to make a recipient of a GIFT pay more intentionally.

There was definitely a misunderstanding, and I think the employee was not as aware of things, especially after all of this talk.

I think talking about it and knowing what to do in the future is really the way to go about it. This is all important information to remember for next year or for people that are shipping late! Easy as that. Take it into account and figure the best possible way.

I'm still happy to do international. Adds fun to things for me. Novice mistakes. :(

[tsabo_tavoc]

@ ronco
I appreciate and agree with your points on selling and gifting. This year, we get budgets ranging from 50$ to 150$, well above the import tax threshold. In the last post, I was playing around ideas, how one could make 20$ 'market' value of cards worth more sentimentally. Altering is a good example, which can easily double the perceived worth, or if poorly implemented, halve the value.
To clarify, we should not advocate exploiting the 'grey area', especially not on our beloved public forum. To draft a shipment guideline for future Secret Santas, we could go within tax zone: no budget constraint; across tax zone: $20. I hope future organizers can have smarter ideas, but our discussion can serve as a good record to learn from.

@ compact_d
You are an awesome Santa and can only get better with international experience :laugh:

I would like to close the discussion here to prevent it from going astray.
The domestic shipping deadline is approaching. Let's all get ready to send out our packages :smile:

[PirateKing]

My alters just need to dry and I need to pick up some stocking stuffers and I'll be ready to mail this weekend.

Unrelated: painting is hard :<

[Dan Pyre]

Urgh, it's a shame about the import taxes. I declared the value so I could get insurance on the gift - I wouldn't want to be completely out if something goes wrong but it is frustrating that the import tax is based on that. I still really enjoy doing international gifting, it is a lot of fun for me. I hope that it doesn't go away in future editions :(

[mistercakes]

Unless if you're sending a single card that's very close to the whole budget, you could also consider sending several smaller packages. (or one package, and some other envelops with the other cards.)

[meffeo]

Presents sent out today. Now waiting for the braggin' thread.

[spartan117]

It's bragging time!
Got this sweeeeeet package last week, had troubles with custom duties but who the hell cares in the end.
Got everything off my wishlist and already put them at good use: those pyromancers took me twice to a "win and in" in a 139 and a 263 players events this weekend.
Unfortunately lost both (sad life...) but closing at a decent 12-4-1 Already in love with them!
Fun fact: sent out a foil spirit token from Unstable and got one back :tongue:

Finally my TSS mongoose playset is complete, really happy about the accomplishment :smile:

Thanks Santa and TSS :wink:

https://i.ibb.co/k9H8MKk/IMG-2455.jpg (https://ibb.co/z7nRNsj)
https://i.ibb.co/K7VP3gX/IMG-2456.jpg (https://ibb.co/WFBhYX6)
https://i.ibb.co/fGggCBw/IMG-2457.jpg (https://ibb.co/0V77f8b)
https://i.ibb.co/S0c7yyD/IMG-2458.jpg (https://ibb.co/FJXq33k)
https://i.ibb.co/MgNB9nK/IMG-2459.jpg (https://ibb.co/8m8YXMG)
https://i.ibb.co/y4mHfsW/IMG-2460.jpg (https://ibb.co/GHfzxPc)
https://i.ibb.co/HrW4qNQ/IMG-2461.jpg (https://ibb.co/FBS3zst)
https://i.ibb.co/gMtmQmS/IMG-2462.jpg (https://ibb.co/zhPQCQX)

[Mountain King]

Awesome Mongeese!!! ❤️

[ronco]

I think mine (that I sent) was delivered today. Hoping the recipient enjoys and I hit the mark!

Also, fun package! The 'goose is loose!

[tsabo_tavoc]

Unless if you're sending a single card that's very close to the whole budget, you could also consider sending several smaller packages. (or one package, and some other envelops with the other cards.)

That's a great idea! Would it still work for multiple packages sent on the same day?

[tsabo_tavoc]

It's bragging time!
Got this sweeeeeet package last week, had troubles with custom duties but who the hell cares in the end.
Got everything off my wishlist and already put them at good use: those pyromancers took me twice to a "win and in" in a 139 and a 263 players events this weekend.
Unfortunately lost both (sad life...) but closing at a decent 12-4-1 Already in love with them!
Fun fact: sent out a foil spirit token from Unstable and got one back :tongue:

Finally my TSS mongoose playset is complete, really happy about the accomplishment :smile:

Thanks Santa and TSS :wink:


https://i.ibb.co/S0c7yyD/IMG-2458.jpg (https://ibb.co/FJXq33k)


Nice start of bragging time! Congrats on the good records, and next time your will get there!
That's a sweet Mongoose (or Cobra)!!! Am I the only one concerning about Mongoose's casting cost is turning blue :laugh:

[UseLess]

I forgot to mention it here, but my package has been shipped on Saturday to a place far away. I hope the recipient will enjoy it a lot, it was for sure fun to assemble!

[PirateKing]

Mine was sent out with a tracking number in case anything goes amok, scheduled for delivery this Friday. Merry Christmas!

[tsabo_tavoc]

We have all sent out our packages, proud of our community :smile:
Let me remind us that bragging is an obligation this year, and let's follow spartan117.

[Dan Pyre]

Finally got around to bragging - my gift came in today!!!! Going Aggro - MY MAN!!! Look at some of these hotties! And a FACTION PACK from Mirrodin Besieged coming fully equipped with Mirran Crusader? Be still my beating heart!

Now I'll finally be able to build Pox and spread some misery cheer this coming year. These Sinkholes are sooo cool! And thanks for the fetchland, those are always in demand :D

Merry Christmas everyone!

EDIT: For reference, my tl;dr wishlist was "Mother of Runes for DGA, Bonus Rounds for Mono Red Storm and a 'Pox starter kit.' I also love foils." Thanks again to going Aggro, you really did swell :)

https://i.imgur.com/Z4sN1bn.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/CRVK2nA.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/pWa7iYc.jpg?1

[mistercakes]

I can appreciate some mono red storm love.

[mistercakes]

https://i.imgur.com/g2Nv5oK.jpg

thanks matteo! now i'll have to figure out how to beat you with these. ideally all in one deck just because.

[ronco]

Brag time!
taconaut delivered huge! I was super stoked not only in what was delivered but that it felt very personalized with a pretty generic wishlist (being my first time doing this I certainly didn't make it easy on him). His combing through my posts was much appreciated - (taco - I have managed to acquire at least one functional copy of every PW now).
https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/48412905_10104210723184124_4321078992057663488_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=d92cce7eeb159dfd750704eefb4c1798&oe=5CA489B5

Forgot to get the golgari dice in the picture, but here it is in it's glory. And in case anyone was wondering, these are my first (and second and third....) un-lands. I'm pumped to sleves these toys up. And yes, the treasures are shiny! Thank you very much santa!

[Goin Aggro]

Just wanted to let my Santa know that I've received my gift. I'm old fashioned and like to wait until the day of Christmas to open - So I'll get my brag post up then - But until then, thank you so much, I'm super excited!

[tsabo_tavoc]

As people are asking for the ways to link pictures to brag, here is a summary on the 4 examples on this page:
2 use imgur.com, 1 uses ibb.co, and 1 uses fbcdn.net (facebook?).
To make the html format correct, I suggest 'Reply With Quote' a post with embedded pictures, then copy paste the format and replace with your link.

[Mr. Safety]

Cool, thanks

[ronco]

Yep, I was the facebook one. I just upload a picture to a private photo album, then copy the image source which gives that long link. I don't have an imgur/ibb account and don't feel like signing up so that's usually how i do things.

[compacta_d]

Sweet Xmas package came in! Thank you very much, I got some great stuff I'm excited about!

Keeping the names off for privacy.

Edit-struggling with the pics. Edit in a minute. I'll get it.

https://i.imgur.com/hxxF3MX.jpg

Aha! That should do it.

[tsabo_tavoc]

Resized the image:


https://i.imgur.com/kxj1krk.jpg


Edit: Feel free to disclose your Secret Santa during bragging, as it is the convention here :smile:

[Mr. Safety]

That was me! Glad you liked it.

[compacta_d]

I didn't want to do full name and screen name for privacy.

It was totes Mr. safety! Thanks for everything! I'm glad it was you after seeing you around the same decks I like. We have so much in common! Haha

Thanks for the pic help as well.

[Mr. Safety]

Got my loot today! Woah, super appreciative, this was incredible! Some cool unglued, a couple sweet foil tokens (that angel will upgrade my Geists quite nicely.) Big thanks! Now i'd like to know who it is! No mention of user name in the package.

EDIT: Sorry for the poor picture quality. That's an italian SoFI and a set of Chinese (?) Daze.

https://i.imgur.com/TEKca2u.jpg?4

[spartan117]

Got my loot today! Woah, super appreciative, this was incredible! Some cool unglued, a couple sweet foil tokens (that angel will upgrade my Geists quite nicely.) Big thanks! Now i'd like to know who it is! No mention of user name in the package.

EDIT: Sorry for the poor picture quality. That's an italian SoFI and a set of Chinese (?) Daze.

That was me :smile:

Looks like you enjoyed the package, really hoped so!
Daze are indeed chinese!

Merry Xmas :laugh:

[tsabo_tavoc]

Merry Christmas, fellow Sourcers!
This year's bragging has been awesome! Can't wait to see the remaining half, and let's do it at our earliest convenience!
For anyone who has not received, please let me know.

[UseLess]

Merry Christmas indeed! The packages spoiled so far have looked great and I'm very much looking forward to opening mine. I'm currently away for the holidays so it might have arrived already. I'll let you know once I'm back in the weekend.

As far as I'm aware the package I've sent hasn't arrived yet and for some dumb reason my tracking code isn't showing on the postal service's website. With the holidays upon us there's no reaching them. I'll try to get a hold of them Friday again to get the status of the package if my 'victim' hasn't confirmed before then yet.

[Mr. Safety]

That was me :smile:

Looks like you enjoyed the package, really hoped so!
Daze are indeed chinese!

Merry Xmas :laugh:

Loved it! I was ecstatic just getting to Bitterblossom, SoFI put me over the moon! Kind sir, i hope your karma follows you wherever you go.

[meffeo]

https://i.imgur.com/g2Nv5oK.jpg

thanks matteo! now i'll have to figure out how to beat you with these. ideally all in one deck just because.

Ahah yes please.

Santa delivered some reeeeally good stuff but I won't be home until the 2nd of January. Pictures and bragging coming up!

[PirateKing]

Holy crap UseLess I am speechless. Just absolutely floored. Once I have access to some photo editing to turn these pictures down to a less silly size you can bet I'll brag the heck out of these. But in the meantime I can say I was gifted with

Penmanship
Food! oh god it smells so good
a wonderful selection of Mountains
Penmanship, like for real

If you ever wander into New Jersey there's all the Heineken you can drink :laugh:

Seriously, perfect in every way.
Merry Christmas and an epic New Year!

oh god I'm going to get so fat

EDIT FOR PICTURES!
So my wishlist was for local delicacies of food and liquor. Customs and whatnot being what they are liquor was right out. But food! Oh man what a gift
Also my wife just finished a Burn deck so obviously we need super cool Mountains to put in, and UseLess did not disappoint!

https://i.imgur.com/66T6UK2.jpg
it tastes as good as it smells, which is also good. Just good, everything is good

https://i.imgur.com/P2E2ETj.jpg
Some festive alters with tasteful black boarder alters because obviously it goes without saying. UseLess gets it.

Thank you again so much!

[UseLess]

Great to hear you liked it! It's a 'shame' (for you, not for me :p) that the third piece of speculaas didn't fit in the box, now I had to eat it myself, haha. And you forgot to mention you also got a nice replacement for your wife in case you kick her out when you've been burned to death one too many times. Admiral Beckett will never be mean to you!


I also came home today and had a very nice package from our gracious host waiting. Tsabo_tavoc actually drafted my cube (http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/61178)a few times and gave me some cards to spice up my enchantment theme. On top of that some other nice cards (Bloodghast, Toxic Deluge, playset of Fatal Pushes and an altered Goblin Cratermaker) that I wanted for my cube/decks so that they don't need my cube cards :p. As you can see tsabo, your cards already made it in. I'm hosting a cube in a few weeks again for my friends and I'm looking forward to hear how they liked your cards! Pictures are coming later, now too tired after a full day driving.

[tsabo_tavoc]

Admiral Beckett will never be mean to you!
Had to google it to know she is a MtG card. Where is the picture, PirateKing?
Which edition is the Rebecca Guay Mountain from?


I also came home today and had a very nice package from our gracious host waiting. Tsabo_tavoc actually drafted my cube (http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/61178)a few times and gave me some cards to spice up my enchantment theme. On top of that some other nice cards (Bloodghast, Toxic Deluge, playset of Fatal Pushes and an altered Goblin Cratermaker) that I wanted for my cube/decks so that they don't need my cube cards :p. As you can see tsabo, your cards already made it in. I'm hosting a cube in a few weeks again for my friends and I'm looking forward to hear how they liked your cards! Pictures are coming later, now too tired after a full day driving.

Happy you like the new cards and adapt 4 of them to your well-thought cube! Great to know you run the cube in real life. How do you normally draft it, and how can I set the parameters at cube tutor to simulate your draft?

[PirateKing]

Had to google it to know she is a MtG card. Where is the picture, PirateKing?
Which edition is the Rebecca Guay Mountain from?

She's someplace... safe. But no, she was with the rest of the hard cases which were out of frame when I snapped the pics.
The Rebecca Guay Mountain is the APAC for Taiwan, out of the blue APAC booster.

The last 3 mountains there are all the APAC mountains.

[taconaut]

My turn to brag! I actually received the package a couple weeks ago, but with the holidays hadn't had time to type it up!

mistercakes sent me a bangin' Secret Santa package, with some sweet flavor from across the pond!

Here (https://imgur.com/a/1k6GUnN)'s the album on imgur, with commentary! (can't seem to get the pics to show up here).

Mistercakes, thank you so much for taking the time to put this together! I got a huge kick out of opening it, and I can really tell you checked out my posts/put it together with care! If you're ever this side of the Atlantic, let me know, and we can get beers on me!

[mistercakes]

thanks for the post! much appreciated.

[Krasman]

Sorry for late post; received my package on time just did not have a chance to post it.

Tokens are super sweet; thanks Ronco.

http://i68.tinypic.com/2qcqslv.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/29eg0gw.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/20ifjac.jpg

[tsabo_tavoc]

Wow, gorgeous:eek: Are you an artist, ronco?

Edit: Happy 2019, everyone!
Remember to post your picture for bragging!

[ronco]

Wow, gorgeous:eek: Are you an artist, ronco?

Edit: Happy 2019, everyone!
Remember to post your picture for bragging!

I wish!
I took the easier/professional way out and made them through makeplayingcards.com. I had been wanting to make zombie tokens with scathe zombies art (A/B/U/R) and figured this would be a good opportunity to do so.

[meffeo]

It's bragging time!

Dan Pyre, you're da man. I am so stoked for what I got. Less words, more pictures:

A great Deckbox and a pack of sleeves (conveniently, those are the ones I use since forever):

https://i.imgur.com/a/5i0Jy1d.jpg?1

The reason why Legacy is great (yes, MM > Ice Age):

https://imgur.com/a/G7nvdnr

A UMA booster, containing...

https://imgur.com/a/9pXAfYQ

Sick playset, accompanied by a note: "Greetings Matteo! I hope that this particular playset of signed cards finds you well. They've traveled from near one coast of the USA to annother, in fact. I asked the artist, Adam Rex, if he could do the signatures for me and he graciously accepted. I shipped them from Ohio to Arizona and then back again - and now they're in your hands! Use them to annihilate your Dredge and Reanimator enemies with aplomb!" Will surely do :cool:

https://imgur.com/a/Xux5nnt

Many many many thanks again!

[tsabo_tavoc]

It's bragging time!

Dan Pyre, you're da man. I am so stoked for what I got.

Bravo, that is a great package, very well altered Brainstorm!
A nice pull from the booster, what are the rests, especially the foil?

[meffeo]

Bravo, that is a great package, very well altered Brainstorm!
A nice pull from the booster, what are the rests, especially the foil?

Fire//Ice, Kitchen Finks, foil Shed Weakness. Basking Rootwalla as best beater.

[Jaynel]

https://imgur.com/a/G7nvdnr

The reason why Legacy is great (yes, MM > Ice Age):



Agreed that MM is > Ice Age, and that is an awesome Secret Santa-themed Brainstorm - "while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads"...

[taconaut]

The reason why Legacy is great (yes, MM > Ice Age):

https://imgur.com/a/G7nvdnr



:eek: That alter is bananas!

Also, sick rip from the UMA pack for sure

[Dan Pyre]

Many many many thanks again!
Hey! It's finally up! Glad you enjoyed them :) I made a mistake though... I forgot to credit my friend Katie who did the Brainstorm alter for me in the letter! So props to her for that!

[tsabo_tavoc]

I just received the sweetest package of the year!
https://i.imgur.com/aR5CmpN.jpg

Thank you Krasman!
You are awesome to take the awkward role gifting the organizer, then work without a wishlist or recent posts indicating deck preferences.
Man, you delivered huge!
My favorite is the Canadian bear playmat. It is my first playmat, as I had been using my friend NecroYawgmoth's for tournaments. This may actually motivate me back to some Legacy tournaments even before a Brainstorm ban :wink:
I just came to know the card Teferi's Protection and realised how big it is in EDH. Also found a 5-0 Legacy Angel Stompy list to accommodate it!
The real surprise, 9 packages of candys, weighing 2 kilograms! You totally upped my wife's perception on my hobby to the next level :laugh: I believe by the candys, you convinced the customs to get the package through as I found the wrapping paper opened and stacked carefully back on top.

[Krasman]

The real surprise, 9 packages of candys, weighing 2 kilograms! You totally upped my wife's perception on my hobby to the next level :laugh: I believe by the candys, you convinced the customs to get the package through as I found the wrapping paper opened and stacked carefully back on top.

I just lazily put a piece of paper in top of the stuff so dont think customs hit it.

Again sorry for the delay, tried to make it worth your while for being late

Also glad you like the matt.

[UseLess]

So here's (finally) the pictures of the cards I got from our gracious host.

http://i.imgur.com/eH3ndyih.jpg (https://imgur.com/eH3ndyi)
http://i.imgur.com/WAp59Ywh.jpg (https://imgur.com/WAp59Yw)

The ones in the sleeves are already in my cube, which I'll be drafting with some friends next week :cool:. Looking forward to see how the new cards do. Some drafting on cube tutor already gave me a positive impression on the cards!

Edit: Finally… I still really hate Imgur, but it works now.

[Goin Aggro]

Sorry to take so long with this, and THANK YOU SO MUCH PIRATEKING!

I'm super thrilled with my SS gift.

I asked for packs for chaos drafting and an atogatog alter if possible. (I collect atogatogs)

This is what I had the pleasure of opening up on Christmas morning

https://i.imgur.com/SWmLT2e.jpg

Edit: I have no idea how to format images, so here's a link to a hosted site:
https://imgur.com/a/4T0fTin

I'm super excited to draft these with my friends soon! Thanks so much!

[tsabo_tavoc]

Kudos to everyone, we have had tons of fun, and achieved something unprecedented:

Delivery rate: 100%
Bragging rate: 100%
Completed by: 15 January

Looking forward to the next Christmas, and I will write a message here to invite our next organiser!

[PirateKing]

Sorry to take so long with this, and THANK YOU SO MUCH PIRATEKING!

Merry Christmas, glad to see it opened. Hope that which was not photo'd didn't cause too much delay :tongue:
It's difficult to tell through the photos (and my lack of artistic skill), one Atogatog they're all reindeer and the other he's Santa and they're all presents.
Hope the medley of packs nets some good pulls. Enjoy!

[tsabo_tavoc]

Merry Christmas, glad to see it opened. Hope that which was not photo'd didn't cause too much delay :tongue:
It's difficult to tell through the photos (and my lack of artistic skill), one Atogatog they're all reindeer and the other he's Santa and they're all presents.
Hope the medley of packs nets some good pulls. Enjoy!

Wow, the alters are super impressive! I only noticed the Santa hat and missed all the details, as they fit too nicely :laugh:
What kind of marker did you use to draw on Magic cards? I was still using the super basic Sharpies.

[PirateKing]

What kind of marker did you use to draw on Magic cards? I was still using the super basic Sharpies.

No markers, acrylic paint like a real artist. You know, aside from talent or skill or technique or anything like that :laugh: thanks though