1. We start with a theory that pre-dates 2003, but it was based on anecdotal evidence until 2003 when enough evidence existed for the committee to finally consider it seriously. This is the knight-move theory of Ernie de la Fuentes (bandaches). This theory is that if there are two stickers in a pack then one is one down and two over from the other on the uncut sheet. This generalizes to three, and even to five sticker packs. The theory requires "wrap-a-round" from one side of the sheet to the other, or from the top to the bottom. It is also not always true, but it is true in what seems like at least 80% of the time. It has turned out to be very useful information to collectors for various reasons.
    
   
    
   
2. Patrick Zimmerman (fanatical_and_sickly): figured out that the 1986 die-cut variation cards are all from the same corner of the 1986 sheet (with one exception I believe). This indicates that part of the die-cut was damaged and replaced at some point.
    
   
    
   
3. Patrick Zimmerman (fanatical_and_sickly): 1st and 2nd rerun show no changes that happened in 1977's, etc. Conclusion: Both series 1 and 2 reprints used old negatives from the original runs though, and don't show any of the changes to the art that happened in the intervening years - such as those that can be seen on the '77 stickers. For example the lettering "HOSTAGE" on Hostage was changed in 1977 but was back to the original in 1979.
    
   
    
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4. Bob Conway (Ghoul_Aid) and the Heavy Trashbags rerun variation. Some Heavys have the line of black text and some do not. And on the 1974 sticker the text is actually white.
    
   
    
   
5. Andrew Relkin and the ludlow article in the wrapper. It has always been quite a mystery as to what exactly the back of a ludlow sheet looked like. Andrew did hunted down an incredible number of ludlow scans and spent a huge amount of time scrutinizing them, culminating in an article in The Wrapper in 2003.
    
                       
   
6. Tom (truant) and the real Crust discovery. Yes, Crust was a real product. What does it mean for future generations? Not sure, but it is cool.
    
    
   
7. John Grisham's (freetoes) 2nd funpack checklist observation. It started when char_boy said "Here's my entry for the 2003 Brain Power awards. There is a mistake in the alphabetization of the titles on the 2nd funpack checklist. They have Skip before Shottissue. Incidentally, "Shottissue" is "Shot Tissue" on the 8th series checklist, why would they made it one word? There are a lot of typos and misspellings on checklists, it obviously wasn't much of a priority to get that stuff right. I wonder what English skills were required to get the job as checklist writer at Topps?"
    
   Char_Boy thought he had a Brain-Power nomination locked up with this obvservation, but he was upstaged when Grisham responded: "Skip" is out of place, but this would have been exactly the right spot for "Shake and Skip Ink." Then it was probably changed to "Skip" for space reasons. "Shake and Skip Ink" would have extended two spaces beyond "Planet of Grapes," the longest entry in that column.
    
   

And the raw brain power category goes to ... Patrick Zimmerman (fanatical_and_sickly) for the 1st/2nd rerun theory. The committee was reluctant to award another double laureate, but they were unable to get over the impressiveness of the research, the connections made to production methods, and the tenacity which it took to convince the masses. Who knows, Patrick is a eccentric wacky pack genius, he may be due for a lifetime achievement award, had he managed to get Crust in space he'd have one already, but where has he been for the last two months? We heard he has been climbing mountains, meditating deeply and clearing his mind for the next round of wacky pack publications. Time will tell.

And the most important discovery goes to ... we have a tie, between Bob Conway (Ghoul_Aid) for his Heavy Trash Bags discovery and Ernie de la Fuentes (bandaches) for the knight-move theory. The knight-move theory is highly relevant, though only to pack killers, while the Heavy variation is interesting to the variation collector. Ernie definitely put the final touches on the theory and many will argue that took more brain-power than the Heavy observation, however it is believed that anybody who opens enough packs will eventually see this pattern. While the Heavy Trash discovery came out of the blue, shocking everybody. It's not just how much you can think, but how attentive your brain is to the subtle and obscure. How many have scrutinized the reruns but never seen this variation? On this measure Conway may have taken it, however relevance to the hobby is a toss-up and nobody denies the value of the knight-move. Long live their names in the annals of Wacky Pack history. Congrats to Ernie for killing enough packs and Bob for having enough reruns to get their eternity of fame. In the end the Brain Power Awards are not political and so Ernie has won, together with Bob, this category fair and square.
 
Congratulations to Patrick, Bob and Ernie, may you carry your reign with dignity, until you must pass on the crown in April 2005 (yes, we expect to be back on schedule next year).

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