4 comments about Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever!.

1. As an Interior Designer I found this book an interesting read. I like to check out books written for the public to see what kind of advice is being given (there's a lot of bad information out there). This book offers insight into the furniture buying world of which the public is often unaware. Be warned, though, if you are used to bargain hunting this isn't likely to help you find a $50 sofa or $30 dresser. This is intended for people who want to buy better quality, long-lasting furniture. (she talks about good dressers starting at $1200 - for some people this may seem like a lot of money).
   
   It is also most helpful for people who live near a city as she talks a lot about shopping design showrooms. One thing I did not see mentioned is that trade showrooms usually require that public shoppers be accompanied by a trade professional or at the very least have a legitamate letter from one (and an appointment) stating exactly what the client will be looking at. Many of these places will not offer assistance or pricing to the public without such. You'll need to investigate this prior to embarking on your shopping trip. If such is the case, your best bet here is to have a design professional aid in the process or you will have to pay outrageous retail prices. The Design Center usually offers these services (for a fee).
   
   That said. She does explain a lot of terminology found in furniture buying as well as many pitfalls (one being that your average furniture salesperson's opinion varies markedly and can often be based on fabricated speculations). Ms. Letwin also offers an education on furniture styles for those who are interested.
   
   If you are shopping for quality pieces that you plan to have for the rest of your life you may find this book helpful. It pays to be forewarned. For the price it can't hurt to get this book.



2. Enjoyed the book. Learned about furniture shopping. Especially good for people that live near the cities whose furniture stores she reviewed.



3. This book was such a great help. I use it as a source for everything, most recently for online antique shopping. I never would have known which stores to check out -- and to trust -- without the information I found in this book. It's great.



4. I recently purchased a new home and had decided that I wanted completely different furnishings. I had no idea where to start and Best Furniture Tips became an invaluable guide. It enabled me to understand various styles,furniture terminology, what to look for in a piece of furniture and information on how to negotiate prices.
   
   I especially liked the advice and insights from some of the nation's top designers. Since I travel frequently the book was easy to take along and enabled me to check out design centers and stores in other cities in my spare time.
   
   Litwin has a pleasant writing style that explains in easy to understand English all the furniture jargon and pricing structures which many times seem overwhelming to a buyer. I would recommend this book to anyone who is contemplating a furniture purchase. Armed with this, one can confidently enter any store and not feel like a babe in the woods.
   
   One suggestion, buy her previous book, Furniture Hot Spots to find out where the really good stuff is.

1 comments about Collector's Reference & Value Guide to the Lone Ranger.

1. All I can say is that as a long time Lone Ranger fan, I Love this book! Nuff said!

1 comments about Rare & Lovely Dolls: Two Centuries of Beautiful Dolls.

1. I had the pleasure of meeting John Darcy Noble in 1999, and we've quickly become kindred spirits in the world of dolls. You can imagine my pleasure when he announced the publication of Rare and Lovely Dolls of Two Centuries! Told only as John Darcy Noble can, the book takes you on a magical tour of history. Not only do you learn about the rare value of dolls in our history, but John tells of meeting these dolls in such a way that the reader is drawn into the life of each. For anyone interested in how dolls play a part in the history of mankind, for anyone who enjoys being drawn into different worlds, for anyone who would love to meet the author, I recommend Rare and Lovely Dolls of Two Centuries. It's a rare and lovely book.

1 comments about The Complete Price Guide to Antique Radios: Tabletop Radios, 1933-1959 (Machine Age to Jet Age).

1. A good book to identify many radios (though not all are listed). Although it needs an update. Last printing was 2002.

3 comments about Warman's Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide (Warman's Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide).

1. We am more than happy to add this book to our collection of books. While we have many reference books on various antiques, this book is a one stop reference guide to marks, reproduction alerts and valuable information on a wide variety of antiques. The pictures are a treasure and the price guide accurate for the times. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in antiques. For the beginner it is a comprehensive guide; for veteran collectors it is a fast reference on various antiques.



2. General collectors who haunt garage sales and flea markets will want to keep the latest, 39th edition of Warman's Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, edited by Warman's editor Ellen T. Schroy, in their cars or close at hand. Now sporting almost 1,800 color photos, this updated edition offers the latest prices and descriptions for over 50,000 items, ranging from furniture and military collectibles to pottery and puzzles. With its many small color photos and descriptions, it brings excellent organization across the board to a range of antiques and collectibles.



3. I bought this book and actually returned it because on just about every page there is an advertisement for their other books. I found that very distracting and annoying. I do have their glass book which is very good but in the Antiques and Collectibles book they should just list their other books at the end and use the space for more info which it needs.

5 comments about Antique and Collectible Thimbles and Accessories.

1. The first book on thimbles and accessories I purchased. I still enjoy thumbing the pages, especially looking at the wonderful photographs. The section on makers marks is particularly useful for identification either prior to or after purchase of an item. Highly recommended to anyone interested in collecting sewing implements.



2. A great help to me with my thimble collection. I take this book with me when ever I go thimble hunting. Beautiful photography!



3. The photography is so well done, that it makes it easy to identify even the slightest variation in design from one thimble to the next. The value guide is helpful, but not all of us want to sell our thimbles, we just want to know a little more about their history!



4. I love this book! Mrs. Mathis has written a book that is very helpful to those of us who search auctions and flea markets for thimbles. The value guide in the book has helped me in knowing how much I should or should not be paying. The pictures of her collection are beautiful and well done. I should be so lucky to have a beautiful collection such as hers. I highly recommend this book.



5. Those with Ms. Mathis' 1986 book should consider her revised values book of 1997. Same photos in the same order, but 1997 values. The thimble market is booming and a knowledgable thimble collector can reap great finds, and avoid reproductions and the greedy seller. A must for the library of EVERY thimble collector.

No comments about Carpets and Textiles: The Thyssen Bornemisza Collection (The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection).

No comments about The A-Z Guide to Collecting Trivets (Identification & Values (Collector Books)).

No comments about Windsor Chairs.

5 comments about Authoritative Guide to Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960 - 1969 (Lionel Postwar Encyclopedia Series) (The Lionel Postwar Encyclopedia) (The Lionel Postwar Encyclopedia).

1. This is the best coverage of Lionel's promotional sets of the period in print to date. Highly recommend to all Lionel collectors, and to those who loved these sets peering through various Christmas catalogues, warming a boy's heart in days gone by! Nostalgic and authoritative!!



2. Drawing upon thousands of authentic Lionel documents, "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1969 - 1969" is an 848-page illustrated compendium showcasing the more than 700 electric train outfits (also known as 'uncatalogued train sets') that the Lionel company created exclusively as promotional items for retailers that included Sears Roebuck & Co.; Montgomery Ward; Spiegel; Western Auto; A&P; Quaker Oats; and others. Because of the limited numbers manufactured, these promotional outfits are among the most valuable items in the history of model railroading. These outfits never appeared in Lionel's consumer catalogs and information about them simply unavailable -- until now. John W. Schmid has been collecting toy trains with his father for decades. After the 2001 auction in which the Lionel Factory Orders and other miscellaneous internal company documents were purchased, Schmid embarked upon years of extensive research in newly found documents and has now distilled that research into the pages of an impressively descriptive catalog. The result is "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960-1969", a work of meticulous scholarship that is unique in the annals of the enduringly popular hobby of model trains and railroads. Included is how all the engine and cars came to be individually packed; descriptions of the original outfit box (including outfit inserts and packaging); pricing for the complete outfit (and even the empty box alone); original production quantities; diagrams for packing the outfit in the outfit box; instruction sheets, packed envelopes, as well as peripherals (track, transformer, oil, wire, smoke, etc.) Also available in a hardcover edition (9781933600031, $89.95), John Schmid's "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960 - 1969" is impressively informative and enthusiastically recommended for all dedicated model railroading reference collections.



3. Wow! This book is a must have for every Lionel collector and individual seeking to find their childhood train set...and the book is a bargain at ANY price. In 2001, the author, John Schmid, purchased internal, long-lost records from the Lionel archives for over $43,000. It took him five years to compile these records and photograph 100s of Lionel train sets into this unbelievable book value. This book contains all NEW information you will NOT find anywhere else.
   
   The book details over 700 of Lionel's most mysterious train sets (outfits), the ones it made exclusively for retailers and promotional firms. Names we're all familiar with: Sears, Wards, Penneys, Spiegel, Quaker Oats, S&H, Western Auto, etc. Since these "special" sets never appeared in a Lionel catalog, NONE the them have been fully documented before. Individuals and collectors have spent years trying to find out the value and contents of these long lost train sets. Now, thanks to John's painstaking research and beautiful photographs, everybody has access to this priceless information.
   
   The "Authoritative Guide..." provides everything that came in a train set, how many were made, who the trains were sold to, substitutions of items, pricing for the train set, pricing for the empty set box, and even how to pack the trains in its set box!
   
   It is also much more than a book about sets, over 60 pages detail new information about the items that came with each postwar Lionel set. Stuff I never knew including how to identify different train cars, engines, boxes, instruction sheets, accessories, envelopes, trucks and couplers, etc.
   Everything you ever wanted to know about what is included in a Lionel train set is provided.
   
   As a final bonus, I was able to relive my childhood memories of the retailers my mother used to drag me to. John provides a description of each of the retailers (many no longer in business) that Lionel provided promotional sets. Yes even the US Army sold Lionel trains.
   
   I could go on an on about how great this book is, but it is best to just buy it and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed.



4. One incredible source of Lionel information . . . way more than just sets. Covers promotional outfits with new information purchased from the Lionel archives. This is the first time this information has ever been published!!..."For every Lionel collector, 100s of individual item variations never before documented, a must have for any postwar collector, well worth the money". Written for all types of Lionel collectors . . . first time buyers to hard core collectors.



5. This book is exactly what it states in the title - "The Authoritative Guide". It surpasses any other documental guide available today because it does not only use marketplace data, rather, it uses actual Lionel data from the company archieves combined with field data to take it to the next level - a level of greater understanding of how and why these sets were created and to their scarcity and value. This book is a bargain at any price! With 848 pages and 700 outfits, it costs the same, if not less, per page, than any other guide. With this new, never before published information, the book will more than pay for itself in no time because now these previously unvalued sets have realized some serious collector values! For years collectors have been wondering what was in all those uncataloged sets Lionel produced in the '60's. Now the mysteries are solved. The volume of detail is incredible. In my 25+ years of collecting, I have never seen as much presented in one volume. Avid collectors will be conversing in terms as never before such as referring to product variations and paperwork by their stock or dash numbers instead of simply by their catalog number. Novice collectors will have the opportunity to quickly become as learned as experts that spent decades on information gathering at train meets around the country. This book will re-energize the toy train hobby and has single-handedly redefined the standard for information presentation. John Schmid's years of work on this book have certainly paid off and we should all be thankful he chose to share this information with the world. I'm already anticipating his next work, whatever it will be. In time, this book will become as much a part of Lionel history as the trains themselves. The renaissance has begun. Well done!