No comments about Top 200 Sportscards: An In-Depth Guide for the Card Collector.

3 comments about Standard Catalog of Minor League Baseball Cards: The Most Comprehensive Price Guide Ever Published (Standard Catalog of Minor League Baseball Cards).

1. It's not easy to track minor league baseball cards.
   
   If you are a serious collector, you may recall several years ago the good people at "Beckett" published a monthly called "Future Stars" where cards for minor league baseball players, and various other college athletes, from all sports, were being tracked.
   
   Then, the cardmaker "Classic" (producing massive amounts of ONLY cards featuring minor leaguers, and college athletes) went out of business, and so accordingly "Future Stars" went away.
   
   But there was still a demand to know what the various Classic cards/sets were doing in the market, so Beckett made something called "Vintage" -- a monthly publication that combined listings for cards from the 50s/60s/70s with newer baseball cards from baseball's minor leagues.
   
   So, you had a 1960 Johnny Unitas card tracked in the same magazine with a 1995 Andruw Jones (Macon Braves) card. Strange -- but it worked for me.
   
   Anyway, this guide represents the best overall checklist I've ever seen regarding minor league cards, which is all I collect now. There's just too much product out there once the guys hit the majors.
   
   In any case, the book came out priot to the 2000 season, so values are mostly obsolete. But that doesn't mean you don't still get an accurate checklist for every significant minor league set ever made.
   
   Hope these guys make a new one soon. I'm there.



2. I collect all of the Red Sox minor league teams, and this book helped me identify all of those team sets, plus provided a name-by-name breakdown of players on all of the prospects and all-star sets. If you are a team collector, you will love this book!



3. Sports Collectors Digest follows up their 1,664-page "Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards" with another informative price guide, this 480-page guide specifically covers minor league cards. SCD has done their homework with this guide as well, publishing more information on more sets than any other price guides available. I highly recommend this book!

2 comments about 300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century: A Historical Tribute by the Hobby's Most Relied Up.

1. One of the things I like about this book is that the title, for once, is not overstated. "300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century" does not profess to provide the 300 greatest cards and therefore provides exactly what the subtitle indicates, "A Historical Tribute by the Hobby's Most Relied Upon Source." Okay, so there is some promotion here since the book is compiled by Mike Payne and the staff of "Beckett Baseball Card Monthly."

   Of course you will find the most famous (and expensive) baseball cards of all time, such as the legendary 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner ($112,500-$225,000) and the 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle (not his first card, which would be the 1951 Bowman #253), which are the respective Holy Grails for the first and second half of the century. You will find cards for most of the greatest players in the history of the game, from Ty Cobb (1909-11 T206 Green Background) and Babe Ruth (1933 Goudey #43) to Mark McGwire (1985 Topps #401) and Barry Bonds (1987 Fleer #604). Not surprisingly, it is Mantle, in whose honor Topps has retired card number 7 in their sets, who has the most baseball cards with 21. Ruth and Ted Williams have 13 each, Willie Mays a dozen, and Hank Aaron 10. Of course, within those you will find cards with Mantle and Mays, Mantle and Aaron, and Aaron and Mays.

   While there are cards of famous players you might recognize, such as the 1914 Cracker Jack #103 with Shoeless Joe Jackson that served as the model for a card in "Field of Dreams," there are some that are included because of their oddities, like the 1954 Topps #139 which has the O'Brien twins, Eddie and Johnny, the 1957 Topps #20 Hank Aaron where the reverse negative has the Hammer batting left-handed, and 1976 Topps #564 Kurt Bevacqua "Bubble Gum Blowing Champ" (I swear that gun Topps had would break your teeth but also preserve your cards in the box). You will find rookie cards, combination cards (e.g., 1957 Tops #407 Power Hitters: Mantle & Berra), all star cards, World Series card, commemorative cards (e.g., 1959 Topps #550 Roy Campanella, "Symbol of Courage"), traded cards, update cards (e.g., 1984 Fleer Update #U43 Dwight Gooden), error cards (e.g., 1985 Donruss $424 Tom Seaver), and variation cards (e.g., 1974 Topps #250B Willie McCovey "Washington Nat'l League").
   
   A lot of the cards represent baseball history, talking about what happened with particular players in a given year or what was happening with baseball card companies (e.g., 1955 Bowman #179 Hank Aaron talks about how Topps bought Bowman after its ambitious 1955 TV release). There are also entries from the collector's perspective, such as the 1990 Leaf #220 Sammy Sosa that everyone was pulling out of their commons and semi-star boxes when Sosa was chasing Roger Maris and Mark McGwire during the great home run race of 1998 (ironically, the card shows Sosa bunting).

   The book, of course, is illustrated with photographs of all 300 cards, along with photos of ballparks and players, mostly from the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. For the die hard collector or the knowledgeable baseball fan this is a great book to leaf through and walk down memory lane. For the record I have 135 of the 300 cards, although by the end I am pretty much back to where I am in the beginning in terms of seeing cards I have never really seen let along tried to own.




2. A great book, with plenty of stories focusing on the cards and the players pictured on the cards. Mike Payne's writing seems aimed at all levels of baseball fans -- a difficult task, but one he pulls off with relative ease. There's a lot of baseball books out there, but few surrounding the history of the game and the history of cards. This one captures both, and does it with style.

1 comments about Collecting Basketball Cards: A Complete Guide With Prices.

1. My reason for getting this book was completely mercenary. I was hoping to get in on what I thought was a new and untapped area of trading card collectibles. But I quickly discovered on reading Bonner's very interesting and informative book that basketball card collecting is already an established hobby, in which I wasn't about to make some quick dollars off some kid holding a Michael Jordan rookie card he didn't know what to do with. (That card goes for, oh, $3,000.) But after those initial dreams were deflated, I settled in for a good read. Bonner has a style that makes even a cold subject such as "Price Guides" come off with a lively flair. What I especially liked about the book is that while he describes in detail the surprisingly long history of basketball card production (Murad Cigarette Company started it all in 1911), the reader simultaneously gets a narrative on the development of basketball itself in the U.S., and its key players through the years.

1 comments about Complete Guide to Baseball Memorabilia.

1. Has been improved to be more in alphabetical order. User friendly. Has a wide variety of oddball items and their values besides the standard collectibles. Super reference book.

5 comments about Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards and Collectibles.

1. this book has it all. It has very concise lists of baseball cards. My husband uses it every day when cataloging his cards. It was worth the price.



2. the 2005 edition of Beckett Almanac Of Baseball Cards And Collectibles, which even includes Canadian cards from 1912 to modern times - and coins, pins, stickers, team yearbooks and more. There are thousands of photos which lend to easy identification even in black and white, there are card grading tips and guides for beginners, and each section is introduced with a specific set of notes or collector's tips. Conclude with a glossary of hobby terms and series indexes and you have a top pick which represents a virtual 'bible' - and a must for any serious baseball card collector.



3. An absolute must for the advanced collector.

   This comprehensive volume combined with Krause's Annual Standard Catalog Of Baseball Cards, are the two most important tools for anyone serious about baseball card collecting.

   My only gripe is Beckett simultaneously publishing their inferior 'Baseball Annual' at the same time. It's clearly inferior to their Almanac and borders on customer abuse offering a "lite" version for the ignorant just to make more money.

   Still, that problem issue aside, the Almanac is a must-have if you're going take your collection to the next level.




4. If you collect baseball cards you absolutely must have this book. It catalogs virtually every baseball card ever made, including variations and errors.

   Why only four stars and not five? Subtle reasons, mostly. The main reason is that this book, despite being released recently, does not do a very good job of covering the professionally graded baseball card market. This is even more surprising as Beckett does have a grading service of their own. As such, the sections covering the history of baseball cards and how to grade cards is lacking and is pretty much a reprint of what's been appearing in Beckett books like this one for over fifteen years. They really could have done a better job of modernizing those sections.

   However, as a reference book to help identity cards and give approximate values, this book cannot be beat. Buy it now!




5. This almanac continues to expand -- and become better. Each year, it has added more sets, more details and more areas of collectibles. It is about to ``outgrow'' its covers. But that will be a long-range bonus for collectors. Beckett and able company will be forced to split the book, probably taking out minor league cards. The editors have become particularly adept at adding team-issued sets. A complete checklist of McCarthy baseball cards -- rumored for No. 6 -- would be a great addition. The only improvement I would like to see would be for more details on some sets and certain variations in a set (how to tell them apart). If you are a serious collector of baseball items, this is one of the few MUST books for your book shelf. And it's getting better and better with each edition.

No comments about Getting Started in Card Collecting.

1 comments about Collecting Michael Jordan: The Ultimate Identification & Value Guide.

1. A comprehensive guide to collecting Michael Jordan memorabilia. Very well documented with hundreds of pictures to help identify the various items.

   An indispensable guide for MJ collectors.

No comments about The Official Beckett Price Guide to Basketball Cards 2005, Edition #14 (Official Price Guide to Basketball Cards).

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.