Thanks to all for the patience I forced upon you, but at least the interminable wait is over! Both pick samplers have been checked and are ready to ship out. I've seen a dozen attempts by various pickers at organizing them which never lasts, but I have kept some of the last groupings so each package will have 4 bags of picks: 1. premium, 2 & 3. brands (e.g. all Dunlops) and/or interesting picks, 4. everything else.
I didn't do a full inventory but #1 looks to have all of the important picks it should, including the 'Mandolin Cafe' Blue Chip CT55 (the Cafe TPR 50 has been missing for years) and the original white Wegen from Caleb seen bagged with the Gravity pick.
Sampler #2 has many of the same good options as #1, including the requisite Blue Chip CT55, but also enough unique picks to be appealing.
Here is the request list from during the hiatus, starting with Stopstop's post #868. Sampler #1 is going to Stopstop as soon as I get an address but I'll have to see who of those next in line are still around to reply before sending out #2, probably to Zissou Intern. Once both have shipped, I will remove myself from involvement.
Stopstop
bruce.nali
John Garcia
NotReadyForProd
Zissou Intern
mandognome
JonDoug
Rdeane
Denis Kearns
Sue Rieter
NDO
Southern Man
Parmejohn
Dan in NH
Milli857
snakehead_a2z
Markb98
Mark Gunter
Melt_In_The_Sun
Mark, as far as babysitting these things while they travel I would like to post a quote from you from 2016 when you were trying to coordinate just the original sampler:
Originally Posted by
Mark Gunter
This was working too good to be true, Zxxx
FYI, I only got involved because it seemed like neither of the by-then two samplers would make it to me before being lost. At times, one or the other went missing for weeks despite my shepherding and I have no doubt someone in the above list will need to do the same at some point.
Lastly, here's a copy/paste of the latest "community-established house rules" I compiled, but they do need updating:
Requests to be added to a recipient list can be made in this thread (preferred) or via PM to me. No need to post address.
Brand new user accounts are requested to continue posting to the Cafe to establish credibility in being a recipient when their time comes. MIA accounts are subject to being skipped.
I will try to honor requests for a specific sampler list but otherwise one will be assigned. They are both great so you won't be missing out either way!
You will be contacted by current holder sometime before sampler is shipped to you to confirm address and phone number. These are needed for contact info to hunt down a sampler in case it goes missing.
Please try to keep your sampler no longer than 2 to 3 weeks.
Please do not remove a pick from the sampler. If you like it, buy one.
Adding new picks in encouraged.
Current holder will contact next in line for address and phone number sometime after they receive the sampler.
Holder will confirm recipient address via phone call/text (preferred) or PM before shipping sampler.
Holder will notify recipient when sampler had been shipped. Please provide tracking if available.
New recipient should post in this thread when they receive the sampler.
It may seem like a lot of nit picky rules but these samplers are tremendous and unprecedented resources built by the Mandolin Cafe forum community. For the cost of postage (usually $4 to $8) you can experience hundreds of dollars worth of picks, many you would never have the chance to try, and we want to make sure they continue to be passed around.
Cheers and pick on, all you lovely mandolinists!
C. ~/:/~
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