I have to say I agree with you about avoiding the holiday part of it; there are plenty of holiday exchanges as is, and The Losers definitely qualifies to be a Yuletide fandom this year, so there is that for people who want the holiday idea.

I hadn't thought about staggered posting. I know that I prefer it for fests with huge participation, but I guess I'm not expecting more than a few dozen signups for this, so I was thinking about posting it all mid-January. Then it's really not too late to still have holiday themed stuff if that's what people want, and hopefully would take advantage of a post-Yuletide lull.