Posted By:
SCD DonWhat's interesting about this whole discussion (yeah I've been following) is that a lot of the arguments mirror my internal dialogue as I went through pricing (auctions vs. dealer opinion vs. other sources of info) and in some cases...hey, when a rare B18 blanket comes up for sale once every 5 years, tell me if that's an accurate price if it sells at Sotheby's? eBay? Heritage? You get the point.
It's a subjective science. The bottom line is, the astute collectors of Forum 54 aren't going to let me tell you what a card is worth. You know the online, printed, and word-of-mouth ways to get a card's value from this week...and know how to bargain with sellers to get a better deal than that!
Rich, great commentary. I have more respect for the Beckett guide than I did before (and yes, I own it).
And no, we don't copy each other, for all you who were wondering 
. At least SCD doesn't copy Beckett. Sounds like from what Rich was saying they don't generally do that, either.
Barry, I know you're trying to be an objective, even-keeled commenter here, but I really appreciate you picking up the shield and defending the Catalog's honor here...and giving good behind-the-scenes insight.
Now, this is a great opportunity to say...any volunteers to help shape the prices for the 2009 guide? Most people take one or two or four sets they know a lot about...and we send them pages to look over and they mark them down with suggested price adjustments. This happens early next year (oh, February).
If you participated last year, don't bother replying, you're on the list for 2009. If you want in, email me at don@virtualcrate.com and put "2009 SCD Catalog volunteer." in the subject. Your reward is a free copy and a tip of the cap in the acknowledgments.
(I'm also going to make this call for volunteers its own topic in a second).