No comments about Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records: 1976 To Present (Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records).

1 comments about "Hot stuff!": Firefighting collectibles : an illustrated reference and buyers guide.

1. I recently started collecting antique firefighting equipment which goes along with my career as a firefighter. As a beginner it is difficult to get an idea of how much these collectibles are worth. I was recently in an antique mall in Nebraska when I ran across Andrew Gurka's book which I am currently writing this review on. As I was browsing the pages of his book I realized I had just looked at several items which were very similar to some pictures in the book and I also noticed that the prices were very reasonable compared to the suggested values in the book. Needless to say, I purchased the items and the book which I refer to every time I search for a new item. It is filled with a variety of items from A-Z and lists suggested values for the items which you can use as a comparison for the items you are interested in. The prices shown in the book are from 1996 so you should keep that in mind when you are looking at collectibles. This is definately the book for the beginning collector.

No comments about A-Z of Antiques and Collectibles.

5 comments about Gi Joe: Official Identification and Price Guide 1964-1999 (Collectibles).

1. I am no expert at gi joe collecting but I did not find what I was looking for in this book. It has very nice color pictures but is extremely specific and repetitive. This may seem good for some people but not for me. It does not include the spec for the Deep diver, vehicles and some equipment. Also it does not include many boxes that you can easily see on the net. I do not know if I can rely in its price guide also. The book is mainly focused in showing one pic of single items and in describing the subtle differences between one series and another of the SAME figure in almost all cases. The format is in two column and you have to go reading from the top to bottom and to the top again so it becomes kind of confusing to read at first.
   I will conclude that this is a nice book if you are looking for specific information and not if you are looking for a visual aid to see what item goes with what to complete your collection.
   If you want it anyway try to find the lowest price.
   But anyway do not forget to HAVE FUN!!!



2. A straight-forward catalogue of Joe figures and accessories from the beginning through the 4" era and on to today. Black & white pictures are plentiful. Not the book for blissful page-flipping and reminiscing, but definitely the place to turn for organizing your collection.



3. I would like to correct a statement made by reviewer Andrew Walls regarding the "official" status of GI Joe: An Official Identification and Price Guide (1964-1999). This book, like others written by Vincent Santelmo on GI Joe, was licensed and the manuscript was reviewed and approved by Hasbro Inc. As Acquisitions Editor at Krause Publications, I was involved in every step of this legal process. I can understand the reviewer's confusion since many publishers don't take the necessary steps nor commit the time and expense to create licensed or "official" books.



4. This book has some useful information on uniform and figure variations, but it is far from being a complete guide to G.I. Joe. For a more complete reference to every vintage boxed and carded figure and equipment set, check out this authors other book, The Complete Encyclopedia to G.I. Joe (1997 Krause Publications). Although it is primarily black and white, it is the most complete and comprehensive guide to in-package G.I. Joe stuff. When I first heard Vinnie was doing this book, I assumed it would be as complete and comprehensive as his previous book, only in full color, with a focus on individual and out of package stuff. While there are values for individual pieces of equipment, and many sets are photographed out of package, not every set and piece of equipment is covered, mentioned, or even listed in the book. This is obviously not due to a lack of knowledge on the authors part, but may be due to publishing considerations. I can only speculate. Perhaps Vinnie only had a limited number of pages to work with and realized he wouldn't be able to get it all in. If that's the case, perhaps he should have omitted the sections on 1980's and 1990's Joes and focused exclusively on the vintage 60's and 70's stuff. I like the format and the idea of the book, it just seems as if it's only about 1/4 complete. As a supplement to Vinnie's other book, this is okay, but don't expect to gain a comprehensive knowledge of Vintage G.I. Joe from it. This book was not licensed or approved by Hasbro, so the term "Official" in the title is somewhat bogus.



5. A very informative and concise detail presentation of the 'Singled Boxed' GI Joe's and the 'Packaged Sets' he was sold with . Wealth of detailling; Right down to the different type screws used on some fiqures. Well done. A 'must have' reference for any serious collector.

5 comments about Bobbing Head Dolls: 1960-2000.

1. Excellent book,well written on a collectible that has received no coverege for too long.Everything you need to know about old bobbing head dolls.



2. This book is THE guide to get to help you start your bobblehead collection! It has all the old nodders listed,how tough they are to find,variations,and prices. (...)



3. Anybody who collects vintage 1960's Bobbing Heads needs to have this book. Tim Hunter is the foremost authority on Japan made "nodders" from the 60's and has spent decades researching them. This book has become the "bible" for Bobbing Head collectors, combining a history lesson, detailed price guide, and helpful hints for collectors. Whether you are a veteran collector or a beginner, this book is a must!



4. As a long time BB card collector, my parents stumbled onto a bobbing head, an item I didn't have. Needless to say I have gotten hooked, with my collection now over twenty dolls. I read the large print on the cover, and thought it would be just what I needed, but the book is really about dolls from 1960-1972. The author simply blows off the newer versions as being too manufactured and barely covers them. A better detail history of the newer dolls and more aggressive price guide would have made this book a 5star.



5. I just start collecting bobbing head dolls without any knowledge.I wasn't sure where I can learn about.this book helps me a lot.Gives me lots of info etc....I wish this book had a lot more color-photo of dolls.

3 comments about Fostoria Stemware: The Crystal for America (Fostoria Stemware).

1. Glasses can be both functional and decorative, so it should be no surprise that people have taken to collecting them. "Fostoria Stemware: The Crystal for America" is a complete and comprehensive value guide, masterfully compiled and in a new and revised second edition. Covering glass making and collection across over four hundred years of American history, "Fostoria Stemware" is a must for any collector of crystal glasses.



2. This is one of the best general books on Fostoria I have been able to locate thus far. Well organized and useful. Great pictures.



3. If you have stemware and need to identify it, this is the book for you. There's a goblet index in the back which refers to the main book by numbers. I have found it invaluable for quick reference. Having ounces and height given really helps to identify which pieces one has. Each pattern is given production dates, and if it was made in several colors, production dates are given for each color.

No comments about Warman's Tobacco Collectibles: An Identification and Price Guide.

1 comments about Classic Stoneware of Japan: Shino and Oribe.

1. Say "stoneware" to anyone fond of traditional Japanese culture and most will respond "raku." Indeed, those loosely-shapen dark wonders of the low-fire kiln are the supercondensed span of an entire culture in an object you can hold. Yet in an almost artless preoccupation with doing just the opposite, two traditions expressing the same qualities of the tea ceremony using entirely materials and effect came into existence and rapidly became popular: Shino and Oribe ware. Both originated during Japan's artistic renaissance of the late sixteenth century (which interestingly was coterminus with the Europeam Renaissance beyond Italy, and just as tumultuous).

   The tea ceremony's origins came in a gentler time, the Muromachi. It was as if the mix of vigor and experience hung in the air like a dust mote after a peaceful zephyr, the same way that war is in the air when come the winds of change. Though several theories claim to be the actual inspiration, the era is more definite. A 1932 chronicle relates, "In the first month of 1574, Kagemitsu, third son of Kageharu of the thirteenth generation after the first Seto potter Kato Kagemasa, moved to Akatsu. By virtue of a tea jar that he presented to Lord Oda Nobunaga, the latter formally recognized him as a retainer. Kakemitsu subsequently left Seto and moved to Kujiri, in Mino, in 1583. There . . . he continued working as a potter."

   To diehard raku buffs, Shino ware must have seemed a bit overadorned, fussy perhaps. There are geometrics, abstracts, and representations of familiar fare such as birds, grasses, plus the occasional poem such as:

   The inner essence
   Of the fence of deutzia flowers
   In a mountain village:
   The feeling of treading a road
   Covered with freshly fallen snow.

   The authors convey all this with a mix of the poet and the historian. Here is an extended passage that carries the aroma of the whole text:

   "To me [Shino ware's] charm lies in the feel of its surface and the mellow luster that accords so well with that surface. And there is the straightforward beauty of the pictures decorating Shino ware. The overall effect is intoxicating.
   "Shino pictures are drawn with lively lines depicting the everyday scenery surrounding the potters-the bridges over the streams at Kuguri, a cypress fence and dew-covered path leading to its brushwood gate, a grove of trees in flower, the trees and grasses just outside the window, even the mountain road they traveled day after day.
   "Such was the aesthetic of the Momoyama period in general. But the single tree, the few blades of grass these artists sketched are somehow pleasing because the designs pulse with life, the brushwork is clean and bold.
   "The white of Shino can be compared to the first snow of the season, or to the last traces of the winter snow, which the warm spring winds are erasing as the bush warbler's first song rings out. Shino's white surface is soft like a mother's breast; it brings back memories of childhood.

   "Shino white is tidiness itself. And on that white the potters painted designs with an iron glaze made of oni-ita, a red clay rich in iron and manganese and abundant in the Seto region. The effect of flame in the kiln added distinctive fire marks. Shino is an elusive ware, capable of infinite transformations.
   "The Shino potters thickly applied their glaze, which they made by carefully grinding feldspar and refining it in water. To this they added their own secret proportion of ash. Then, after offering sake and prayers to the gods of the kiln, and ritually scattering salt to purify the area, they entrusted their pieces to the fire."

   In the depths of the heart
   From which pottery springs
   Flows a crystal clear stream
   Reflecting nearby mountains.
   -- Rosanjin Kitaoji

   The above is but the glaze. To get the pot you must get the book. Be sure to look at pictures 2 and 3 on page 54: This seemingly unassuming Shino teabowl is considered the finest teabowl in existence.

   Alas, or perhaps huzzah, styles last not long. The next innovation in Japanese teaware can be directly traced to a single man, Furuta Oribe, and as changes in teacups go, his was a doozy.

   Japan in Oribe's time was a chessboard of warlords incessantly raiding each other for fun and profit. Oribe, among other things, also was a distinguished general. His tastes ran to the "robust, generous, vigorous, and distorted in shape." He introduce these qualities to the entire tea ceremony-most notably by making it part of a dinner event with a large number of others, all lubricated as much by saké as by tea. Hence Oribe commissioned not only tea ware but serving and dining dishes, saké ware, unusual geometrics, and heavy, dripping glazes the tea ceremony's predecessors would have deemed ghastly. This was not very Zen. On the other hand, Oribe's shaking up the establishment led directly to a great flowering of ceramics. Eventually more subtle tastes tamed down the founder's style-a process that can be seen vividly in the many illustrations of Oribe ware-and Oribe's great-great-great grandchildren's great grandchildren still being made today.

   Alas, this review is all too brief. To sum the book in PR blurb terms, "Classic Stoneware of Japan: Shino and Oribe" is a comprehensive visual survey and text explication of the two traditions' glazes, processes, shapes, and decoration. You come away with a clear idea of the essence of these wares and with half an eye you can come to expertly recognize either. The detail is exhaustive given its scant 42 pages of text. Potters will celebrate it. Everyone else will learn from it. No one is likely to forget it.

3 comments about Classic Colt Peacemakers.

1. A big disappointment. I own nearly all of R.L. Wilson's books, and bought this out of love for such things. Nowhere NEAR the quality of other books in my collection, it was a big, big disappointment. Not only are the photos not up to par, but the text is horrid. Doc O'Meara apparently writes to make a quick buck -- not for the love of the subject like Wilson.



2. If you like to look at pictures of very pretty Colt SAA's that are way too expensive for the average person to acquire, then by all means read this book--or perhaps I should say "look" at this book. There's not much to read. The author only skims the surface of what I would consider a very in-depth subject regarding the history of Colt Firearms and the "Peacemaker". The rest of the book's pages are filled with full-color photographs that really don't make for a captivating experience. The experience of this book was like having a good friend show you pictures of his/her vacation; the first few photos are interesting, but after awhile it becomes more of the same and interest is rapidly lost.
   
   If you're looking for a very good in-depth history of Colt Firearms I would recommend "Colt: An American Legend" by R.L. Wilson. For a good historical reference on the Single Action Army specifically, I would check out C. Kenneth Moore's "Study of the Colt Single Action Army", although it is out of print and very expensive to buy. A well-stocked library should have it.



3. This pictures alone make this book worthwhile. Very nice color plates with excellent detail. O'Meara doesn't stop with the pictures though. He gives the reader a very well researched history of the Colt company and the development of the Single Action Army.
   Since the book deals with classic Peacemakers, O'meara educated himself on the art of gun engraving and discusses it in a way that will hold the reader's interest.

   Highly recommended.

No comments about About Buttons: A Collector's Guide 150 A.D. to the Present.