Coming Soon: The 2019 Beckett Non-Sport Almanac! Over 200,000+ listings including all the latest 2019 releases such as Deadpool, The Orville Season One, Rick and Morty Season 2, Game of Thrones Inflexions, etc. Plus, the usual sections like Vintage, Star Wars, Garbage Pail Kids, and much more! On sale date is August 23rd.
I bought the 2017 issue, which was the third edition, and noticed numerous omissions. I never got around to fully documenting them. I just didn't have the amount of free time necessary for such a project. In Beckett's defense, the Almanac is a mammoth undertaking just setting the structure and entering all the well-known sets vintage and modern with the latter being so extensive especially with the more recent chase card-heavy sets. Something like that could not have a comprehensive first or second or third edition. It's a huge amount of work and Beckett might not be able to afford to pay any number of people to work on it all the time. It would have to be built over years, especially the promo coverage, because collectors find oddball, unlisted cards every year. I didn't get last year's issue but I see it's on discount on Amazon. I might spring for that or splurge on the new one sometime soon.
I have heard that the Almanac as a whole has been considered increasingly useful with each edition and that would mean more promo listings as well so it is probably worth checking out at least once.
Jess
quote:
Originally posted by piko: How do the Promo Card listing and pricing stack up. Is it worth purchasing just for the promo information
Posts: 4620 | Location: San Jose, CA, USA | Registered: December 23, 2002
Thanks Jess I am not into anything later than about 2015 mainly Inkworks and Breygent so as your thoughts are on a earlier issue I might do the same as I do not need information on anything after 2015. And I dont think Beckett have made any fantastic price increases to anything that I still want
Posts: 821 | Location: New Zealand | Registered: November 22, 2016
Over the years, I've been able to include hundreds, if not thousands, of promo cards into the system. Many of them are priced. A lot of the sources I used came from archives when Beckett purchased Non-Sport Update. However, I'm sure there are a ton more promos that need imported into the system so I can add them to future almanacs. That is why I need the non-sport community's help.
When it comes to creating, editing, correcting, and pricing the almanac, it's only yours truly. I've been able to clean the listings up considerably over the years. It is a continuous process which is why I would love to know about promo cards (or any cards for that matter) that we do not have in our publications.
If you have any requests or corrections to suggest, don't hesitate to email me at mbible@beckett.com.
Just picked up my copy, it hit my LHS last week. Looks to be very similar format as past years and it is useful, but of course you won't find everything, particularly if you are an expert in some area of non-sport cards. I won't nit-pick, just have one suggestion and one question.
I still have problems finding certain sets in the group titles because of the way they are listed. I think like titles should be listed in chronological order, earliest to latest, not alphabetically by set name. I can see breaking up DC/Marvel by characters or groups, but for something like Buffy as an example, why do group listings jump from 2000 to 2004 to 2001 to 2017 to 1997 back to 2004 and so on and so on. It's confusing. Keep them in year order and at least you'll find all the pieces that were in that set much easier.
The question I have is a general one. The Funkos are gone, yes, but one of the special sections is reserved for 20 pages of Bench Warmers. I know people collect them, but the vast majority of all the autographs are listed for the same value. I don't know any of their names. I think maybe I heard of 2 or 3 signers that became known at one time or other, but I couldn't say who those are now. So 20 pages of detailed breakdowns of various set sections, not just the autos, seems excessive for cards that can't be sold on certain sites and have never produced anything of huge value that I'm aware of. I noticed Playboy cards are not in the Almanac at all. So why give so much space to Bench Warmers?
Posts: 10529 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007
Oh man, that's a lot of work for one person. I don't remember who put the NSU price guide together before Bill DeFranzo became the pricing specialist around 2000. I was one of many who provided pricing information to Bill on various cards we saw sell online and at shows. I provide some recent prices realized for promos in the PCE additions/corrections thread so feel free to incorporate anything you can use from that. I try to do a "price check" on at least one popular franchise every year (Buffy, Star Trek, Star Wars) for my own information and add those values to the listing as well. I just check Ebay's Completed Auctions and use watchcount.com for any Best Offer sales. When I see oddball promos on auction, I watch them to the end too record those final numbers too.
Jess
quote:
Originally posted by BeckettBible24: Over the years, I've been able to include hundreds, if not thousands, of promo cards into the system. Many of them are priced. A lot of the sources I used came from archives when Beckett purchased Non-Sport Update. However, I'm sure there are a ton more promos that need imported into the system so I can add them to future almanacs. That is why I need the non-sport community's help.
When it comes to creating, editing, correcting, and pricing the almanac, it's only yours truly. I've been able to clean the listings up considerably over the years. It is a continuous process which is why I would love to know about promo cards (or any cards for that matter) that we do not have in our publications.
If you have any requests or corrections to suggest, don't hesitate to email me at mbible@beckett.com.
Posts: 4620 | Location: San Jose, CA, USA | Registered: December 23, 2002
Yeah, that is confusing to go alphabetically for something like Buffy. It's better to go chronologically so collectors old and new can see at a glance the earliest sets to the most recent ones in order. All the James Bond, Star Trek, and Star Wars should be chronological too.
It sounds like I'm going to have to make an effort to pick up the new one.
I don't think any of the Bench Warmer sets show nudity so you probably wouldn't categorize them as "adult cards." They would qualify as pin-up so they should be in the almanac. The sets go back to the 90's so I can see how they could cover 20 pages of it. The Star Pics Playboy set and the Sports Time Playboy Covers sets should be in the almanac because those don't show nudity either. I collected one of the Covers sets at the time - nice cards and the refractors looked really great.
Yeah, you'd have to talk to Bench Warmer collectors to nail down some of the autograph prices. I see many of the promos and other cards on Ebay and recognize some of the names. Nikki Ziering was a well-known model before she married actor, Ian Ziering. Several years ago, April Scott co-hosted a late-night movie show on TNT or TBS and Sara Jean Underwood co-hosted a pop culture/tech show on the G4 television network about 8 years ago (the same show where Olivia Munn got her start).
Jess
quote:
Originally posted by Raven: Just picked up my copy, it hit my LHS last week. Looks to be very similar format as past years and it is useful, but of course you won't find everything, particularly if you are an expert in some area of non-sport cards. I won't nit-pick, just have one suggestion and one question.
I still have problems finding certain sets in the group titles because of the way they are listed. I think like titles should be listed in chronological order, earliest to latest, not alphabetically by set name. I can see breaking up DC/Marvel by characters or groups, but for something like Buffy as an example, why do group listings jump from 2000 to 2004 to 2001 to 2017 to 1997 back to 2004 and so on and so on. It's confusing. Keep them in year order and at least you'll find all the pieces that were in that set much easier.
The question I have is a general one. The Funkos are gone, yes, but one of the special sections is reserved for 20 pages of Bench Warmers. I know people collect them, but the vast majority of all the autographs are listed for the same value. I don't know any of their names. I think maybe I heard of 2 or 3 signers that became known at one time or other, but I couldn't say who those are now. So 20 pages of detailed breakdowns of various set sections, not just the autos, seems excessive for cards that can't be sold on certain sites and have never produced anything of huge value that I'm aware of. I noticed Playboy cards are not in the Almanac at all. So why give so much space to Bench Warmers?
Posts: 4620 | Location: San Jose, CA, USA | Registered: December 23, 2002
I wouldn't have any problem with the Almanac covering Playboy cards. They aren't showing any pictures and I would recognize a heck of a lot more Playboy ladies by name than I would ever know any Bench Warmers. I never heard of the ones you mentioned. It's just the 20 pages I didn't like. And if you want a set showing pinups, they should be REAL pinups.
BTW I do think they are considered adult cards because I read somewhere that Bench Warmers can't be traded on COMC, if I'm not mistaken.
Posts: 10529 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007
Even after all these years, it's still a work in progress. I'm always looking for ways to improve the price guides I work on, which now stands at NSU, Non-Sport Almanac, Gaming Almanac, Star Wars Almanac, and our newest addition, the Wrestling Almanac.
I have been toying with omitting Bench Warmer from the almanac for quite a while now. My plan would be to replace it with a Non-Sport in Sports section that highlights all the non-sport personalities and figures who appear in sports card sets. We have them all tagged in the database so I'll easily be able to include them in a publication. I floated that idea a while back and it was met with mostly positive feedback.
I'm not against creating a chronological sort order for the magazine. In fact, I would actually prefer it. However, the Beckett template for our annual publications is usually an alphabetical sort order. My predecessor actually had the almanac in chronological order and, on the advice of several in the industry, I changed it to more reflect NSU's sort order (which was our main competitor at the time). Perhaps it's time to seriously look at that and make some changes. I know it would make my life easier if all my publications were in chronological order.
Originally posted by Raven: never produced anything of huge value that I'm aware of
At least one Benchwarmer set had on card autographs of Bettie Page -- I believe the only on card autographs of Bettie ever produced. They sell for hundreds of dollars:
Originally posted by Raven: never produced anything of huge value that I'm aware of
At least one Benchwarmer set had on card autographs of Bettie Page -- I believe the only on card autographs of Bettie ever produced. They sell for hundreds of dollars:
That card is a 1/5 sticker from Page, which is hardly typical of Bench Warmers in general. Interestingly enough I don't see it listed in the Almanac, unless I missed it in the subsets. But it could be that it is so rare and traded so little that no price went into the guide.
To be sure some of the cards are up there in value. We have kisses, and double kisses, and lingerie, and swatches, and box toppers and jumbo box toppers, and everything is signed by somebody. Bikini swatches autographed by Renee Tenison, Rosie Tenison and Jaime Bergman are examples topping over $200. A few have good prices, but like every product, most autos are commons.
I think you have to be an expert in Bench Warmers to follow it and maybe the value is there for those who do. But like I said, I'm still not aware of it, Bettie Page not withstanding.
Posts: 10529 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007
Originally posted by BeckettBible24: Even after all these years, it's still a work in progress. I'm always looking for ways to improve the price guides I work on, which now stands at NSU, Non-Sport Almanac, Gaming Almanac, Star Wars Almanac, and our newest addition, the Wrestling Almanac.
I have been toying with omitting Bench Warmer from the almanac for quite a while now. My plan would be to replace it with a Non-Sport in Sports section that highlights all the non-sport personalities and figures who appear in sports card sets. We have them all tagged in the database so I'll easily be able to include them in a publication. I floated that idea a while back and it was met with mostly positive feedback.
I'm not against creating a chronological sort order for the magazine. In fact, I would actually prefer it. However, the Beckett template for our annual publications is usually an alphabetical sort order. My predecessor actually had the almanac in chronological order and, on the advice of several in the industry, I changed it to more reflect NSU's sort order (which was our main competitor at the time). Perhaps it's time to seriously look at that and make some changes. I know it would make my life easier if all my publications were in chronological order.
Thanks so much for this reply. It's great to know that suggestions are being considered and also the reasons why some things can't be done some times. For my part I think a "non-sport cards in sports cards section" would be a very useful reference. Each Almanac edition has improved and everyone should recognize how hard it is to produce a comprehensive volume, in a limited space, on a database that does nothing but grow. So it's more important for what's in there than what's not and no one else is publishing anything new and better, so there is that too. Nice work.
Posts: 10529 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007
According to Allender's site there are around 100 total signed over various versions.
I am definitely not an expert in Bench Warmer cards, but as an autograph collector I know about the Bettie autographs, and a whole bunch of famous models, wrestlers and reality TV personalities have signed.
Posts: 5484 | Location: Parts Unknown. | Registered: January 25, 2001
I never heard of the ones you mentioned. It's just the 20 pages I didn't like. And if you want a set showing pinups, they should be REAL pinups. 
