1 comments about Collectors Guide to Battery Toys: Identification & Values (Collector's Guide to Battery Toys).

1. This is the updated 2002 edition of Don Hultzman's useful volume. The 208 page, softbound book covers more than 2,000 bettery operated toys with over 750 in full color. There's a nice introduction to the collectible with an interesting history, a rarity scale and a handy trouble-shooting guide. Items are listed in alphabetical order. Each toy is rated according to rarity. Battery toy collectors will find it of interest and value.

5 comments about The Official Price Guide to The Beatles Records and Memorabilia: 2nd Edition (Official Price Guide to the Beatles).

1. This book is absolutely terrible, I don't know why they use the word memorabilia as there is hardly anything in it except records, I paid over $50 for this and I wouldn't give you a dime for it if I had to do it over again
   TOTAL dissapointment on my end



2. I'm not knocking this entire book; there's a lot of good info in here. What bothers me is that the supposed 'gospel' and 'official' price guide failed to accurately describe the availability of a certain Beatles Collection - BC 13 - Limited Edition box set released in the United States during the Christmas Holiday /December 1978.
   As the facts still stand, this "retail release" was available to the general public, in stark contrast to Perry's statement of being only available to Capitol Record executives and industry affiliates. This type of sloppy journalism results in the creation of false perceptions in the market place...



3. The book is awesome. And a must if you are a collector.
   I cant wait until Perry finaly releases his new book!



4. If you want to learn anything about Beatles records, you are much better of getting copies of Bruce Spizers books,and tracking prices on Ebay. Forget about this overrated and out of date waste of money. I wish I found out before I blew a bunch of money on Ebay.



5. It doesn`t matter if you have been collecting the Beatles for years or a novice just starting out,this book has something for everyone.Chock full of details like label variations and year of release.What better way to find the value of your record collection than by the experts, and Mr. Cox certainly is that.He has been writing the only official guide to the Beatles records for years.Now,this book is in a handy size so you can take it along to yard sales where you`ll know if you`ve found that treasure or not.For ebayers,this book is a money saver.No more,"I sold it too cheap cause I didn`t know the value" Highly recomended.

2 comments about The Official Directory to U.S. Flea Markets (Official Guide to Us Flea Markets, 7 ed).

1. Everyone should have this book. This book is the quintessential guide to flea markets. It contains every flea market imaginable around the country. My wife and I are avid collectors and we use it regularly every weekend when we travel the country going to flea markets.



2. For such a current edition there are so many flea markets that are not listed showing any detail. Most of the flea markets are listed under "other" which only gives name, address and phone number. A dealer needs the detailed information. I have three directories which are 2 to 3 years old which give much more. I thought I would shop for something current. This was my first purchase with Amazon and reluctantly have to return the book and eat the S & H. Oh well, is it back to the local bookstore? I guess it's only fair to give some examples of what's lacking. Washington state: only one market is listed with details (Puget Park); Prosser - that only runs one w/e in Sept; and Tacoma Dome Antique and Collectible Sale is really not a true flea mkt and it only runs three times a year. The two big markets which run year around are listed in "other" giving only address and phone number (Kent[Seattle]and Tacoma {Starlight]) In the chapter for the state of Georgia there are ten markets listed in detail of which four have "antiques" in the flea market name and there are 146 markets listed under "other" which give only name, address and phone number. I can find these shortcomings in any state that I've have worked and glad to comment further at your request.

2 comments about Early American Pattern Glass: Collector's Identification & Price Guide.

1. Ditto to the above review of this book! "Index, Index, Index!!!" I am a relative newbie to antique glass and started a few months ago trying to identify family pieces. Because of the volume, extensive research, pictures, etc... of this source, I bought it a couple of months ago. What a waste of time and money. This book ***only*** has an alphabetical listing of patterns in the Table of Contents - no index. As I am trying to ***indentify*** a glass pattern - do not know the pattern name, the Table of Contents is useless. I have to laborously search page by page (500+) in hopes of stumbling on a black and white pic or sketch of the pattern. Granted several other glass books only have alpha listings of patterns but they are smaller in volume making it a bit easier to thumb through them. Now Warman's Glass by Schroy does have an index which lists not only pattern names but catagories with sub-levels. Why couldn't this book have taken a little more effort and added an invaluable index?



2. I'm sorry to say this book makes me want to stick a fork in my eye every time I use it.
   
   That's because mostly I need to identify an unfamiliar piece of glass, so I don't have a pattern name yet, and for some reason the authors chose to assume that anyone using this book would already know the pattern name of what they were looking up! Even the table of contents lacks any organization other than alphabetical pattern names.
   
   But most of all, identification is made hair-pullingly difficult by the lack of even a rudimentary INDEX.
   
   The authors have provided no way to look up patterns by characteristics such as 'star and circle,' or 'ribbed with lattice,' etc. The authors of books on marks have managed to come up with organization systems like this - so why is it so lacking in pattern identification books? This is not the only book without an index, even Mauzy's excellent book on Depression glass forces you to look at every pattern on every page when you're researching an unfamiliar piece.
   
   But, what makes this book's lack of index particularly egregious is its enormous size and complexity. Having to look at mostly black and white line drawings of patterns on EVERY SINGLE page of this book's 498 (!) pages of patterns is so discouraging I have yet to actually id a piece. I keep just giving up, which makes this book a waste of money.
   
   In fact, if you have a pattern name, you've already GOT identification, haven't you? All you really need to know is the price and what else is available in the pattern line, which YOU HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED YOURSELF!! The use of the word "Identification" in this book's title is an outrageous lie.
   
   The only way to make this book valuable to the majority of collectors, who have not managed to memorize thousands of EAPG patterns, is to buy another better organized book of patterns and use this one for the exhaustive listing of all pieces produced or reproduced under each pattern name.
   
   Obviously, the authors put a lot of hard work into this huge volume (which is the only reason this torture device still got two stars) but expecting anyone to access all that info without an index is ridiculous. This is a reference book after all, and reference books are meant to be WELL organized.
   
   If the authors had done more than just part of the job, and included at least an index and/or at least one other organization method than alphabetical pattern names, this could have been THE definitive guide to EAPG. What a disappointment.
   
   This was my first book on EAPG so I don't have any alternative suggestions, but perhaps someone else out there does?

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.

3 comments about Antique Clocks: 3rd Edition (Official Price Guide to Clocks).

1. If you know nothing about clocks and want to learn more before you seriously invest time and money, this is not a bad reference. Ignore the title (it was published in 1985!) and most probably worthless as a price guide...and unless you are from California and can't read...it only covers "American" made clocks. It's an easy reference and somewhat informative...for beginners.



2. I must of clicked on the wrong book. What good is a price guide to 1985 prices if it gives you nothing more than the price?! That's all you get here. Save your money and put it toward a clock!



3. The book reviews American antique clocks only. You cannot tell this from the cover or the write up.

3 comments about Warman's Sports Collectibles: A Value & Identification Guide (Encyclopedia of Antiques and Collectibles) (Encyclopedia of Antiques and Collectibles).

1. One thing that is not immediately obvious is the year published.
   I was a little dissappointed that the information I was given did not include the fact that it was a 2000 issue and not 2001.

   Carole




2. With Warman's Sports Collectibles, fans of specific sports as well as overall collectors of sports memorabilia receive an excellent guide to the finer art of sports collecting, with values accompanying black and white photos of the pieces. From yearbooks to boxing memorabilia, the collectibles are organized both by sport and type, making Warman's Sports Collectibles easy to refer quickly to for a variety of memorabilia.



3. Warman's Sports Collectibles is an exhaustive value and identification guide designed to help anyone, from amateur to veteran collector, quickly and easily understand the fascinating hobby of sports collecting. This comprehensive and reliable guide covers a wide variety of sports memorabilia, including items tied into auto racing, baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, figure skating, football, golf, hockey, horse racing, Olympics, soccer, tennis, and wrestling. Each sports field has its own chapter. Collecting tips are provided, with in-depth historical background on each type of sport, facts, dates, and figures. At 352 pages with a massive 1,500 black and white photos, Warman's Sports Collectibles is the superior visual and informative aid for any collector looking for just the right item!

1 comments about Scott 2004 Classic Specialized Catalogue: Stamps and Covers of the World Including U.S. 1840-1940, (British Commonwealth to 1952) (Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue).

1. A good looking well illustrated catalogue covering the issues of the golden age of philately from 1840 to 1940. Useful and informative sometimes including prices for sets both mounted and unmounted mint and in a number of cases also values on cover. Also notes those issues which have been especially subject to forgery. A good workaday catalogue. Does not have the enormous level of specialized information that say the Michel Specialized Germany will have on German stamps but that is not the intention of this work nor does it inclued numbers issued. Prices quoted are generally on the low side sometimes too low but perhaps reflect the price you may expect to pay for these issues and may also counterbalance the inflated figures listed in other publications. The introductory notes cover the question of pricing. Overall, a useful working reference.

No comments about The Official Price Guide to Pottery and Porcelain, 9th Edition (Official Price Guide to Pottery and Porcelain).

1 comments about Collectors Guide to Tonka Trucks, 1947-1963.

1. The definitive guide to Tonka Trucks