3 comments about The Negro Leagues Autograph Guide.

1. I got this book because I collect autographs, but I enjoyed reading the book for the short bio written about each player. It's easy to read all about the famous Negro Leaguers, but in this book you can learn a lot about some of the lesser known, but very good players. I think this book is great for both autograph and baseball history buffs.



2. This book was a delight to read and will be a great reference in the future. The authors did a thorough, scholarly research effort and it shows in the quality of the information in the book. Though the focus is on autographs, I felt the background on the players and other history was worth the price of the book alone. A must for autograph collectors and of great value to anyone interested in the Negro Leagues of American baseball history. Congrats to the authors on an outstanding job!



3. The book not only gives you a run down of the players career and their history but shares with the reader the variations in the signature that transpired from playing days to reunion times. Gives a scarcity report on the autograph besides the price range value. Superb reading!!

2 comments about Autographs: A Reference and Price Guide for Sports and Celebrity Autographs.

1. I purchased this book expecting to get a complete listing of values for autographs of celebrities and athletes. What I got was nothing more than a reproduction of the listings that Beckett includes in its monthly publications. With the exception of about 200 prices for celebrity autographs (which is a far cry from the thousands you would find in other publications), this book has nothing that you can't get in a monthly issue of Beckett. It may have a few nice pictures, but that does not make up for its lack of content. And the prices are obscene! Is a Dean Cain sig worth more than Willie Mays? Or for that matter is Dean Cain worth more than Jack Nicholson? Where do they get their information? They spend way too much time listing prices for autograph inserts manufactured by card companies, and not enough time listing prices for REAL autographs obtained by collecters. Can I get my twenty-five bucks back?



2. I am not being critical when I say, in retrospect I would not have purchased this book. The general info listed above doesn't really tell what you what you're buying, so I'll try to give you a bit more info here. Don't expect to learn a price estimate for your John Wayne photo here. There are about 500 Hollywood celebrity names and price estimates, but they are all living performers. The baseball section is better. There's an active player section as well as a lengthy retired section, including deceased players -- with price estimates. NO signature samples of the celebrities are included. About 150 baseball players (past and present) signature samples are included. There are football, basketball hockey boxing and other sports sections which are similar to the baseball section. There's also a lot about trading cards, but I'm no expert on how good that is. I'm not saying how good or bad this book is. I just want to help you know what you're buying.

3 comments about Standard Catalog of Corvette 1953-2001.

1. I own quite a few Corvette books and have a modest working knowledge of Corvettes and Corvette history. This book was disappointing because it contains errors. Some of the photograph captions referred to a particular year Corvette, but the picture shown was not the correct year. I also found multiple errors in the text, which makes me doubt the accuracy of the data that I do not personally know. I suggest that the Black Book is a better, more accurate, reference. If you want a coffee table book with Corvette pictures, this might do. If you want an authoratative reference work, this is not the one to own.



2. I thought this was a great fact-filled book that provides excellent information to help with option avilability and year identification. There are even photos of rare factory modified Corvettes, too. I also thought the photos from Jerry Heasley and Nicky Wright were good. Tops on my list!



3. This is one of the poorest Vette-Books I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of them). The photos are most in very poor quality and partially somewhat like the 3rd copy of a bad scan.

   The comments are incorrect and do not always correspond to the pics they describe. The facts are partally incorrect too. Most photos do not show original cars but customized Vettes, without remarking that fact.

   The book is a very sad and bad copy of the original Corvette Black Book. Some colored Photos don't make a good book. It is obvious, that the author doesn't seriously refer to the Corvette at all.

   My advise: Don't even think of buying this book!

1 comments about On Women & Friendship: A Collection of Victorian Keepsakes and Traditions.

1. I have never read a more comprehensive book about the subject of friendship. It covers every aspect, with pictures, and documents from the past. I keep it close at hand, for inspiration. Helps you forget your everyday stress and transcends you into the quiet and peaceful world of yesterday. I am not sure if this book is being published any longer, because it is not available. If not, please, "Dear Publisher", publish it again, for future "FRIENDS" to enjoy. Thank you Starr, for this beautiful work of art. Absolutely DELIGHTFUL!

5 comments about Collector's Guide to Celebrity Autographs.

1. There are so many sites listed on the internet which are available for free - why shell out almost twenty bucks for something which can never be as up to date as celebs change their agents like they change underwear! There was no rating option for 0 stars. This is also directed to every other autograph collecting address book out there....not this one in particular. Use your resources at hand before digging into your wallets :-)



2. Sent for 4 autographs; one was returned deceased and two were returned for expired forwarding order.



3. This 352 page step-by-step guide to celebrity authographs contains everything you'll need to know to enjoy this hobby. There are more than 950 black and white photos of celebrities with their autographs, and more than 7,000 listings and updated addresses of celebrities. Simple, detailed instructions show you exactly where to write, how to write and who not to waste your time on. Each celebrity is rated, as to their responsiveness to requests. An absolute necessity to succeed in this hobby. It will save you much time, energy, and postage and help you develop an enjoyable, and valuable, collection. There's even a list of winners and losers from 1996 to 2000 and the top ten best and worst signers. Contains a wealth of information. Add it to your library.



4. While when I first purchased the book it brought me many positive results, but stars move alot and now the book is very out of date, Dont waste your money wait for his next edition.



5. Results are what I obtained from using this book. Many times I have spent hours with no results; this book guarantees results. Thank you for such a wealth of information!

5 comments about Signatures of the Stars: A Guide for Autograph Collectors, Dealers and Enthusiasts.

1. this has many deceased people, and it should really be called signatures of the stars. they are mostly biographies of people, but they do not really tell about their signatures. they have a signature of each person, but does not describe it. they do described their signing habits, but i feel that many are wrong. it is a good book to have to refer to when they were born, or just to look at their sig. it doesnt have people have many younger people like jennifer love hewitt, sarah michelle gellar, drew barrymore, etc



2. This is a review of this product: "Signatures of the Stars: A Guide for Autograph Collectors, Dealers and Enthusiasts" by Kevin Martin. Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assurred that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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   I bought this book to learn about the stars signing habits and see example of their signatures, so I'd know which stars would be my best bet to write to. Unfortunately, most of the stars listed in this book are DEAD! It does me no good to know the signing habits of dead celebs, since I obviously can't write to them. I bought the book in conjunction with the same author's "The Autograph Collector Celebrity Autograph Authentication Guide." While there are some signature examples in this book that aren't in the authentication guide (such as John Candy and Kathy Ireland), finding them is quite a pain because this book lacks an index. The authentication guide has an index, and practically doesn't need it because it's much better laid out than this book. The back cover of this book says that inside "you'll find the actual signatures of the stars reproduced". While that's true for most of the stars, there are very few reproductions to none at all when you get to the back of the book, in the "cast" and "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame" sections. There should be authentic examples for *everyone* that is listed. To sum up this book, I think that it's trying to be too many things to too many people - price guide, authentication guide, and more ... it should stick to just one subject.



3. It's a nice idea and an intressting book. But I would like to have a thicker book covering more stars. This book just skimms the surface. Also there was no index, so it's hard so find the right info quickly. The layout is cheap. I want more work put into this book.



4. This book is a must for all autograph collectors. It describes the hottest stars and their signing habits as well as the value of their signature. If you are looking for a reference guide, this is a must



5. Did you know that Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip rarely signed his full name? He would sign just "Schulz" and would accompany it with a doodle of "Snoopy" or other Peanuts character. Did you know that a Rudolph Valentino died at a young 31 years of age and was averse to mob-scene crowds seeking autographs, making his signature very scarce? Kevin Martin's Signature Of The Stars, focuses on autographs of Hollywood, Television and Music figures, providing a brief celebrity biography, approximate value, facsimile signature, and a rating of the autograph's scarcity.

   Autographs have been getting into the press lately. USA Today and other national newspapers recently covered the JFK auction of signed ephemera as a cover story. Financial writer Andrew Tobias authored a feature cover story for Worth magazine on the merits of autograph collecting as a "fun" investment. The article featured Marilyn Monroe on the cover and went on and on about the merits of autograph collecting - even detailing Tobias' own collection. With all this, you know there's some new found interest in autographs. Apparently that's how Antique Trader Publications, a rising powerhouse publisher of collector books sees it. Their Signature of the Stars, a 208 page reference title, is chockfull of interesting anecdotes and facts on over 350 celebrity and entertainment signatures.

   If you're not interested in Hollywood, Television or Rock'N'Roll signatures, don't run away. The book provides insightful discussion on autograph scarcity, terminology, pen and ink technology, pricing, and how and where to get signatures. There's a difference between the way ink flows from a ball point, fountain and felt tip pen. Listen to the author, and even a neophyte collector can raise a flag of suspicion about the most highly acclaimed signature. If you'd like to know what the codes are next to the listings of autographs for sale in an auctioneer's or deal! er's catalog, you can find it in the book's section on terminology. Also mentioned in other sections are reputable dealers, auction houses, reference books and collecting organizations.

   It seems that Martin has taken up where the late autograph legend, Charles Hamilton left off. In a narrow field, where there aren't many experts to begin with, there are even fewer reference titles on the subject. Signature of the Stars is a much needed title for the beginning or intermediate collector to learn from and develop their hobby successfully.

   Kevin Martin is a full fledged dealer and collector of autographs and brings the reader street-smart information about value, scarcity and biographical facts about the stars whose autographs are highlighted in the book. He is an associate editor for the renowned Sanders Price Guide To Autographs - a bible in the field. He is also a columnist for Autograph Collector magazine, writing their Fakes and Forgeries column.

5 comments about The Sports Address Book: A Collector's Guide To Free Autographs.

1. I am really enjoying this book - it's a lot of fun to have the chance to write to my favorite sports personalities. It's nicely organized in alphabetical order and makes for an interesting guide. Nicely done!



2. I purchased this book as a beginning collector of sports autographs. In no time, I received signed photos from Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and Muhammad Ali. I'm still sending out a lot of requests and look forward to going to the mailbox every day! I'm really happy with the results of this book and would much rather have this guide to refer to as opposed to spending hours upon hours trying to piece this much information together myself. I think the author did a fantastic job and should be recognized for her hard work. Looking forward to future projects from this talented young lady!



3. I bought the Sports Address book for my 14 year old son for the Holidays, and we were both greatly disppointed! I could have authored this book! 99% of the addresses are in care of teams, or in care of organizations! Anyone can find the address of a team! It must have taken this author less than 2 days to write this book! The title is deceiving! It should be titled, Sports Autographs-Care of Teams! We are trying to find a way to return this book!It was a waste of over thirty dollars. It was an insult to the true autograph collector! The author, if she had any decency, should buy this book back from us, and give it to a member of her family, as a Holiday present!



4. All of the addresses are C/O a team or Association. You could spend 10 minutes online and get all of the addresses in this book. Very dissapointed!



5. I purchased this book as a gift for a member of my family who primarily collects sports autographs. After receiving it, I looked through the pages and found that there are listings for so many favorites! We are really big racing fans and I was pleased to see so many addresses for drivers - this book will make a great gift for my cousin!

4 comments about The Autograph Collector Celebrity Autograph Authentication Guide.

1. I am not a big fan of this book. If you subscribe to "The Autograph Collector" magazine, you would know that 80% of the magazine is advertisements, and you would think spending [money] on a book you wouldn't have 25 pages of ads. Also, many of the signatures in this book do not match signatures I have received in person. In stead of the ad's they should have used that extra 25 pages to list more examples of stars signatures, or at least list more people. I would suggest that they make the signatures themselves smaller, as many people are copying the signatures out of the book onto index cards and photos, and selling the forgeries on ebay. All together, I would suggest you buy a different book; this one is not even worth what you would pay for it used.



2. This is a review of this product: The Autograph Collector Celebrity Autograph Authentication Guide. Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assurred that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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   The first thing you'll notice about this book, the minute you open it up to page 1, are the ads. That's right, this book has *advertisements* in it. But not just a few ads, 25 FULL PAGES OF ADVERTISEMENTS! The ads clutter up the front and back of the book, which makes it a pain to quickly locate the index at the back of the book (placed right before all the ads). What good is an index if it itself requires a little bit of searching to find?!? The ads are mostly for companies selling autographed photos. A list of these companies should have been put at the back of the book (before the index) for those who are interested. Putting full-page and half-page ads is ridiculous. Because of all the ads, I feel that this book should be free, or at least cost less than half of what it currently sells for.
   
   Now that let me get to the REAL content of the book - the autograph examples. The book lists many, many stars, including a few I was surprised to see (Melanie Chartoff and Ray Parker Jr., for example), but there are also many that are missing which should have been in there (Samantha Mathis and Hayley Mills, for example). Granted, I know that it is virtually impossible to list every celebrity that ever existed, but they could have made the autograph examples a little smaller and fit more people in there. In fact, there are some pages where there is only one or two examples on the entire page. Heck, come to think of it, the text in the introductory lessons to authenticating autographs is way too large. It should have been shrunken down to standard size, so that more autograph examples could be placed in the book. Also, it would have been a great idea to put, at least, two examples of each star's autograph in the book, just to account for variations in the way a person signs (no person signs his/her name exactly the same way every time).
   
   All griping aside, this is actually a great book and I *am* glad that I bought it. The ads are a pain to deal with (I'm tempted to rip them out, but I don't want to ruin the book), but I guess nothing in life is perfect. At least now you have a little more information about this book than I did when I purchased it.



3. I was very disappointed that some big Hollywood stars were not in the book (including some that were easy to come by), and yet so many stars that I've never even heard of were filling so many pages. I've been a serious Hollywood autograph collector and enthusiast for over 20 years and was upset to see some of the bigger stars not included. Some big and popular stars missing were Dustin Hoffman, Orson Welles, Cyd Charisse, Christopher Reeve, and Gloria Swanson. And who in the world is Kelly Reno? Sherilyn Wolter? Jackee Harry??

   A waste of my money.




4. A great book full of tons of examples of signatures. I have used this book to go through my entire collection to check the authenticity. I wouldn't want to be without it. A BIG hit!

No comments about Collector's Guide to Autographs (Wallace-Homestead Collector's Guide Series).

2 comments about The Handbook of Historical Documents, A Guide to Owning History.

1. While I agree with the previous reviewer that Mr. Axelrod's item can be pricey, I feel this book is very informative and comes illustrated with many interesting (albeit high-end) collectibles.
   
   Mr. Axelrod makes many good points regarding details about the hobby not found in other periodicals and he adds a sections on how to consider collecting autographs as a potential investment vehicle.
   
   I feel the previous reviewer was too harsh on this book and I consider it to be one of the better books that I own on this hobby.



2. Designed completely to make you purchase goods from this pirate king of the autograph world, this book is amateu5rish and ingnorant. The author's father pioneer handbooks for tropical fish, ripped off people for their rare violins, and went to jail for income tax evasion; the son is well on his weay of following suit. All the illustrations are for sael, if you want to pay fifty times what you can buy a similar item selsewhere. His shop is in just the right place to sell Ameriucan history---Las Vegas---and his business is actually on the New York Stock Esxchange, which says more about the flaws in that institution's due dilligence, than it spoeaks to the reliability of the business. Avoid this at all cost; buy something by Rendell instead.