No comments about Classic Lionel Trains, 1900-1969 (Enthusiast Color).

1 comments about Collectors Guide to Toy Soldiers (Collector's All Colour Guides).

1. This book is a must have for toy soldier collectors. It has a very representative listing of varous toy soldiers, with excellent photographs. The section on Britains in particular is very worthwhile. This book is always open and by my side when I'm shopping on eBay.
   
   It is a marvelous addition to any collector's library.

No comments about Collectible Toys and Games of the Twenties and Thirties: from Sears, Roebuck and Co..

4 comments about Collecting Japanese Movie Monsters.

1. Dana Cain's book is an enjoyable, well written guide to an increasingly popular sub-category of monster toy collecting. No book on pricing collectibles is likely to remain current for long, and its real value lies in providing the reader with a pictorial overview of its subject. COLLECTING JAPANESE MOVIE MONSTERS succeeds very well in this, and its text provides some lively historical background into that singularly odd period in cinema where colossal creatures used Tokyo as a ring and we watched guilt-free. Note to "serious" Japanese movie monster collectors: don't take it all so seriously. Those responsible for the men in the monster suits didn't.



2. While not perfect, this book is better than the earlier reviews said. The book is very well illustrated, and most of the pictures are very clear and sharp. To say that the pictures come mainly from a Toys-R-Us is simply false: The vast majority of the toys pictured are items not even distributed in the U.S., to say nothing of the movie posters, magazines, etc.

   Any price guide is eventually going to be out of date. Many of the prices in this book are still current, although there are several that are not. I did find a couple of errors, where a picture was incorrectly labeled. To be fair, Sean Linkenback's book has similar errors and in many examples his prices are more dated than Ms. Cain's, plus her book includes items not even listed in his.

   Yes, Linkenback's book is more in-depth, but it has its flaws too. As with other kinds of price guides, thinking of a single edition as being all encompassing or definitive is a mistake.




3. This is not the first price guide on these toys. Sean Linkenback's was the first and much better than this.... Ms./Mr. Cain should research the subject before saying what prices are. Linkenback is a respected dealer of Japanese toys and thus infitely more qualified for an endeavor such as this. Cain, you should take a research class.



4. I was really looking forward to this book, and unfortunately con not find much to recommend about it. The listings are woefully incomplete and many times inaccurate. Photography is only so-so, and is mainly filled with items from the local Toys-R-Us. A better book to get would be "The Unauthorized Guide to Godzilla Collectibles". The one bright spot is the 14 pages on Gamera, which while could be better is finally altogether under one cover.

2 comments about Barbie Exclusives: Identification & Values Featuring : Department Store Specials Porcelain Treasures & Disney (Barbie Exclusives).

1. If you have any love of the English language, and are able to tell good photographs from bad ones, you will truly dislike all of the books by this woman that I have read, including Barbie Exclusives volumes 1, 2 and 3. The text is virtually unreadable, almost completely devoid of any real information, and is generally a painful experience. The photographs are almost equally bad, ranging from grainy yellowish shots, to lovely ones in which box-front glare almost obliterates any details of the doll inside. Truly, you can do much better than this series! Try the Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Exclusives and More by J. Michael Augustyniak.



2. Excellent and informative book. Was able to locate dolls and pricing from book that I could not find in other books! Great pictures, comments and descriptions!

5 comments about The Art of Lionel Trains.

1. I saw this book on the shelf and opened it ever so gently and reverently. Those beautiful pictures of Lionel Trains reproduced from the old catalogs graced the pages. I went back in time for a few moments and tried to recall those days so long ago. I relived for a very fleeting moment that era and in a blink of the eye it was gone. But I savored the moment and put it away somewhere special to take out again perhaps on a rainy day as I gaze out my window in a bit of melancholy and think how long ago it was when I held my first Lionel Train. Flipping through the pages of this book is a moving experience if you grew up with Lionel Trains as I did. Collecting Lionel Trains and the catalogs was truly a family affair and one I will always cherish. This is an important book for me. I don't have to take out my Lionel catalogs with their yellowing and brittle pages or pull out streamlined passenger cars or boxcars from my closet in orange boxes now crumbling at the edges. I can sit down and open this book and gaze into the past and just remember. Just remembering is good enough these days. Just remembering when.



2. A "must have" for Lionel Train enthusiasts. I'm not sure who enjoys it the most, my 60 year old husband or our three year old grandson! Ours is getting so dog-eared from hours of enjoyment that we might need to think about a repalacement!



3. Officially licensed by Lionel itself, The Art Of Lionel Trains: Toy Trains And American Dreams by Roger Carp is more than just a simple showcase of promotional art that the Lionel company used to advertise their classic model locomotives; its informed and informative text follows the journey and evolution of the internationally famous model railroading company and its various products that inspired hobbies and dreams in households across America. Illustrated throughout in full color and a highly recommended addition to any personal or community library Railroading History collection, The Art Of Lionel Trains is as much a trip down memory lane for model train buffs as it is a peek to an era when advertising art was lively yet simple.



4. The book is a beauty (as a graphic arts product) but as the review title reads I am a little bit disapointed. Don't get me wrong. I like Roger Carp and his writting. In fact, he is almost the only reason I am suscriber to TCC magazine. However the book, in my humble opinion, falls short in the two aspects one could possible focus on: the Lionel art and the information about it. The illustations though as nice as we expect from Lionel history are pretty much common for Lionel enthusiasts and very well known from long ago. One could think that being this a book about Lionel art something special would appear.
   
   The text did not contribute much to the common knowledge of Lionel aficionados. Commom places such as the bond between fathers and sons and the search for security during rough times, fill most of the space in the book. Not even short biographies of artists as important as Robert Sherman appear in the text. Carp's great sense of humor is also pretty much absent.

   In short, I think the other superb books by Roger Carp left me expecting more than real life provides. Everyone has the right to some "failure". In the case of Roger Carp I think this book fills the bill for that.




5. "Saying 'Lionel' to anyone over the age of 40 brings forth nods of recognition and stories of smoking, whistling trains chugging around Christmas trees."
   
   "The Art of Lionel Trains" is a showcase of familiar images, famous pictures and the artwork from catalog covers, newspaper advertising and other marketing pieces. Some of the pictures are sentimental and show the dreams of children.
   
   When my mother bought my husband his first Lionel Train, I think he spent most of one afternoon putting the track together and then would amuse our cats by running the train at least once a day, complete with smoke billowing about in our mostly empty room. I kept wondering what was burning. My memories of Lionel Trains now include cats jumping across tracks to avoid the impending doom. They were actually quite fascinated for weeks.
   
   This book highlights classic Lionel trains, helps to revive memories of toy trains from the past and analyzes art and its relationship to dreams and values.
   
   The Chapters Include:
   
   Dreams of Ambition 1900-1923
   Dreams of Consumption 1920-1933
   Dreams of Authority 1931-1947
   Dreams of Security 1946-1964
   Dreams of Nostalgia 1963-1993
   Dreams of Tomorrow 1990-2003
   
   This book is a history of Lionel Trains from 1900-2003 and is the perfect gift for Lionel Train fans everywhere. Each chapter contains detailed information on all things train through an analysis of advertising.
   
   What I noticed, is a sense of family unity throughout the pictures. It also seems that a Lionel Train looks best with a Christmas tree. Artists actually started promoting this idea back in the1920s. The text in the advertising is readable in most cases. You have to love the pictures of the poor kids watching while "grandpa and dad" took over the train tracks.
   
   Roger Carp has been a member of the editorial staff of Classic Toy Trains magazine since 1988. You might want to look for additional selections by Roger Carp:
   
   The World's Greatest Toy Train Maker: Insiders Remember Lionel
   
   Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

3 comments about American Flyer: Classic Toy Trains.

1. As a longtime Gilbert American Flyer fan, I got six copies of this book as gifts from well-meaning friends -- after buying a copy myself at a book-signing.
   
   Upon close scrutiny the book's shortcomings were evident. IMHO, they wasted too much valuable four-color photo space on expensive, coated stock with multiple pictures of the same locomotives. The photo editor went for the "dreamy" look -- vignettes with a very, very shallow (one-inch) depth of field with the locomotive pointed head-on into the lens. The editorial copy was equally shallow.
   
   The editorial copy has far too many errors, meaning that the authors and/or publisher never had someone with even a basic knowledge about Flyer check the manuscript. To wit, there is a photo of a Lionel pre-war M10000 in the book and it is identified as American Flyer.
   
   This book looks nice, but is carelessly slapped together. I would also apply the tag of "punch-press journalism" to this American Flyer book. The cover -- which sells 60 percent of books -- is warm and fuzzy and is designed solely to appeal to impulse buyers. Unfortunately, as I said I've received six more as gifts from well-intentioned folks who know my love of Flyer.
   
   So, if you want a useful book on Flyer and don't want to waste your money, buy a used copy of any one of the three out-of-print Greenberg books or the one written by Paul C. Nelson. But the Souter & Souter tome lacks both sizzle and steak.



2. "American Flyer-Classic Toy Trains" is a book to explain your hobby to those who golf. The outstanding pictures are wonderful to look at, but some comments do not reflect what is shown. The text is rich with information, much of it new to many collectors.
   Far from being a complete, precise telling of the whole American Flyer history, it is an impressive review and a good start at a subject that would need ten times the depth of this book to cover. A very good effort, worthy of owning, and hopefully a door opening to more in the future on this complex subject.



3. It has been a while since I had a book I could not put down. This book gives you the complete story of American Flyer trains and competition in the toy train industry. The complete history from the original O and Standard Gauge trains produced by W.O. Coleman and friendship and eventual sale to A.C. Gilbert spans 3/4th of a century. Many of the staff of the original company worked for Gilbert and were influential in the development of 3/16 scale trains. The conversion from three rail to two rail track driven by A.C.Gilbert's goal to produce the most realistic model trains made. Well written and lots of excellent photos. You won't find photos of everything the company ever made, but you will find a page turning text that will entertain and inform from cover to cover

No comments about A. Glenn Mandeville's Madame Alexander Dolls: Price Guide (A. Glenn Mandeville's Madame Alexander Dolls).

No comments about Dolls Puppedolls and Teddy Bears.

1 comments about Barbie Exclusives Identification & Values (Barbie Exclusives).

1. If you have any love of the English language, and are able to tell good photographs from bad ones, you will truly dislike all of the books by this woman that I have read, including Barbie Exclusives volumes 1, 2 and 3. The text is virtually unreadable, almost completely devoid of any real information, and is generally a painful experience. The photographs are almost equally bad, ranging from grainy yellowish shots, to lovely ones in which box-front glare almost obliterates any details of the doll inside. Truly, you can do much better than this series! Try the Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Exclusives and More by J. Michael Augustyniak.