1 comments about Collectible Snowdomes (Collectibles).

1. Another one of those books that feature items, which if seen individually, would not be too interesting but put 350 of them in a neat square, well printed, all color book and they come alive. Each dome has a page to itself with a caption. Most of the objects inside the domes seem pretty tacky to me, produced as they are for the downmarket tourist trade but near the end of the book there are several advertising domes that look as if their contents have had some thought given to them, M&Ms and the Golden Arches of McDonalds look pretty cool surrounded by snow. The back of the book has a bibliography, web sites (naturally) and index.

   Books about snowdomes are pretty sparse, only three are listed in the bibliography, the one I have is 'Snowdomes' by Nancy McMichael, this has a better history than the Carnot book and a more flamboyant presentation and it has a picture of a larger-than-life dome on the front cover whose globe area is actually plastic with a liquid and white flakes inside, it must have been a bookbinder's nightmare to produce.

   Flammarion, the French publishers of Snowdomes also have other books in their Collectible series, I have one on wristwatches and another on pocket knives and as they are all the same square shape they do look good on a bookshelf. All I need now are Collectible books on jukeboxes, QSL cards, model Greyhound buses, pin-up playing cards, Santa Claus, TV station test cards and anything to do with the 1939 New York World's Fair!

3 comments about A. Glenn Mandeville's Alexander Dolls 3rd Collector's Price Guide (A. Glenn Mandeville's Madame Alexander Dolls).

1. I am just getting back into collecting Madame Alexander dolls. I have been collecting Barbie for the last 10 years and had a MA collection which I sold about 2 years ago. I think this is a great book with an extensive list of dolls. The only thing keeping it from getting 5 Stars is that there are not that many style numbers. For instance, there are so many Spain & Mexico dolls, I can't really tell which I have, by looking at this book. Maybe the next book, he'll list style numbers. Otherwise, I think it's great.



2. As this author of this book, I am thrilled to present the reader with up to the minute pricing and identification. For over seventy years, the Alexander Doll Company has spelled magic to children and adults alike. This edition is unique in that it lists individual dolls that collectors desire. Store specials and one-of-a-kind dolls are also highlighted. I hope you enjoy reading this book with the same enthusiam that I had writing it! A. Glenn Mandeville



3. If you're interested in Madame Alexander Dolls then this book is a MUST HAVE. It's organized and easy to read. It's a book for the beginner or the long time collector it's that good. I would highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Arcade Treasures With Price Guide: With Price Guide (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Book was filled with pictures of games I played as a kid. Lots of great pics and wonderful content. Price guide is not a reason to buy this book. But if you want to find a game from a long time ago this is it.



2. If you're interested in video arcade games from the 80s, this book will disappoint you. The content is VERY pinball-centric, with only passing mentions of arcade cabinets here and there.
   
   Not what I expected.



3. The market is a big determiner of what these games go for. The minute this book hit the stands it was out of date. Bill Kurtz fails to touch the pulse of collectors in this guide as it appears to be more ego gratification than a viable resource. And he considers himself in the business?...



4. I wasn't planning on buying this book due to the price. Boy, was I glad I did! Tons of pictures and information. I'm already trying to hunt down one of my all time favorite arcade games; Wrestlefest (Not mentioned or pictured in the book, but I was inspired.)



5. Contem varias fotos de maquinas de fliperama (muitas eletromecanicas) e outras tipo "arcade" . Infelizmente faltam algumas fotos de maquinas que fizeram muito sucesso no Brasil, como Big Shot (73), Circus (73) , OXO, Big Indian . De qualquer maneira vale a pena !

1 comments about Collector's Toy Yearbook: Identification & Values: 100 Years of Great Toys.

1. Any toy collector will find indispensable this survey of 100 years of toys in COLLECTOR'S TOY YEARBOOK IDENTIFICATION AND VALUES, a blend of outstanding, colorful close-up color photos and articles on toy and manufacturer history and toy trends over the last 100 years. Other books focus on pricing alone: this blend of in-depth detail and identification tips offers beginners and avid toy collectors much more and makes for a colorful, inviting reference suitable not just for toy collectors but for any general-interest lending library.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Cissy: Identification and Price Guide.

2 comments about Ohio Art: The World of Toys.

1. I bought this book as I collect the metal farm playsets made by the Ohio Art Co. I was quite disappointed as they had very little information on them. They made many more sets that what is covered in this book. However, if you are interested in their children's watering cans or dish sets, you'll be in heaven as they must show just about everything they ever made. Quite impressive!



2. Since my mother was Fern Bisel Peat, I was most interested in finding out about this publication, but, unfortunately, I only saw a couple of pages of it. I'd like to know if there are many of her designs included in this publication.

5 comments about Mego Action Figure Toys.

1. Nice overview of Mego's product lines. Not much commentary, detail or background information on the company or the toys it produced. Photographs could have been larger and cleaner. I would point out that if you are a fan of Mego's World's Greatest Super-Heroes Line, in particular, I would suggest you look to Benajmin Holcomb's book ("World's Greatest Toys"), which has much better coverage and incredible photography.



2. I enjoyed this book quite a bit (couldn't put it down until I read it cover to cover as a mater of fact). It provides a lot of useful information, and I would consider this book a MUST for any Mego collector (though I'm not sure the latest edition is necessary). If I could make one change to this book, I would make it more of an "action figure archive" or "reference guide" and less of a price guide. It would have been very useful if the book spent more time telling us everything about each figure, including variations and accessories (kind of like the Mego Museum does), that would have made this a GREAT book. Also, this book seems to slight the WGSH figures a bit (i.e., not as much information or pictures about them as about the other figures). Don't get me wrong, I still found this book to be very useful and well worth the money (i.e., it did a lot of what I hoped, just not everything). In short, knowing what I know now, I still still buy this book, and I would encourage anyone interested in Mego figures to do the same.



3. If you are into Mego this is the book for you! Between this full color book and the authors toy collection web site (listed in the book at WWW.MEGOHEADTOYS.COM) the world of Mego is 100% covered! A must have especially if you are into Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Wizard of Oz and Super Heroes!



4. When I opened up this book, it spoke to me. It said "This book is for you." I took one look at it and suddenly my childhood came flooding back all over again. Back to when Christmas was magical and there were two mego boxes waiting for me under the tree. By far, this is the most comprehensive mego book on the market. Trust me, I've bought them all. The day this book arrived in the mail changed my life. No serious mego collector should be without one. Use it as a personal checklist, or as a book to remind you of when toys were "cool". Not only does it have all the toys I remembered, but everything I always hoped would have made. Crammed full of an entire museum worth of mego toys, this book has everything from foreign exclusives to unproduced prototypes and production artwork. All the informative stories within are just priceless. I dare anyone to find a more comprehensive mego guide anywhere. There just isn't anything that compares to it. I only wish it could be longer. I just couldn't get enough. If it could be twice the size, I would gladly pay whatever price necessary. This is the book I see people using at all the toy shows. All over the world, this is the book Mego collectors and sellers use. Every up to date Mego discovery is there. When I think Mego, John Bonavita is the man. I have bought every edition and John has never let me down. There's always something amazing. All I can say is keep it coming! I hope Schiffer goes into FOURTH printing, just so I can see what new discoveries John has turned up! Go get'em John, "COLLECT'EM ALL!"



5. Here is the second edition of John Bonavita's Mego action figure guide. The book's cover, which was questionably plain in the first edition, is repeated here with a different background color. This new guide is supposed to be revised and updated, but the only thing I see different are the enormously inflated values on many of these figures. I can count a handful of pictures that are actually new to this edition. I was looking forward to this book as I am an avid Mego collector, but I cannot express to you how disappointed I was in this revised edition. Everything is virtually the same. Some figures are curiously overpriced. (Example: a prototype that is valued at 6000.00, yet it is the only one and has never been sold - where does that value come from?)If you have the first edition of this book, it is enough for you to have some good reference, but this second edition is a total waste of money.

5 comments about The Unofficial Guide to Transformers: 1980s Through 1990s (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I have to say, I do love this book. Alverez does a great job in a lot of respects, and it's obvious he knows his stuff.
   
   On the other hand, there are pages and pages of prices that were out-of-date before the book was even published. The pictures, while plentiful, are also a problem. He would have been better off leaving Beast Wars out of the book and spent more time on Generation 2 or some of the Micromasters, Pretenders, and Action Masters that he skipped. Some of the Transformers are hideously mistransformed (Hook, Onslaught, and Bruticus stand out, and that's just the first 50 pages). He also makes no effort to point out when some of the Transformers in the photos are broken (Mirage), or when the figures are lacking accessories (too many to list).
   
   The problem with this book is largely that it's just too informal. He tries to talk to the reader like he's a buddy showing off his collection, and we end up getting unnecessary things like birthday party photos (page 140) instead of the go-to guidebook that this should be.
   
   Again, for all my complaints, I do love this book. It was the first of it's kind that I ever found, and helped me a lot in my collecting. However, with the internet sites and other guidebooks that are infinitely more detailed, the age and lack of professional effort are really starting to show. It's still a FUN book, but it's simply not a GREAT book.



2. I managed to get this book but was not really impressed with it. It sounds more like the author is re-living his childhood through the book. I must admit the history of each toy line is pretty good for those who 'missed' the toy period. The price guide can be thrown out the window cos may be irrelevant now. Some pictures show the figures in their boxes, some in robot mode, some in car/plane/etc mode. What's missing is pictures of the individual figures full set, like guns/accessories. The images could have been done in a more professional way. The pictures do not do justice to one of the greatest toy lines in history. After owning this book, I'm now eager to get better quality books out there regarding Transformers. It's a good book to read by your bed side but not for serious collectors.



3. The Unofficial Guide to Transformers 1980s to 1990s is a great book! This book maily talks about the early Transformers toys from the 1980s and 1990s. J. E. Alverz talks through the history of the Transformers when they were early Japanese Mircoman and Diaclone toys. The book has many pictures of the toys, comics, videos, and other old Transformers memorabilia. J. E. Alverz is a good writer. He tells you everthing you need to now about Transformers toys in America. He also writes about Beast Wars: Transformers toys and The Japanese Transformers figures! Buy it! Highy Recommended! J. E. Alverz writes a great Transformes coffee table book! A+



4. This book has it's ups and downs, the ups include,it identifys a wide range of the toys, I didn't know some of the toys existed(I'm was new to collecting when I bought the book), there's little bits of background info dotted here and there, it runs through most of G1, G2, Beast Wars and Machine Wars, The main down is it doesn't show all the toys. E.G Runabout, Runamuck,the Throttlebots and a few others are missing but not that many. If your starting a collection this is the book to get!



5. This book is flooded with amatuerish writing, corny jokes and lots of pointless prices. I'm not looking forward to story reviews, etc. but at this price, the writer should at least include pictures of all weapons, accessories, instructions and tech specs. I'm very disappointed with the effort. I won't call it a waste of money, but I do feel shortchangedby the poor quality. Seriously, if I've his collection, I could have done something similar, if not better.

   If you don't mind not reading the words, I suggest you get Transformations: Generations. The pics are superb and they showed all weapons, too. No box, tech specs or instructions, but the presentation is much more professional, and the pictures are definitely of a higher standard.

   Buy this book only if you're a hardcore TF fan, flipped through it once and then forget about it.

1 comments about Wonderful Raggedy Anns (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This is a great reference book. This is the only book, so far, that I have found all of the limited edition raggedy dolls pictured. The prices are realistic for the secondary market and the book is easy to read. This book and Kim Avery's "The World of Raggedy Ann Collectibles" are the Bibles of my raggedy collecting. I understand that Jan Lindenberger has an updated version of the "Raggedy Ann and Andy Collectibles" being released. Her first book was my first Bible and an excellent handbook which has now become outdated. I look forward to reviewing the latest edition to see if it is equal to the first and to this one. If you purchase this book I know you will enjoy it.

1 comments about McDonald Happy Meal Toys from the Eighties.

1. McDonald's Happy Meal Toys from the Eighties is a great book for any McDonald's or Fast Food Toy collector. This book goes beyond just the toys and includes McDonaldland Fun Times, Plates and Generics. Helpful things in this book include Updated Prices, More Listings and More Pictures. Great book for your reference, helps greatly to identify pieces in your collection, and is a must for the McDonald's Collector!