Baghdad Hobby Club Donations

[Keith Senkowski]

I posted this over on RPG.net, but I figured I would post this here to.  Tav posted about sending letters to gamers stationed in Iraq, so I contacted the folks at Hobby Town about sending games over.  This is what I found out.  I'm going to send a bunch of stuff myself and would be more than happy to add folks games to my box.  

One of their most recent "wish lists" included d20 items and new
modules. So I know your donation will be greatly appreciated.

All donations to the Baghdad Hobby Club must be send to their APO box
via US Mail. Because of that, there are restrictions. You cannot send
anything but water-based paint or superglues (everything else is too
flammable).

You'll want to pack your donations well in boxes weighing no more than
40 lbs. (otherwise you'll pay an oversized fee). I'd suggest you include
a letter for Sgt. Flyte and the club members letting them know how you
heard about the club and what their efforts mean to you. I know they
post these letters in the club room and sometimes I think they mean more
to the soldiers than the hobby items do! You'll need to go to your local
post office and complete a customs form for each box indicating its
contents (I usually write "hobby items" or "games") and estimated value.

Send the boxes to:
Sgt Dean Flyte
Baghdad Hobby Club
ISG/MCT#4/SCP-B
Camp Slayer
APO AE 09342

Keith

[urbwar]

Keith,

That's really cool. I posted this info over on NerdNYC, and am trying to see if Nerds who will be involved in the upcoming Gotham Gaming Guild want to chip in, and send stuff as a group. I had some older rpg stuff I was considering selling, but now, I think I will set aside some of it to pass onto our fellow gamers in Iraq. Having served in the army myself, I know how much a care package can be a morale booster, so I am definitely going to send some stuff over there.

[Tav_Behemoth]

Nuts! For all that I'm proud to be a member of both the Forge and nerdNYC communities, I neglected to post about donations in either forum. Here's some follow-up info to atone for my mistake:

The info about donations I got (from Mark Simmons of Game Quarterly Magazine, via Karey Koehn  of Hobby Town USA and Hobby Outlook Magazine, to give credit where credit is due) includes this:

Club members have indicated particular interest in military and fantasy gaming, but donations of any sort are welcome. All donations should be packaged carefully for US Mail shipment (boxes weighing more than 40 lbs. will be charged extra). A customs form will need to be completed for each box indicating its contents (I usually write "hobby items" or "games") and estimated value. The boxes are shipped to an APO address (in New York City) and then the military picks up the boxes from there (that's why sending US Mail is most cost effective, Fed Ex and UPS will not ship to an APO address). I'd recommend each donation include a shipping list (in case there are several boxes and they get separated so the club knows what to look for) and a nice note for the club members letting them know how you heard about their club and how much we appreciate their efforts. The club does post these notes, and I believe they can be just as important as the donations.

Emphasis in boldface added by me.

[urbwar]

Tav,

I just posted that new info over to NerdNYC. Hopefully some of the Nerds will contribute stuff for a nice care package to send out

[Tzu-Theory]

What about us paratroopers in Camp Victory!  good to hear theres a gaming organization up and running here in country.  Contact me if you want to extend over to Camp Victory.

[Tav_Behemoth]

Just sent you download codes for our Masters and Minions PDFs for some immediate aid; hope you enjoy 'em!

To hook up with shipments of books, the best way would either be for you to form a chapter of the Baghdad Hobby Club (located at Camp Slayer) and pool games with them, or to put together an club of your own - the benefit there would be that once you were organized, you could get all kinds of gaming donations.

Here are some links about the Baghdad club that might get you started:

http://www.hobbytown.com/custompages/?id=7694

http://www.ipmsusa.org/Features/Baghdad_Hobby_Club/Supporting_Troops.htm

http://s96920072.onlinehome.us/Gal2/1901-2000/Gal1978_BaghdadModelClub_Kalina/gal1978.htm

http://www.ipmsusa.org/Features/Baghdad_Hobby_Club/Baghdad_Hobby_Club.htm

If you're interested, I can also put you in touch with Matthew Simmons of Games Quarterly Magazine & Korey Kaese of Hobby Town USA, who helped organize donations from publishers & might also be helpful.