Hello, does anyone know why the Red Book is one year ahead? Example, this year's Red Book is the 2023 edition instead of 2022.
2023 is only 6 weeks away, they tend to release them a little early for the upcoming year. They also did the 2022
Would you rather have the 2022 or 2023? Get the 2023 and live in the future! Which reminds me. I should go get myself a 2023 calendar to plan next years vacation getaways
Marketing fluff... why do "next year's cars" come out in the Fall. FWIW, the RedBook release is typically April or May, so 7-8 months ahead of the year.
I think the idea is to make the book look more current over a longer period of time. That way you can use the book you purchased the previous year with the current year's date on it. There a time, in the 1960s and before when the Red Book was THE pricing source. Everyone eagerly looked forward to its release and Whitman dropped hints about which series had gone up in price before the books went on sale. In the 1970s, the market went way ahead of a once a year pricing guide. It's still the best source for background information from a single book that does is small enough to use easily.
Okay, originally, in 1946, the First edition was printed and released later in the year, mostly because the industry [printing industry] was still recovering from the paper [and everything else] shortages due to WW II. That is also why the Blue Book was released in 1942 with the intent of releasing the Red Book later that year, but because of the war, there were shortages of everything and it was put on hold until the was ended
