Christmas Gift Questions
 

For Christmas, I received a couple of hobby-related gifts, including the following.

My mom and dad got me this book. It's from 2015, but seems to have a lot of useful information in it such as premium calculations and background information on each set. I was wondering if this was a useful tool used by people on this board, or if it was more of something to have around that's hobby related, but doesn't hold a lot of valuable information? How long until the pricing/information in this book becomes completely irrelevant?


My Aunt and Uncle got me this T206 Harry Howell variation from Dean's Cards. The background story, of Howell getting informally banned from baseball for attempting to aid Lajoie in his quest to beat Cobb for the batting title in 1910, is fascinating and as a Cleveland fan gives me a connection. However, the prices seem to vary on this card, and I'm not sure why. I was wondering if there was something about this particular one that differs from other "Hand on Waist" Howell cards? I also think it's over-graded, due to the staining on the back and some slight wrinkles in the card that cannot be seen in the poor photo I took. I fear that my uncle vastly overpaid for this card, but am also torn because of the sentimental value of my aunt and uncle getting it for me. He paid $112 after shipping, and looking on eBay, that aligns with some Howell (Hand on Waist) listings/sold listings, but is also 2-2.5 times the price for other Howell (Hand on Waist), and some even have tougher backs. What would you guys do - return it or keep it because it is a fair price/sentimental value? Of course if I returned it, I would use some of the money to get another Howell, but for much cheaper, and another T206 or 2.

UPDATE: I'm going to talk to my uncle about returning the card. I read a previous thread on this forum about Dean's Cards and how overpriced they are. I don't want my uncle paying $70 more than he could have.

Your picture links are broken, so I can't offer much info as I can't see.

However, my opinion on printed price guides is the same as it has been for my entire life. They are fantastic reference material for identification and finding new issues that you may be really interested in. However, the absolute second the prices are printed they are irrelevant. Pricing and values changes daily on most things of interest to any collector. It flows on a market's whim and as the post-war ups and downs of 2016 show, completely fluid. An insurable value can be determined by looking at recent sales or if the card is seldom sold a guide may help. But, in selling, a value is really just what you can sell it for that day.

I have a question on your card however, how do you plan on returning it? Was it bought from a store front or did your uncle buy off eBay? If it was not a store front operation, I would reconsider and either sell it myself or keep it for the sentimental value you have attached. Personally, I do not believe in buyer's remorse as a reason to return an auction purchase and I feel it is unfair to the seller to pressure them to.

I will fix the pics here in a second.

The card was bought from Dean's Cards (it's in the picture).

EDIT: The card pictures should be fixed.