1 comments about Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide And Alphabetical Checklist 2005 Edition (Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide and Alphabetical Checklist).

1. This book is an absolute necessity for any hockey card collector or autograph collector. This book also is great to just browse and learn about the history of hockey cards.
   The book has numerical listings for virtually every hockey card ever issued, including many local or regional issued cards. In addition to that comprehensive list, the book simplifies things by relisting all of these cards alphabetically! It also has at least one picture of a card from most sets.

No comments about The Complete Price Guide to Baseball Cards Worth Collecting.

No comments about Mecca 1911 Double-Folder Baseball Cards: The Complete Set of 50 in Full Color (Mecca, 1911 Double-Folder Baseball Cards).

No comments about Hager's Comprehensive Price Guide to Rare Baseball Cards 1886 to Present of 5 (Hager's Comprehensive Price Guide to Rare Baseball Cards 188).

1 comments about The Official Price Guide to Basketball Cards 2003 Edition #12 (Official Price Guide to Basketball Cards).

1. First off, I like the size of "The Official 2003 Price Guide to Basketball Cards," which at 6.88 x 4.21 is below what we would have called standard size for collectible card price guides. This is of prime importance for collectors such as myself who want a book that we can take to us with card shows. If not, then you can still use this guide to put together your want lists. I am in the process of finishing off a 1972-73 Topps set of basketball cars (five cards to go, all commons), and will be getting serious about the 1971-72 Topps set next. So I do not need to know how many types of Kobe Bryant cards came out this season or who has the first "official" LeBron James card, because I have a preference for tracking down the older cards, go to shops and shows to try and track down what I need, or searching on eBay. A big part of the fun is just finding what are you are looking for, and not by opening up pack after pack of cards to find the exalted specialty card du jour. The prices are really a secondary consideration to me, because what I want to know if whose name goes with which numbers because that means the difference between looking through a stack of commons or having to track down star cards, especially if you are trying to deal with those triplet cards Topps put out in 1980-81.

   That is why the boxes to check off for each card are exactly what I need, whether it is the exalted card from that 1980-81 set where the three players were the rookie "cards" for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird but also Dr. J. This is the book that will tell you that if you are looking for the first basketball card ever produced then you need to track down the 1948 Bowman card of Ernie Calverley. There are about two dozen card companies covered in the 50,000 cards for which prices are provided, which means Topps, Fleer, Hopps, Bowman, Sky Box, Ultra, Upper Deck and all the wannabee companies. As is always the case with the Beckett volumes, there are tips on how to buy, sell, and care for your cards. These are valuable whether you are in it for the fun or the economics. The prices are always the least important aspect of these books for the simple reasons that the prices are out of date by the time the book hits the stands, which is why Beckett publishes a magazine on basketball cards. However, while that will give you current prices it will not tell you who was card #40 in that 1972-73 Topps set (Bob Rule of the Philadelphia 76ers). For the younger fans the magazine will undoubtedly suffice, but for those of us who remember the red, white & blue ball of the A.B.A. and when players in the N.B.A. knew how to shoot the orange ball instead of just dunking it, this Beckett book will fulfill all of our needs.

No comments about Baseball Cards of the Fifties: The Complete Topps Cards 1950-1959.

5 comments about Scd Baseball Autograph Handbook.

1. This book tells you everything you need to know on autographs. A must buy



2. Baker's book is the definitive work in the growing baseball autograph hobby.

   It's too bad his publisher has not commissioned an update. The book is nearly ten years old and as such it's now about 25 players short and the autograph values are now just wishful thinking. Babe Ruth signatures for $495 -- I'll take a dozen!

   Regardless of its age spots, if you are considering entering the hazardous world of baseball autograph collecting this book will be your core reference.




3. Mr Baker has written the best book on baseball autographs. The book is profusely illustrated with examples of hall of fame and famous baseball players' signatures. The author is especially sensitive to aging characteristics and changes in style.



4. This is the best book of its kind with many samples. Very knowledgable about all aspects of the subject, especially aging characteristics of signers. Would definitely purchase the next edition when it comes out.



5. The book contains examples of most Hall of Fame baseball players autographs. As much as has been made about fraud in the hobby, it is an extremely helpful tool to research and compare before purchasing or trading for a signature!

3 comments about 101 Ways to Make Money in the Trading-Card Market.

1. If you want to buy this book for advice on which specific players cards to buy, probably the others reviewers are right, but if you want to know the lasting secrets and advice regarding what makes a card good, this is the book for you. I even liked the advice on players, because I checked the last price guides, and it was good as a lesson. Use this book to get knowledge of the craft, that is the intention of this book.



2. This book was written in 1990 and reprinted in 1994! The trading card market has undergone a drastic change since then with the market for baseball cards at an all time low. The authors give stupid advice reflecting the time span missing since it was updated. A few examples: One chapter is titled," SELL YOUR MARK MCGUIRE, RUBEN SIERRA, IVAN RODRIGUEZ,............................CARDS'!!?? The author tells us "McGuire is just not enough of an all-around player to land in Cooperstown"??? Another Chapter tells you to "sell your Nolan Ryan cards". Very bad advice. If you followed this advice in 1990 you would have lost tons of money. Equally bad advice is given on who to buy for the long term investment, they suggest Greg Jefferies, and Larry Walker to name two. They are unremarkable players whose careers are near the end or over. They also suggest to sell the basketnball cards to invest in baseball. This made sense in 1990 when Basketball was not very popular but is now much more popular than Baseball. Now to be fair, they do advise to purchase Jose Caanseco,Barry Bonds, Don Mattingly, etc. The point is, these players are already at the top of their careers and so are the prices for their cards. This book needs to be updated with a new list of potential superstars to invest in. In other respects the book offers some good advice on special issues to collect.



3. This book is great im now making tons of extra money by selling and buying cards at the right time i say buy it if you want to make some cash.

4 comments about Official Beckett Price Guide to Baseball Cards 2004.

1. Aside from being around $10 cheaper, there is absolutely no reason for this book to exist anymore. It's like Beckett is just trying to sum up the cards that moved during a given year, rather than producing a comprehensive price guide. If you want a comprehensive guide, you have to go with the much more complete Beckett Almanac, that is also produced every year, or the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards from Krause Publications.
   
   Don't waste money on the Beckett Price Guide.



2. It's a huge book, over 600 pages but there are a few problems.
   
   1. A lot of years are skipped. For instance Upper Deck '92 is missing as well as '96 through '98. Every manufacturer seems to be missing years whether it be Donruss, Fleer, Ultra, Score, Stadium Club. You name it. A lot of traded series are also missing.
   
   2. Don't plan on using this as a reference guide for any length of time because the pages start falling out practically the moment it first opened.
   
   The solution for Beckett is simple. Don't include every card. Over half of the 1991 Score series is 2 cent cards. Just state that unlisted cards are 2 cents and you'd save yourself a couple of pages. The book would literally be half the size or less and then Beckett could include more sets.



3. I think Beckett gets worse and worse every year. I am so upset with their magazines and their books. This books skips so many years. For example there is no Donruss 1991-2000 cards listed at all. Majority of my cards are those ones. So this book become very useless to me. It's just like their magazine they skip everything. I haven't been able to find a book yet that will tell me what the price of all my cards are. If you have any special insert cards, this book will not list them.



4. Okay, here is the situation. Beckett's monthly price guides can barely keep up with the baseball cards that are produced each year, let alone all those surplus sets and special collectible cards that are flooding the market on a monthly basis. However, as a collector I am not concerned with the current deluge and am working on sets of older cards from those long forgotten days before Fleer and Donruss opened the floodgates. Those monthly price guides will certainly give you prices, but they are not going to be any help if you are trying to figure out which cards you need to complete a particular set that you are working on. I finally finished my 1966 Topps set, have six rather expensive cards left to complete a 1953 Topps set and a couple of dozen for both the 1962 and 1967 Topps sets. That means I need to know ALL of the cards so that when I hit the card shops and shows that I am prepared for dealers who have their cards organized by numbers, players, or random piles.
   
   With the "Official Beckett Price Guide to Baseball Cards 2004" you have your best shot at finding out exactly what is out there for any sets that you are working on at the moment. If you need to know about the prices and you are not going the monthly guide route then the prices quoted here are going to be more valid the farther back in time you go. But the key thing here is that these guides list all the cards, including all the extras, inserts, special sets and the like from Bowman, Diamond Stars, Donruss, Fleer, Goudey, Play Ball, Score, Sportsflics, Topps. Upper Deck and whatever other companies have sprung up that I cannot remember off the top of my head (hopefully there will not be a test anytime soon).
   
   Beckett remains the price guide I use to put together my want list for the next card show or for checking out on line auctions. This is especially important when a set has numbers missing (it happens), so that you can avoid desperately searching for cards that are not there (e.g., the 1953 Topps set has 274 cards from #1 Jackie Robinson to #280 Milt Bolling, so there are some numbers that just do not exist). As always, there is also a concise and informative introductory section that will be of use to anyone who considers collecting baseball cards a serious hobby (is there any other kind?). There are over 290,000 prices listed, but more importantly there are those boxes to check off your cards as you add them to your collection. Plus the portable size makes it easy to use on the road.

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