The Commissioner comes out of Hiding

This last week was a very busy one for me.  Number One son was deposited at college.  After he bought a car.  I took three days off from work to assist with packing, moving, and guiding him through the intricacies of vehicular ownership.  That is all to say that I didn't spend much time thinking about Gint-A-Cuffs.  So for all of you wondering when I was going to rule on this or that, it will happen this week.

To tide you over until I get my head back in the game, here's a link to some recently discovered Simon and Gintfunkel cards, thanks to The Shablotnik Report.

Prize Boxes Arrive and a few more questions

Yep, Topps came through again.  Three hobby boxes to be given away as prizes in the Gint-A-Cuffs V contest.

As I was taking the picture my daughter, Caroline, wanted  to be part of the photo shoot.  Who am I to say, "No"?

Now on to the questions.

Ginter Godfather asked:

Quick question, for the over-sized box loaders, if you snag one on the FP list but not your FP, is it +10 or +18? Not sure if the +10 in parenthesis is a +10 more or the corrected base value. I think it is +10 since you get +2 for other FP on other cards and the box loader is +8 by itself, but just wanted to verify.

The Commissioner replies:

GG, let's look and see.  The scoring rules state:  +8 Oversized Box Loader (+10 if player from FP list, +20 if it is your FP, divide total by 2 if Yankee)   So you would get +8 for it being an Oversized Box Loader.  If the card is of a FP from another participant that would be another +10.  So, 18 points.  Can you show the card or tell me who the card is of?  Forget telling me.  I want to see the card.

David asked:

I keep pulling Pope Francis I as card #217, not #270 as listed in the rules. Does #217 get +1 as well, or just the #270?

The Commissioner wearily replies:

David.  I've already told you that you aren't going to win this.  See the facebook posting around midnight.  But if you insist on knowing the answer... The Pope Francis I card is numbered 217.  A mistake was made and it has been corrected on the Rules Page.  How many of Popes have you pulled?

And I'm getting closer to answering PatP's question.  Here it is if you've forgotten it.

PatP wrote:

Are red autos #/d out of 10 the same points as a regular auto?

The Commissioner responds:

Again, a bit of investigation is necessary on my part.  My understanding is that the red autos #'d to 10 are from rip cards.  Is the card in question from a rip card?  Or is it a framed mini auto in red ink?  Showing the card on your blog would be helpful.

I really need to see the card to get a sense of what I'm being asked to score on.  I'm inclined to say that it is just another framed auto and score it that way.  I guess I'm bringing this up so that I don't forget to make a ruling and to nudge Play at the Plate into posting the card in question.

That's what I've got.

In closing, here's how the prize boxes stack up.

No, Caroline is not a prize option.

The Questions Keep On Coming

A new day, a new round of question.


David asked:

How about the Mini Bill Walton SP (#350)? 

The Commissioner answers:

Yeah, how about that Mini Bill Walton?  It amuses me.

J. Meeks asked:

Another question (sorry if I'm stupid): Does the Bill Walton Mini #350 count the same as #100? Gracias! 

The Commissioner answers:

Ah, I see.  There are two Bill Walton cards in the set.  That was foolish of Topps.  I am ruling that only the mini Bill Walton (card #100) will get bonus points.  The Mini Bill Walton SP (card # 350) gets the standard +3 bonus for being a SP.  No, you're not stupid.  De nada.

Chris asked:

Just to clarify, is the Yankee penalty cumulative? For example, if I pull a SP Yankee or an Across the Years Yankee, do I get 2 points for the SP or insert and then subtract one point for a total of 1 point, or do I just get a flat out -1 points with no modifiers? I had been scoring it as getting credit for the SP or insert status, but I have seen others score it as a flat -1 for it being a Yankee. 

The Commissioner answers:

Good question.  This trips participants up every year.  It is a cumulative modifier.  Let's say you pull a Yogi Berra (card #327) base card.  This is a Short Print.  You would score + 2 points for the SP and -1 point for Yogi being a Yankee.

The Ginter Godfather asked:

In years past they were cumulative (At least that is how the winner of last year won, he counted a Mantle WIN as -1, but ended up with a +1 net from it to edge out the competition by 2. Looking for clarification on this as well. 

The Commissioner answers: 

Yes, last year's winner was decided in the way that GG described.  It is cumulative again this year.

You have questions

I was just getting ready to fall asleep last night when I decided to take a look at my phone.  Questions were already coming in.


J Meeks wrote:

Does the Pele blank back score anything?

The Commissioner responds:

I have no clue.  Did you pull the regular, the mini, the black bordered mini?  I've seen a few of these on ebay, but it is a surprise to me.  It looks like Topps erred.  Until I can have a committee investigate it, please count it as a regular card with whatever the current point system is.  The Commissioner's office can adjust the point total later.

Chris Ra. wrote:

I am assuming that by What's in a Name, you mean Across the Years?

The Commissioner responds:

Yes.  Late night editing got the best of me.  It has been corrected on the rules page.  Any corrections or updates will be in red text.

PatP wrote:

Are red autos #/d out of 10 the same points as a regular auto?

The Commissioner responds:

Again, a bit of investigation is necessary on my part.  My understanding is that the red autos #'d to 10 are from rip cards.  Is the card in question from a rip card?  Or is it a framed mini auto in red ink?  Showing the card on your blog would be helpful.

So, that's the first round of questions.  And I avoided answering two of them.  Tune in again real soon.

Ready! Set! Go!

Look, I'm killing two birds here. I'm announcing that Gint-A-Cuffs V is officially on.  And a public service announcement.

Please read and become familiar with the 2013 Rules.  If you have questions, post them on the Q&A page.

Let's Go!

On another note, I received confirmation this afternoon from Topps that the prize boxes have shipped.

Please check your box tops

The Cardboard Connection is reporting diabolical shenanigans from Topps.

Read how some collectors are finding out the hard way about some hidden gems.

They're also reporting about an Oddity Relics insert set.

Again, this is why we don't rush things at Gint-A-Cuffs.

Core rules are coming along nicely.  Thank you for your patience.

Wrapper Scan

Thanks to David (Tribecards), I now have a scan of a wrapper.

And I've transcribed it.  I share it here mostly for my own use.

*Sequentially Numbered

One Little Corner 1:8
Palaces & Strongholds 1:8
Martial Mastery 1:8
Civilizations of Ages Past 1:8

Mini Parallels
Mini Short Print 1:13
A&G Back 1:5
Short Print A&G Back 1:65
Black-Bordered 1:10
Black-Bordered Short Print 1:130
No-Number 1:102
* A&G Bats Back 1:203
* Wood 1:2,716
* Printing Plate 1:594

Insert
The First Americans 1:5
Inquiring Minds 1:5
Heavy Hangs the Head 1:5
Codes, Ciphers & Cryptographs 1:5
Peace Makers 1:5
Famous Finds 1:5

Arachnology Card Redemption 1:47,500

* Rip Card 1:356
* Double Rip Card 1:1,429
* Framed Silk Card 1:633
* Framed Employee Edition Autograph 1:15,250
* Framed Employee Edition Relic 1:15,250
* Framed Ginter Code Breaker Autograph 1:8,994
* Framed Ginter Code Breaker Red Autograph 1:95,000
Framed Mini Autograph 1:49
Framed Mini Red Autograph 1:931
* Cut Signature 1:90,835

Framed Mini Relics - Version A 1:29
Framed Mini Relics - Version B 1:27
Full-Size Relic 1:37
* Framed Mini DNA Relic 1:302,784
* Framed Allen & Ginter Originals 1:9,500
Framed Mini Select Picks Relic 1:908,256
* Framed Mini Oddity Relic 1:7,150
* Book Card 1:37,848

Two unannounced mini insert sets discovered

The Cardboard Connection is reporting that there are two unannounced mini insert sets that have been discovered. People on Bikes and All in a Day's Work.

This is why we don't start Gint-A-Cuffs on release day.

Put last year's Bryant Gumbel in your Penny-Farthing and smoke it.

A little help?

Some of you have your boxes in hand.  You've ripped the packs, scanned the cards.  What I'd like are hi-res scans of any checklists that came with the boxes and hi-res scans of the wrappers that have the insert odds.  This will help me in setting points for the core rules.

Please post them on your blog or send me an email: mark DOT aubrey AT gmail DOT com

Thanks.

In the spirit of Gint-A-Cuffs being transparent and all that hooey, I was approached by a participant last night letting me know that his wife was also a participant and offered to step out so that there wasn't any conflict regarding prizes and all.

I told him in no uncertain terms to "stick it" and that all is fair in love, war, and GAC.  I think that it is really cool that Ryan (Ginter Godfather) and Faith (A Time for Sorrow and a Time for Joy) are in this thing together.  Even if he said, "She's kind of a weirdo."

So far, only one person has picked up on the bribery issue.  They've been involved in Gint-A-Cuffs for some time and have tried to bribe me before.  Come on people.  You want to win?  Get to bribing.

NOTE: All bribes are intended to be in jest.  Maybe.  All previous winners were determined by point totals and nothing else.  Or were they?  Sandwiches are yesterday's thing.  Wow me, people.

Big Day

The Big Day is here.  Topps 2013 Allen & Ginter is being shipped.  It is appearing on the twitter.  As I type this there are over 4,100 listings for '2013 Ginter' on ebay.

Tonight is the last night to become a participant.  Thanks to Faith for stepping out and into GAC V.

I'm still tweaking the 2013 rules and will roll them out soon.

Here's a card that I found interesting...

Does it remind you of anything you've seen before?

Housekeeping Duties

Time to address some of the details of Gint-A-Cuffs V.

The last day to enter this year's contest will be on Wednesday, August 7, 2013.  No exceptions.

I still have a few discount coupons from our official Dealer Sponsor, Dave and Adam's Card World.  Let me know if you'd like one.  Yes, to use it you need to be an active participant in GACV.

Thanks to our Main Sponsor, Topps, we have three hobby boxes of 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter to be used as prizes.  I'm still mulling some ideas in my head on how they will be given.

Favorite Players, Favorite Teams.  Some of you are very, very anxious to select your FP/FT.  Please look at the checklist provided by The Cardboard Connection.  Your favorite player might be Cy Seymour, but if he's not part of the checklist, he's not going to get you any points.  The selection of your Favorite Player affects everyone in the contest.  The selection of your Favorite Team only affects your points.

Even though you might have 'claimed' your FP/FT in previous comments, please post a comment on the 2013 Participants' page.

I'm still tweaking the 2013 rules.  Patience, people, patience.

The contest will officially start one week after Topps ships the product.  A tentative ship date is Wednesday, August 7, 2013.  Hey, that coincides with the last day to join the contest.  The contest would officially start on August 14, 2013, with it wrapping up on Friday, September 27, 2013.  That's a bit over six weeks to get display your point cards.

I'm sure that there will be questions about scoring.  We'll address those as they arise.

Recapping:

• A week to sign up
• Claim your FP/FT now
• Patronize our sponsors
• Keep calm