2 comments about Lenci: The History and the Dolls.

1. A wonderful book perfect for the Lenci lover...reasonably priced and loaded with great pictures and information.



2. This much awaited book provides an in-depth look into the history of the Lenci Company. The detailed study of the dolls is a must for any collector. The photography is wonderful. The dolls are presented in categories that make it easy for future reference. This is a classic that belongs in any doll collector's library.

3 comments about Contemporary Hopi Kachina Dolls (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. the kachina dolls and photography were well done and could hardly be improved upon. however, the commentary is terrible; it is replete with errors; so much so that the reader is misled by unreliable information; this book should be withdrawn from the market until the errors have been corrected.



2. The pictures in this book were quite good. I would have liked the captions to match the Kachinas. Some of the errors were so blatant that I find it hard to believe the book was proofed.



3. Like many collectors of Hopi kachina/katsina dolls, I eagerly await the release of another book on the subject. I have several books by Schiffer Publishing in my library and have enjoyed each of them. Auhor Nancy Schiffer (a part of the company?) claims to be an avid collector of katsinam for the past 15 years. Her knowledge of the subject and research are some of the worst I have ever seen. There are at least three dozen ERRORS in this book. Any writer who misspells the names of two of today's MASTER carvers, Cecil Calnimptewa and Ronald Honyouti, should not have a book in print. Only one piece by Ronald is shown, but his brothers' last names are misspelled in several places. Various katsinam are wrongly named and the list of errors goes on and on. There are a number of quality books re: Hopi katsinam, but this is not one of them. Many average to below-average carvers are represented, while excellent carvers are excluded. A PLUS for this book is the number of katsinam which are included. It is the only book which has both front and back photos of every katsina. For an introduction to contemporary katsinam and reliable information, I would certainly NOT recommend this book. My suggestion is that Schiffer Publishing cease publication on this edition, rework it and REISSUE a quality product in a year or two.

2 comments about Indian Dolls (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book is a visual feast and has lots of interesting information. I wish the author would have put more info about prices and less about Seminole dolls. I did enjoy it and will use it for reference in the future. Good book in a field that is lacking information (Indian doll collecting).



2. This was a waste of time and money for me. The Title says for collectors and the cover says with prices. I found it to be a loose collection of pictures with VERY little information on any of the dolls. The vast majority of dolls have no priceing and the few that do have, in my opinion, unrealistic prices. Wondered how a publisher would put money into such a waste until I looked. Self published.

1 comments about The Raggedy Ann & Andy Family Album: A Guide for Collectors.

1. I just got this book and it's great! It's loaded with adorable full-color photos and packed with loads of information about Raggedy Ann & Andy! Great for collectors! The reader is aware of the author's love for Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy through the fun-loving tone and the overall appreciation for the dolls.

1 comments about Miniature Mannequins: Identification & Price Guide.

1. I've been collecting dolls for a few years and just recently started to collect the miniature sewing mannequins. I found this book to be extremely helpful with pricing and what to look for. Great pictures too.

No comments about Madame Alexander 2004 Collectors Dolls Price Guide # 29: 2004 Collector's Dolls, Price Guide (Madame Alexander Collector's Dolls Price Guide).

1 comments about The Complete Book of Doll Making and Collecting.

1. Great book for it size-packed with all sorts of ideas/ways(outlines) to make and collect dolls,,a real help and great starter book!! a real dolllover-and maker(hopefully more now)

No comments about Personal Doll Inventory.

3 comments about Chatty Cathy and Her Talking Friends: An Unauthorized Guide for Collectors (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book is exactly what I needed. I have started collecting ventage dolls from the years that I played with dolls. The book has helped me identify the correct names and shows information about them. I'm so glad to find this book!



2. The photos in this book are big, clear and there are some very nice toys shown. Given the price of this book I sincerely thought it would be more thorough given the VAST amount of Mattel talking toys that were made. It is nice to have as an addition to one's collection. One thing that bothers me is that it is "An Unauthorized Guide for Collectors" which means that material gathered was done so without permission of Mattel and therefore may have some information errors. In addition to this book I encourage you to read "Chatty Cathy Dolls" and "Talking Toys of the 20th Century" by Don & Kathy Lewis.



3. I was thinking this book was just going to be about the Chatty Cathy family, but it also includes a historical time line of sorts of almost all of the talking (and some other) dolls that Mattel made. Very helpful in identifying talking Mattel dolls of the 60s and early 70s. The Chatty Cathy section includes some info not included in an earlier book. Fun to look at and informative

3 comments about Life Like Dolls: The Collector Doll Phenomenon and the Lives of the Women Who Love Them.

1. this was a horrible book first of all i just turned 14 and i have been collecting porcelin dolls since i was 5 years old and this idiot is trying to say that doll collectors have mental problems...this book really distured and upset me when i read it lkast year and it made every one who know that i collect dolls think that i have pervesed tendencies if i could give it 0 stars i most certainly would



2. Just for Dr. Robertson, this review is gonna ramble...
   This is the kind of book that makes serious anthropologists cringe. This is the kind of book that makes the "hard science" scientists make jokes about social "scientists." I appreciate Dr. Robertson's attempt to appeal to the largest possible readership in order to sell the book, but, unfortunately, wandering around in the middle just made the book tedious, repetitive, rambling, poorly presented, and way too generalized. Instead of scientific conclusions (or even, methods) Dr. R. makes huge sweeping generalizations about what his little computer-generated statistics tell him! I was embarrassed for him. I understand that students were major contributors, so maybe I should keep that in mind. Congratulations, you can all say you are "published" contributors on your resumes now, through the kindness of Dr. Robertson. But, leaving the students out of it, Dr. Robertson often wandered off the subject (Porcelain Collector Dolls) into other areas and kinds of doll collecting, sometimes seeming to imply that other kinds of doll collecting are just as weird and demented as PCD collecting. Maybe so, but other kinds of doll collecting should have waited for another book, instead of muddying the water in this volume, generalizing, summarizing, pontificating, and just making the book an exasperating trial to read. That said, I do think the subject is a fascinating one, and I think the manufacturers would be even more fun to study! When I first started working in antique and vintage doll repair, my first response to the PCD's I saw in doll magazines was the same one Dr. Robertson most often encountered outside of the PCD collecting "world:" Eeeee-ee-eew; nauseating; weird! Who could be collecting these dolls? Well, now I know who they are, and that could have been summarized in an essay. After checking out some of those dolls at doll shows, I began to think about their usefulness in the Los Angeles area carpool lanes. Hmmm...might be worth the investment, but would I be strangely compelled to keep buying them?? Have a trunk full? More in carseats in the back? I doubt it. I don't exactly fit the "profile," and don't collect PCD's, although I am the "right" age and I do have a few other kinds of dolls lying around the house. I've never felt the "empty nest" syndrome (who first made that up, anyway?) -- I was thrilled when I finally had more time and a spare room to use for my avocation repairing dolls. I also think it's telling to note that the most often quoted sources in the book are both very out of date; why Dr. R. used studies from 1896 (Hall and Ellis) and Freud, who isn't even in the bibliography, and who no one takes seriously anymore anyway, is really beyond me. I was mildly entertained by Dr. Robertson's discussion of "hyperreality," but it was just one among many concepts he was handing out as scientific fact. It's fine to hypothesize and speculate, but he forgot to tell us that the WHOLE BOOK is a hypothesis with a lot of speculation thrown in! This is what my mathematician husband calls "telling stories!" God help anyone who believes this information hook, line, and sinker! The frequency charts in the appendix were really disappointing and will go over the heads of most readers; why didn't he just use bar graphs? Chapter 8 was the best, most organized, and most interesting section in the book; I wish I'd read it first and saved myself a lot of time.



3. This book occupies a strange position between popular nonfiction and academic writing: It's a well-researched, careful study of porcelain collectors' dolls and the women who collect them, but it's written in a way that is very personal and immediate. It caused me to look at my own collecting behaviors in a new way. The conclusion could reach further, but otherwise I found the entire book surprisingly fascinating. If you're interested in anthropological research, women's studies, consumerism, toys, dolls, human evolution, geriatrics, family studies, or art, then consider this book. It will start you thinking, and you'll never flip past the doll ads in magazines again without taking a close look.