2 comments about Barbie the First 30 Years, 1959 Through 1989 and Beyond: Identification & Value Guide (Barbie the First 30 Years).

1. this book does not go into enough depth to be of much use as you shop for dolls. you can use it to get some info on year produced, and to get a rough idea of where each doll fits into the larger scheme, but to do it right, you really need a book that includes much more.



2. This book is a good starting point for collectors. With information on vintage dolls and even some newer dolls too. This book explains How to use the price guide, since most dolls found are not truly mint or mint in the box. It also has lots of color photographs, to make identification of a doll easy. The layout of this book is nice too, there are different sections for dolls, outfits, cases and so on. Dolls are listed by year, making a particular Barbie or Friend fairly easy to find.
   This book is not as in depth as some other Barbie doll books on the market, you will not be able to find specific markings for each doll as well as a complete list of accessories - exactly what booklet, shoes, wrist tag, box (and so on) each doll came with. Also some of the photographs are fairly small, but that said, this is still a good book.
   I would also like to add that this book features many foreign dolls and accessories, Not sold in the US. (Lot's of Barbie stuff that were exclusive to Canadian and European, as well as other markets.)

1 comments about Panerai.

1. When you think of a 'coffee-table' book, large and impressive, you are thinking of a book the size of this book on the equally impressive-sized watches, derived from diving watches. Simple, stunning and beautiful as the subject, this book will make you love your Panerai wristwatch even more. Here are photographs in vivid detail, beautiful shots and historical information on the brand. This is my favorite watch photography book by far!

No comments about The Tractor in the Haystack: Great Stories of Tractor Archaeology.

1 comments about The Official Blackbook Price Guide to World Coins 2009, 12th Edition (Official Price Guide to World Coins).

1. Very interesting, a lot of additional information. Thus far I haven't found that world coin worth thousands, but I have enjoyed looking the old coins up in here.

5 comments about Inside The Jewelry Box, Vol 3 (Inside the Jewelry Box).

1. Service was great. Book is new and wrapped in shrinkwraped so it was not be opened at this time as it is a gift.



2. If you are a vintage jewelry collector by hobby or by trade, this book is a great addition to your reference library. The photos are of excellent quality showing necessary detail, and the author, Ann Mitchell Pitman, has done everyone a great service by adding some additional references of websites and organizations available for continued study. If you are an eBay shopper, I highly recommend this book so you can become familiar with the products and know the approximate values when bidding.



3. I had been collecting costume jewelry for over a decade when I discovered this treasure of a book. Immediately, I was drawn in by not only the beautiful photographs and great reference material, but by the author's writing style. She's one of those rare authors that can take the same information (not that she did) as another writer and make it her own. Her great personality and warm generous spirit shine through on every page.
   
   This is truly one of my very favorite books on costume jewelry!



4. This book covers a host of costume jewelry, better than average photos of the manufacturer's signatures or maker's marks (very important if you are a collector!), along with good descriptions and some pricing information. Included in the back of the book are copies of some of the original advertisements for some of the jewelry. Good stuff! I'd recommend this book if you are a collector.



5. Wonderful pictures! I like the way she has some jewelry shown under designer headings while she also shows groups of brooches, necklaces, etc., with various designers together. I especially like the beginning that shows the backs of designer pieces; something you don't get to see a lot in these jewelry guides. It's one of those books you take out on the porch on a nice day and go through page by page from beginning to end (for me, it was like a kid in a candy store), and by the time you get to the end, you feel much more knowledgeable about costume vintage jewelry!

1 comments about Home Workshop Silencers.

1. This book has only one piece of new information than his prior book
   the book states the safety in construction and tollerences important dims are given also but no new info. could have put this in prior book with less than 10 pages

5 comments about Lethal Elegance.

1. THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE,IF YOU LOVE THE JAPANESE SWORD AND THE SAMURAI.TONS OF BEAUTIFUL PICTURES ALL IN COLOR.TSUBA AND FITTINGS.



2. Being relativelly new to the subject of Japanese swords and fittings I was quite impresse by two things:
   - Quality of the pictures
   - Description of the items
   I think this is worht having for anyone that trully appreciates the japanese swordmanship and art itself.



3. Very amazing photos, and quality information on each photo and sword. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.



4. This review is a joint effort with Laerte E. Ottaiano
   The book is very good . It has a few annoying errors. I give example of two of them: On page 171 there is a tsuba described as "Design of Egret and Crab" . However the Crab is not there . It is on the back of the Tsuba and is relatively ugly in our opinion . On page 193 there is a tsuba described as "Design of deer and the moon". Again the moon can not be seem. It is on the back of the tsuba and is very,very, beautifull. You can check what we told in the book by Ogawa Morihiro on the Boston Collection. The great thing of this book is that it presents a new way to way to apreciate Tsubas.Kinko( as oposed to steel , sukashi tsubas) were underrated in the USA and Canada. Only steel tsubas were considered old and of true use by Samurai.As this book teaches us this is not so. Kinko Tsubas were used by Samurai and Sukashi Steel ( or Iron ) Tsubas are not usualy so old . This came as a great relief for us . We always thought that Kinko tsubas were works of art. It is a grest relieve to find this in this book



5. On top on anything else, this book has the best pictures of japanese sword fittings that I've had the chance to see so far. There are many good close-ups that show well the work done by the craftmen.
   Earle goes through explaining the evolution of sword fittings by presenting the influence of History upon the samurai, and their needs.
   He also exposes techniques, although not in depth - it is not the purpose of this book - and materials used in the making of the tsuba and other fittings.
   I believe he succeeds in bringing the reader to understand the how and the why behind those very impressive works of art.
   The works chosen - among the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; probably the greatest collection of japanese swords and sword fittings outside Japan - are just plain divine. The pictures were all taken using digital technology, and -as a photographer - I must say it is above anything I'd have expected from any technology and any subject. A must have for any japanese art/craft/design/sword lover.

5 comments about Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries.

1. Medieval Costume in England and France provides a great overview of the different styles of garb during the specified periods. It is divided by century, and further grouped by Royal/Religeous/Common styles. The line drawings are helpful in giving a general idea of how the different styles look. There are some general layout illustrations that would be helpful to an experienced sewer, but a beginner would need additional information to create the look, not provided by this book. ("The Medieval Tailor's Assistant" is perfect for this additional sewing information) I'm not a historian, so I can't comment on the reliability of the sources, but as a newcomer to the SCA I found this book very helpful in finding garb that would fit chosen personna. There are excellent historical descriptions, and frequent reference to sources. For what it intends to offer, this is an excellent book.



2. Very informative. Excellent historical reference. Describes the hows and whys of fashion evolution the 13th through the 15th centuries, very well. An informative and interesting resource.



3. I use this book as a refrence for all of my hopelades and Surcotes, and several of my men's things. I love this book!!



4. Absolutely love this book. Though it is simple, I feel it's one of the essential clothing books if you're doing recreations. The layouts are great, the explanations well-done, and there are easy-to-follow diagrams for patterns. Documentation in the form of illuminated manuscripts and rubbings from funerary monuments, etc, also are VERY helpful. Personally, I don't make a single thing without consulting this book at least once!



5. I bought this book because I needed a read and was busted at the time. This book reminds me of my 10th grade reasearch paper. Short clips, pictures second hand. It contained very little actual information on the period,reasons or construction. I give it one point for effort and another because it has pictures. It might be good for an elementary school or junior high library to do a short paper with. Otherwise save your pennies.

3 comments about Gemstones: Understanding, Identifying, Buying.

1. I bought this book and received the volume immediately. The book is slender but has a great set of pictures of the different gems. The book is set up like a dictionary with a discussion of each major (and many minor) gem usually with a review of how to identify it and how to distinguish some of the more common fakes.
   
   My only objection is that the book wasn't long enough.
   
   I liked the book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who loves gems.



2. A pretty good book, especially the opening sections about the history of gemstones and the methods used to identify diamonds.



3. If you need a book on Gemstones, this is the one. Awesome pictures and great detail on discribing the many different gems around the world. If you are a collector of gemstones, this is a MUST HAVE!"

5 comments about Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles: A Comprehensive Identification & Value Guide For Both Antique and Machine-Made Marbles (Grist's Big Book of Marbles).

1. I didn't find this book very helpful, you have to have a pretty good knowledge about your marbles and where they are made and stuff. Not a good reference book unless you already know what you have.



2. This is a great, glossy reference for identifying marbles. Copyright 2006, the Big Book of Marbles gives a great overview of the history of the game and of the manufacture of marbles, both antique and machine-made.There are several hundred very sharp photos of the many, many kinds of marbles one can collect, and equally sharp and knowledgeable technical discriptions.



3. Great pictures, and lots of them, with information on go-alongs and on manufacturers, but not a great an ID guide as I had hoped it would be. I still can't tell who made my vintage marbles.



4. Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles is very comprehensive and extremely well illustrated. It will be a great reference for both hand-made and machine-made marbles. The price estimates given for the illustrations are realistic in my opinion and will be helpful in valuing my collection.



5. I decided after attending a national collector-run marble show in my area to get this updated Third Edition of Grist's book, because it looked like it would have enough new pictures to make identifying all those troublesome common marbles a possibility. And the pictures in the book are nice, being clear and color-accurate, and showing multiple marbles so one can see the range of designs/colors that fall within a category. However, I've always considered Grist to be a lazy author, and this just confirms it. Yes, it takes some work to get the pictures of so many marbles, but that is something almost anyone could eventually do. This is sub-titled a 'comprehensive' ID book, so I expected Grist to deliver. He does not even come close to delivering on that promise! First of all, many marbles are left out and many more poorly dealt with. As new as I am to marbles, even I know that there are subtle differences that help one to differentiate between marble companies. Yet Grist has virtually NO TEXT explaining how to ID various types of marbles. It is simply pictures and an occassional comment, and as we all know, pictures of certain marbles, such as cateyes, do not do justice in showing the differences. Those need to be EXPLAINED (how many vanes, shape, etc) because the differences usually do not show well in pictures. None of this happens. Many of the Peltier marbles are simply lumped together as 'Champion Jrs.' with none of the common names used in the trade included. And as far as being a comprehensive value guide, only ranges are given with no differention for size or condition given. That is hardly a comprehensive price guide! On top of that, most prices on common marbles (under $10 each) appear to be grossly inflated over what is actually happening in the marketplace today. I wish I could get those prices for my commons - I'd be rich! The final insult is the poor editing done in the book. "Peltier" is spelled "Pelitier" half the time. There are pictures where the heading states "row 1" when it means "column 1." Just plain sloppy. Most pictures of the rarities have no prices at all and only general category IDs for the entire group shown. In general, a nice picture book but nothing about it is 'comprehensive' - just more false advertising. Why can't anyone put out a book with the quality and extent of pictures Grist does and the helpful, detailed text and variety listings such as Block attempts? Then we would be approaching a 'comprehensive ID and value guide.' So far, I've found nothing close.