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Just an update and ping to this 2004 topic.

A note left for Jeff Jerome in 1993 stated somewhat cryptically that “the torch will be passed,” and another note left in 1999 indicated that the original “Toaster” had died within a few months before the annual event. After 1993, sightings of the visitor suggested two younger persons were exchanging the obligation between themselves, presumably in honor of their father. The annual visitations continued through 2009, the bicentennial of Poe’s birth, but not in subsequent years. On January 19, 2012, after three successive years in which there was no appearance from the “Toaster,” Jeff Jerome officially declared that the original tradition had ended. Various individuals have taken it upon themselves to leave similar tokens, and some have hoped that they might be able to assume the same recognition and continue the tradition, although they have generally been referred to somewhat dismissively as “Faux Toasters.” As there is no authoritative body other than the person who appears to have originated the tradition, and those he has designated, and no such transfer of authority has occurred, all such attempts to restart a new tradition must be taken purely on their own merits.