How the Wild Code was broken...

As a mentioned yesterday, the 2010 JD's Wildcode has finally been broken!




Samuel, of "The Daily Dimwit" sent me the image of Leonardo de Vinci, the answer to the final clue, yesterday afternoon. After the bells and whistles stopped sounding, and the confetti was finished falling from the sky, I informed Sam that he had won the entire contents of my 2010 Topps Chrome box, plus he has chosen the Alex Rodriguez Dave Hobrecht personally signed Chicle card, plus I am going to do some searching for something special in the card pile.



I asked Sam to write an explanation of how he solved the code. Reviewing his work, it is apparent that he utilized technology to get the job done. Though the code is certainly solvable without heavy computer work (though very useful for the trivia section), there is definitely no reason not to use any resource you can!



I want to clarify one section of the puzzle, as Sam was able to interpret the PDF section of the puzzle, thus skipping the step before it! The email with the PDF included a code that explained what to do with the PDF. In order to solve that code, you needed to have each card from the trivia questions. There was no need to reorder them in any way, but to simply line them up, and using the names, start counting letters. Once you decipher them correctly you will read



"TRAVEL TO MUDVILLE! FIND FAMOUS POEM. START AT THE SNEER. SOME THINGS DO NOT BELONG…"



Thus you pull up the PDF, start at "the sneer" which is the 2nd to last stanza, and cross out every word up to the end of the poem!



ANYWAYS, congratulation to Sam! If you have any questions about the code, feel free to leave a comment and I will answer all!

The Wild Code has been broken!

More to come!

Status of the Wild Code

Unsolved! Call Robert Stack.






Seriously though, it's time to get this pony moving right along and solve this code! Now I can tell you that there are THREE of you that have reached the second to last step in the process. It took some doing, but if you look back to how you got there, it should have been pretty straight forward.





The area that you are stuck is also straight forward. I by no means created advanced algebraic algorhythms to trip you up. If you look at what is presented to you, there is only so much data you can pull from it. Think about what you see...or read. These connect somehow, and when you see it, it will be incredibly obvious.





I am open to questions below.





Keep pluggin!

We interrupt this program...

This blog is currently experiencing video game interference. Please check back soon for our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Something to be excited about!

I am definitely not above doing a free plug for TBS and Conan O'Brien! After a ridiculous ordeal with the goons at the Tonight Show, Conan has been cleared for launch on his new network. It's going to be great to see him on the air again.

What else am I excited about? You'll see tomorrow!

A set that continues to impress

Way back when, I opened up a single box of 2008 Allen and Ginter. This box was opened after I had already experienced the 2007 and 2009 sets, and after seeing the cards in the box and the wide variety of subjects and spot-on artwork, I really felt that the 2008 set was the heyday for Allen and Ginter.

Nowadays I am focusing on collecting a massive vortex binder of minis, and through occasional trades I continue to stumble upon subsets from the 2008 Allen and Ginter set. These are like little windows that continue to open on yet more cards to pursue.

Here are a couple new subsets that I knew nothing about...


2008 Allen and Ginter King Arthur...in itself a pretty raging card, though I had no idea that it was not a base mini...

Nice! The Worlds Icons! Check out this list of cards in the set. Confucius, The Sphinx, Quetzalcoatl....HERCULES?!?! NICE. This is definitely a set worth pursuing.

Here is another card sent to me in trade earlier this month (or last?)...the Aerodrome.

This card belongs to the Pioneers of Aviation, which I believe is a secret subset, along with the shark set. I have never even seen any of these other cards, but I imagine that they look pretty fantastic.

I am putting the call out there. If any of you might happen to have any of these subsets, or any other random minis that you have no idea what to do with, shoot me a comment or note and we'll see if we can strike up a brown envelope exchange!

Choose your own adventure Friday!

By the hair on my chinny-chin-chin, you have selected JD to go to Target with me to pick out a random pack for review. This can go several ways, as JD is pretty familiar with the looks of the packets that I typically open, at which point you would be subjected to yet another ginter pack bust...OR perhaps some colorful Pokemon cards this time? Jacoby is also pretty into " 'ockey" as this is always the first word out of his mouth when I flip on the tv after work for some sporting event to watch.


But no. I completely forgot about Jacoby's other favorite past time over his 23 month career, and that is CARS! Loves em. And seeing a bright yellow Dale Sr. #3 made him make an instant grab for this...

NASCAR trading cards! I believe this is by a company called Press Pass Inc, and this product is called Stealth...but it is all rather unclear. Don't expect a lot of excellent NASCAR tidbits here, I don't really follow the sport, though I am not too incredibly ignorant about it either. Kind of in the middle, in a hazy, uncaring state is the best way to describe.

My first thoughts is that Dale does not look good here. I don't want to go the undead Dale route, but have you ever seen the scene in Blues Brothers where the Blues brother cop car throws a rod during a chase scene and they all end up covered in oil. That's what this reminds me off. Make it a cover shot I guess......Maybe I SHOULD just go with undead Dale.


Card #1 - Kyle Busch. Kyle is propped up for winning the Ray Asbestos Rookie of the Year honors in both circuits. He is credited with "throwing down the hammer" all season. Git er done Thor.

Card #2 - Kasey Kahne. Mach 10. HOLY SH&*!!!!! That's fast! Much respect.

Card #3. Lap Leaders Laps! FIVE LAPS! Woo-hoo! Excuse me while I go redeem some cool cards!

Card #4 Juan Pablo Montoya. Great great great grandson to Inigo Montoya. Has won races in NASCAR, Formula One, Indy Car, and Wally's Family Fun Center go-cart league. Proudly sponsored by Max Headroom sunglasses.

Card #5 - Brian Vickers - Fueled by Red Bull, Vickers won the most poles in 2009 (six), proving that when you don't have 42 other cars to deal with, you can achieve anything! On a serious note, Vickers is receiving treatment for blood clots, which is no laughing matter. I had the same thing happen to me and am on blood thinners for the rest of my life, so I wish him well with his issue and hope doctors can find a solution.

#6, Kurt Busch - Throwing down the hammer! Maximum Velocity! Mach 10! These cards sound a little too dangerous for me to collect. I tend to be a little more conservative....though I did drive today while eating an egg mcmuffin.

So not hits (you get sheet metal relics in NASCAR cards!) no auto of Danica, just five cards and a few laps. i will say that the quality here is pretty good. Each of these is a refractor, each looks smooth and shiny, and each has some quality tidbit on the back. Certainly a niche product, but a lot of effort has been put into these.