IT'S BACK, BABIES! LET'S DO THIS THING!Many of you are familiar with this event, some of you might not be. It is a "Secret Santa" type event that has been running for nearly a decade on the forum. Warhammerlord-Soth has done sterling work in organizing it. In a couple of recent events, I helped him out. He and I have PM'd - we hae agreed that I should "take point" on the next Pleasant Surprise, with 'Soth supporting me.
The Pleasant Surprise has, historically, been a source of community, joy and impetus to paint. It is a good thing to have on the forum, I think.
The idea is very simple. Each participant in the Pleasant Surprise exchange gives a "Pleasant Surprise" (generally speaking this is something hobby-related, with a painted miniature or three being the most common ... but sending local candy is also considered appropriate!) to another participant. Giftees are partnered randomly with a recipient - you know who you are making for, but
no-one else (especially the recipient!) does!. It is a suprise and a secret.
"I think that sounds like tremendous fun, DK," I hear you say via my Emperor-like psychic omniscience*. "How do I get involved and what are the relevant dates etc.?"
Glad you asked. It's super-simple. Follow these instructions if you wish to participate;
i) Reply to this thread saying something like "Hot-diggity, I am interested and I wish to participate! Sign me up, bucko!"
ii)
SEND ME A PM containing the following information; your REAL NAME, your full physical mailing address, your email and (if you wish) a telephone number. This makes it easier for me to communicate with people if there are problems. I will treat your information with the utmost care and discretion. I am not going to call you in the middle of the night and ask if your refridgerator is running.
iii) Include in your PM and / or the reply to this thread if there are limitations on where you can ship a Surprise to. It may be that you can only ship within the USA, or to Continental Europe etc. This isn't a problem - just let me know!
When you have done these three simple things (which are really 2 things) you are signed up! Huzzah!
On NOVEMBER 15th or when we reach 50 participants, whichever comes first, I secretly pair each participant to a recipient. You receive the name of your target through PM.
Keep it secret, keep it safe! 'Soth and I will have the full exchange list, but no-one else will.
You then should do some research on the person - check out their posts, armies they collect etc. and come up with a Pleasant Surprise for them. Something for their army is generally considered appropriate. Most often, it is painted (and frequently converted) but there are no hard and fast rules on size, extravagence or anything else. Something you would like to receive yourself if you were the receipient is the guideline.
And candy. Candy has become a tradition (do check applicable laws for shipping foodstuffs!)
When you are ready to send (and ONLY when you are ready to send) PM me for his/her adress AND IMMEDIATELY SEND THE SURPRISE ON ITS WAY. Since getting your request for the adress indicates you've done your part, the sending immediately is very important.
The deadline for delivery is July 31st (see note below for WHY I have chosen these dates). If you have not sent by this time, I will start poking you (and there will be a constantly updated list of deliveries and pendings on this thread).
General Warnings, Disclaimers etc.If you should see someone join who has not delivered to you in the past, please PM me before I make the list.
BE WARNED : There is no way at all for me to make sure everyone gets a mini, short of asking you for money and refunding it when you send the mini. I don't want to do such a thing, because I firmly believe each of you should be capable to live up to his/her promises, and if you don't, I quite frankly think you lose more than you could ever gain by cheating yourself. Unfortunately, it has happened in past events that people, for whatever reason, did not receive anything.
Minis get lost in the mail, people disappear from the forum, etc... Disturbing as that is, the real joy in this event can be found in the giving, rather than the receiving, so if you participate you will most certainly have fun, I can guarantee you that much.Looking forward to a pleasant mini exchange..
List of Participants :Artobans Ghost
Cannonofdoom
Captain Fearless
Commandant
Darknight
Duinila
fbjorn
Henerius
JAK
King
Kirgan
Novogord
Padre
panama
S.O.F
warhammerlord_soth
Warlord
ZeroTwentythree
Zygmund
CarolineWellwater
Note on dates chosenPreviously, the Surprise has run between Spring and ended in the Fall / Autumn. I wanted to shake that up a bit this time. I thought it might help to have selection and assignment of recipients made before the holidays and delivery before the Summer. Many people get hobby stuff / money for Christmas (and there are often sales towards the end of the year), and so this makes it easier for people to buy miniatures for the surprise. A deadline of the end of July gives seven months to make a miniature (which should be enough time) but also means the exchange is done before Summer (and the distractions of sun, surf, sand etc. hit!)
* This is a lie.