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4.0 out of 5 stars
Small Print, August 29, 2009
This review is from: Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards & Collectibles 2009 (Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards and Collectibles) (Paperback)
Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards & Collectibles 2009 is 1,320 pages thick. The almanac covers major and minor league baseball cards and baseball memorabilia. It covers tobacco cards to modern day to 2008. Though it is missing some information like Classic 4 Sport Minor League cards and the pricing for the All American Girls Professional Baseball cards and due to scarcity the pricing of other baseball cards as well. Also the print is smaller then it was last year; so if you have weak eyes get a magnifying glass. I believe Beckett really needs to start to come out with three of these almanacs: one for major league, one for minor league, and one for baseball collectibles. Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards & Collectibles 2009 gets a B+.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Most comprehensive Baseball Card guide I know of, January 28, 2010
This review is from: Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards & Collectibles 2009 (Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards and Collectibles) (Paperback)
While in the midst of opening a box of cards this week, I found a few cards containing game-used material that were not the normal bat, jersey, or pants swatch and was of a material I could guess but didn't know for sure. I went to check my Beckett 2003 Price Guide and quickly figured out my price guide was too old to list details for that card product I was opening.
It was that discovery, and the fact I know tons of cards have been issued since 2003, that motivated me to buy an updated Beckett price guide. Looking over a few of the available books on Amazon, I decided the most comprehensive guide might be the Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards and Collectibles, 14th Edition, 2009.
It arrived quickly from Amazon and upon going over the book for an hour, I definitely feel I made the right call. The Beckett Almanac covers most everything baseball card related from tobacco cards up to the very first 2009 releases from Upper Deck and Topps (series 1 cards from each).
Minor League cards are covered and some haphazard collection of baseball memorabilia is listed as well.
I was about to write that a few products I was looking at from the mid-1990's were missing, but I later discovered it was the layout of the index in the back that was my problem and not the exclusion of some card products to keep the book at about 1264 pages of actual listings/pricing. The index is laid out basically by manufacturer, then year and base product, followed by all the sub-brands and year from that manufacturer. Definitely more confusing and not as logical as my 2003 Price Guide that was laid out by year, then by manufacturer, and then everything alphabetically that the manufacturer released in the given year.
The front contents is also needed because there are some things you won't find -- or find easily -- in the back index that you will in the front. Another reviewer said they couldn't find the All American Girls Professional Baseball cards listed. I didn't find it in the back index but I found it in the front index. Only the set price was listed for that particular item.
In summary, the Major League cards section seems very comprehensive. I tried to think what other releases might be too narrow of scope or long forgotten about to appear in this book and the ones I thought of were all there.
Beckett's policy is usually not to list pricing for cards whose quantity is at 25 copies or less. I found a few products in my spot check for autographs or game-used item cards that should have been priced because of being 99 copies, 50 copies, or other quantities over 25 copies but simply were not priced. The cards I looked at with copies of 1, 2, 5, 20, or 25 had missing pricing but that is to be expected considering Beckett's pricing policy.
The Minor League section lists mainly national releases -- Just and TriSTAR to name some national product manufacturers, and the section adds the USA Baseball box set entries. I did not find very many entries for regional/local team issued sets so there is a better reference available than the Beckett Almanac for those who really want detailed info on regional/local minor league card issues.
Memorabilia is not what I would have expected. It seems just a few items are put there and it doesn't seem logical to me why unless they are the most desirable memorabilia collectibles that people who also collect trading cards might possess. I would have found a more useful memorabilia section to be a listing of semistars, superstars and Hall of Famers along with expected price range of their autographs on a card, a ball, a bat, a jersey, etc.
Type is indeed small, but not much more so than the typesize used the last time I looked at a Beckett baseball monthly magazine. The print does seem lighter than used in my 2003 price guide so it is a little harder to read.
All in all, I am satisfied with this purchase. I saved quite a bit by buying from Amazon than from Beckett direct and I have a great updated resource for product checklists, error, variation, shortprint, and quantity of cards made information. The only thing I would really add to the guide would be team abbreviations for the players listed so one would know what team the player is depicted with on a given card, but the way things are done in the Almanac is the way Beckett has always done things.
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