I received a package from my Secret Santa today and my kids and I were so excited to open it! Thank you so much @arrokuda for the thoughtful and unique gifts! My kids are going crazy over the Pokemon movie sheets. I love the Vileplume from southern islands and embarrassingly did not have the English version (now I do 
). The foreign cards are also a great addition to my WOTC collection. Thank you so so much - this was a lot of fun to receive!
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Ill be the first to tell you outside of your secret santa recipient. Your gift was awesome as well as everyone elses. Youre amazing just for particpating.
Thank you for being here, and having fun with us all. ^-^
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My awesome secret santa from @ddk arrived today and I couldnāt be happier!! I am so grateful for all the effort that went into it. My girlfriend spotted the snorlax plush and asked for it before she even saw the note, so you did amazing picking for her too. I love receiving stuff that Iāve never seen before and you did a great job making that happen!!! Especially loved the gengar book end and the tyranitar hour glass 
thank you so much! Photo bomb included below 
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Your cat is beautiful, and I love how its already in the box 
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Glad the gift reached you! I was really afraid I wouldnāt be able to get it out in time as most of the items were from Japan. I had to wait until late November to order as the Snorlax snowman plushie only released then and I instantly knew that would be the perfect present for your girlfriend! Happy to know you liked the Tyranitar hourglass & the Gengar bookend (I gotta get one for myself now that Iāve seen it) and your cat liked the box!
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I didnāt know exactly what to expect going into this and after receiving my package and seeing everyone elseās, I feel like whatever expectations I had were blown out of the water.
@triple You apologized for not getting exactly what I was looking for, but seeing what some of your favorites are was kind of exactly what I wanted! I love the card choices. Thank you so much! Iām sorry the Victini was kind of smashed, but Iāll treasure it regardless.
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Its a really really nice bookend. I cant thank you enough for the gifts!!!
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@triple I love the Mimikyu drawing 
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Okay its finally time for my turn. I have enjoyed seeing the exchange bring some clever and fun ideas.
My santa was none other than the great @SeasidePokemon
I felt it was right that I get to know my secret santa a little better too before opening things. So I set my packages aside and went to check his collection thread. I had this vague memory that he has one of the best collection threads and that memory was validated. It is indeed amazing on so many levels. Iāll let you guys browse it for yourself, its so worth it for the story and journey he has gone through in collecting. Truly unique.
seaside pokemonās collection thread
Iāll be honest, I recorded the entire opening session and made this whole thing but Iām super embarrassed to actually upload it for some reason. But I made a whole thing of it, it exists.
Nonetheless, Iāll share forth!
The treat that let me know who my santa was! I love my Santamparosā¢ I want to point out that this absolute masterpiece was done in water color, a medium that is meaningful to me, and its not easy to manage it either. So kudos is in order!
I let my santa have quite the essay of what I like, and I was so afraid to not give them enough options for any budget level and amount of cards. But I also realized I could have condensed much of it by saying I just like reverse holos and Iām hunting them all down!
What I ended up getting was quite a spread. I didnāt know what was coming since I had 4 packages wrapped up. I didnāt get pictures, when wrapped oops, but its on film of me opening it I swear. Seaside did a great job wrapping. Its not easy to get a good snug and clean wrapping job for presents.
The first package I opened turned out to be the cards chosen just for me. So I set them aside face down and saved them for last.
Not sure what to expect next I grabbed a soft package and inside, was a Ho-Oh sitting cuties stuffed pokedoll. If you canāt tell I am a massive fan of generation 2. I love the pokemon and it holds a special place in my heart. And Im in the minority by having a great love of Ho-oh! Most people prefer lugia. I like them both honestly, but ho-oh has some nostalgia as my Mom had a Ho-Oh deck she had built back in the day. yes my mom was a cool parent like that.
Next I opened up what turned out to be a Exegutor christmas ornament! This was just too perfect. This year was the first time in years that I set up a christmas tree, and the warmth it brought me was great. But I donāt have any ornaments anymore, so seaside, you got me my very first ornament for the new era of christmas trees for many years to come. Iāll always remember this. Just getting the tree up was enough for this year. No ornaments, and I had only enough lights to go up 2/3rds of the tree. It was pretty funny, but endearing and my guests loved it nonetheless. It was a bit of a december to just stay on top of things so getting the tree set up was a miracle at all.
The third gift was entirely shocking. (not shown directly) was an elite trainer box for the White Flare set! I was surprised. I really wanted to open the set because I knew they buffed the IR rarity pull rates and thus it would be a fun set to eventually open. I havenāt opened a single pack since surging sparks, its been over a year! The whole Scarlet Violet era I had otherwise enjoyed affordable booster pack openings. So it was fun. However as I ripped it open I grabbed the little packet with the promo and realized wait that tornadus has a pokemon center stampā¦uh ohā¦I started to feel bad that I had opened it at that point. The one thing I had any interest in collecting sealed was Pokemon Center ETBs. They were introduced at the same time I came back to collecting, and so I could get them all at msrp as they came out, and it was not hard to get them. Heck the fusion strike one was in stock for years. But with this recent frenzy I lost out on too many drops for them and kind of lost faith in my abilities. However I still want the stamped promos, and began opening the packs. Out of this I was lucky enough to pull a masterball holo of mienfoo! woohoo! I was content. I got a couple IR cards, which I love as a rarity. But then I opened the second to last pack and BAM! I pulled the best card in the set, the SIR of Reshiram drawn by Kawayoo! I actually flipped out. And at that point I felt less bad about opening the box. I never expect anything of high rarity, so to get that was truly lucky, and the best SIR at that? I was over the moon.
Okay on to the real deal here. What specific cards did Seaside choose for me? Well I had forgotten that I mentioned a couple things. I have wanted to sink my teeth into the HG/SS era cards. It was a single year of releases, smaller sets, and from the games I think are the best. In my post stalking I see that Seaside agrees with this sentiment. But I had definately forgotten that I mentioned my affinity for a specific artist, Sachiko Adachi. There is something about this art that really speaks to me. I have no idea really how they made these art pieces. Sadly their work with pokemon cards ended and no longer do art for the tcg. But I love it. Its like a clay sculpture that feels sort of 2d while being 3d. And the background is several layers of paper for a feeling of real physical depth. This is actually a type of art that a friend of my developed on his own and Iāve copied and find it looks really neat. So to say Iām happy with the present is an understatement. It couldnāt have been better. This will be a great start to the heart gold and soul silver binders for me!
I am grateful to Seaside for the thoughtful and generous gifts. I didnāt know what to expect, and I am just glad that I was given a secret santa whose own journey inspires me. It was a great secret santa, so much more than I expected. Thank you for the thoughtful gifts.
I want to quote seasideās collection thread that really felt impactful to me
Merry Christmas!
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Awesome, glad it came fine! Yeah the victini card probably got destroyed because I accidentally jammed the package in the usps drop box, sorry about that. I really wanted to get stuff from JP, but holiday shipping made it rough hehe. Iām super glad you enjoyed it and happy new years
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@Dyl my jaw is on the floor. In fact, I think my jaw blew entirely off my face and skyrocketed off the face of the earth. This is hands down the most thoughtful gift Iāve ever received. There are so many things that are incredible that I donāt even know where to start.
First off: SLOWQUEEN HAT??? OH MY GOD??? HOW???
The tag says from @HaiRai and from some snooping, it looks as though this is Dylās partner. HaiRai and Dyl, you knocked it out of the park on this one!
This is my new favorite thing ever. It looks just like my profile picture! Itās SOOOOOO cool!!! I need another E4 meetup to wear this to ASAP!
Ahem, now back to our regularly scheduled unboxing. I opened the box to this fabulous Slowpoke drawing - I love the vibes here, and I appreciate that it was packaged safely with cardboard backing.
Okay, time to see whatās in the box - OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT
I AM DYING I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS REAL??? THE LITTLE POKEMON ORNAMENTS ON THE SLOWBRO TREE HAHAHAH
Not only is it insane that TreeBro exists, itās impressive that you were able to track down what appears to be a very old piece of niche sealed Japanese merch that is so incredibly on theme. I love the packaging too, itās very perfect. This will be a centerpiece of my holiday decor for years to come. As I type this, Iām currently encasing it in an acrylic case to sit on my shelf forever. 
Next was a Pokemon Center CD that I can only assume contains the classic Yadon Song. What an incredibly cool item! I didnāt even know they made physical copies! I love this artwork on the cover too. (Edited to add some photos of the interior as well. Such great packaging!)
Thank you for the yummy holiday treats 
My husband and I are staying in for New Years Eve tonight after lots of holiday travel, so these will be perfect for us to snack on while Iām wearing my Slowqueen hat
Now Dyl, if you hadnāt already outdone yourself, this is where my face started truly melting off of my bones. Thatās right, itās cardboard time
I laughed out loud when I read the envelopes. I decided to open them in order, and what I found inside truly blew me away. For a long time, Iāve been maintaining a wishlist of cards I hope to one day add to my collection. What I didnāt expect was how many of those cards you would select, and how special the cards you sent would be. I am truly so grateful 
First off, the S contained my favorite Shibuzoh Slowbro art as well as some amazing little stickers from my favorite Japanese-exclusive Slowpoke campaign. Update: itās been brought to my attention that this Shibuzoh Slowbro is actually a crimp error! Even cooler, and perfect for my error collection!
Then I opened the rest of the letters, and holy moly this is absolutely crazy. Iāve been slowly picking up cards to work on the Radiant Collection set for a while now, I love the artwork and the overall cohesive ācuteā theme of the set. Dyl, you knocked out so many of my wants in one go, Iām having a hard time believing it. The Stunfisk and the Wobuffet crack me up. Those Pikachus are iconic. Plus the Togetic and the Light Dragonite, I donāt even know what to say! I have had my eye on these cards forever and Iām honestly in disbelief at your generosity. Thank you so much, these cards will all have an eternal place in my binders where I will gaze at them often. Youāve added a whole lot of new all-time favorite cards to my collection 
Finally, as if you hadnāt already knocked it out of the park, I was delighted to receive a 151 booster bundle! Of course I ripped it immediately, and got lucky with another beautiful card that will have a special place in my binder.
Dyl, from the Slowest reaches of my heart, thank you so much for this incredibly thoughtful and generous gift. I see you all over the forum spreading cheer, and you were one of the first people to welcome me to E4, so itās not surprising to me that you would put your whole heart into Secret Santa as well. Thank you again so much, and Happy New Year!!!
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Wow thatās insane, I need to up my slowpoke collection or Iāll be left in the dust.
@Dyl insanely thoughtful gift.
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this is goated
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Iām glad you liked everything!
I wish I could have gotten them out to you earlier so you could hang the ornament on your tree! It was really fun shopping for those HGSS reverse holos, Sachiko Adachi is super unique. And Iām glad you did open the ETB, thatās what itās for! Super happy you got some good hits too.
Merry Christmas!
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Yeah Dyl great gift! That slowbro christmas tail is one of my favorite non tcg items of all time. The first time i ever saw it purchased it instantly. Absolutely perfect gift idea for a slow fan such as the queen. Even more fitting for secret santa. 10/10
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I canāt tell you how many hours I spent scrolling through your collection thread and wishlist link to put together a cohesive present. It was daunting because your Slow collection is near-complete.
I am not particularly gifted with drawing, so this goofy illustration actually took me about 10 tries. 
This year I forgot to include a signed card, so please let me know if there is a special one in mind and Iāll get that sent off.
It took me a while to find this beautiful monstrosity, especially factory sealed with the foot and tail ties in tact! Vintage TOMY toys and holiday exclusive gifts really bring me back to the Pokemon toy era of the 1990s. Also - āTreeBroā made me die.
Yes, I love that song! They also posted an English version here! @HaiRai and I listened to this song on repeat as we were putting the final touches on your package. Warning, it is a powerful earworm that may never leave your head.
It didnāt feel right sending the slowqueen cards other than Slowpoke, Slowbro, or Slowking, so I had to slip one in. I forgot to mention that the Shibuzoh Slowbro is a crimp error (top edge)! I thought that this might be nice for your error collection.
I am so glad that you enjoyed my selection of cards! It was really fun to choose from Generations and Legendary Treasures, as these are sets that I often see online but donāt personally collect. I have to admit that seeing them in person may have changed my mind, as they are so cute and have unique holo patterns. Atsuko Nishida is my favorite Pokemon illustrator, so I had to include her Light Dragonite!
You have great luck! I think Erikaās Invitation is an especially beautiful card. And a Slowbro too!
Ah, I am so glad that you loved the gifts! Happy New Year!! 
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Ahh, I see the crimp now! This is fabulous, itāll be right at home with my error collection
I can imagine itās pretty daunting trying to find Slow merch I donāt already have, but you absolutely knocked it out of the park. An update: TreeBro is now encased in plastic, on permanent display with your lovely card.
And how fun to read @HaiRaiās writeup of the crochet hat! The level of attention to detail is incredible.
Thank you both so much 
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Just so nicely done @Dyl . Made me smile along while.
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great! Yeah I was absolutely shocked at the ETB after I had ripped into it. I never expect anything from opening. Its always just a fun event for me. So to get such a killer pull was shocking! I am glad that you had fun hunting. No worries about the tree for my tree! It would have been all alone. So Iāll be sure to get some company for him for next year. Iām kicking myself because a couple years ago I found a store that had a bunch of christmas ornaments with dinosaurs that were really funny. I forget what it was, it was like there was a dinosaur riding a unicorn? Something outrageous like that. Anyway, exeggutor will be sure to have some friends. Iāll be sure you are informed of my progress on the HGSS collection.
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My word. Common @Dyl W
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