Help For Buying 2011 and 2012 Codebreakers (How to Spot a Fraud Tips)

Hello all.  Frank here.  As some of you who follow my Twitter account now, there has been a recent problem with a Codebreaker Auto on Ebay not being the one we won in the contest. 

Specifically this listing for a Bryce Harper Ginter Codebreaker Auto is troublesome because:

1.  I won the Bryce Harper Codebreaker Auto
2.  I  still have the original, sent from Topps, in my possession.
3.  The autograph on the Ebay-Harper doesn't match the Auto that was posted on this blog months ago. (Notice the B on Ebay goes way up over the printed name, and the H is much more squished-whereas the one that was won has neither. Also the B is closed on my card, not on the Ebay one).

The Harper is a particularly poor choice given I am a Nationals fan, and really will hopefully never find myself wanting (or having) to sell the card.  It's a high ticket item, but it is also one I can assure is not going to be available. Please Read On...

Codebreaker Sold-Unsold List

Hello,

This is a list of the 2011 and 2012 Codebreakers that we've won and whether we have sold them or not.  You can read more about why we would make this post here.  Currently just Frank's cards are listed.  This list will be updated with more info when it becomes available and when .

Do a quick Contrl + F search for the name you are looking for (as this is long). 

The 2012 Ginter Codebreaker Gallery

 

2012 CodeBreaker Set Draft!

Just like last year, we were handed a very good problem to have: having to split up our 2012 CodeBreaker Set. This year, the set was a bit too big to sit down all at once, and so  G and I took to doing our draft over the long three day weekend.  I know, poor us, right?

Anyway, since it was just the two of us, we actually didn't just go right down the list taking one pick after the other.  It's fairly well known that I am (and have been) a huge Washington Nationals fan, and so G suggested I take all the Nats cards off the top-including the coveted Harper rookie Auto.  To keep things fair, G took cards of comparable worth (I appreciate him not taking the opportunity to gauge me by stocking up on Hall of Famers), followed by a little more splitting up of cards we thought went well together.  This might make more sense if you see the list though, so here we go!

An early anniversary gift: the 2012 Codebreaker set

As we're getting close to the 1 year mark of cracking the 2011 Ginter Code, I got a very pleasant surprise yesterday. I'll let the video speak for itself.

I don't think there is much more to add, except that the cards look awesome in person. LOVE the cream finish for the frame, I think it goes very well with the card itself.

Now, some of you who have been following the Codebreaker set story will probably notice that we still have a few 2011 names pending, and that some of the 2012 are also missing. We are in contact with Topps to sort the matter, and things should be resolved quickly.

Next, the 2012 Ginter Code Draft!!

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!