2011 Ginter Code Card Giveaway!

Update: CRACKED!  Twitter user @JoeySpain appears to have been the first to solve it, with @CalculusDork just seconds behind.  Working on a runner up prize for you now, but good work!  If you haven't solved it yet-keep at it.  A solution is posted below in the comments I think.

thanks for playing!

Alright, CodeBreakers!  Here is your chance to win a genuine 2011 Allen & Ginter CodeBreaker Card.  This one of a kind card autographed card featuring Angelo Dundee that we won by solving the 2011 Ginter Code.

                                

We want to share the wealth with one of you and give you another chance at cracking a code to win a prize! 

Now look-this isn’t a proper contest, no entry necessary blah blah blah.  We aren't a large public corporation beholden to a vareity of contest rules etc.-we are just coming up with a creative way to give away something that is ours.  That said, we do have a few rules we’d like you to follow/know about:

·         One Entry Per Person.  Seriously, we’ll figure out if you guys try and sneak in more entries. Also, you’ll need to follow the directions precisely, or you’ll be DQ’d

·         People who’ve won Codebreaker cards before are barred from entry-whether you were part of a team or not.  Sorry, but we really want this to be for a person who hasn’t won before. So please don’t lie, try to trick us, etc. We won’t be very happy or take it very kindly if you do.

·         In the event of ties, disputes, etc. we reserve the right to make decisions as to winners etc. as we see fit.  We intend to be fair, but let’s hope one of you just wins it outright.

So you want to win this 2011 Allen & Ginter Codebreaker card?  Let’s get to it then!  How do you do it?  Well:

!	#$!	!)*	!**	@^	#$	*)	@$	$*	!*%
!(%	@)^	@&%	@&$	@(@	($	%%	#@@	!*)	!!)
@@&	^@	@!*	#!^	%	!&(	!%^	*$	!)#	!)
#!*	@%)	@#&	@@*	&	!%$	@$!	!$$	!)$	@
!#^	#$%	!!^	##(	@*(	#$(	#	#!(	!##	!!!
#)&	@^(	#$*	#@^	@^#	^	@(!	#)*	##&	@%*
!#!	#!#	!@)	@$$	**	#@)	#$&	#!%	*	###
@()	@)@	!&&	!$#	@)*	!!$	!!*	!(@	!!@	*$
!!%	!&*	$	@@^	@@^	!&@	#!&	!!#	(%	@$^
(	#)%	#%)	!^&	#!!	!($	#!$	*!	!@&	!)(
@(^	@($	#$$	#)(	@)&

Easy right?

The 2011 Ginter Code Draft

After the thrill of opening the package containing the 2011 Codebreaker set (see previous entry), came the time to split the prize between the three of us. We had already agreed on which ones we would like to move to avoid a fierce battle over their possession: Manny Pacquiao and George W Bush will therefore not stay in any of our collections.

We then decided to distribute the rest of the cards gangnam style draft style, with a Guillaume-Ryan-Frank order. Here's the 2011 Codebreaker set checklist:

Adrian Gonzalez         Dirk Hayhurst          Matt Guy
Albert Pujols              Eric Jackson            Michael Morse
Ana Julaton                Freddy Sanchez       Micky Ward
Andres Torres            Gio Gonzalez           Miguel Cabrera
Angel Pagan               Guy Fieri                 Nancy Lopez
Annika Sorenstam      Heather Mitts           Nelson Cruz
Aroldis Chapman       Hope Solo                Peter Gammons
Brent Morel                Jason Heyward        Picabo Street
Brett Wallace              Jim Nantz                Randy Wells
CC Sabathia               Jo Frost                   Roy Halladay
Chase Utley                Joe Mauer               Rudy Ruettiger
Cheryl Burke              Jose Bautista            Sanya Richards
Chone Figgins             Jose Tabata             Sergio Mitre
Chris Sale                   Josh Hamilton          Shawn Michaels
Chrissie Wellington      Josh Johnson           Stan Lee
Chuck Woolery          Kristi Yamaguchi      Starlin Castro
Daniel Boulud             Kyle Petty                Sue Bird
Daniel Hudson            Larry Holmes           Tim Howard
David DeJesus            Lou Holtz                 Ubaldo Jimenez
Diana Taurasi              Marc Forgione         Wee Man
Dick Vitale                  Mat Hoffman

Also included were the autos yet to be delivered to us:

John McEnroe
Evan Lysacek
Jake LaMotta
Ron Turcotte

The draft took place on 10/14 at 10:00pm, via Skype; here's the round-by-round recap:

Round 1:

Guillaume: Albert Pujols
Ryan: Miguel Cabrera
Frank: Stan Lee

Analysis: very solid choices for all three participants, Frank electing to pick one of the most iconic figures with his first pick over any other baseball items.


Round 2-3:

Guillaume: CC Sabathia
Ryan: Rudy Ruettiger
Frank: Josh Hamilton
Guillaume: Daniel Boulud
Ryan: Peter Gammons
Frank: Michael Morse

Analysis: first few "homer" choices for each of us, even though Ryan got deprived from his Red Sox picks thanks to the blockbuster trade that sent A-Gonto the Dodgers.


Round 4-5-6:

G: Chuck Woolery
R: Jim Nantz
F: Gio Gonzalez
G: Sue Bird
R: Lou Holtz
F: Shawn Michaels
G: Roy Halladay
R: Dick Vitale
F: Kyle Petty

Analysis: Ryan continued on his TV personalities trend, while frank scored his 2nd Nationals player and the coveted Shawn Michaels. After picking the two main players I wanted, I figured I would start picking the cards I wanted to gift to my wife and family, knowing that Ryan and Frank had a few more cards they really wanted.


Round 7-8-9-10:

G: Josh Johnson
R: Hope Solo
F: Jose Bautista
G: John McEnroe
R: Heather Mitts
F: Starlin Castro
G: Annika Sorenstam
R: Picabo Street
F: Tim Howard
G: Jake LaMotta
R: Wee Man
F: Chase Utley

Analysis: Frank scores the 2nd home-run masher of the set, while Ryan picks the fan favorite Hope Solo. I took a flier on two of the outstanding cards with McEnroe and LaMotta.


Round 11-12-13-14-15:

G: Joe Mauer
R: Micky Ward
F: Kristi Yamaguchi
G: Adrian Gonzalez
R: Aroldis Chapman
F: Jason Heyward
G: Marc Forgione
R: Guy Fieri
F: Dirk Hayhurst
G: Larry Holmes
R: Mat Hoffman
F: Chris Sale
G: Nelson Cruz
R: Chrissie Wellington
F: Ubaldo Jimenez

Analysis: Ryan broke the Cooking Sweep away from me with his Fieri pick :-) by round 14, all picks felt roughly the same as we were all very happy to have managed to grab most (if not all) of the items we had listed on our preliminary Top10 Must Have lists. I'll skip over the last few rounds, and just print the final lists at the end of the draft:


Guillaume:

Albert Pujols
CC Sabathia
Daniel Boulud
Chuck Woolery
Sue Bird
Roy Halladay
Josh Johnson
John McEnroe
Annika Sorenstam
Jake LaMotta
Joe Mauer
Adrian Gonzalez
Marc Forgione
Larry Holmes
Nelson Cruz
Daniel Hudson
Angel Pagan
Randy Wells
Sanya Richards
Jose Tabata
Evan Lysacek
Brett Wallace


Ryan:

Miguel Cabrera
Rudy Ruettiger
Peter Gammons
Jim Nantz
Lou Holtz
Dick Vitale
Hope Solo
Heather Mitts
Picabo Street
Wee Man
Micky Ward
Aroldis Chapman
Guy Fieri
Mat Hoffman
Chrissie Wellington
Diana Taurasi
Sergio Mitre
Cheryl Burke
Jo Frost
Matt Guy
Ron Turcotte
Nancy Lopez


Frank:

Stan Lee
Josh Hamilton
Michael Morse
Gio Gonzalez
Shawn Michaels
Kyle Petty
Jose Bautista
Starlin Castro
Tim Howard
Chase Utley
Kristi Yamaguchi
Jason Heyward
Dirk Hayhurst
Chris Sale
Ubaldo Jimenez
Ana Julaton
Freddy Sanchez
David DeJesus
Andres Torres
Brent Morel
Chone Figgins
Eric Jackson


For those of you keeping track at home, yes there's a couple of names missing. We have a plan for those, and one of them involves you, fellow codebreakers...


That's right.


A giveaway!


Well, more like a code-like contest, let's say; but that's enough news for now. We'll release more info very soon, so keep your eyes opened!

Finally here!! The 2011 Allen & Ginter Codebreaker set!!

At long last.

This is the moment Ryan, Frank and I have been waiting for since February 23, 2012. Ever since we cracked the 2011 Ginter Code, we were excited to receive the Codebreaker set, true token of our accomplishment and proof that we did not make it up to friends and families (especially wives).

A few things at to be worked out with Topps, as always when it comes to items of this importance. In the end, everything turned out for the best - even though it feels like it would have moved faster if I could have walked to the NYC offices to pick it up ;-)

With no further ado, here is the "box break" video (featuring Maggie, our dog, who felt compelled to make an appearance):

Note: for those of you who watched it till the end and paid attention, you might have noticed that a couple of names are missing from that package. This is because Topps had to gather a few items at the last minute, and those missed the shipment to the place where the minis get framed. We will receive the rest of the set over the next few weeks.