2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards

[Ronnie]

Tonyo,

You pose an interesting question. In my opinion, it is very difficult to keep up with an accurate value of every pre-war card on an annual basis. I have been getting the Standard Catalog for many years and it appears to me that they focus on updating certain sets each year (maybe those that have had the most credible sample size of inventory up for sale in the market to price) and there are other sets that remain at the same price for many years and then jump dramatically in one year.

If you are using both guides, I think that is a good thing even though the prices are not always consistent. It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine an exact value for a card. I like to look for a range of values when I want to purchase a card, and having two (or more) sources to do this can only help the buying (or selling) process.

Lastly, when you do find information that may differ from the Standard Catalog, I believe you can contact them with the info and they will research for possible updates in future catalogs.

All in all, I think Bob Lemke does a fabulous job updating The Catalog, especially given how difficult it must be to keep track of an entire industry. I compare it to a guy like Cramer, who has general knowledge on more stocks than almost anyone, but can't possibly keep up with all of them.