Hello, and thank you to all who participated!

At the time of closing, we have 15 people. The 15 of you have all been emailed with information as to who it is you give to, and whom you receive from. Here's the list, in order:

01. Ramza
02. the_miker
03. Shinobin
04. Crash
05. Shoebonics
06. avatar!
07. GoldfishX
08. Wanderer
09. Nick G
10. Zane
11. Timt99
12. Adoru
13. Lawrence Lin
14. Kenology
15. Fei

One number higher than you is the person you GIVE to, one number lower than you is the person you RECEIVE from. So Shoebonics will get a gift for avatar!, and avatar! will get a gift for GFX, etc. It wraps around at the end, so Fei gets me a gift! ^^

So here are the rules and procedures:

1) as I said in the email, ask the person you're getting a gift for what preferences they have. It can be as specific as "get me the Blue Dragon OST" or as vague as "surprise me." There is no max on how much you'd like to spend (all you generous givers), but there is a general minimum. The album's retail price ought to exceed 2000 yen: so just one opening/ending single doesn't cut it, bub! If it's a used album and you bought it for less than $20, that's fine, just make sure its retail value was above that!

2) Likewise, be proactive and contact the person who's giving YOU a gift and say "hey I'd like the following...": the email you received contains names and emails for both.

3) The goal should be to get the packages mailed to the recipient by Monday, December 18th. So you basically have a week to get the ball rolling. (If you're getting a preorder for an album that comes out after that, no worries). The goal, of course, is to receive the package by Christmas day, but since we don't all celebrate Christmas (festivus is for the rest of us!), don't sweat it too much.

4) Obviously, you're going to have to be comfortable giving out your mailing address to the person buying you a gift.

5) If there are ANY questions or problems, please respond in this thread and we'll get it sorted out ASAP.

Cheers!
Ramza

Huh? Wha? Where?

I sent you an email to whatever email you use for your STC account. Please check it...now!

Ramza

I didn't get anything and I've checked over the inbox, trash AND junk email!

ok...hmmm...well do you have AIM? If so, hit me up: TSDPatGann, or send me an email with your most-used email account: milkshakeman@juno.com

I want you to hear me out on this. ^^

Ramza

Wanderer has been added. NickG and GFX please check your emails, as I've made a few changes accordingly. ^^

Ramza

Changes noted.

Attention Wanderer: Please let me know if you got my email (I used the one Ramza provided). I need to figure what to get you and where to send it. Thanks!

Yeah, I just got it today (was out of town for two days) and am replying to it now.

If Lawrence Lin could reply to my e-mail also, I'd like to be able to get your cd asap, thanks

I'm actually curious as to the mailing process. I don't think there's enough time for the CD(s) to be shipped to me and then shipped to the person. Would it be more appropriate just to have the store ship it to the person instead?

(God, I sound like a virgin...)

Yeah, it's best if your'e ordering an album from another site to just have it shipped to the person you're getting it for. I don't know about all the sites, but I know gift-wrapping (and other festive extras like cards) are available with CD Japan and VGMworld if you request it. Not sure about Play-Asia, never tried it with them...

Hope everything's going well with everyone.

Ramza

Bumping this up for Tim T. Did you get my e-mail, man? Let me know!

Paging Mr. avatar!, paging Mr. avatar!
Did you get my email??

Hey!  I actually did not...
Kindly send it again  

Thanks,

-avatar!

I love this gift exchange thing! Shout-outs to my partners Wanderer and Zane and to Ramza for organizing it! I'm looking forward to participating next year!

glad you're enjoying it Nick!

A reminder, if you haven't ordered/shipped gifts to your partner yet, you probably should.

Once January hits, it'd be fun to hear about what everyone got!

Ramza

Paging Mr. avatar!

Please email me your shipping address again, my second email didn't go through again..

jejunum at seanbaby.com

Thanks!

email sent

Happy Holidays,

-avatar!

Considering the lack of replies here, I'm guessing that pretty much no one got their gifts by Christmas Day?

yeah, that sounds about right. I got my "pre-gift" gift out to mike on time (since I knew his real gift would take a GOOD bit longer, since I'm just mailing it out today), and I haven't gotten anything from my person yet.

If anyone's gotten stuff, feel free to post here to let us know what you got and how you felt about this year's gift Xchange!

Ramza

Yeah.. Patrick rules.  His "pre-gift" to me arrived ON Christmas day, morning to be exact, which was cool cause we were already opening presents and then in came another one, heh.  Anyway, what he got me was:

Monster Kingdom Jewel Summoner Original Sound Tracks

While not the longest CD in the world (3 tracks, total running time about 5 minutes), this is definitely some good stuff.  Composed/arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Shinji Hosoe, this CD is a mini soundtrack to an RPG for the PSP that doesn't (yet?) have a full soundtrack release, so this CD is basically a little teaser.  The game has quite a few composers in addition to those two, many of whom you'd all recognize, it's just a shame this didn't get a true soundtrack release.  This CD also comes with a guide book for the game which has a few new pictures of Hosoe and Sakimoto, so that was a nice treat as well!

Anyway thanks again Patrick!  I eagerly await my "true gift."

-Mike

I had a great experience this year! I got Tim as my gift-ee, and picked him up Lostchild Side A for his present. And as chance would have it, my man Nick G. got me and he hooked it up with the new Project Sylpheed OST. It's a sweet disc that marks the return of Fukui's futuristic techno! Nakano has some great tunes on here, too.

Thanks again, St. Nick!

*waiting for Play Asia package* Anyday now Wanderer...It'll come anyday now.

I just got my Sega Genesis Collection today from avatar!...Exactly what I wanted. Thanks a bunch.

Best Madonna song evar. Do you know if it's on that SingSong disc as well as Karaoke Revolution?

Is that the same guy who did Einhandler??

Yeah, Fukui did Einhander. He's the synth dude in the Black Mages, too.

Wanderer got me the excellent Famicom 20th Anniversary Arrange Sound Tracks album. Great arrangements of classic Famicom game tunes by the biggest names in the biz! It's a great listen during the holidays!

You're welcome
In my opinion, that is perhaps the best compilation on the face of the planet!  Besides the Phantasy Stars, Golden Axes, etc... You can unlock the ORIGINAL arcade edition of Altered Beast!!  I would seriously have paid for that title alone!!

cheers,

-avatar!

Well I've been listening to Einhander ad nauseum on my car's tape player (speedin' down a rural highway at 2 in the morning while listening to the Mission Two song (THE BADLANDS) is an awesome experience, even if the audio isn't as clear as it'd be with a cd player) so I guess I'll have to start saving up for Sylpheed ost too.
Thanks fer the heads-up!

So would you say that this new Project Sylpheed ost is the 'spiritual' successor to Einhander's ost (since Einhander II will never be produced)??

Oh yes I almost forgot, I was fortunate enough to receive the Last Blade 2 ost from Crash this year. I've never played the first game but I did the second and it has some pretty catchy tunes, lots of nice piano and concertina synth. One of the songs has an intro that's so bittersweetly melancholy that I choke up a little everytime I hear it.

I've heard of arranged versions of the Last Blade soundtracks, I'm tempted to order the LB2 Arrange from otaku.com, has anyone here heard if it's as good/even better than the ost?

Oh and avatar! I think your package should arrive today, if not then definitely tomorrow.

( :

I wouldn't.  There's nothing wrong with the Project Sylpheed OST (save for too many downer tracks), but don't think for a second that it compares to Einhander.

@ Lawrence Lin - I'm sure you have a good idea what you're getting since it's taking so long.  I got an e-mail from Kahori apologizing for the album shipping a full week later than it was supposed to.  I'm sure it's sitting my door now, but I'm out of town for a few more days, so I'll have it out to you as soon as I return to the States.

@ Fei - Thank you very much fine sir!!!

Slightly. It's not as consistently awesome or in the vein of Fukui as Einhander is, but it is still very enjoyable. With the addition of Nakano and that other dude, the styles are a little more varied than the consistency of Einhander. Still comes very recommended, Einhander or not.