2 comments about Meissen Collector's Catalogue: Collector's Catalogue.

1. I agree with another reviewer and was disappointed by the book. There is very little information about marks, periods, maker's marks (no pictures at all) and ninety percent of the photos of Meissen ware are in black and white and are not of the best quality. It definitely isn't a collector's catalogue as most of the pieces are unavailable to the public (unless they have a lot of money). As a new collector it did not help me at all. There is a book by Jim and Susan Harran called "Meissen Porcelain Identification and Value Guide" which has amazing photos and gives far greater detail on the products, the background, the marks (and forgery's) of this fascinating maker of porcelain.



2. I was deeply frustrated, by the quality of paper, the poor print quality, lack of sharpness of colors and the fact that, the great majority of the plates are in black and white. I felt deceived...

5 comments about Tomart's Price Guide to Johnny Lightning Vehicles.

1. This is a great resource for JL's up to 2001. Good history of the company from the original topper era to the Playing Mantis era. A must have resource for anyone collecting Johnny Lightnings.



2. This wasn't for me, I gave it to my husband for his birthday. He loves it. Likes the pictures and likes how you can see the value of the cars as well as the Johnny Lightening Whites. He also uses it as a check list to mark off which ones he has already collected.



3. i'll give my review after i received the item .
   many thanks
   
   
   ari



4. This is a slick and attractive book, and I suppose great if you're into collecting the modern Playing Mantis Johnny Lightning cars, but there's precious little here on the original vintage JL cars: only two pages of photographs. At least you get a picture of each of the original cars.
   
   So, my three star rating probably reflects my disappointment both in the descriptions I read here as well as the book it self. It's almost useless to me as a vintage JL collector.



5. This book is everything I expected and more. Being a true J/L fan I appreciate the descriptions and color photos. One thing I noticed is it needs to be updated some what. But its an excellent resource if you are into selling,buying,or trading!!!!

1 comments about Classic Bourbon, Tennessee & Rye Whiskey (Classic Drinks Series).

1. It seems that most authors on the finer spirits tend to take an antiseptic view of their work. They may simply chronicle the historical background of some of the largest distilleries and review the high-end labels. But Mr. Murray writes with a distinctive passion about his favorite of all spirits (his admission on a radio talk show in Scotland). If you enjoy bourbon but have been afraid to plunk down the cash for a high-priced bottle, check out this book and then go for it! You won't be disappointed.

2 comments about Cookie Jars, Book II (Illustrated Value Guide to Cookie Jars).

1. This book is a nice size and weight to carry around. However, I am bothered by the way the cookie jars are valued. The author states that she lists "what I have paid for jars or seen on them" but never mentions the dates or places spotted or purchased! There are more accurate ways to measure the selling prices of such collectibles. Of course, an object is only really worth what one is willing to pay. It's a handy book and cheap, but I would just say beware that it is very inexpertly written. In my humble opinion!



2. I LIKE THE BOOK VERY MUCH. I TAKE IT WITH ME WHEN I GO LOOKING FOR MY COOKIE JAR COLLECTION. THANK TO THE HELP FROM THIS BOOK I HAVE GOT SOME GREAT DEALS.

4 comments about Stangl Pottery.

1. Helpful for ID'ing pottery, not good for values, it's very out of date. Very good for Art Pottery, the shape guide at the back is helpful. Overall I still consider this the "bible" of Stangl.



2. The main disappointment in this book is that most of the photos were in black and white and poor quality. The book is overpriced for the level of information given and useless photos. The books by Robert Runge run circles around this one- hands down!



3. Whatever information I gleaned from this book, I had to work very hard to obtain. Firstly, the type is so small, it is dificult to read across the columns fron the item to the value without the aid of a straightedge for guidance. The larger, hard bound books are much easier for us with aging eyes to read! And the values are so old they are now unrealistic and are of no help.

   I found it very confusing to use this book, as it is almost arranged alphabetically, but then has groups of items taken from categories that make sense and lumped into hodgepodge chapters with no apparent reasoning. Several dinnerware patterns can not be found in the dinnerware chapter, but are in three other non-related chapters! In several places you are referred to other sections or chapters, but those sections don't exist. Also, the text makes reference to items that are not described or pictured, and there are pictures of pieces that are not described or listed in the text.

   While the book may be helpful to some, to me it appears to have been hastily put together by someone who either didn't care about or fully understand the subject. I purchased the book for more information on the Stangl North Carolina Stoneware, but that chapter was left completely out! I am greatly disapointed and would sooner recommend someone to research values on Ebay before purchasing this book.




4. This is a great book for background and information on Stangl pottery. Serves as an excellent resource by providing market value to individual pieces. A must for the online auction bidder.

1 comments about Leggetts' Antiques Atlas East, 2000 Edition: The Guide to Antiquing in America (Leggett's Antiques Atlas East).

1. If you're planning a driving trip and want to do antiquing along the way then this is a neat book. Each state has the major cities with lists of antiques shops (not comprehensive but a start) as well as recommended Bed & Breakfasts or Inns to stay at. The thing that's missing for me is an intro to each state that kind of summs it up - like if you're going to go to the state definitely don't miss going to this area or that area or if you're going to be there a certain time of the year watch out for this antique fair or this flea market. I'm still looking for a book that will do that. So, for me this book only gets three stars but I think if you plan to be going on a trip and are interested in hitting a few antique shops along the way then this will help get you there. It would have been nice if there were short reviews of the different shops indicating what the dealer specializes in if anything. Oh well. This book left me wanting something more.

4 comments about American Art Pottery: A Collection of Pottery, Tiles, and Memorabilia, 1880-1950 : Identification & Values.

1. This is a highly personal volume, based largely on the author's own collection and interests. But this takes it well beyond the typical collector's book. Sigafoose manages to revive the vanished America of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, putting American art pottery in its social and cultural context. Especially fascinating are the many postcards, factory views, advertisements, and catalogue pages that show how the makers of art pottery presented themselves to the world. "Large gaudy vases and highly colored pictures look cheap and commonplace," advises one such ad. "One small [art pottery] vase, costing perhaps a dollar, will do more to give that touch of elegance and refinement to the the home than any other one thing."



2. This is a highly personal volume, based largely on the author's own collection and interests. But this takes it well beyond the typical collector's book. Sigafoose manages to revive the vanished America of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, putting American art pottery in its social and cultural context. Especially fascinating are the many postcards, factory views, advertisements, and catalogue pages that show how the makers of art pottery presented themselves to the world. "Large gaudy vases and highly colored pictures look cheap and commonplace," advises one such ad. "One small [art pottery] vase, costing perhaps a dollar, will do more to give that touch of elegance and refinement to the the home than any other one thing."



3. I know Dick Sigafoose personally, and he knows his Art Pottery. This book is well written and beautifully illustrated, and covers all of the major art pottery studios - from vases to tiles. Every page is filled with good, clear color photos, plus detailed information on the studios that produced these works of art. I highly recommend this book to art pottery collectors - both advanced and beginners.



4. This is a lovely book. Beautiful pictures.The collection concentrates on Art Tiles rather than Art Pottery. Great articles on the companies histories. If you collect Art Pottery Tiles this book is for you!

5 comments about Elegant Glassware of the Depression Era: Identification and Value Guide (Elegant Glassware of the Depression Era, 9th ed).

1. gene florence , any of his books are concise and show the items in a clear picture . he presents the items along with the current prices . all of genes books as is this one , are lovely to look at and very informative, giving a lot of joy.



2. Orginally purchased for my mother, I purchased it also after looking through it. The original reason for the book was to attempt to id some etched glass, the glass was not in the book, but it was worth it anyway. Beautiful photos, good writing, I saw pieces I had not known exsited. Who knew that such elegant depression glass was out there! I would not recommend it for the "flea market" or "yard sale" groupie, one of his Collectors Encyclopedias may work better, but it is still a very nice book and well worth it if you collect or deal in higher end depression glass.



3. This is another fave of mine from Gene Florence!He sure knows what he is writing about!!!This book is loaded with color photos of many different types of depression glass.I never realized how many patterns,and companies,there were out there!!!He also is very thorough about listing what pieces were in what colors and the values for each color.
   Overall a fantastic book!



4. I have a number of collector books, including Elegant Glassware of the Depression Era : Identification and Value Guide (8th Ed)by Gene Florence. Gene Florence books are my favorite by far. This book is very well formatted. It is loaded with clear pictures that are helpful in pattern identification, informative text, and has easy-to-use pricing guides. The book indexes the glassware by pattern name and by manufacturer.

   Whether you are a novice collector or "expert", I am sure you will find this book to be very helpful. Gene Florence's down-to-earth presentation of glassware is refreshing and practical!




5. This book is a little large to be carrying around, however I still do carry it to places that I already know will have the pattern I am looking for.

   The forward describes "Elegant" glassware as handmade and acid etched glassware that was sold by department and jewelry stores during the Depression era through the 1950's, differentiating it from the dime store and giveaway glass that has become known as Depression glass. The word "Elegant" has become "official" nomenclature among today's dealers for designating handmade glass.

   It is well organized with the glass patterns in alphabetical order and the prices in columns by color of glass. Most of the pictures are color and have good enough definition to identify what you are looking at. There is a contents by pattern and a contents by company.

5 comments about The Official Price Guide to Records, Edition #17 (Official Price Guide to Records).

1. welp..here it is.another book by jellyroll that says read it and become an expert!
   really now.come on.
   jerrys books have been going downhill for decades in my opinion.
   his early books were great and showed great pics of rare 45s although they ignored 78s mostly untill ten years ago.
   but the quality of this book and to honest the last ten or so has been decreasin down to the level of a newspaper.if fact its so bad that if you are blessed with bad eyesight like me,you shouldnt waste your time on this at all.
   worse yet there are countless horrid errors.
   many groups are thrown together only because they had the same name(although jerry is a nice guy and you can write or call him and tell him if he messes up or if you wanna contribute to his books.)
   my real pet peeve on his guides are not only the horrible print,but the awfull and often pointless pictures given on individual pages.
   like we wanna see some of these records at all?let alone in black and white>???
   many color pics are now included but are mindlessly thrown in.
   much attention if i want to be fair is elvis gets a load of attention..but its too confusing.
   by the time i found a few of his titles to price my eyeballs were hurting and popping out!
   last but not least,many artists have only labels and numbers listed.no names of the records.
   sigh.
   but if you want it buy it.
   its a good book if you are starting out or if you are into whitburn who will probably do his own gudes eventually.
   sorry jerry but thats how i feel after all the dough is spent.



2. My low score for this book is based not so much on the book's content but on how it is titled and marketed. The title should be "The Official Price Guide to ROCK Records," because that's basically what it is. I purchased this book as a reference for records BEFORE the Rock era and found it virtually useless for that purpose. I am an antique dealer and most of the records I come across are from the 1940s and before. For example, I wanted to reference vintage records on the original cast of the musical "South Pacific", early Lawerence Welk, Gordon MacCrae, 1940s "Peter Pan" Children's records--not exactly "obscure" artists. NONE of these records were listed. For goodness sake, the book even contains a explanation in it's introduction on how its [precious few] "NON-ROCK" records (yes, they actually used the term "non rock")were selected for inclusion! If that's not a dead give away as to this book being basically a ROCK record reference I don't know what is! If you want a reference for ROCK music this may be your cup of tea, but if you seek to research "non rock" records this is NOT the book you want. I'm returning mine today!



3. The book was very informative about history of records. I was looking for something that would help me with pricing, unfortunately this book did not help.



4. Bought this book to look up some very old records that my folks had. Maybe 1 out of 50 is listed. This book is a piece of doodoo.



5. It was exactly what I ordered, and was delivered on time

3 comments about The Fred Arbogast Story: A Fishing Lure Collector's Guide.

1. Scott Heston's THE FRED ARBORGAST STORY: A FISHING LURE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE is for any avid collector of fishing lures: it surveys both cataloged and uncataloged lures, providing good-sized color photos of both lures and packaging and blending design history insights with values. Any sports or fishing collectibles collection will want this.



2. Excellent book, has lots of great info about the Fred Arbogast Company and the lures and items that are collectable. The print quality of some of the pictures could be better, especially the color charts, but that aside, thanks to Scott Heston for putting it together.



3. This has to be THE best collectors guide I have ever purchased on ANY collectable, EVER! Even better than his book on Ohio fishing lures. I am so glad I bought this guide. I recently found an old tackle box full of old lures at a yard sale, one of the lures were still in it's box, both in incredible condition! (not gonna mention which lure...but it is valued at $200 in the box)...this guide helped me to recognize what an outstanding deal these lures really were at the price...I paid only $5 for the lot and was able to make quite a tidy profit off of them on eBay. The eBay tips on picture viewing (or in my case, taking) helped me to show the lures off to their best advantage...Thanks Mr. Heston!!!