Secret Santa Reveal Thread!

[Murray | 2,449]

Apparently, hungover Murray had access to a secret QR code hidden in his gift box that revealed Santa and Bender's true identities, but it was missed due to an overabundance of peppermint schnapps. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Murray

[spacepup | 2,409]

I appreciate everyone who has shared so far - thanks! I hope to see lots more goodies over the coming days. It is always fun to see the neat things people come up with.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and thanks to all of you for participating this year!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

8 hours ago, drxandy said:

Oh word, thanks for the info. It could be a back shell swap, but such good shape! 

Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I don't think I've seen that back on any Blades of Steel carts...maybe the Classic Series release, I honestly don't recall off hand, but definitely not that one.  Pretty sure it's a back swap.  Still, an awesome game to get!

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

6 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I don't think I've seen that back on any Blades of Steel carts...maybe the Classic Series release, I honestly don't recall off hand, but definitely not that one.  Pretty sure it's a back swap.  Still, an awesome game to get!

I don't think it's a Classics Series release, as that one had a red outline around the original label art.  I've picked up every "whole" label variant that I've seen or heard of and ran across the red border/Classics Blades of Steel at a flea market ~15 years ago and had to turn to the internet to figure out what it was (pretty sure it was an NA thread that provided the answer).  Could be a later release or, most likely, just someone having swapped the back somewhere along the way.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 minute ago, darkchylde28 said:

I don't think it's a Classics Series release, as that one had a red outline around the original label art.  I've picked up every "whole" label variant that I've seen or heard of and ran across the red border/Classics Blades of Steel at a flea market ~15 years ago and had to turn to the internet to figure out what it was (pretty sure it was an NA thread that provided the answer).  Could be a later release or, most likely, just someone having swapped the back somewhere along the way.

It's not the Classic Series release.  What I'd said was that the back label may have been on the Classic Series version, but it definitely wasn't on the version shown in the picture.  In this case, it's 100% a back swap...but at least he got a rarer back out of it instead of having a later game with an older back on it

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

3 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

It's not the Classic Series release.  What I'd said was that the back label may have been on the Classic Series version, but it definitely wasn't on the version shown in the picture.  In this case, it's 100% a back swap...but at least he got a rarer back out of it instead of having a later game with an older back on it

You would need to see the box or manual that originally came with that specific Blades of Steel cartridge so you could check the date to know for sure whether or not that is a back swap...

And @fcgamer : all four walls of my game room are already filled up with pictures of you, so there isn't any room left for these new ones...

Edited December 27, 2021 by Dr. Morbis

[rdrunner | 422]

20 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

I'll be honest, I took a huge gamble on the repro...I found that old blog that mentioned it being one of your favourite arcade games, but it was an ancient post, so I honestly wasn't sure if you already had a repro of it or not.  So glad I could help you rebuild your collection too!

Nice.  Years later and people still read that thing.  I haven't updated it in years, but it's still fairly accurate.  Glad it proved useful!

I actually only own two other Famicom games (Gradius 2, Goonies 1) so not much of a gamble at all.  Still need to branch out obviously.

Thanks again!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

21 minutes ago, rdrunner said:

Nice.  Years later and people still read that thing.  I haven't updated it in years, but it's still fairly accurate.  Glad it proved useful!

I actually only own two other Famicom games (Gradius 2, Goonies 1) so not much of a gamble at all.  Still need to branch out obviously.

Thanks again!

It's funny what Googling your name brings up   I'm glad I looked around though, because my original plan for the included repro was gonna be The Goonies...so maybe it was a bit more of a gamble than I realized

[ZeldaFreak | 3,601]

On 12/25/2021 at 10:15 AM, twiztor said:

Merry Christmas @Secret Santaand everyone else here at VGS(s)!

my Secret Santa was @ZeldaFreakand she helped me clear a couple games off my want list. Donkey Kong Land 2 and 3 for the Game Boy gets me two steps closer to finishing off the Donkey Kong series! both games were on my want list and are in excellent condition. also included was a way cool DK tie. thank you so much! this is why i love it here!!

also, i assume @spacepupand @Mega Tankare interested to see this box continuing its journey!

Glad you liked your stuff! I actually got you a few more things, but the estimated arrival date for them was after the deadline, so at some point in the near future I'm actually going to send you a second package containing more goodies, sort of an unofficial part 2 to this package.

Looking forward to seeing the box continue it's journey!

[ZeldaFreak | 3,601]

@Splain was my Secret Santa this year, and he absolutely hooked me up!

He got me Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity + the Expansion Pass for said game on Switch (Been wanting to play this along with the original Hyrule Warriors for quite some time!) Daft Punk's Discovery Album on CD (Will be nice being able to listen to this on road trips and whatnot) a set of Pink and Green Joy-Cons (The colors on these are way more vibrant than they look on the box, was super super surprised to see these!) Spider-Man GOTY Edition on PS4 (Been wanting to play this game ever since it came out) a PlayStation Icons light (Always good to add to my collection of various display pieces) a 4K Blu-ray of John Carpenter's The Thing (My absolute favorite horror movie and one of my favorite movies in general, so happy to have it on blu-ray now. Also assuming he got me this due to the fact that the last game of Werewolf I hosted was based on The Thing) as well as a gigantic toothbrush (I had no idea what this was when I saw it wrapped up, but this got a really good laugh out of me when I unwrapped it. For those out of the loop, during the previously mentioned game of Werewolf I hosted, I went through some dental troubles involving a badly infected tooth, and I kept all the players posted on that in between game updates while that game was ongoing. It's all pretty much been sorted now, but this surely would have taken care of all of my dental woes if the dentist didn't take care of it for me, hahaha)

Thank you so much dude, I was not expecting to get so much awesome stuff at all!

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,164]

This thread fills me with joy 

[Vectrex28 | 366]

On 12/26/2021 at 8:34 AM, Masterofzelda said:

My secret Santa surprise me with a lot of games I don’t have base on comics from there childhood. As a comic fan I know a lot of these Asterix and Obelix is actually one of my favorites. My wife enjoyed the candy canes. 

Woohoo! Glad they arrived safely

[Vectrex28 | 366]

We had a bit of a USPS moment, but they finally arrived! Thank you so much for the games @Murray, really appreciate them plus the extra goodies :D:D:D

 

Merry (late) Christmas to all!!!

[FireHazard51 | 2,047]

Seeing my S.S. recipient hasn't posted yet......

[fcgamer | 4,739]

6 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

Seeing my S.S. recipient hasn't posted yet......

I'm game if you wanna SS me some more chili

[Ferris Bueller | 495]

Was at my parent's, who live in the country. Back and opened my gift! Return address said my giftor was Under Pressure?

Dig the shirt and thanks for the copy of Dragon Warrior! Uncertain if there is something important about the shells, going to put them to the side for now. Puzzles are my family's time honored holiday tradition, so good stuff there! Not sure about the seaweed, that's a new one for me, but I will try it.    

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Ferris Bueller

[RH | 4,945]

To Secret Santa,

Thanks for the N64 titles and I appreciated the lot.  Army Men: Sarges Heroes (I always wanted to try these games out), Top Gear Rally (an N64 racer, so the chances are high it's good), Turok 2 (loved #1, can't wait to give this one a go), Mario Tennis (First Party, heck yeah!) and WCW Mayhem!  All great titles to add to my collection as I slowly collect toward a full set!

Have a happy New Year, and I hope your holiday season was filled with joy!

RH

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

5 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Return address said my giftor was Under Pressure?

It's probably @RegularGuyGamer. He put the same thing on my gift last year. 

 

 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,017]

5 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Was at my parent's, who live in the country. Back and opened my gift! Return address said my giftor was Under Pressure?

Dig the shirt and thanks for the copy of Dragon Warrior! Uncertain if there is something important about the shells, going to put them to the side for now. Puzzles are my family's time honored holiday tradition, so good stuff there! Not sure about the seaweed, that's a new one for me, but I will try it.    

 

That's me! That was my DBA years ago and I just never changed it lol

Your list didn't give me much to go off of but I knew you were into homebrew, repros & DW lol so I figured the shells might be put to use. 

The seaweed snacks are friggin good! I get em from the local Asian market and figured I'd share them if you're an adventurous eater. Merry Christmas!

[fcgamer | 4,739]

4 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

The seaweed snacks are friggin good! I get em from the local Asian market and figured I'd share them if you're an adventurous eater. Merry Christmas!

That's funny that you like them, a lot of people I know hate the seaweed, even a Moroccan guy. 

Actually I like the seaweed too, it's nice to shred and sprinkle on pasta though seaweed chips are the best.

[Secret Santa | 270]

Ho Ho Ho, are all guesses for Bender and I in?  I will let this go until tomorrow evening.  Get those guesses in!!!!

[Gloves | 11,815]

1 minute ago, Secret Santa said:

Ho Ho Ho, are all guesses for Bender and I in?  I will let this go until tomorrow evening.  Get those guesses in!!!!

Ooh, ooh! I wanna guess! 

[Secret Santa | 270]

15 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Ooh, ooh! I wanna guess! 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,601]

57 minutes ago, Secret Santa said:

Ho Ho Ho, are all guesses for Bender and I in?  I will let this go until tomorrow evening.  Get those guesses in!!!!

Oh, didn't realize we were on such a strict time limit for the guesses, haha.

Yeah, I honestly have no clue who one of you are, so I'm just gonna go ahead and throw out a random guess and say...

Santa: @Jeevan

Bender: @Splain

Santa I'm a solid 90% sure on, Bender I still didn't honestly have much of a clue on. The only reason I went with Splain was because he never gave a guess as to who Santa and Bender might be, whereas my other two picks (JamesRobot and FireHazard) did give guesses. Of course that could just be to throw us off the scent, but there's my thinking. If it isn't Splain, I'm inclined to agree with Kokiri's guess of Jeevan and FH.

[FireHazard51 | 2,047]

2 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Oh, didn't realize we were on such a strict time limit for the guesses, haha.

Yeah, I honestly have no clue who one of you are, so I'm just gonna go ahead and throw out a random guess and say...

Santa: @Jeevan

Bender: @Splain

Santa I'm a solid 90% sure on, Bender I still didn't honestly have much of a clue on. The only reason I went with Splain was because he never gave a guess as to who Santa and Bender might be, whereas my other two picks (JamesRobot and FireHazard) did give guesses. Of course that could just be to throw us off the scent, but there's my thinking. If it isn't Splain, I'm inclined to agree with Kokiri's guess of Jeevan and FH.

VGS couldn't handle that tag team duo