I use the 2012 Beckett Almanac that I purchased for $0.01 + $3.99 shipping. Prices don't change much from year to year, so don't waste your money on a new one. I ignore the unrealistically "LO" values, and base all of my buying/selling on a percentage of the "HI" values calculated for condition/age as shown on Beckett's chart new the front of each of their books somewhere. I've modified their chart and expanded it to suit my own needs based on experience, which I've also posted on the "grading/pricing" tab of my blogs.
It doesn't seem that Beckett concerns itself much with the details in their pricing of individual cards anymore. Many of the values of a player relative to another player just don't seem to make much sense anymore. For example, if a player was hot in the '80s, but never really performed during their career, while another player wasn't so hot during the '80s but turned out to have a surprisingly good career, you'd think that the values would reflect their performance for equally produced cards. It just seems to me that Beckett stopped evaluating those individual players from the '80s after a few years, as well as during other eras.
What I'm saying is that Beckett is one of the best starting points, but your own judgement needs to be developed afterward in adjustment.
