James Beckett is a statistician

Statistician

A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...

, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

, and publisher. His publications are well known in the hobby of sports card collecting.

Beckett earned a Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree in statistics

Statistics

Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....

 at Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 in 1975 and then joined the faculty of Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...

 as an Associate Professor. While at Bowling Green, Beckett began preparing baseball card

Baseball card

A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...

 price guides, which he offered free upon request.

Beckett price guides rely upon information from sellers throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, who supply information on customer interest and sales of products. Price guides typically carry two value labels, one based upon a high value, the other denoting low values. As the condition of collectibles is important in ascertaining their value, Beckett price guides also typically include a series of definitions for estimating condition.

In November 1984, Beckett began publishing Beckett Baseball Card Monthly. Rival publication Tuff Stuff

Tuff Stuff

Tuff Stuff is a magazine publishing prices for trading cards and collectibles from a variety of sports.The magazine was launched in April 1984 by store owner Ernie White, who named the magazine for his ability to offer the "tough stuff" to find in his store and to write about in the magazine. The...

 was also founded that year. Beckett Baseball Card Monthly grew in popularity and became the basis for the success of Beckett Media

Beckett Media

Beckett Media is a privately held company. Founded in 1984 by James Beckett as Beckett Publications, the company focuses on the collectible industries, especially in the area of sports collectibles.-History:...

, now based in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

. Beckett Publications produces price guides for a variety of sports collectso tracks market values for non-sports card collectibles (Beckett's Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and Hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 guides would start in the early 1990s, with Beckett's monthly Racing Guide following in 1996), such as Pokémon Cards

Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon video game series, first introduced in Japan in October 1996, then North America in December 1998...

 and related products. Beckett retains a position as Senior Advisor for Beckett Media, but is no longer Editor/Publisher as he was during the 1980s and 1990s.

The publishing company became the leading publisher of sports and entertainment market collectible guides and was acquired by Apprise Media in 2006.

Personal life

Beckett has three children from his first marriage. He is presently married to the former Diane Burgdorf, daughter of a Dallas car dealer and ex-wife of Sir Mark Thatcher

Mark Thatcher

Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet is the son of Sir Denis Thatcher and Baroness Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, and twin brother of Carol Thatcher...

.