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Rating: 
Summary: I take this book to card shows because of the checklists
Review: 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 The prices are always the least important aspect of these books for the simple reasons that the prices are out of date by the time the book hits the stands, which is why Beckett publishes a magazine on basketball cards.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.
Rating:
Summary: I take this book to card shows because of the checklists
Review: 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.
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