Every Christmas for the past… oh… seven years or so, we’ve partnered with the Treehouse Wearhouse to provide FREE NEW GAMES AND TOYS to Seattle area foster kids and their families during the holiday season. It’s something I’m very personally proud of and I’m happy to be doing it again this year.

TO PARTICIPATE: we ask that you bring in your old, games, toys and collectibles to us between now and December 22nd. We actually take these used items and sell them. Then we take the money raised from those sales to buy new items from ourselves at steep discounts that we then give, for free, to the Treehouse Wearhouse.

I explain this carefully, using a lot of commas and italics, because last year we had a large number of wonderful, well-meaning people get confused, buy used games from Value Village and then drop them off directly with us. That actually doesn’t work very well because we don’t give the kids used games (they can go to Value Village themselves for that), we buy them new games with the monies that we raise from the projected sales of the donated games (and frankly, used kids games from Value Village really just don’t have very much of a resale value on the open market.)

SO! Like I said before, just bring in your old games, toys and collectibles. The ones that you already have sitting around in your closet. Then we’ll sell them and use the proceeds to buy the kids new games.

It’s JUST THAT EASY. At least for you. You get a clean game closet just before Christmas (you see what we did just there together?), we get a bunch of fun used games to sell in 2016, and Seattle’s foster kids and their families get great free hand-selected family games for their Christmas.

And say, did I mention that we also have a great selection of new and used games, toys and collectibles for all of your holiday shopping needs this season as well?

So come on down, donate some used games, pick up some new or used games, take advantage of our amazing free wrapping system (when available, time permitting) and make a difference in your community all in one fell swoop. You’ll have a great time and be glad that you did.

We’re a week out from Christmas (Which, according to the Tardis Data Core, is a small town on the planet Trenzalore. And if you caught that reference, you should totally come out to this . You’ll fit right in.) and, as I promised last week, we’ve still got a wide range of options to meet your holiday needs. Whatever they are.

Want to make a game donation to families in need?

You’ve only got a couple of days left to participate in our Used Game for New Game Drive as I’ll be taking the new games to Treehouse this Friday afternoon.

Need a wrapped White elephant or Secret Santa gift in a hurry?

We know. We get those requests every year. So we’ve prewrapped a bunch of mystery games by theme and price (they come in $5, $10 & $20 versions because we know most Secret Santa exchanges come with tight budgeting restrictions and you want to get the best bang for your preset buck). We’ll be wrapping new gifts daily with themes like “train,” “classic” and “star trek” (if you get the one marked “ferengi,” I promise you won’t be disappointed).

Speaking of wrapping, I’ll wrap one small to medium sized gift per customer, time permitting, when I’m around, for free, as a sign of appreciation and respect for your choosing us for your holiday gift source this year. For those of you who’ve seen my wrapping, you’ll know what a deal this is. I look forward to personally wrapping as many gifts as I can this year. We’ll see how I do.

Want to unwind from a busy day of holiday shopping?

This December, bring a receipt from Gamma Ray Games for $24.99 or more over to our Raygun Lounge and enjoy 10% OFF your purchase of any food or drink we sell, including our new grilled cheese and hot dog meal specials as well as our most popular (Seattle Cider!), hardest to get (Klingon Warnog! and seasonal beverages (Bah Humbug!). So come on in, take a load off, play a game with a friend visiting from out of town and enjoy a sweet deal on your meals and drinks together.

Running behind and need some last minute gifts?

We’ll be open every day between now Christmas, including Monday the 22nd and Christmas Eve itself. And speaking of Christmas Eve, we have a little tradition around here at Gamma Ray. Every Christmas Eve, I bring in a Special Guest and we co-host an intimate little gathering. Kind of like or used to do. This year’s guests will be internet sensation Andrew Asplund from a Podcast For All Intents and Purposes and Abby the Wonderdog from… well, my backyard. Because nobody puts Abby in a corner. At least not on Christmas Eve. We’ll be doing some song and dance numbers, drinking a little too much and selling and wrapping gifts together all evening long. Just like in the days of yore.

The holiday season is upon us! (I believe it’s a level 5 Encounter this year.)

And while this season comes with all of our usual holiday stuff, like the Used Games for New Games Drive, my mad wrapping skills,

our prewrapped Secret Santa and White Elephant gifts (for when you really care but have a preset budget and need to be there in 20 minutes) and our annual Christmas Eve show, that’s not what I actually wanted to talk with you about today.

No. What I want to talk with you today is… WE DID IT! As of last week, we actually got our certificate of occupancy! And although that’s HUGE, that’s not the half of it! Not only have the shop and the new art gallery settled in nicely (and legally) but the neighbors are actually gone (like gone gone) and the landlord’s actually redone the bathroom!

No longer does the bathroom look like this,

this

or this.

Not pictured: a naked 6 foot tall man towel bathing himself and his three pit bulls while his girlfriends attempts to flush her syringe down the only working toilet.

Now it’s a quiet, pristine, private bathroom! With a nice ceiling even! I can’t believe it. I just go in there to meditate now.*

For all intents and purposes (no, not Andrew’s podcast, I’m just using the expression), this is an ENTIRELY NEW space. And in that spirit, we’re having a GRAND RE-OPENING party all month long. Starting this Thursday, with the L|td’s amazing Fourth Annual Star Wars Art Show Opening; bring a new friend, tell the bartender that it’s your first time in since the remodel and your friend’s first time ever, and we will give you a buy-one-get-a-friend’s-drink-for-free-special. That’s right, we’re giving out (almost) FREE BEER (in certain cases, for qualifying recipients, see above for details).

So really, come out, see the new Star Wars show, try something off of our expanded Winter menu (now with hot dogs and grilled cheese!), take advantage of our shop’s free custom ordering system and check out our newly re-opened shop/lounge/gallery space!

And while you’re in the neighborhood, stop by some of our newest neighbors, like the recently opened Art Primo and Homestead Seattle. Lower Pine is making a comeback!

*I do not actually go into the bathroom solely for the purposes of meditation. But when I get in there, it just drops me into zen state. Luckily time slows down for me when I’m in a zen state so even though I feel like I’ve been in there for hours, I’m actually in and out in a very timely manner. Don’t hog the bathroom, people. It’s for everyone. And by everyone, I mean our customers only, 1 patron at a time, like God and the Washington State Zoning Commission intended it.

While there’s always a lot to talk about, (seriously, have you SEEN the new bathroom yet? Your eyes will be blinded by cleanliness), what we’re talking about today is — like it or not, ready or not — it’s December (yes, already).

And that means it’s time for our annual USED GAMES FOR NEW GAMES FOR FOSTER CHILDREN DRIVE wherein we ask you, the gaming community, to bring in your old games to us, so that we can turn them into store credit and use that credit to buy new games (kind of like making new cards in Hearthstone) that we donate to the Treehouse Wearhouse so that King County Foster Families can have free games for Christmas this year. It’s a great, completely free, way for you to share your passion and interests with some of our most deserving community members this holiday season so, please, by all means, bring in some used games for us to upcycle. You’ll be glad you did.

Stay tuned for posts about our new layout now that we’re Captiol Hill’s only game store/game lounge/art gallery(!), update on table reservations and space rental, and our new & improved December event schedule very soon. And if you just can’t wait, we’d love to see you. Come in anytime and we’ll bring you up to date. I’ll personally be at the counter all day this Friday and Sunday talking about things I can’t even imagine yet and happily answering all your questions.

And that means that we’ve got a ton to talk about.

First up, our annual used games for new games program for Seattle’s foster families is in effect. As detailed in the link above, you bring us all of those good condition used games cluttering up your closet. We take the store credit that we would normally give you for all of those games (you know we buy and sell used games, right?) and put it into a big credit pool (kind of like alchemy, but with numbers)

and use all of that combined credit to buy a whole bunch new games for the Treehouse free Wearhouse for Seattle area foster children and their families during the holiday season. It’s a really, really great way for you to make a huge difference in the lives of your community just by cleaning out your game closet. Tell your spouse/fiancée/life partner/current boy- or girl- friend about it. They’ll love the idea and help you get cleaning much faster and more enthusiastically than you ever would have expected.

And yes, you may also purchase new games from us and put them straight into our Wearhouse box if you would like to. All new games purchased for the Wearhouse are 20% off as our way of saying thank you for being so great and making sure that the boxes that I hand deliver to the Wearhouse are as full as they possibly can be (It’s one of the highlights of my year. I get joyously teary every time I get to do it. Thank all of you so much for giving me the opportunity to do so).

Next, because we know that the holiday season can get pretty hectic (oh believe me, we know) we keep the shop open extra hours to make sure that we’re there for you when you need us.

So! Gamma Ray Games will be open Monday – Sunday, 7 days a week, from now until Dec 29th. In addition, we’ll be open from 10am to 10pm on Monday the 23rd and on Christmas Eve to ensure that you get every opportunity to find the perfect gift or holiday game for your family.

And! For the first time ever, we’re bringing the lounge into the holiday spirit too! On Sunday, December 22nd, the Raygun Lounge will be hosting their first ever ! Featuring plush monsters by Careful It Bites, comic book jewelry by LuvCherie, crocheted oddities by the Scary White Girl, kids superhero costumes by World of Whimm, geeky cross stitch by the Stitch Duchess and art and merriment by Stasia Burrington, Ugly Baby, Mayhem Here and, space permitting, possibly even the LTD Gallery.

Plus treats, music and cartoons all day long. Greatest thing ever? Yes. Yes it is. I know I’ll be doing all of my last minute affordable pop craft shopping there.

So there you have it. Another amazing holiday season in Gammaland.

As always, if you need anything or have a great idea don’t hesitate to call, email or, best yet, stop by and see me in person at the shop. I’ll be here, making special orders, checking my list, occasionally twice, and wrapping gifts in the most amazing and beautiful ways possible, all while repeatedly attempting to justify my choice to dare to wear a santa hat on ever-so-dear, always-too-hip Capitol Hill.

I know from personal experience how important getting a Christmas gift can be for a child living between homes. The gifts that meant the most to me were always games. The games I received at Christmas brought me joy and connection year round for years to come. That’s why it’s such an honor for me to announce Gamma Ray Games‘ 2nd annual Waltier Used Games for New Games for King County Foster Kids for Christmas Drive (better name pending). Here’s how it works:

You bring in your open-yet-complete-and-in-good-condition-games to Gamma Ray Games.

We put the store credit for these used games into an account for Treehouse.

On December 15th, we take all of the credit from everyone’s used games and buy a bunch of brand new games at great prices for the Treehouse Wearhouse to be given out free to King County foster children and their families.

Last year we were able to raise over $250 in store credit and carefully stretch it to buy dozens of great games for foster children. This is a great way for you to pass on your used games to people who will love them and buy brand new games for local area kids in need at the same time.

It’s brilliant.

We love participating in it and we hope that you will too. Just bring your used games to Gamma Ray Games, tell us that they’re for Treehouse and we’ll take care of the rest.

See you soon,

-Eric