I’m glad you liked it! 
Happy holiday!
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bbobrob
122
@HumanForScale @azulryu That Gyarados frame is sick!
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Thank you so much @beccazican!
First, I love the Oddish art. I’m going to get a frame for it and put it in my office with my other secret santa drawing! 
I love the Eevee art (Eevee is my wife’s favorite Pokemon) so I think she’s going to steal it to put in her office 
The tin is the first tin that I’ve opened in probably the last 15 years. Definitely brought back a wave of nostalgia to open up some packs 
I pulled two cards with small hickeys on the back so those will go in my error collection!
And last but not least… this sowsow puzzle. sowsow is my favorite Pokemon artist and all of their art is so bubbly and lovely. I didn’t even know this puzzle existed so I immediately looked it up to find out more about it… and I learned that the company that made these permanently closed as of November 15th, 2023. But that did not stop Becca! Becca was very resourceful and managed to track down a fellow e4 member (thank you whoever you are) who lives in Sweden and asked them to pick up this puzzle for me at the final closeout sale from the in-person location before it shut down. This puzzle flew from Sweden to Becca before being packaged with the rest of the gifts which then made its way to my house. That’s over 4,800mi (7,700km)! I’m speechless. I happen to love puzzles (not mentioned in my secret santa blurb) so this ended up being extra perfect. These puzzles are incredibly hard to find and if you do find them they are very expensive. I don’t have the heart to open it because of how rare it is, especially since the company that produced them no longer exists. I plan on getting an acrylic case for it so it can stay in mint condition forever and it will join all of the rest of my collectibles on my shelves. 
Thank you again and happy holidays! 
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Well guess I’m going to look into starting a one item puzzle collection now. 
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I’m so glad you liked your gifts! I’m even more happy you like the puzzle as much as you do. I got one for myself too and I also don’t have the heart to open it haha.
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Finally opened mine after staring at it all week, and wow what an incredible and well organized gift, thanks so much @oxidelake!
Really putting my wrapping skills to shame! Didn’t take detailed pictures but even the tape and paper folding was incredibly neat.
Absolutely blown away by this drawing, I’m going to have to frame it and display it!
Oxidelake took some time to find a really unique set of cards featuring all of my favorite Pokemon. I’m especially surprised by the Espeon vs Mewtwo card, I’ve never seen that one! And I love all of the HGSS energy, I’ve got a set as my basic energy of choice for playing the TCG, but I didn’t own any at all in Japanese! Awesome stuff.
Really stoked you added a signed card too, I love that part of this tradition and it’ll go right next to @petiparty’s from last year in my binder 
Love getting some booster packs to open! Not the best pulls but happy to add some trainers to my stash for building decks.
Last but not least are some really unique Mewtwo cards! The 151 Mewtwo is really excellent, love getting a Japanese copy, the details always pop more than the English one! And the Mewtwo Strikes Back jumbo is really sweet, love these cards showing multiple Pokemon interacting, especially when it’s Pikachu!
Thank you so much @oxidelake! Happy holidays to you and yours! You definitely made mine brighter 
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So glad it made it to you safely! You’ll have to update the thread once you pick out which cards to put in there Can’t wait to see them side by side
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zork
128
the sleeping espy aaaaaaaaaaaaa E4 has so much talent
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Dang yeah some people on here are very skilled!
Me on the other hand…
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Thank you @kazambolt for the wonderful sets of legendary birds! I collect the original legendary trio as a side collection and have mostly filled it out via gifts from other people. This batch of modern birds fit the bill exactly. The Zapdos drawing is also super cute!
In particular, this crimped tag team promo is amazing!! definitely going into my bird binder
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You’re welcome @kazambolt! I’m so happy you liked it, I was stressing for weeks that I was only going to send out disappointment! Unfortunately I seem to have also given you my pack opening luck, I’m glad there was something useful at least.
I was looking for something that combined multiple Pokémon in one scene and I happened to randomly come across that Eifie VS Mewtwo card, I thought it was so cool! And the jumbo was one of the first things I thought of after learning your favorite Pokemon. It also has the superior surprised Pikachu face. 
Also, I wanted to wait until you replied with your gift, but fun fact, everything almost ended in disaster. I was at my desk getting everything ready to wrap and pack and everything was laid out in front of me. I had a cup of tea next to me (I know how this looks, but I will have you all know this has never happened to me until now. And I’m always very careful with any liquids when anything important is out) and right as I went to reach for it, it somehow tipped over right in the direction of all the cards, the note, and artwork! The note was resting right on top of the drawing and got completely soaked! I lifted it up and miraculously the drawing didn’t get a drop on it, the note absorbed all the tea lmao. All the cards were saved because my deskmat absorbed any tea spilled their way. Thankfully in the end all I had to do was rewrite the letter. Whew! 
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year @kazambolt!
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triple
134
@oxidelake can you please teach me how to write
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Of course! I accept sparkly classic Onixs as payment. 
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Definitely my favorite package so far. Beautiful.
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zubat
137
My deep thanks to my Secret Santa, @Dyl. Truly, I am touched by the thoughtfulness of each of these gifts. I don’t think I’ve ever been so touched in this hobby before. I will always cherish them. I love them all. They cover such a broad gamut of the hobby. I opened these last night with my wife and it was just emotional. No I wasn’t in tears. But it was just such an incredible experience to open and discover these items one at a time. Each card was in an individual bubble mailer, and I read his note and then opened them!!! Oh my gosh. It was so fun. A story with each card. In order to show some of the fun how I did the reveal, I will show them in the order I opened them in the packages.
But first I want to start of with this. “A crocheted item that was hand-made by the Mrs.” This goes first. This will always be displayed with my collection. His wife made this. It surely took hours and hours. And I love it. I will hold onto this and display it with my Pokemon cards for the rest of my life. It is so cool, thoughtful and to be honest I’ve never been so touched in this hobby before. This was the first item I saw when I opened the package. And I had to look at it to for a minute see the Zubat(I was looking at it sideways LOL!!!) But holy cow the moment I saw the Zubat I literally stared at this thing in silence for like 5 minutes. Gosh man a handcrafted piece can strike a chord like no other. It literally tooke my breath away. I love it so much. She is so talented to have made this!!!
The below gallery is a photo two items. A Neopet tradition. (Given to @pfm from @fazool. Then to @Dyl from PFM. It is now my duty to hold onto this and gift it next year!). Lastly, a picture of a handrawn letter and a Fossil Dragonite signed by Dyl. YES!!!
- “Some of the first printed artworks of my favorite Pokemon”. Wow. I’ve never owned Topsun cards and they are a sight to behold. What I like about these cards is they honestly look pre-90’s. having these cards in PSA 9(no small feat) is awesome.
- “Incredibly underrated artworks from Dyl’s favorite gen II Pokémon”. No kidding! I forget how many people like Crobat. He really is cool. And wow!!! A reverse holo from mysterious treasures in PSA 9!!! Do these even exist? Plus a PSA 10 from Pokemon VS??! THANK YOU!!!
- “Cards for the new binder collection”. I love these card because every individual card is filled with secrets about the Pokémon. So much character. Thanks for helping me get started! These are the first cards for this binder and its a great start!
- This card really shouldn’t go last. But I guess that’s the order I put it in!!! A special card that was owned by @Tapp . It was crossed from BGS to PSA. Dyl, I don’t know what to say. This is so generous. it is such a beautiful card!! It really means a lot that you were willing to give this to me to meet my goal. It is even more special that it is from Dyl’s favorite Pokémon. I will always cherish this card and whenever I think of it, I will think of the Secret Santa who gave it to me. It was a stretch for me to get this card this year but now I own it!! And the artwork may be the best Dragonite, and if its not it is second only to Fossil.
Again, my thanks to you @Dyl. I am so grateful.
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Wow @oxidelake , that Espeon is absolutely beautiful! Top tier!
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Dyl
139
@zubat I am soooo glad and relieved that you liked your gift! I had a ton of fun shopping out of my norm for things that I hoped would be meaningful additions to your collection. I’ve never looked at so many zubats, golbats, and crobats in my life before, which has given me a newfound appreciation for the evolution line.
My partner spends as much time crocheting as I spend looking at shiny cardboard. 
We knew that some sort of zubat crochet art would be necessary, and laughed hard when you said that you looked at it sideways in confusion!
I hope that you seek professional help after viewing my 1/1 Dragonite artwork. When you want to cash it in, I am sure that you could sell it in auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Special thanks to @SeasidePokemon for selling me the 1997 Carddass cards this holiday season and to @Tapp for selling me the Dark Dragonite a few years back. Keeping these cards within e4 is so special to me and I know that they will look great in your collection.
Happy Holidays, e4!
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I got my SS package from throwingknifekiller in today, and it’s got quite a few slows in there. Love the aquapolis slowking drawing (it has a striking resemblance I must say), and the post card is one of my more favorite ones featuring slowbro, such a classic.
The Undaunted Scizor and HG Gyarados are such amazing arts and will go right into the binder, which is in need of many of the hgss era holos! Definitely some top tier arts amid a strong illustration quality era.
The binder is full of a bunch of slows, so there’s no shortage of slows in this present, and I’m somewhat of a slow fan myself =)
Unfortunately I did receive the southern islands folder in a prior E4 SS, but no worries at all!
As for the packs pulls, he noted that he usually gets good luck around the holidays, and I immediately thought about the last SS I did where it was my first time opening modern and it felt nothing like when we were kids and you got 1 in 3 holos or so. I didn’t get anything… But history would not repeat itself, I got a solid pull, the charmeleon full art, which is a great card, just like all the other starters.
Happy holidays, happy new year, thank you!!
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