few guides can ever be accurate on prices. There are so many things that influence a final price. Venue, seller reputation, recent publicity(Or old publicity) percieved condition, even the timing of the sale- all of them affect the price. For more common modern stuff it's easy to get close, for vintage it's almost impossible.
Even for graded cards. VCP can track sales, but you have to dig deeper to see if the lower ones were weak for the grade.
Stamp and coin catalogs are usually close, but some of them have well over a century in publication. And even then actual sales won't match if the item isn't common. Stamps that are average condition typically go for half of the catalog value. Less common but nicer ones a dealer will hold out for more. In one group I collect I've seen stuff sell for anywhere from 10% of catalog to a bit over 200% of catalog. (Usually it seems as if that's determined on wether I've bid or not)
Steve B
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