3 comments about 2007 Brookman Price Guide United States & Canada Stamps & Postal Collectibles (Brookman Stamp Price Guide).

1. Bookman's is my favorite. I use it contantly while bidding on Ebay. It gives such a good range of prices for many of the variations you might run into when grading stamps. A few too many ads in it and you cannot remove them as they are usually attach to stamp grading. Easy to write on and keep track of what I have purchased and what I paid.



2. I have tons of U.S. and Canadian stamps that I have amassed throughout the years and felt it was time to see what they may be worth. The Brookman 2007 price guide will help you identify each stamp, stamp variation and it's going price. It will also help with autographs and First day covers etc. I also found the spiral binding to be very beneficial. If you collect stamps, you must get this book.



3. Great reference for all things U.S. and territories -- like it better than Scotts. Get the spiral binding, couple of extra bucks but believe me it is great for laying it open to look at.

No comments about The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps 35th ed (Postal Service Guide to Us Stamps).

5 comments about Top Dollar Paid: The Complete Guide to Selling Your Stamps.

1. I recently inherited my father in law's stamp collection. My wife wants to sell it, to raise some much-needed money. I bought a current Scott catalogue and determined that one of the U.S. plate block albums is "worth" $350. My wife was told by a stamp dealer that he will only pay about 10% of catalogue value. That would make the album worth $35.
   
   I read Top Dollar Paid. It says that only certain stamps are good investments. Those are the stamps that were already rare and highly priced collectibles when they were first purchased.
   
   In other words, if you go into a stamp dealer and buy a 3 cent stamp for $500 because it is rare, that is exactly the kind of stamp that is a great investment. It is the type of stamp you can leave to your children or grandchildren, and its value will rise as the years and decades go by.
   
   But if, when your father or grandfather was a child in the 1930s or 1940s, or (God forbid) in the 1950s or 60s, he went into the post office and bought mint stamps, plate blocks, or sheets, and had a beautiful and complete collection, all of those old and pretty stamps are worthless. If all you want is the cash for them, use them for postage. They aren't worth a damn thing. If you bought a hot dog in 1963 you wouldn't expect to sell it for $50 today would you?
   
   There are interesting anecdotes in this book. There's the Hungarian boy who hoped to sell Hungarian stamps in the U.S. at a profit. (No way!) There's the author's meeting with Gerald Ford and his stamp collection. There are stories of stamp collection owners who try all the tricks that you yourself would have thought to try, and just where those tricks got them.
   
   I'm glad I read the book. Now I think I'll just add some of my father in law's stamps to my own collection. After reading this book, I would guess that the collection I inherited might sell for $100. Big deal.
   
   The moral of the story is .... your stamps aren't worth a thing. This is the worst investment there is. Put your money under your pillow and you'll be better off.
   
   Before reading this book, I figured that stamp dealers will generally low-ball you and buy your valuable collection for peanuts unless you know the value of it yourself. After reading this book I understand that stamp dealers have incentive to tell you what your collection is really worth to them, and make a fair offer, but it's going to be a small fraction of what you expect, because stamps are a God-awful investment.



2. This book does two things well:
   
   1) How Stamp dealers go about determing how much a collection is worth.
   
   2) Keeps you entertained by showing the human qualities of both the dealers and the sellers. The latter are usually the heirs of the collector. They are almost always non-collectors and have some very interesting misconceptions.
   
   It is funny and sad to see the reviews complaining they wanted the book to tell them how much their collection is worth. Mr. Dalz repeatedly tells you exactly how much a collection is worth. It's worth what the dealer can pay for it. You need an appraisal by someone who knows both stamps and the market.



3. I'm not planning to sell my stamps - but this book has saved me money by giving me some insight into what kind of stamps will never be worth the time or money spent on them! I also love Datz's vignettes of life in the stamp trade!



4. Funny anecdotes, but where is the beef? Undoubtedly this writer is an authority on stamps, but very little of that knowledge emerges in the book. The title therefore is misleading.



5. I would like you to put a description of what these books really tell. I am looking for a book that tells the value of the stamps I have.

No comments about Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue 2009: Countries of the World C-F (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 2 Countries C-F).

2 comments about The Official Stamp Collector's Bible.

1. Bought this for the love of my life
   She is checking out some stamps that I inherited
   She says it rates five stars, so I won't argue with her
   She says that it was worth the money that I spent



2. Gee, I can't believe this book has been selling for so long, and yet nobody has reviewed it. I guess I just changed that.
   Well, if you are a "collector", you should own this book. While there may be others that will be of use, this one really should be on your shelf, so you'll have it when you need it. As a new collector, it has been a great help to me.

No comments about Linn's Complete Stamp Collecting Basics.

3 comments about The Jewish World in Stamps: 4000 Years of Jewish Civilization on Postal Stamps.

1. Excellent and interesting book, that combines my interest in stamps and the history of jewish people. There are many biographies of important men and women, that recognize their contributions to Humanity.



2. As I recently started collecting postage stmps from Israel, I was thrilled to find this book. (I do not read Hebrew) Well made with beautiful full color illustrations this book covers 4000 years of Jewish history. It is a must have book for any serious collector. Dr. Ronald Eisenberg helped bring the people, places and celebrations of Israel to life. Well written and insightful, I highly recommend the book.



3. The Jewish World In Stamps: 4000 Years Of Jewish Civilization On Postage Stamps by Ronald L. Eisenberg is an amazing, full-color, 288 page volume that meticulously reproduces postage stamps portraying events and people throughout the whole of Jewish history. The Jewish World In Stamps ranges from biblical stories such as the tale of Esther, to the Diaspora, to rise of Zionism and establishment of the state of Israel, to Jewish traditions and values, to World Jewish Communities, to modern-day Jewish entertainers such as Groucho Marx. Succinct entries flesh out the background detail on the individual or story represented by each stamp, and the color illustrations are the next best thing to having an international stamp collection of one's own. The Jewish World In Stamps is an exciting and seminal work that makes both the world of stamp collecting and Jewish history itself come alive.

2 comments about The 2007 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook (US Postal Service) (Commemorative Stamp Yearbook).

1. This is a hardback book with a nice index (that tells you name, date of release, etc.), then generally 2 pages facing each other on each stamp. Some of the stamp panes have 4 pages, such as when you buy one sheet of stamps and every stamp is different and makes up a picture (ie: Star Wars).
   
   The two pages are generally set up like this: One page will provide a larger-size picture of the stamp/stamp pane/person and the other page will provide details, such as biography of the person or history of the company. It discusses commemorative stamps and holiday stamps, such as the Hershey Kisses Love Stamp, the 2007 wedding stamp, the Holiday Knits and religious Christmas stamp. Another stamp pane that stood out for me was the Star Wars one.
   
   The pages are extremely thick and would be difficult to tear; the printings are in full color, bright, and I would think unlikely to fade with standard use.
   
   It's similar to the 2005 commemorative stamp yearbook, which is the only other one that I have looked closely at. The index, however, on this one has been expanded and is in color with small pictures.
   
   I think this would be great for the budding philatelist, or someone who just enjoys knowing more about the background on stamps. Might be too casual for the most serious philatelist, but that's not the purpose of this book.
   
   I wish I knew more about how to describe this, but I mainly wanted to write a review to counter E. DeLucie's review. This book is most definitely not worth only 1 store, and particularly not just because you thought it was something else. Why would anyone think that this was the edition with the stamps, when the description doesn't say that stamps are included and the list price is much less than the $64.95 price you quoted? Postal offices can't discount stamps just because it's the end of the year. Besides, I haven't looked in this edition, but the 2005 yearbook, tells you how to buy all of that year's stamps with stamp hinges on the catalog page. Return it if wasn't what you thought, but there's no need to review it so harshly. Anyway, since I already had some knowledge of stamp yearbooks, I knew exactly what this book was, and I won't be disappointed.



2. Don't make the mistake my daughter did - there are no stamps in this book. The 2007 book form the PO contains the 2007 issued stamps and costs $64.95

2 comments about Chinese Export Porcelain, Standard Patterns and Forms, 1780-1880: Standard Patterns and Forms.

1. I own several recent Nancy Schiffer books on Japanese porcelain that are of the highest quality in every regard; layout, printing, very clear close-up color photos, and with informative captions relative to the piece being illustrated.
   
   Based on this experience I purchased this earlier book and now regret it.
   
   The cover of this book is very misleading as to the contents.
   
   The pictures are mostly black and white, taken at a distance, out of focus, and poorly printed.
   
   This book is of little help when learning Chinese porcelain because the main attributes that educate are the subtle color variations used in the enamels and the base form which is not shown at all in this book.
   
   Also, the captions of the photos do not provide specific information such as dates, kilns, etc.
   
   The majority of this book is devoted to Rose Medallion when there are countless other decorations the Chinese produced during the era this book covers.
   
   Finally, the type face and printing used in this book is most primative, amateur, and unpleasant.
   
   I highly recommend you do not buy this book unless you have low expectations and are mainly interested in Rose Medallion dinnerware.



2. I have used this book as an initial guide in my collecting of Rose Medallion and other Chinese Export Porcelain. Very good basic source.

No comments about Scott 2005 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World J-O (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 4 Countries J-O).