My ignorance of producing a price guide probably disqualifies any opinions or thoughts I have on the subject but I will throw this out anyway:

I have never been able to fully grasp how anyone can make a price guide for the simple factes you mention. It is a volatile market (any chip guides, illegal or legal). Once it is printed, prices, quantities change, mistakes/typos are found, etc..

WHAT IF… a standard guide was made inputting the data in to the work Charles Kaplan is doing, categorize it, and go live online? It could be snapshot printed annually for those who want an ‘in-hand’ book, and subscription fees could be charged for online access and a large group of editors/contributors could be given special rights to change/update things as they occur. This would keep the reference material fresh and up-to-date. It would still not be perfect, but reflect current conditions/information more closely.

Think of Wikipedia and how it works, maybe Chipipedia couls be a solution, AND with moble devices and big ‘in-hand’ reference book would not be needed, plus imformation retrieval would be much easier/faster.

Just a thought on a long range idea. Again, I am not qualified to really have an opinion…..