FOUND FINALLY: Hager’s Comprehensive Price Guide

[Peter_Spaeth]

He is credited with inventing the slab as we know it and the 10 point grading system. He had a patent or patents, although I don't recall the details or whether they were ever challenged. ASA (Accugrade) did not in any event enjoy a good reputation.

[gabrinus]

Mike that is cool...this one was always my favorite...Jerry

[JJ McGraw]

Never seen that one Ron…. sometimes books can have more details than the internet. Thanks for sharing that title…..looks like it’s a 1970’s publication by the artwork.

[HercDriver]

It's no earlier than 1981...

[nolemmings]

Enjoy! I have both the Hager (without dust cover) and Erbe books, and they pale in comparison to Lew Lipset's encyclopedia in terms of pre-war research value. Rhett is right, when Hager's first came out it had nice photos of some of the sets; however, it was replete with horrible spelling and grammar. Seriously, pay a 5th grader to edit it. The pricing was at the time more than outlandish, and the boasts about the number of some issues he handled was a crock. Still, I never regretted buying it.
If you have a chance to get the Lipset three-volume set rolled into one you will not be disappointed. I turn to it frequently, even this past weekend. Here is a shot of my third version-- one worn to pieces and the other used for hand-written notes:

Buying the volumes separately is also not a bad idea-- I have a set of those as well.

[GaryPassamonte]

I remember buying that book from Hager at the National in 1993. He is/was quite a character. I still have it somewhere in my piles of books.

[JJ McGraw]

Hi Todd,
Thanks for the reminder on Lew Lipset’s books. I just went to the baseball book shelf and there it was. You are right, it is the top of the mountain, BUT still am glad I have the Hager book…..it has it’s positive aspects as discussed….never met the author , so I have no context with that.

[ocjack]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

I remember buying that book from Hager at the National in 1993. He is/was quite a character. I still have it somewhere in my piles of books.

I also met Hager at a National. He was selling his slabs (had 4 corners that could be snapped into the other half of the holder to seal). I bought several for different size cards and still have a box of them somewhere.

He was a character fully in love with himself. lol

[gabrinus]

Todd, you are right Lipset is the bible...Erbe's book was the first I came across that listed pretty much everything with a few gaps in some sets like Victory Tobacco but for 1982 it was pretty all encompassing...hope I don't get him in trouble for copyright infringement but Tbob--Bob Marquette--was nice enough to xerox most of Lipset's stuff for me back in the late 1980s...Jerry

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Enjoy! I have both the Hager (without dust cover) and Erbe books, and they pale in comparison to Lew Lipset's encyclopedia in terms of pre-war research value. Rhett is right, when Hager's first came out it had nice photos of some of the sets; however, it was replete with horrible spelling and grammar. Seriously, pay a 5th grader to edit it. The pricing was at the time more than outlandish, and the boasts about the number of some issues he handled was a crock. Still, I never regretted buying it.
If you have a chance to get the Lipset three-volume set rolled into one you will not be disappointed. I turn to it frequently, even this past weekend. Here is a shot of my third version-- one worn to pieces and the other used for hand-written notes:

Buying the volumes separately is also not a bad idea-- I have a set of those as well.

Agree. Lew's book is top notch and quite informative.