No comments about Scott 2008 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World: C - F (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 2 Countries C-F) (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 2 Countries C-F).

2 comments about Strike It Rich With Pocket Change.

1. I love this book, It is a great beginners book for coin collectors, easy to read and understand. Only down side is no color pics, all pics are Black and White..



2. This was a very helpful book,written by experts.
   I was able to increase my knowledge of variety coins
   and have some new directions in my collecting.

4 comments about All-American Ads 30s (Midi).

1. An awesome collection of ads from this decade. Hundreds of pages w/ ads of all categories. Very enjoyable. I'm an advertising major & this is a fun book to own!!!



2. Once again, Taschen has put forth a wonderfully illustrated and highly enjoyable publication. The ads are superb. The reader can truly immerse themselves in popular culture and daily life in the United States during the 1930s. What I most appreciate is the fact that Taschen presents the materials as is; they let the ads speak for themselves. I consider it one of the best resources of popular culture from the era.



3. You expect a book like this to be fun, and it is! The hard sell approach, the inflated claims, and the infamous phrase, "It isn't brand X if it doesn't say Y!" (as if your brain is scrambled) ... it's all hilarious now. And even when these techniques get tedious, the drawings and paintings are colorful and well-designed by themselves.

   The ads don't mention the Depression, but you can see it in the phrases "stretch your dollars" and "these days..." That's a technique auto makers adopted after Sept. 11th, as in "we're getting America moving again with 0% financing." In that sense, ad makers fashioned a social history that belongs alongside stories of travelling Okies and bread lines. These ads showed what people hoped for, what they wanted to become. And that's just as important as where they were. So while post-Sept. 11th ads wanted to get the family back to the dinner table, so Depression-era folks wanted to get their friends back for champagne and elegant dinner parties.

   Still, there is enough variety here to reflect many points of view and design style. Some ads were clearly ahead of their time. Some were still mired in Victorian imagery. A few are really shocking, like the public service ad with a drawing of a sinking Lusitania with the headline, "The Lusitania Sank. So What of It?" (It was an ad for World Peaceways.)

   I am no historian or designer or advertiser ... but I found this book mind-blowingly fun.




4. Taschen's fourth volume of the All-American Ads series provides a big look back to the day before yesterday. Steven Heller provides a short overview of the decade and explains that despite the Depression magazines, in which most of these ads appeared, had very high circulations. For a few cents readers could escape the reality of everyday life and be entertained by the features and the colourful advertisements. Naturally there is no real mention of the Depression though some of the ads sport the little NRA symbol and the words `We do our part'

   The format of this book is the same as the others, nine sections (Alcohol and tobacco, Automobiles, Consumer products, Entertainment, Fashion and beauty, Food and beverages, Industry, Interiors and finally Travel) provide whole, two or four ads to a page and fortunately none of them are angled or overlap. The digital reproduction of the 1500+ ads is excellent, it is always a problem to reproduce anything that is already printed because it can create screen clash but these are reproduced with clean colors and sharp lines (thanks to 175 dpi).

   Most of these ads are copy and picture heavy, stylish use of white space and clever typography was years away, though three ads for Pierce Arrow autos on pages 176-177 stand out because they do seem very modern. Illustrations rather than photography were the main visual elements with headlines and copy used to fill any space that was left.

   This as a super book if you are interested in social history or want to see how copywriters created product desire more than sixty years ago or you are just curious about things your grandparents reminisce about. Maybe they remember the 1932 ads for the Pitcairn autogiro, after all no home should be without one!

4 comments about Authenticating Ancient Indian Artifacts: How to Recognize Reproduction and Altered Artifacts.

1. It's a pretty good guess that everything between these covers was learned from Bill Jackson. To assert (as another reviewer has) that the author will "....don the mantle of Greg Perino" is similar to alleging that Barry Manilow will don Beethoven's mantle.



2. This is another great book by James Bennett, and covers many interesting facets of lithics and archaeology as well as authentication. Many people will shy away from this book thinking it only concerns authentication, which is not correct...it also has much good previously unpublished information on how lithics use patterns work, etc. I believe this book should be used as a supplement to James previously published softcover book which has MUCH more information on detecting fakes/fabrications in native american lithics. The softbound book previously published has many more photos, and covers much that this book does not. Therefore my suggestion is to get this book as a supplement to the first softbound book, do not think this book includes all from the other as it does not. However this book is well worth the money and is well done, highly recommened book, but the man who appears to have donned the mantle of the respected but now deceased authenticator Greg Perino.



3. As the title of this review states this should be a book any serious collector should have for reference. The picture examples are worth the cost of the book alone. The information included along with the examples is just what I was looking for in a book about collecting Native American artifacts.
   The book is also very well written so that a person with very little knowledge could pick it up and understand what was being explained.



4. Any collection strong in Native American history, studies or early artifacts will welcome AUTHENTICATING ANCIENT INDIAN ARTIFACTS: HOW TO RECOGNIZE REPRODUCTION AND ALTERED ARTIFACTS. Color photos of artifacts accompany clear directions on the entire authentication and identification process, making for a fine choice for college-level archaeology collections as well.

5 comments about Blue Book Dolls and Values, 16th Edition (Blue Book Dolls and Values).

1. Very helpful book - have really been enjoying this book as I have wanted this book for years, finally got it!



2. I bought this book to help me determine the value of a collection of high quality dolls that my aunt wants to help her sell. Our of five doll designers, only one of the designers was even listed in her book. This was a waste of my money, for sure!



3. I am formilair with this book. It is a great book IF you know the name of your doll. If you don't it is not a good one for you.



4. THE resource for all your doll questions on values and dolls.



5. Although the Blue Book is the avid doll collectors' favorite price guide, it contains numerous categories that have not been updated for quite a number of years. China, parian, papier mache, and wooden, some of the earliest dolls in existence, have been gaining in popularity for several years now and the market prices, both at auction and online have been rising considerably. The Blue Book has not caught up with this trend.
   
   Also, it would be extremely helpful if there were a comprehensive section that described the methods used in compiling the information as well as the sources of this information. Some of the prices are so far off the mark in actual market prices realized, that it makes the professional wonder if the numbers are merely picked out of blue sky.
   
   The book is well structured and is the easiest to use on a daily basis, of all the price guides, however, serious updating and a description of the price compilation process, would improve it immensely.

5 comments about Standard Catalog Of World Paper Money, General Issues (Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Vol 2: General Issues).

1. This book is very well for inform on bills in a world! Pictures, year, price...Very complete!



2. I use this book only, I don't know better source for basic informations for collectors.



3. It was a pleasure for me to order from you. The catalog is great and I got it delivered in no time. The service was GREAT!!!



4. The new edition of this catalogue is an extremely disappointing effort in terms of keeping up to date with price developments. A majority of the countries covered in this update have not been reviewed at all, resulting in a very misleading guide to collectors. If you have the previous edition, there is little incentive for you to buy this new edition. Editors should really put much much more effort in updating prices, or simply stop printing updates of the catalogue altogether. Changing the cover picture does not justify a new edition.



5. An excellent catalogue. The only disturbing problem is that there are several mismatchs between pictures and descriptions. Unfortunately more frequent than in earlier issues.

5 comments about The Art of Opium Antiques.

1. Thanks goes to Steve Martin for bringing to light a significant, and nearly forgotten, history. Through artifacts (Steve's impressive and beautiful collection of opium paraphernalia, and period photographs) and down to earth story telling, I found myself transported to opium dens in the East and West, and imagined the lives and circumstances of those who were entranced and enveloped by the narcotic.
   
   The pictures are gorgeous, the writing evocative, and the topic and the objects themselves provide a fascinating portal for history.



2. This book is really helpful to identify antique opium art. I work for Asia Galleries in San Francisco where we sell a lot of antique opium artifacts. I had hard time to find a book that helps me to study about details of opium art, but in this book I see many dampers, pipes, lamps, and opium scrapers are similar to the ones Asia Galleries have; therefore, I was able to gain some knowledge through this book. Now, I am confident to explain details of our antique opium art to customers. I would like to say thank you to Steven Martin.



3. When the paraphernalia associated with opiates comes to mind what do you picture? Syringes? Drippy candles? Bent spoons? These are the gear of the heroin user but what about heroin's long dead uncle, opium? The paraphernalia of the two drugs couldn't be more different. This book will take you back in time when drug use was at least practised with style and flair. The opium pipes, lamps and other accouterments illustrated in this book are gem-like works or art made from rare and precious materials such as silver, ivory and jade. It's a world long lost but the author manages to bring it back to life for a brief moment and dazzle us with the promises of chemical bliss that tempted our ancestors. Getting addicted back then was no doubt as painful and ruinous as it is today, but they sure knew how to do it in style!



4. The Art of Opium Antiques is one of the most artfully illustrated and artistically written books on the subject. Throughout its pages Steven Martin traces the cultural use in China alongside the artistry and astounding craftmanship of the time, from the low and common to the truly decedent. Photos of amazingly ornate apparatus are peppered throughout alongside diagrams depicting the main components of a typical pipe or lamp. Historical photos help put one in the mind frame of the times, allowing one to contemplate how this blissful habit, aided by dedicated artisans progressed up until its zenith during the nineteenth century. Martin's vast collection and grasp of the subject are equally great, allowing one to walk away with a greater appreciation for opium related antiquities. There is no doubt this book will help spawn new collectors as well as reconfirm the addiction of the collector aficionado, for this book is a grand spring board for newbies and opium-porn for the serious collector.



5. Such a great book! Instead of just relating the well-known disastrous effects of opium, the author of this book brings new insight into the history of the drug by exploring Opium paraphernalia as an art form. It works!
   
   We are brought into the mythical Opium dens of a not so distant past, with the rich illustrations of this text. A rare photo of an 1880 Butte, Montana bunkhouse "opium den" is particularly amusing. However, it is the lush photographs of the drug paraphernalia that make this work so worthwhile. The extensive captions that accompany each photograph have enabled the author to not only inform the reader about the use and artistic achievement of these artifacts, but entertain as well.
   
   The result is a more humanizing view of the addiction itself. Knowing that these beautiful instruments were the tools in which to feed a deadly addiction gives us another vantage point to view this era of history.
   
   Anyone with the an interest in the history of China, the Chinese Diaspora living in the USA in the late 18th/19th century or the history of Southeast Asia will find this book particularly fascinating. The Art of Opium Antiques will be an essential addition to your bookshelf.

2 comments about Sewing Tools & Trinkets: Collector's Identification & Value Guide (Sewing Tools & Trinkets).

1. Helen Lester Thompson's Sewing Tools & Trinkets is a collector's identification and value guide, covering everything from thimbles and needle holders to toys and trinkets. A very specific reference for the collector of sewing items.



2. This is an excellent source for the collector of antique sewing implements. Full color illustrations of all priced objects make it easy to identify and place a value on pincushions, needlecases, thimbles and more. Not much text but price guides are generally short on text. If a price guide is what you want, I recommend this one.

1 comments about The Art of Skiing: Vintage Posters from the Golden Age of Winter Sport.

1. This book has great visuals, from all different countries, and is a perfect gift for the skier you know who likes old-school stuff. I actually bought this for someone who doesn't understand English, but the artwork stands on its own.

No comments about Scott 2007 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World: G-I (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 3 Countries G-I).