[glchen]

I use price guides like SMR, Beckett, etc, more for comparative pricing rather than absolute since as you said VCP and actual auction data is much better. For example, you may forget about minor HOFers like Joe Gordon, Elmer Flick, and Billy Southworth until you look at the price guides and see that they are worth slightly more than commons. Similarly you may not realize a certain card is short print until you are reminded of it by the price guide.