Holy cats it's SECRET SANTA 2017 (11th ANNUAL)

That was 4 years before I was born. Also, I’m actually Swedish. =)

Not being able to provide proof of your whereabouts is troubling, also Swedish means you’re disqualified, go watch Vasaloppet.

I live in a place where folks talk about being Norwegian or Swedish, but keep forgetting that was 3 generations ago.

Claybob, come back @claybob =)

Really. @claybob is such a tease.

He’s killing me double cause I shipped soooo early :)

My fantabulous Tewksbury sword!

Thank you Kadath! My jaw dropped and my eyes peeled wide open when I saw the sword. I had to hold back quite a bit because I didn’t want to hurt my wife and daughter’s feelings.I truly cannot express how grateful I am for this generous and thoughtful gift.

I was curious about the significance of Tewkesbury and I read up on the Wars of the Roses until my brain decided up is down and melted into a puddle of gray goo.

Brace yourselves for the “action” shot!!

Oh that’s fuckin’ cool as hell.

Awesome, @claybob glad you finally got to play with it! I’m hoping to put this in the “stalking pays off” column. You had one response to an $800 sword that seemed like you really wanted something similar. $800 was a bit too pricy so I did some research and found one that was closer to budget but is high quality enough to be rated for fighting and still cool looking enough to show off =) I saw another thread where you referenced a christian background so this one came up to the top of the potential list. Really glad you like it! Bring on the action shots!!!

I wish I had a wildling costume and some modeling ability. I was trying to look more angry, but I blew it with the snow blowing in my eyes. The beard iced up pretty well during the dog walk.

There is one more picture I’ll post later. Teaser! Don’t feel bad about laughing, like my daughter, or “OMG WTF!” like I did.

edit: Doh! Click to see the sword.

Jesus … the graphics update release for The Long Dark is amazing. It seems almost too real.

That is awesome! Incredible gift and picture!

Should wear a sign that says neighborhood watch and walk around the block with your sword.

Or brute squad.

Can’t tell you how happy that pic makes me @claybob thanks for sharing!

Might want to hold off on thanking me until I post tomorrow’s pic ;)

Challenge accepted.

The lighting certainly articulated the time my face lost a fight with a steering column! I hope this doesn’t mean I am morphing into Marty Feldman as I age.

If I were a Roman legionnaire standing before 20,000 of you, Claybob, I would certainly break ranks and shame the glorious Empire. These Gaulish men are too mighty for us!

I mean that in the most complimentary way possible!

Dude, my reaction when I first saw the picture was “GAAAH! Thats me?!”