Beckett unveils graded card price guide book

Posted Dec 21, 2011 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Dec 21, 2011 at 07:33 PM

For collectors who enjoy dealing with graded cards, a new book published by Beckett Media should prove to be a valuable resource.

The inaugural Beckett Graded Card Price Guide is now available nationwide in hobby shops and bookstores. It’s affordable at $19.95, and it offers a pricing yardstick for professionally graded baseball, football, basketball, golf, auto racing and hockey cards. Non-sport and Magic cards also will be included in the 384-page book.

The book will display the pricing from three of the leading grading services — PSA, SGC, and of course, Beckett’s own service, BGS. As many as eight grades will be listed per card. Following the lead of the Beckett Graded Card Investor magazine, pricing will not be listed by company, but by the card’s condition.

A young Mickey Mantle graces the cover of the book, along with five examples of graded cards: A 1952 Topps Mantle rookie, a 1957 Topps rookie card of Johnny Unitas, a 1986 Fleer rookie card of Michael Jordan, a 1979 O-Pee-Chee rookie card of Wayne Gretzky and a signed rookie card of baseball’s newest collectible craze, Bryce Harper.

While I own a few graded cards, it is not my passion in this hobby. However, there are many collectors who are comforted by the knowledge that their cards are professionally graded and authenticated. And especially in the case of Mantle and Jordan cards (where fakes are commonplace), it gives the collector peace of mind.

Certainly, this book will be a useful guide for all collectors.