Conference school::sports_memorabilia

    Reply .-1
    
    Don,
    
    I would suggest you call or write Beckett's directly and see if they 
    offer that as a service.
    
    I believe Beckett's is put out by:
    
    	Edgewater Book Company
    	P.O. Box 40238
    	Cleveland, Ohio 44140
    
    If they do offer this service, will you let us all know?  And how much?
    
    Regards,
    Denny
    	

       Tuff Stuff magazine has ads for programs that catalog collections.
    They offer monthly and quarterly updates. I don't know where they get
    their price info from. You might pick up a copy of the magazine and
    give them a call.
                                           Denny

    The phone number for Beckett Publications is 214-991-6657.  The main
    offices are in Dallas, Tx.  It's a local call for me.  If I get a
    chance today I will call them and ask about on-line updates or other
    electronic/computer updates.
    
    joe

Thanks Joe, I'd REALLY appreciate that.  I've been kind of busy at work
to track down the number.  I'll watch the responses and if you don't
get around to it by the end of the week I'll give 'em a call.

dh

    dh,
    
    I called Beckett this morning.  They do not have any electronic
    information which is available to the publice either by down-line
    loading or via diskette.  They currently do not have plans to add this
    option to their business portfolio.
    
    The person i spoke with was real nice and suggested I call back every
    so often to see if there has been a change in plans.  I wonder if this
    means that if enough people  request this type of information they will
    make it an offering.
    
    joe

    Hmmm.  It seems so easy to do, too.
    
    You know they've got all the info for all their different pub's
    online for typesetting purposes.  Why wouldn't they slap 'em all
    onto a CD, for example and sell a con-dist (where have I heard 
    that term before? :^) CD for some small discount over the price
    of the paper publications.
    
    Likewise, their annual books would be great CD reference materials.
    
    Hmmm.
    
    If nothing else, floppies would do well, since every PC has a floppy
    drive.  I've got to think that there are enough PC's in homes to
    justify the (minimal) investment to have the info put onto 3.5" disks.
    
    In another few years, maybe CD's will make more sense.  In the
    meantime, they should get serious about electrons, because many
    collectors are doing the PC thing.
    
    ~K.

    Karl,
    
    Feel free to give them a call.  They are very open to suggestions.  If
    you think about it, most card dealers and collectors are not computer
    experts and in some cases computer illiterates.
    
    joe

For what it's worth, there is a company in Canoga Park, CA which
sells a product called Sport Card Organizer which includes the
prices of cards as well as information about the card.  The program
costs $49.00 and includes a price database for 1990-1992 and there
are add-on databases for all pervious cards back to the 1950s.  The
databases are sold by decade (ie. 1980s is one purchase) for $20.00
each.  I have called the company (by the way the company name is 
Compu-Quote, anyone heard of 'em?) and they are going to send me a 
brochure.  While originally I was told that I had to purchase the
program to take advantage of the price information, I later got 
on the phone with their "technical guy" and he informed me that
the price files are DBASE III files and that I should be able to 
import them into my Approach program.  I might purchase the 1980
database and see if it works.

Updates to the database come out once or twice per year for $10 per
decade.  There is a writeup on this program in the October 13 issue
of PC Magazine (p522) if anyone is interested.  By the way, this 
program is supposed to cover all major sports and all major card 
manufacturers.  

Now the BIG question - how will these valuations vary from what the
dealers consider to be the value of the cards?  I didn't ask how they
arrive at the value although the database contains three prices for
each card based on the card's condition.

dh

       I use The Card Collector. They have an ad in Tuff Stuff and
    Sports Card Trader. They also cost $49.95 but include all baseball
    cards back to 1948 and up to today. They sell upgrades for other
    sports. The updates can be purchases monthly or quarterly. They also
    have an on-line data base, which I haven't used yet. I don't know where
    they get their card prices.
       If you'd like to give them a call they're at: 1-800-545-9009. The name
    of the company is Able Soft if you wanna look them up in your
    advertisers index.
                                   Denny

    I have been using Lineup forbout a year and really like it. Here
    are some of your purchasing options.
    
    1. 39.95 for Database and 1 free data group option.
    
    Group optins are as follows for 9.95 each.
        Baseball 1948-1959
    		 1960-1969
    		 1970-1979
    		 1980-1984
    		 1985-1989
    		 1990-present
        Football 1948-1959
    		 1960-1969
    		 1970-1979
    		 1980-1989
    		 1990-present
        Hockey   1951-1969
    		 1970-1979
    		 1980-1989
    		 1990-present
        Basketball 1948-1979
    		   1980-1989
     		   1990-present
     They also have an update floppy with special sets like Fleer Star
     Stickers and other sets for 9.95.
    
    2. 69.95 Database and all Baseball   1948-present
    3. 64.95 Database and all Football   1948-present
    4. 59.95 Database and all Hockey     1951-present
    5. 54.95 Database and all Basketball 1948-present
    
    Note with the exception of the special option floppy all these groups
    are major sets like you will find listings for in Becketts.The pricing
    follows the SCD Sports Card Price Guide.
    The company is Lineup Software 1-800-222-1233. You can get a Demo disk 
    for the cost of P/H. Ask if they still have a trade in of other sports
    card database programs for 25.00 off of your purchase of Lineup from
    them.