1 comments about The Encyclopedia of Early American & Antique Sewing Machines: Identification and Values (Encyclopedia of Early American Sewing Machines).

1. I was looking forward to buying and reading this book because I purchased the first two editions and thoroughly enjoyed them. Even my wife, who does not totally share my interest in sewing machines, enjoyed this book. I really liked the more detailed photographs of these early sewing machines and the abundance of color photographs were right on. Everything about this carefully researched book is first class and a great deal for the money. I would have enjoyed seeing more photographs of early trade literature, but I am not complaining. So, to Mr. Bays I say, "CONGRADULATIONS for writing another informative, collectable book about antique sewing machines." James W. Slaten

4 comments about Collector's Guide to Post Cards.

1. Absolutely useless. Waste of money. Not worthy of its description. This is NOT A REFERENCE BOOK. This is a (poor) photographic journal of a collection, with speculative values based purely on opinion.



2. Horrible prints, can hardly see details, blury pictures in black and white (a very few colored). Set up is okay, but again, pictures are horrible and crammed into the page. A waste of money!



3. The title "Collector's Guide..." led me to believe that there would be informational text about dating, printing techniques, and other descriptive information about post cards. The book is entirely illustrations of post cards in various categories and their prices...fine for long-time collectors, but useless for someone seeking historical information.



4. This reference book for postcard collectors is entirely given over to images of the cards themselves, with no history, grading guide, or other information. That being said, it has thousands of photos of various kinds of postcards, well organized by subject (but I wish the reproduction were clearer). The prices are dated, and do not reflect the impact that Ebay, Amazon, and other online auction houses have had on postcard availability. All in all it's a nice pictorial reference, but not a must-have.

2 comments about Early American Pattern Glass: Collector's Identification & Price Guide.

1. Ditto to the above review of this book! "Index, Index, Index!!!" I am a relative newbie to antique glass and started a few months ago trying to identify family pieces. Because of the volume, extensive research, pictures, etc... of this source, I bought it a couple of months ago. What a waste of time and money. This book ***only*** has an alphabetical listing of patterns in the Table of Contents - no index. As I am trying to ***indentify*** a glass pattern - do not know the pattern name, the Table of Contents is useless. I have to laborously search page by page (500+) in hopes of stumbling on a black and white pic or sketch of the pattern. Granted several other glass books only have alpha listings of patterns but they are smaller in volume making it a bit easier to thumb through them. Now Warman's Glass by Schroy does have an index which lists not only pattern names but catagories with sub-levels. Why couldn't this book have taken a little more effort and added an invaluable index?



2. I'm sorry to say this book makes me want to stick a fork in my eye every time I use it.
   
   That's because mostly I need to identify an unfamiliar piece of glass, so I don't have a pattern name yet, and for some reason the authors chose to assume that anyone using this book would already know the pattern name of what they were looking up! Even the table of contents lacks any organization other than alphabetical pattern names.
   
   But most of all, identification is made hair-pullingly difficult by the lack of even a rudimentary INDEX.
   
   The authors have provided no way to look up patterns by characteristics such as 'star and circle,' or 'ribbed with lattice,' etc. The authors of books on marks have managed to come up with organization systems like this - so why is it so lacking in pattern identification books? This is not the only book without an index, even Mauzy's excellent book on Depression glass forces you to look at every pattern on every page when you're researching an unfamiliar piece.
   
   But, what makes this book's lack of index particularly egregious is its enormous size and complexity. Having to look at mostly black and white line drawings of patterns on EVERY SINGLE page of this book's 498 (!) pages of patterns is so discouraging I have yet to actually id a piece. I keep just giving up, which makes this book a waste of money.
   
   In fact, if you have a pattern name, you've already GOT identification, haven't you? All you really need to know is the price and what else is available in the pattern line, which YOU HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED YOURSELF!! The use of the word "Identification" in this book's title is an outrageous lie.
   
   The only way to make this book valuable to the majority of collectors, who have not managed to memorize thousands of EAPG patterns, is to buy another better organized book of patterns and use this one for the exhaustive listing of all pieces produced or reproduced under each pattern name.
   
   Obviously, the authors put a lot of hard work into this huge volume (which is the only reason this torture device still got two stars) but expecting anyone to access all that info without an index is ridiculous. This is a reference book after all, and reference books are meant to be WELL organized.
   
   If the authors had done more than just part of the job, and included at least an index and/or at least one other organization method than alphabetical pattern names, this could have been THE definitive guide to EAPG. What a disappointment.
   
   This was my first book on EAPG so I don't have any alternative suggestions, but perhaps someone else out there does?

5 comments about Antique Trader Guide to Fakes & Reproductions, 4th Edition.

1. This book was given as a gift but it was received enthusiastically. After the party they picked it up and started to read it carefully so have to assume it was very interesting. This may not be useful to a future buyer, but I did check a few items before I gave the book and it was right on.



2. This is the best book on the subject for the yardsaler and auction buff who wants to know what to look for in a fake vs authentic antique.
   The quality of this book is outstanding.



3. I purchased this book when I became interested in antiques and found myself scrolling the pages of Ebay for treasures. The book is invaluable in pointing out many of the creative ways con artists have ingeniously come up with to defraud the unwary buyer. The biggest flaw of the book is that it is a survey book and hits only a few examples of fakes within a number of widely diverse catagories. I happen to be interested in porcelain and the information the book provided on the few specific areas of porcelain (like RS Prussia and Delft) were first-rate. Unfortunately vast areas of porcelain like figurines in general or companies like Meissen were never even mentioned. This is understandable as the book also covers broadly furniture, bronze, scrimshaw and cast iron lawn and garden items. I would love an expanded series with books specializing in each of the areas listed. As an overview this points out areas of fraud to be on the lookout for. As a specific, unless you happen to be evaluating the exact same item, it is unlikely to be helpful in any one particular fraud question.



4. If you are a serious collector or a dealer this is a must have book! Covers all of the major catagories.



5. This brand new year 2001 super guide can protect collectors from paying good money for fakes and reproductions. The book's 304 pages covers Art glass, Cameo Glass, Depression Glass, China, Porcelain, Scientific Instruments, Art Pottery, Black Memorabilia, Bronze, Furniture, Computer-related, Lamp and, Lighting, Napkin Rings, Silver items, and Toys. There are more than 1,000 great black and white, and a 16-page full color section to help you identify reproductions. The book's 6 x 9" is a handy size to take with you while antiquing. The book can save you far more than its price by protecting you from purchasing only one reproduction. Add it to your library.

No comments about Warman's Coca-Cola Field Guide: Values and Identification (Warman's Field Guides).

No comments about Canadian Coins 2009 A Charlton Standard Catalogue (Charlton's Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins).

No comments about Coin World 2008 Guide to U.S. Coins: Prices & Value Trends (Coin World Guide to U S Coins, Prices, and Value Trends).

4 comments about Coro Jewelry: A Collector's Guide--Identification & Values.

1. Coro is one of the most widely available costume jewelers in the U.S. If you like their jewelry, then this book is indispensible for dating and verifying the validity of your piece.



2. I buy and sell vintage jewelry mostly on e-Bay at Kaospf. I know how much Coro jewelry is out there so I was very disappointed that this book only has 3 pictures per page. I like to have as many books as I can afford so I can learn and price my pieces corectly.The pictures are scattered and they have a value for that piece but nothing in depth to take up the whole page. They should have loaded up the pages with the pictures of the more comon pieces available on the market.The pictures in the book are more high ticket items.It is nice to see items you don't see often so don't get me wrong. This is why I was not thrilled with the book,too much wasted space and lack of history on the pages. There is history at the front of the book,but it should be on the pages or the area your looking at.Bottom line is if I had looked at the book I wouldn't have bought it.I hope the next book will be better.



3. Hope to see the best, the most interesting, the most curious of CORO ? avoid this book ! poor choice, bad pictures, ridiculous pink background .... big disappointment !!! and when you know that CORO did so gorgeous jewelry !!! ......



4. If you're more interested in the company's history than the jewelry they produced, then you will not be disappointed in this book. However, if you're wanting to see the best of Coro and find a way to determine the value of a Coro piece (or what you should pay for it), this book fails to satisfy that criteria.
   
   First of all, the book is poorly assembled. Corocraft ends up near the back of the book after Francois and Vendome. The selection is poor; 9 pages of $10 - $20 earrings, 40 pgs. of Vendome and only 13 pages of Corocraft and Coro Sterling each. The key Collectible Coro pieces are hard to find in this book and when you find them, the photos are poor, the prices not consistent with the marketplace (some high some low) and some of the best aren't in the book (yet easily found on the internet). You never know which section of Coro you are viewing as every page in the book has the same header. The descriptions don't define which designer produced which piece and with Coro, the designer affects the value.
   
   Ms. Brown needs a lesson in photography or someone should buy her a new camera. The colors are washed out, there are far too numerous blurry images and most importantly, the jewelry just does not show well.
   
   As the other reviewer said....take a pass on this one

No comments about 2009 Collector Car Price Guide.

2 comments about A guide Book of Double Eagle Gold Coins: A Complete History and Price Guide (Official Red Books).

1. I've just started collecting Double Eagles and this book offered many interesting details and excellent photos of all Double Eagles. There is good historical background offered also.



2. Dave Bowers has shown us all once again his superb writing skills and in-depth Numismatic knowledge with this fairly new release on what just may be the worlds most popular gold coin, the US Double Eagle. All that is missing from this superb date by date analysis of the US double eagle gold coins guidebook is up to date pricing information, which of course has seen many changes ( most to the upside) since the release of this book.
   Whether you are investing in these coins or collecting them , this is one of the guidebooks you need to study this facinating and important series of US gold coins. As a professional coin dealer and specialist in double eagles, I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in these coins. Buy the book before you buy the coins!