ENDED! Beckett/Eckes Price Guide, 1st Edition...ends Mon 8/12, 8 PM MDT
 

This makes some good reading on a slow day! The Price Guide that became "the book" when people say "it books for..." It came out in 1979, when apparently T206 commons could be had in NM for $1.60, a NM 52T Mantle was $500, a Nolan RC was $1, and a T205 Cobb was $25 in perfect shape. Definitely a fun book to thumb through.

Bidding starts at $1, with $1 increments (you can pay in Ryan RCs if you want). Add $2.50 to ship Media Mail.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...s1a0df988.jpeg

Those are definitely one of the key triggers that bring back those childhood collecting memories. I think the first volume I bought as a kid was No. 3, then purchased a few more after that. Still have 'em -- will never throw them away.

I'll bid $2.

$5

memories
 

The #3 book was my first also. I remember looking at it on the way home from Borders and being amazed at all the sets I now just had to have! The color pages with the wrappers and press pins were also remarkable to a 14 year old kid who only had Topps, Hostess, and Kelloggs cards. It started me on the way to a complete T205 set...good stuff!

Take Care,
Geno

Is there any writing in the book, or check marks, etc? Any loose or missing pages?

Thanks!

condition
 

All the pages are fine, including the color ones. The only writing is a last name written neatly on the title page upper margin.

Geno,
Am I correct in thinking that your price guide is a 2nd or later printing of the 1st edition? My 1st edition - 1st printing has a different cover, as shown below.

Interestingly, I first learned of this price guide from an article in the Wall Street Journal, of all places - the main gist of this article was that adult collectors were "coming out of the closet" and willing to admit they collected baseball cards - i.e., that it was no longer a "finky" or "nerdy" thing to do! It was mentioned in this article that Dennis Eckes had a store in nearby Laurel, MD, so I drove over there one Saturday and bought my first price guide, which I promptly used together with a red pencil (ugh!) to inventory my childhood collection, which, thankfully, Mom hadn't tossed out after I left home!

FYI, most of the pre-WWII card sets don't have checklists in this first price guide - rather, there is merely a value given for a card in VGEX condition - some examples are: E107 - $11, N172 - $8, T214 - $10, and T215 - $7.
Val

I'll bump it to $6. Great book, I've owned 3-4 copies over the years--it made card collecting a whole new ballgame for me (so to speak). It was my first price guide/checklist, and the first copy was so worn and torn within a few months that I needed a backup. FYI, Stargell was one of the players on the second one-1980 Topps card.

Val, I'm pretty sure I have a copy of what you show too--mine are packed away in storage if they're with me at all anymore. Definitely cruder than the one for sale here, I'm not sure which came first but the one at auction here definitely came out during the baseball season of 1979 (when I bought mine) if not earlier. The other I acquired about 25 years later.

edition
 

Val --

I've never seen yours, but it looks like an earlier printing of the one I have. The reason I say that is because mine looks like all the ones that came afterwards. It's a lot of fun to look through the pages and see what you missed while you were looking for a Bump Wills Rangers and Blue Jays card!

Take Care,
Geno

Apparently between printings of the first edition, the fancier cover raised the price almost a Ryan RC! :)

I'll bump to 7. Love this kind of stuff!

Geno

I'll bid $10 if this auction has not ended. I just got in.

Thanks

TED Z

you're good!
 

Ted --

12 minutes left...you're on top!

Geno

PM's full
 

Ted --

Your PMs were full, so hopefully you received my email!

Thanks again,
Geno