No comments about Warman's Field Guide to Precious Moments: Values and Identification (Warman's Field Guides).

2 comments about Indian Artifacts of the Midwest: Identification & Value Guide (Indian Artifacts of the Midwest).

1. The descriptions and price estimates were helpful. The complete lack of color photos, except for the cover, was an extreme disapointment. The photos ranged from average to poor quality and were of limited value in indentifying artifacts. I feel the book description should have clearly noted the lack of color photos.



2. One week ago I went to do some house hunting and found something I wasn't looking for. While going through the house I came upon a large collection of Indian Artifacts. I knew almost nothing about them but susspected they were highly valuable. The next day an estate auction was held and I purchased the collection. Upon searching the internet for some information it became obvious what the best source was for identification of my midwest collection, Lar Hothem's book "Indian Artifacts of the Midwest." I purchased the book and was able to quickly identify many of the pieces that I knew nothing about. The book was written so a "layman" like myself could easily understand and identify many of the the basic artifacts. The quality photographs added to the pleasure of my learning. I was very pleased to realize the age, almost 10,000 years, and value of my collection. Thanks to such a thorough and readable source I now find myself hooked on the collecting and identifying of very interesting artfacts left in my area so long ago.

1 comments about The Art Of American Game Calls: Duck, Goose, Turkey & More: Identification & Values.

1. When I purchsed this book, I had in mind to use it as a coffee table book, but when I recieved it I had not been able to let it down long enough to let it gather that coffee table dust....It is the most revealing history of duck calls collected over the years of a highly acclaimed call maker, Joe Jaroski, whom I have had the priveledge to meet with during a Callers Show in Tennessee this year. Not to mention calls made from some of the country's best makers...to the calls made by these same people as novices...evaluating a call for its monetary worth is tricky, but this book will help you learn when it comes to purchasing calls, and what to look for when collecting calls. It is a great book to have and to share with friend.

2 comments about Bottle Pricing Guide.

1. I just bought 4 different books on collecting bottles and the one thing this book has that the others do not, is lots of pictures. This REALLY helps especially when you are a beginning collector like myself. The descriptions are a bit short (for example, in other books they tell you size and color of the specific bottle) while this one usually does not go into that amount of detail. But for [price], this book really surprised me. I have to say that even though it does have its downfalls in lack of detail, it makes up for it by its pictures. And trust me, I have 3 other books and they probably contain an average of 20 pictures per book. This one has about 3-4 pictures every other page. I do not recommend this book if you are looking for just ONE reference to go by but if you are buying it as a companion reference, I highly recommmend it.



2. I was impressed with the almost 4,000 bottles listed in this book. I was disappointed, however, in the limited number of pictures the author used. Several were very difficult to see and the descriptions were rather vague. The book is small enough in size to be taken along when shopping for old bottles and I find this to be very helpful. In the front of the book there are very brief tips on identifying, buying and selling bottles. I found these tips to be short but informative. I am only a novice to bottle collecting but I think this book would be good for a beginner or a veteran collector. My favorite feature of this book is its compact size. I like the fact that I can easily take it with me when I go shopping for bottles.

1 comments about 2007 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue including Countries of the World J-o (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 4 Countries J-O).

1. It was very informative. I like the color photographs and the descriptions of the stamps. It make it easy to identify the country and stamps.

5 comments about Antique Trunks, Refinish, Repair, Restore.

1. The book provides a wonderful step-by-step approach to trunk restoration and repair for a broad variety of trunks with which you might be dealing, from leather covered to brass mound to metal trunks with embossed tin and those covered in canvas. The guide is conveniently spiral-bound so that you can keep a specific page open when working on the trunk. Finally, I really liked the humorous approach. It's a nice complement to Morse & Edelstein's "Antique Trunks" book.



2. I purchased this book for my husband and he really likes it. We've had an antique trunk in the rafters of our garage for years...not knowing how to restore it. If every antique trunk ever made isn't in the book, I'd be surprised. Not only does it give historical information but exactly how to restore it and a place to order replacement parts. The trunk is out of the rafters and being worked on now. I'd recommend it to anyone...especially to beginners like us.



3. I was surprised first off that's it's not an actual book but spiral bounded. The information was very hard to understand. The information contradicts information I found on a site that suggests this book, so I was dissapointed in that. I hate that I just spent $25 on something I won't ever use.



4. I just want to say that the previous reviewer, I think, was distracted by the folksy style of the author, so much so that he didn't see the nitty gritty. I actually restored a trunk--my first--off Morse's step by step in this book. He offers great help such as tool lists (I purchased the hand tools he recommended) and tips on chipping old paper linings out of the trunk (an impossible task without his wisdom) and also clear instructions on how to shore up wood cracks--two kinds, cosmetic and structural. I was able to restore a Civil War era trunk with a broken back to a nice cosmetic state so that it looks nice in my house. And I made it structurally sound enough to use as my toddler's toy box.



5. A cute book, but contains very little information for all of its promise. The authors are busy making jokes but not talking about the nitty gritty of restoration. Maybe it is to hard to do since every job presents its own challanges. I just found the content thin. I am sorry I purchased it. If I could have found a copy in my local library, I would have saved some money.

4 comments about 1000 Fruit Jars.

1. This book is just what I needed on my many excursions to garage/estate sales. I have been able to determine better purchases for my collection by referencing my book on my outings. The images are in alphabetical order and are drawn precicely as they are seen on the jars. Info on jar colors for each embossed design is available too. A MUST HAVE for the avid jar collector!!



2. This book, One Thousand Fruit Jars, was just what I needed to sort out a horde of old fruit jars from my aunt's estate. Wonderful drawings and values. Helped me 100%.



3. Great little book for identifying all those jars you buy at auctions for a buck a box. Alphabetized, clear images exactly as they appear on the jars, even comparative values for many choices per brand by color.
   It's not a coffee table book, it's a throw it in your bag and take to the sale book. Perfect!



4. This is a great little book to help identify all the differences in your fruit jar collection. All the different embossings are drawn out for you to identify - like all the different Ball fruit jar embossings. It helped us beginning jar collectors! Also has prices for all the different jars.

5 comments about Answers to Questions About Old Jewelry: Covers 1840-1950 (Answers to Questions About Old Jewelry).

1. Yet another excellent jewellery book by C. Jeanenne Bell. This book is primarily a pictorial pricing guide to jewellery dating from 1840-1950, but the photos are interspersed with detailed pieces of information on topics such as jewellery makers, precious metals, imitation gemstones and the historical context of the jewellery, all of which are likely to be of value to most jewellery collectors.
   
   The main criticism I have of this book is that it is extremely cheaply produced. With the exception of two sets of color plates, the majority of the pictures in this book are in black and white. Furthermore, even though I always handle my books with extreme care, and my copy of this book is only about a year old, the color plates have started to come adrift from the binding. The index is also very brief and not detailed enough for my liking.
   
   This is an excellent book and would be a valuable addition to any jewellery library, but make sure you handle it with care.



2. Book was not put together very good. It was also very boring in alot of areas. The middle section that has pictures...fell completely out of the book and into my hands. Very bad binding job and cheaply made book. Would not recommend this book to anyone.



3. Didn't provide the type of information I was looking for but had some helpful hints.



4. I have serveral of J. Bell's books and I enjoy them all. This one is informative and I love the quality pictures.



5. This book will educate you concerning the history of jewelry from the 1840's through the 1950's. Excellent history, pictures, price guides for the collector and the researcher. Contains not only black/white and color photos, but hallmarks, dating clues, artists marks, glossary and much much more. Invaluable book and one of the most used in my jewelry library.

4 comments about Blade's Guide To Knives & Their Values.

1. As a neophyte to knife collecting I thought a book with the sub-title "The Complete Handbook of Knife Collecting" would be a great start. NOT. There are bits and pieces in the book that are interesting. It lists the different materials used for knife handles, but fails to give even a basic idea of how to identify them. In the listing of American Knife Makers, the list isn't alphabetical. For a resource book this is insane. While this book appears to have logical sections, nothing in the sections appears in a logical order, and they seem to be merely touching the surface of each topic. There is a suggestion to be sure not to confuse two companies with similar names, and not even a hint how to do that. It appears to be more of a compilation of unrelated articles than a guide. There is more history about companies than information about the knives they made. This is a book for the "immediately useless reference book" shelf.



2. I'm a history buff and enjoy the history behind different patterns. There is a fair amount in the book. Unfortunately, my expectations were set based on the local library having Levine's 4th edition. As an example, compare the jack knife sections and the descriptions on patterns. I assumed this book would be an update on values, but leave content intact. Instead, big chunks are missing. Blade is a fine magazine, but this book is a big disappointment.



3. This book covers everything from old factory made folders to custom knives and their makers. It is a very useful book for finding old knives in one place.



4. This is the latest effort from the same folks who destroyed "Levines Guide to Knives and Their Values" by publishing the emasculated 5th edition. This effort is a step up, albeit a small one and from a position pretty low on the ladder. The format of the book has been improved, with clear page numbers and reformatted data tables, but most of the photos are the same and the text is still the same as that in Levines 4th edition.The listing of knife markings and manufacturers is pretty good with lots of additions, but still missing the quality ratings of the manufacturers. Pricing examples for individual examples of knives have been updated. Some sections are unchanged from data displayed in Levine's 4th edition. The process for valuing a a pocket knife has been improved? to one taking 4 pages to explain and it is hidden in the middle of the volume and not listed in the Table of Contents. MY guess is that somebody wasn't too proud of the effort or process. In Levine's 4th edition the process is explained using 1/2 a page inside the back cover. I bought it because I thought it was a real update to Levine's 4th edition, but I'm disappointed to find in most areas it is not and definitely not worth the expense if your copy of Levine's 4th edition is still in one piece. Just one man's opinion.

2 comments about Matchbox Labels: Over 2,000 Elegant Examples from All Over the World.

1. I bought this as I'm interested in popular graphics and the two thousand samples included certainly capture the flavor of this tiny corner of the printed ephemera market.
   
   The book is very well designed and printed but ultimately I was rather disappointed with the contents. There is a sameness about so many of these labels. The huge number from the old Soviet Union and the Eastern Block certainly look similar, only to be expected I guess but other nations output also seem bland and unimaginative. Perhaps the reason is that most of the labels included are brands rather than advertising labels that are so common today. Strangely none of the labels are dated but I would guess that most of them were produced several decades ago and the cheapness of liquid lighters now has reduced match output.
   
   As another reviewer has commented the absence of North American product maybe also explains the lack of pizzazz and color. The matchbook was the flame of choice for Americans and there are no examples of these included.
   
   This will probably be the standard book about matchbox labels because it is so comprehensive. The American matchbook is another story; their colorful design and huge output over the years will still produce occasional new titles. The one I like best is:Close Cover Before Striking: The Golden Age of Matchcover Art (Recollectibles) with several hundred matchbook covers in an attractively designed book.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.



2. Well designed and printed on quality paper, this well-stocked archive is a decent production for collectors, fans, and graphic designers. It's organization is clear and the color labels easily identified.
   
   However, the most obvious shortcoming, and one that I found frustrating, was the amazing lack of North American selections. Nearly the entire 2,000 examples showcased are from former Soviet Union satellites and Asia. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - as you get a very good sense of Soviet-era constructivism and wonderful Asian simplicity & beauty. But the lack of labels from the United States, Canada and Mexico is sorely missed.
   
   Although unbalanced - I would recommend this to devotees of the genre - if only to expose them to labels that aren't often seen. However, for graphic designers and fans of Americana, I would recommend focusing on selections by Chronicle Books.