No comments about Identifying German Parian Dolls.

1 comments about A Guide to Hp Handheld Calculators and Computers.

1. This book is the definitive guide for those collecting or just interested in older HP calculators. Wlodek is considered the "grand-master" of the history of HP handheld calcs (though he's modest enough to deny that) and he has written a great reference on models from the first -- the HP-35 to models current to about 2002. He even talks about the HP-01 calculator watch. Wlodek includes complete descriptions, function details, variations, color & black & white photos, and even background history of all the models. Over 140 pages with tightly written information, charts, and photos. Great book!

5 comments about Vintage & Vogue Ladies' Compacts Identification & Value Guide: Identification & Value Guide.

1. I learned so much from reading this book. I highly recommend for anyone who want to get into to collecting vintage compacts.



2. From the opening page to almost the middle of the book is absolutely wonderful! The photographs are exquisitely done in color, the descriptions are complete & there are usually no more than 4-6 photos per page. Suddenly, it stops and the reader is left with pages filled with very small, black & white photos and wondering "What the heck happened??" The smaller compacts should have been the ones in the larger pictures and they are screaming for color! As for the educational & reference content, this book is hard to beat and will make an excellent tool for reading about the mechanisms of vintage compacts. Plus, the variety of compacts is mind-boggling! Recommended purchase but don't expect 100% satisfaction with the photographs & layouts.



3. Gerson knows her compacts--she is an absolute authority, and this book gives many fine examples of compacts from all periods of time as well as good information about collecting. The color photos are a joy to look at. However, I don't like the way the book is organized--it's difficult to find what your looking for because things aren't arranged in logical order. In addition, I think it's a shame to have black and white photos--the majority of compacts really can't be appreciated unless they are seen in color, hence my 4-star rating. Mueller's two books are arranged better, with color photos for every compact, and Gerson should have tried to emulate that while making the book her own. But this book complements Mueller's, and for a rabid compact collector, this book is a welcome addition to the other books out there.



4. This book is simply beautiful. It is full of every kind of example of vintage compacts made, the photography of the compacts is stunning and many are in color. Plus it includes useful information for compact collectors on the history of compacts, helpful hints in collecting , vintage advertisments of compacts and how to identify and determine exact date compacts were made through patten numbers which Gerson includes at the end of the book. I got my copy of this book from Gerson herself through the Compacts collector club which she is the president of, autographed for me by her and although this particular edition of her book is out of print I would highly recommend her new one vintage and vogue ladys compacts as well. For all those fellow compact collectors these books are a must.



5. Brand new, year 2001, outstanding 2nd edition of this guide to ladies' compacts. The beautiful 368 page hardbound volume with laminated covers features more than 2,000 large, full color photos of the highest quality. Major topics include History of Compacts, Guide for the Collector, Inventions, Designs, Tips for cCllectors, and much more. Each of the super photos includes plenty of descriptive text, along with values. Some trade materials are also provided. A must-have volume for fans of this popular collectible. Add it to your library.

2 comments about The Book of Fountain Pens and Pencils.

1. Here is the classic book for the fountain pen collector. It shows lots of pens, provides a value guide, and gives you plenty of information about the pens, the companies. The photography is top notch and you wont have to squint to see what the authors are trying to show. Loads of really rare pens also, so there is something to be on the lookout for. I really like this book and also have it in the limited edition of 300 with the leather cover.



2. If you want a book with lots of colour photos to compare and admire,then this is the book for you.As all coffee table books,not exactly overflowing with information,but has more than the usual.

3 comments about 2007 Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide: 1961 to Present (Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide).

1. Best title in its class!
   This Title has a very diverse collection of titles and values good for finding the value of an old unheard of comic. There is normally multiple dollar values for each comic edition and its associated grade on a scale of 1-10. All this book needs is some more guide lines on how to price out comics that are signed and have CGC authentication. They do have general rules for determing CGC (professionally graded comics from a new company) comic values but they seem a little off especially when combined with fractional grades.



2. very extencive and complet.



3. The Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide published by KP Books and the editors of the Comic Buyers Guide continues to be my comic price guide of choice. The 2007 edition is another 832 pages of prices and information from primarily1961 to the present. A more apt description may be from the beginning of the Silver Age to the present as if covers those DC books such as Showcase # 4 which kicked off what we know today as the Silver Age of Comic books.
   
   There are several things I love about this book. First, it can, if you wish, be used as a checklist. Rather than list comics in a run of issues (for example, Avengers 101 - 110) and listing one price for each issue in that run, this book lists each issue number individually with a check box next to it to check off if you own that issue. Hence the reason that it covers only the silver age to the present, otherwise it would be about 2000 pages instead of 800. I like this idea as a quick reference to one's own personal collection. Second, it lists only the near-mint price for each book with a grading guide to figure out prices for lesser condition books. Anyone who's been collecting comics for any length of time can easily do this right off the top of their heads and I've never found it necessary to list three different prices for comics.
   
   Another thing I like is that the book lists the month and year of each issue. This is a small tool that I think people overlook but that I have found to be very useful. But I think what the Comic Book Chcecklist Price Guide doesn't give you is just as important as what it does give you...namely it doesn't give you hundreds of pages of ads like Overstreet does. It also doesn't give you dozens of pages of stale market reports from dealers whose motives are somewhat dubious in what they report in terms of price information. Rather than rely on this `advisor' information this book has garnered real world data from auction services like eBay to provide what I feel is true pricing, black & white data and that's all I really need...not some dealer in Hoboken claiming to have sold book X for seven billion dollars.
   
   If you want a true price guide without all the vacuous fluff then this is the comic book price guide for you!
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson

No comments about Vintage Prints: A Book of Childhood Art.

No comments about Ethnic Jewellery.

4 comments about Standard Catalog of Stocks & Bonds (Standard Catalog of Stocks and Bonds).

1. This book contains many stocks and bonds that no one would collect. I sold many of these to the author for $1.00. There are many good references out there. Try George LaBarre's Books. They're out of Print but can be found on here and Ebay. The Author should stick with his other subject matter we writes about and Shame on Krause Publishers. They should have used a established dealer or the IBSS.



2. This is the most complete catalog of scripophily items I have found. (It is the only one I have been able to locate.) The book is organized well, and is fairly complete. I find at least two thirds of the issues I have been looking for in it. As for the listed pricing, the prices seem to be fair compared with what I have encounterd in the market. There are plenty of photographs, though most are blabk and white.

   The book would be improved if they added details on how to adjust pricing for the condition of the document. In addition, if they added more general information on the field it would be helpful. Of course for later additions, I hope that they will add more items to it.

   In general though, it is a good book.




3. This is a nice try but the prices are way off the mark. They are for the most part way too low and not in touch with reality. The book provides a good basic overview of the Scripophily hobby, but the reader should totally disregard the prices. A search of Scripophily websites on the Internet will give someone a much more realistic view of pricing and availability. I have heard a lot of complaints about this book from dealers and collectors alike.



4. This book provides a decent overview of inexpensive stocks and bonds from around the world. About 60%-70% of the items listed are from the United States. A large number of photos are provided and the type is very large. The authors clearly focused on the low end of the hobby. That's not bad, just not very helpful for mid level or high-end collectors. The quality of the photos is mediocre at best. They are black and white except for the covers and an eight-page insert. Even in this section, common material dominates, with only 9 of the 61 color photos shown being valued at more than ten dollars. Of those, only two are valued more than one hundred dollars. Many of the photos are fuzzy, taken at angles, or trimmed, giving the appearance that they've been lifted from online auctions. The values given seemed way off in my opinion. The authors note that the values were generally derived by reviewing online auctions and not by reviewing dealer price lists. I have to wonder if this approach makes sense since it doesn't consider shipping charges and the discount the buyers apply for the additional risk of buying an item in an online auction. Comparing my collection with the listed items left me with a feeling of incompleteness. Less than 10% of my collection was listed. In general, the book may provide a good overview of material available to the novice collector but advanced collectors should avoid it.

2 comments about The 2000 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook.

1. I love these books and buy them every year. I was started at the age of 6 by my dear departed uncle on collecting stamps. I can now share this simple joy with my own nieces and nephews. The book is full of information and photos relating to each postal issue (complete commemorative issues for the year). And the copies I have purchased new from the original vendor, obviously the US Postal Service, have come with the stamps and the protective sleeves to insert each stamp into before mounting them in the book itself. (I have noticed some offered on the secondary market are without the stamps.)

   They are each different in design each year and covered in a durable laminated type cover. A collection of these in the book case would provide many hours of entertainment year ofter year, without turning on a tv or a computer. They would offer a great family activity to work through and study upon the subjects included in the yearbooks. You know what they say about learning something new everyday....




2. If you know someone who enjoys collecting stamps, or enjoys learning about Americana, then this is the a good book for that person. The very nice hard bound book contains the commemorative stamp series for the year 2000. What is cool is that the actual stamps are enclosed. Surrounding each stamp is about two pages devoted to describing the history and background of the stamp and its subject.

   I do not keep books on my coffee table, but I would assume that this would be a good book for that purpose. I enjoyed receiving this book as a gift, and I am sure others would as well.

4 comments about The Encyclopedia of Pepsi-Cola Collectibles.

1. This is the only Pepsi guide book that I have, and I'm not real happy with it. It is inadequate, hardly scratching the surface of all the Pepsi collectibles out there.

   As with most other collectibles guides, the back index leaves much to be desired. I guess the author agrees because he omitted it completely. Big mistake.

   Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of Pepsi guides out there, like there are for Coke. But that doesn't mean this one is the "bible" of Pepsi collecting; it doesn't come close. I'm hard-pressed to figure out why others have written such glowing reviews for it.

   It's pretty, but it's incomplete, the prices are all over the map, there's no back index...but there's very little competition.




2. A very nice reference book and worth the money for collectors or fans of Pepsi.



3. The Encyclopedia Of Pepsi-Cola Collectibles is an amazing resource for collectors and dealers. Nearly the entire book is devoted to full color photographs of everything ever made by or associated with Pepsi-Cola, from slogans and trademarks to containers, cardboard inserts, cans, bottles, caps, a wide array of merchandise and much more. Offer a wealth of historical and background information on the Pepsi-Cola bottling company, along with authoritative and reliable price estimates for Pepsi-Cola collectibles, The Encyclopedia Of Pepsi-Cola Collectibles is a superbly presented and essential guide for the dedicated Pepsi-Cola enthusiasts!



4. A brand new, year 2002, hard-bound library volume containing 256 pages with more than 2,000 large, full color, sharp photos of every type of Pepsi collectible. Current values are shown. Items are listed by category, including signs, containers, novelties, toys and accessories and paper items. Sufficient text is included, covering Pepsi Collectibles, Reference Guide, History of Pepsi, History of Pepsi Trademerks and Advertising Slogans. I found the "Paper Items" section particularly interesting. Add it to your library.