1 comments about Buying and Selling Teddy Bears Price Guide.

1. It is not very informative when you are wanting to learn about Teddy Bears or to buy & sell them. I still have the book in excellent condition. Want to buy it back?

5 comments about Boyds Tracker Plush: Value Guide, Second Edition, Vol. 1 of 2.

1. My Boyd's Bear's book arrived very quickly and it was in excellent condition. Thank You!



2. I have been looking for a collector's guide for the last several years and stumbled across this. As soon as the book arrived I could not wait to check the secondary prices for all my "friends".
   
   This book will be a wonderful help in getting an extra rider on my homeowners policy to cover my friends should anything happen to them.
   
   The pictures and descriptions in the book are outstanding and the supplemental information is invaluable. I have several friends that have multiple looks and it helped me to distinguish between the bears that have the same name but slightly different looks.
   
   If you are looking for the ultimate collector's guide for Boyds Plush - you must get this book!!



3. This is a must for Boyds Collectors. Great pictures and great information. Love the Paw Notes. A vast improvement from the First edition.



4. I have collected Boyds Bears for years and there has been a serious gap in the Price Guide and information Guides for Boyds since Checkerbee went bust.
   This Bangzoom Tracker is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!
   Color pictures, info, tons and tons of stuff I have and want and needed to put in some order!
   This is the way to do it with Sense and Brains!!!
   If you collect Boyds-you MUST buy this Tracker.
   Book or CD-rom; either way you need this to get your stuff organized, catagorized and listed so you know what you have and what you are looking for!
   Great Job Bethy And Bangzoom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



5. This book is an absolute must have for the true Boyds collector. It is the most accurate guide produced in years... a true Boyds encyclopedia. You won't regret the investment of this guide to find all the history behind your favorite Boyds pieces.

3 comments about Teddy Bear Encyclopedia.

1. I love this book and it has taught me alot about German, USA, and England made Teddy Bears. This is a great book that one could just sit down and look at over and over and again and again. If you like Teddy Bears and want to know what year, what country made a particular bear and when glass eyes was used etc., then please buy this book because, it was written just for YOU!



2. If a bear wanted to find out his/her family history, this would be the encyclopedia to buy. Being a teddy bear is still very in vogue. This is a fascinating way to find out why we love teddy bears and why they appeal to collectors all over the world.
   
   You can read about all the best-loved bears, from the original "teddy" to "Winnie-the-Pooh. The latest collectibles such as Beanie Bear and the Millennium Bears are also included. Pauline Cockril is the internationally recognized expert on the history of the teddy bear. She is also a regular contributor to Teddy Bear Times.
   
   If you see a teddy bear and instantly want to buy it...this book IS for you. Also look for The Ultimate Teddy Bear Book which is considered to be the bible of arctophily (bear collecting) and is used by collectors, dealers and toy shops around the world.
   
   The first bear listed was made in 1902 and was an experimental Steiff bear. The bears are listed all the way up to the year 2000. If you think you have seen it all...wait until you see the Pink Dino, a Swiss bear with characteristic elongated designs that I think looks more like a monkey. I much prefer the 1991 Pam Howells bear that has a lace collar, shaggy golden mohair plush "fur" and a cute hat trimmed with fabric roses. The Australian Teddy bear on pg. 137 looks somewhat like a koala bear for some reason. :)
   
   I know a place where a lady has bears sitting everywhere in her Bed & Breakfast. You just want to take one of the bears home with you. In each room, she also has a "resident" bear that sits on the fluffy down-comforter covered bed. The whole place is like one big teddy bear picnic. I bet she knows about this book!
   
   It is just unbearable not to own more bears. I must go shopping since I gave away most of my teddies when they had a teddy bear drive for kids. It was sad to say goodbye to some of them, but I know they are now happily living with a child who loves them. I do think it is time to start collecting again!
   
   ~The Rebecca Review



3. This is a great "beginner" book to learn about the points that distinguish one bear from another. Somehow they all seem to look alike at first!!

   This book teaches you to pay attention to whether the nose is stitched up and down or from side to side. Are the feet big or are they little stumps? Are the eyes glass or plastic? Are the ears close together or far apart? Are the arms long and pointed or short and stumpy? These all are clues as to the date and manufacturer of the bear!!

   Includes a section on repairing an antique bear (less is better!) as well as a section on newer bears!

   A great learning tool! Written so it is easily understood........you don't have to already BE an EXPERT to BECOME one with the help of this well written book!!

4 comments about Steiff Identification & Price Guide.

1. This book does not cover all the Steiff animals, I was disappointed in it as far as that goes. It mainly focuses on the Teddy Bears with some photos and mention of other animals, but again not all of them by any means.



2. Good book. Has many pictures which help identify the different time periods as well as detailing the tags, eyes, material that the animal is stuffed with etc. There is also an index in the back which shows the time periods starting in the '80's through the 90's and beyond.
   It does not cover every animal in every time period but it is a good base book to have on your shelf.



3. This book probably has a limited audience, since it seems to be missing many items for someone else, I'm adding that its back section listing only begins with the 1980's, so if you're looking for earlier Steiff information, this probably won't have it, especially some of the more common items.



4. There's lots of non-rare items missing from this book (all the one's I'm looking at).

2 comments about Teddy Bears and Steiff Animals, Second Series (Teddy Bears & Steiff Animals, Second Series).

1. This is a nicely organized book chock-full of great pictures. It begins with a brief history of the teddy bear, conservation tips, and guidelines on what to look for when investing in a bear. It moves on to discuss Steiff dolls and animals with guidelines for evaluating Steiff dolls/animals for purchase or sale. The book covers miniature bears, Teddy Bears before 1940, Teddy Bears from 1940-1980, contemporary Teddy Bears (as of 1984), artist bears, Teddy Bear related items, Steiff Dolls, Steiff Animals before 1940, and Steiff Animals from 1940-1984.

   Hundreds of items are photographed and described in detail with notations on what adds value and/or is rare. Even though the first edition came out eighteen years ago, it still remains a classic reference/guide and it is updated every few years.




2. Firstly are you a Steiff or TeddyBear in general collector. If the answer is Steiff this book will have no use to you. The first seven pages are informative but after that it is packed full of colour pictures obtained from peoples personal collectons. It is more like a photo album of bears, although saying this, the pictures are of excellent quality. If you want to check the value of a bear pictured you have to look up the page number at the back of the book and find the relevant item. I have 15 Steiff Bears and not one of them were listed, I have looked through this book 3-4 times and all in all I am dissapointed in it. I will place it in the book cabinet and probably never look at it again.

No comments about Mecki, Zotty and Their Friends: Steiff-Animals and Bears 1950-1970.

1 comments about Classic Teddy Bear Designs-Heirlooms to Make & Dress.

1. This would have to be the best value for money, beginners book on bear making that has been published in the last 10 or more years. The author has written this for the home sewer and doesn't assume that there is a teddy bear supplies shop just up the road where you can buy those expensive specialty items like joint sets, mohair fur, etc. Everything you need can be found at home in the sewing cupboard, at the local sewing shop or general store; eg: like buttons for joints, teddy jumpers/sweaters out of socks.

   There are numerous bear patterns of various sizes; eg: dad, mum & baby; both jointed and unjointed, along with clothes patterns for just about all of them! Estelle also explains how to customise the clothes patterns for different bears and garments; eg making a shirt into a coat. I still use this book if I want to dress bears from other patterns. For example I compare the bear that I'm making with Estelles bear pattern pieces; ie leg to leg for trousers, body to body for dresses or jump suits, etc; and when I find one that is similar I use the clothes pattern that fits Estelle's bear as a base clothes pattern for the bear I am making.

   The bear patterns themselves are excellent for beginners as all the bears a quite chubby (makes for great cuddling!), so are easier to sew, to turn inside out and to stuff - no narrow nooks and crannies to make for difficult stuffing. Some of the head patterns don't have a full head insert ie down to the nose, again making for easy sewing and more chance of a "nice muzzle/nose" for a beginner.

   Virtually all the bears in the book are made from something other than mohair, either synthetic fur, felt, coat fabric, etc, so you get a pretty good idea of what your bear will ACTUALLY look like. Mohair is gorgeous, but is often deceptive as it is usually a woven fabric, which doesn't stretch, so if you use synthetic fur, felt or coat fabric, for example, you end up with a very different bear to the mohair one you are hoping to reproduce.

   (I have a 1980ish edition of this book around which this review is written. PLEASE NOTE: there may be changes to the later edition SO the comments in the following paragraph may not be correct for this more recent edition.) Full colour books are the norm these days, so it is disappointing there aren't MORE of the gorgeous colour photos - although there are still plenty of black and white ones. There is quite alot of text, (including the usual "teddy bear" history), which comes under logical headings so it is generally easy to find info on subject. All the patterns are on pages of the book - great - no misplaced pattern inserts.

   This is a value for money book - lots of bear patterns with clothes patterns and how to do's. You won't make a Stieff reproduction, but you will get lots of practise with the numerous options this book offers.

3 comments about Collector Steiff Values, 2nd.

1. Mr. Consalvi's book was a godsend when I first started to determine the values of my Steiff teddy bears. However, we are now in the year 2001, and the book is in danger of becoming outdated with regard to its price guides and the values of Steiff collectibles. Additionally, many new bears and animals have been made since 1990 but are not included in this edition, except for the Disney animals up to 1995.

   A new, revised and up-to-2000 or 2001 3rd edition needs to be released ASAP.

   In the meantime, puzzled Steiff collectors should look for a copy of "Steiff Sortiment 1947-1999" by Gunther Pfeiffer. ("Sortiment" here means "Assortment".) When used in conjunction with Mr. Consalvi's book, both provide a comprehensive look at Steiff's many world-famous toys, both old and new, but Pfeiffer's price guides are accurate up to 1999. Also, the new "Sortiment" has (at last!) an English translation from the German, making it much easier to locate your Steiff bear or animal.




2. I am fairly new to collecting Steiff and found this book was caught between the begginer and slightly more ecperienced collector. Some very good pictures and an in depth price guide which could have been just a little better organised. Several Steiff pieces that I looked for I couldn't find, I am not sure if it because they were made outside the time scale for this book. I would say a good addition and informative although I am back here at Amazon looking for something better.



3. This is a great reference book for contemporay Steiff collectors. It focuses on the 1980-1990 Steiff pieces, their editions & values, photos.

1 comments about The Little History of the Teddy Bear.

1. This is a great book for anyone with an interest in teddy bears and their history. A handbook of teddy bear information. Turly a must for anyone new to teddy bear collecting. One of the best features of this petite volumn is a chronologically ordered list of all events concering teddy bears, including dates which are important prior to their first creation in 1902. Very nice selection of B/W photos. Glad to have this book in my teddy bear book library.

1 comments about Teddy Bear Treasury a Salute to Teddy: Identification & Values.

1. I love this book. Huge amount of wonderful pictures you want to look at over and over again! Prices (quite high!) also included. Beautiful and interesting.