Hi all,

just recently decided to crack out the old sets and albums. Currently just trying to mark off what i have then finish some incomplete chase sets etc before i go off starting new collections.

I mostly have Marvel cards, and thought the NSU price guide would act like a good checklist for marking my sets off. Is that wrong? I cant seem to find a whole bunch of sets including:

Mcfarlane Trading card sets Series II
Spiderman Team Ups

Are some just not listed?

First of all Andy welcome to NSU cardtalk. There are only a limited amount of sets listed in the NSU price guide. What you need is a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Non-Sport & Entertainment Trading Cards". Its over 500 pages and very good value.

Try:-

Jeff Allender's House of Checklists

the link is on the Non-sports update 'links' page.

http://www.nonsportupdate.com/links.htm

Thanks alot guys. I thought it was too good to be true that i could get a complete guide for the price of a magazine!

quote:

Originally posted by steve j:
First of all Andy welcome to NSU cardtalk. There are only a limited amount of sets listed in the NSU price guide. What you need is a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Non-Sport & Entertainment Trading Cards". Its over 500 pages and very good value.

Hi,

Do you know if there is a 2012/more recent copy of the Encyclopedia? The only copy I can find is back from 2006? Surely an updated copy is over due?

Andy, there was a lot of discussion here over the years about what can and can't be included in the magazine Price Guide. The trouble is that it was growing to be larger than the magazine. NSU experimented with alternating issues with A-L and M-Z, listing just the cards that have a lot of activity, etc. But newer sets keep growing larger and larger and collectors want details on all of the subsets and special cards. So was born the Encyclopedia, which covers just 1985-2006 and has 449 pages in the main section! A great bargain - Imagine trying that as a magazine insert. There are two other books, even bigger with small type, by Christopher Benjamin, that dealt with cards from 1930-1960 and 1961-about 1992. It might be time where a new edition of the Encyclopedia would be welcomed, but the NSU insert does a good job of keeping the information alive for sets that came out after the book.

And of course it's impossible to keep track of pricing for everything, especially with today's eBay where prices vary tremendously and are sometimes driven by the words a seller chooses for an auction title. ...
.

yeah fair enough. I think it was only 3 or 4 sets that i have that i couldnt find, so perhaps won't need the encyclopedia just yet, but will definitely keep it in mind.

Thanks again for the help all.

quote:

There are two other books, even bigger with small type, by Christopher Benjamin, that dealt with cards from 1930-1960 and 1961-about 1992.
.

Just make sure that you win Lotto first. Last time I asked he wanted well over $100 for one volume. Too rich for me I'm afraid.

I really wish that there was a way to revise the Non-Sport Card Encyclopedia, or produce one for products released since the last one, because I still prefer referrence books. However in practical terms I know that it's a losing battle, especially with any attempt at pricing.

If you don't believe me just take a look at what Beckett still puts out annually on sportscards. Now that sportcard history is much richer and longer than non-sport, but the 2010 edition that I have is 1344 pages of an 8X10 book. Even with the size, the type font is so small that no one could comfortable read it for very long, and its now two years behind.

While the publishing costs of an encyclopedia type volume are no doubt considerable, any annual starts missing new products while still in the printing process. As for pricing, old sets and cards may stay relatively the same, but newer products and individual cards will be adjusting to the secondary market, so prices of things less than 3 years old can be way off.

The only thing consistent would be the card listings and for non-sport sets I don't think naming the base cards is very important. Its the premium hits that most collectors are interested in seeing anyway.

My point is, even though I would like an annual type non-sport card referrence that could cover everything, I don't think its feasible. Better to stick to the online sites we have, and of course the small universe covered in the NSU's price guide, which is still better than nothing.

I wonder if it would be possible to have an official NSU online Encyclopedia (Yes, I know Jeff's checklist website does an amazing job! )?

It could be in 'book form' such as a downloadable PDF but it could make money by downloading it for a one off fee?

There could also be an optional monthly/yearly subscription for a 'new copy' to be emailed for you to download as the Encyclopdia PDF 'book' is updated?

quote:

Originally posted by TC00:
I wonder if it would be possible to have an official NSU online Encyclopedia (Yes, I know Jeff's checklist website does an amazing job! )?

It could be in 'book form' such as a downloadable PDF but it could make money by downloading it for a one off fee?

There could also be an optional monthly/yearly subscription for a 'new copy' to be emailed for you to download as the Encyclopdia PDF 'book' is updated?

That's a really great idea

Yeah that would be a great idea. I like Jeffs checklist site alot, however something with approximate values (especially for the older stuff which doesnt fluctuate too heavily) would be very handy.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:

quote:

There are two other books, even bigger with small type, by Christopher Benjamin, that dealt with cards from 1930-1960 and 1961-about 1992.
.

Just make sure that you win Lotto first. Last time I asked he wanted well over $100 for one volume. Too rich for me I'm afraid.

The pair of books advertised as VG-EX condition sold on eBay for $16 on Tuesday. You might get used copies elsewhere even cheaper.
.

Gasp!! Now you tell me!!

quote:

Originally posted by allender:

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:

quote:

There are two other books, even bigger with small type, by Christopher Benjamin, that dealt with cards from 1930-1960 and 1961-about 1992.
.

Just make sure that you win Lotto first. Last time I asked he wanted well over $100 for one volume. Too rich for me I'm afraid.

The pair of books advertised as VG-EX condition sold on eBay for $16 on Tuesday. You might get used copies elsewhere even cheaper.
.

I've been meaning to buy second copies so that I could take one apart, scan it all, and be able to do word-searches.

What are the names of the 2 older books?

Watch out for earlier editions that might not have the latest entries.

The Sport Americana Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards Number 2 1930-1960, by Christopher Benjamin: last edition 1993, white cover, ISBN 0-937424-66-8.

The Sport Americana Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards Number 4 [1961-"present"], by Christopher Benjamin: last edition 1992, red cover, ISBN 0-937424-57-9.
.

Thanks