2002 Standard Catalog of Basketball Cards

The 2000 STANDARD CATALOG OF BASKETBALL CARDS 3RD EDITION from Krause Publications wins out as the best major basketball card compendium. With over 100,000 individual cards priced and featuring over 800 sets, the Krause book is well-organized, well-written, and very well done overall. As a basketball card hobbyist and writer, I find myself turning to the Krause book first whenever I have a nagging question about a particular card or set. The prices throughout are as fresh as an annual guide can list them. Moses Malone's rookie card, for example, is just about right at $50 in near mint. Besides covering the basic card information on professional stars that every collector desires in a price guide, the Krause book takes the extra step of including such exotic international sets as the Australian Futera, as well as including a wide variety of college, high school, and figurine cards. The price guide for certified cards is also a worthy feature. The large page size of the 2000 STANDARD CATALOG gives the B & W photos inside good clarity and the prices are listed in a clean, easily readable typeface. Rookie cards of players are in italics, which makes picking them out much less difficult. Long time collectors of basketball cards find the 2000 STANDARD CATALOG a delight to use. Practically the only drawback editors should correct in future editions is the omission of a few key sets. For example, it would be good to include the first basketball cards, the 1911 Murads, as well as obscure minor issue cards as the 1972 Allentown Jets. Otherwise, from courtside to rafters and from pillar to post, Krause's 2000 STANDARD CATALOG does an outstanding job of pricing the hoop hobby's peerless products.--Mike Bonner, author of COLLECTING BASKETBALL CARDS, A Complete Guide With Prices.