3 comments about Fashion Doll Wardrobe: A Collection of Designs and Patterns.

1. I got this when it was 1st released and was amazed at how horrible and amateur the patterns are. If you are new at sewing this may be a good start for basic, boxy outfits but don't expect to make anything really nice.
   And to add insult, all the patterns shown in the book are not included. You must order additional patterns to complete the set for extra $$.
   I kept the box to hold my own personally drafted patterns but couldn't even give the book/patterns away. I finally just donated it to a giveaway and I pity the person who received it.



2. This set consists of two parts: (1) a book of photos of various fashion dolls wearing the author's designs, and (2) patterns for some of the outfits. The photos show outfits that are very boxy and amateurish. They reminded me of clothing I made for my dolls when I was ten. The few interesting outfits do not come with patterns. It seems that to get patterns for all the outfits in the book, one must purchase two additional sets of patterns; however, the box is large enough to hold all the patterns.
   
   The only pluses I could find in this set were the thumbnail biographies of each of the dolls, and the chart of the dolls' vital statistics.
   
   While the patterns are very basic, the directions are not, so this would not be good for a beginning sewer. The experienced sewer would not want to waste money on this.
   
   Had I been able to look this over before I bought it, I would have saved some money.



3. Personally I think this book is a rip off. It has lots of great designs, but the author only includes one category of design patterns. If you want the other two categories, you have to order and pay more cash for them seperately by sending a request to an address at the back of the book. I thought that all the design outfits that are in the book would have patterns, but it doesn't. I cannot believe that this author entices you with some fantastic clothes designs for the larger dolls and then says you have to dish out more money for two more sets of patterns listed as other catergories.

2 comments about Schroeder's Collectible Toys Antique to Modern Price Guide (Schroeder's Collectible Toys).

1. THIS BOOK IS HIGHLY INFORMATIVE AND UP TO DATE WITH ITS DESCRIPTIONS AND PRICES. I USE THIS BOOK AS MY BIBLE FOR TOYS BECAUSE IT CONTAINS NOT ONLY THE EASY TO GET PRICES, BUT ALSO THE HARD TO FIND TOY PRICES. THE ONLY DRAW BACK THAT I CAN SEE IS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE PICTURES. THIS IS A MUST FOR YOUR TOY COLLECTIBLE LIBRARY OF PRICE BOOKS.



2. Of all the books in our library ~ this one never gets 'recycled!' Wonderful souce book with excellent information. This book sells out fast in our area! Glad to know that we can now order it on line!

5 comments about All Aboard : The Story of Joshua Lionel Cowen & His Lionel Train Company.

1. My grand-uncle, Mario Caruso, was the co-owner and co-founder of Lionel Trains along with Joshua "Lionel" Cohen.
   
   Frank Pettit, chief designer for Lionel Trains and my uncle, had over 100 patents for designs and innovations he created for toys, expecially trains, including the smoke tablet, cattle car, news-stand, a transformer, etc. Amazon lists his biography "It Comes From Within: The Frank Pettit Story." This is an accurate story of the Lionel Trains Corp.
   
   My entire family; mother, father, uncles, aunts, from the Caruso/Pagano family worked at Lionel Trains, located in Irvington, New Jersey during the 1950's, which was the largest toy company in the world. During World War II, Lionel Corp. developed and manufactured instruments for the navy.
   
   The company was bought by the lawyer, Roy Cohn, grandson of Lionel Trains founder Lionel Cowen (Cowen & Cohn are very similar names). Roy Cohn immediately fired everyone and stated that "We are out of the toy business." To this day, nobody knows where the pension fund went. All the money was taken out of the company. My mom and dad, my relatives and others never received a penny of their pension that they worked so hard for.
   
   Read this fascinating history of what was once the largest toy manufacturing company in the world.



2. Simply put, Hollander has written and compiled the highest quality, most comprehensive, and most readable book about the history of the Lionel electric train company that has ever been done. I make that claim while scanning my bookcase holding 45 books on electric toy trains, the majority of them dealing with Lionel, indisputably the penultimate brand name in America, at least where toy trains are concerned.

   Hollander writes of the origin and the evolution of Lionel trains from their beginning around 1900 through their status at the commencement of the 21st century, including their near death in 1969 and their miraculous resuscitation by the General Mills cereal company in 1970. Don't be alienated by the earlier statement that this is a history book. It is in no way a dry rehashing of facts, dates and dollars such as comprise boring histories. On the contrary, "All Aboard!" is more of a love story, for Hollander is truly in love with his subject, and his excitement in telling us about the Lionel legend carries the reader through the book on wings of delight.

   Highly descriptive text leaves us with a wonderful acquaintanceship with Lionel's parent, Joshua Lionel Cohen (who "Americanized" his name to Cowen), shows us the birth of his baby, draws us word pictures of that baby's successes and failures, its grand leaps of inventiveness and its faltering steps of failure in the changing business and economic climate of a century of American enterprise. Along the way, we are presented with copious visual reinforcement (both in color and in black and white) of the story that the text is weaving for us. We see photographs of the movers and shakers of this great company, some of the wondrous trains that they produced, and some of the expert art work that marketed those trains to the boys and fathers (and girls and mothers, too) of 20th century America. That art work, in annual catalogs and in magazine and newspaper advertisements, forged an emotional bond between American youth and the Lionel Corporation that endures today despite changing fortunes and changing ownership. Its effect on our culture has been phenomenal and is clearly addressed in Hollander's book.

   I can levy only two criticisms against "All Aboard!" The first is that I sometimes find the page layout annoying in that many sidebars and notes are included to give us insights into Lionel's executives, competitors, and plans. These are valuable and interesting, but they do interrupt the flow of the main text. The reader must either pause to read the sidebars or else ignore them at first and then return to them later. The second criticism is that the final chapter, which is the only "revised and updated" part of the book since its original release in 1981, lacks the intimate, revealing analysis that gives the rest of the book its finesse. The first eight chapters read as though Hollander had been an insider at the Lionel Corporation for its eighty-one years of birth, growth and turmoil, whereas the ninth chapter, which looks at the technological advances in toy trains from 1982 to 2000, is told by an outside observer who is no more privy to corporate thoughts than are the rest of us.

   If one has already enjoyed the 1981 edition of "All Aboard!", I cannot recommend purchasing the current edition just to have the new chapter. On the other hand, if one has never seen either edition of "All Aboard!", then, no matter what other books he may have read on Lionel trains, he has missed the most definitive and enjoyable book of all, and I cannot recommend Hollander's book too highly.




3. This is one of my best books about Lionel trains. Profusely illustrated with photos of Joshua Lionel Cohen and the people that helped make Lionel a giagantic toy train builder. This is a book you're sure to read over and over.



4. All Aboard! The Story Of Joshua Lionel Cowen & His Lionel Train Company is the fascinating story of the man who made the electric toy train one of the most popular toys for boys and hobbies for grown men in the last century. Published in part to celebrate the Lionel Train Company's 100th Anniversary, All Aboard! is also a testament to how this producer of toy trains dealt with the competition of electronic games at the end of the 20th century and is experiencing a surge of popularity at the beginning of the 21st Century. Original published in 1981, this new, revised and updated celebratory edition of All Aboard! is welcome and highly recommended reading for toy train enthusiasts in general, and Lionel Train collectors in particular!



5. I have had several copies of the previous edition of this book but kept giving them away to neighbors of mine. It is a wonderful look at one of the oldest and most successful toy companies in the world: Lionel Trains. This book covers everything: humble beginnings, postwar boom, near destruction at the hands of famed veteran of the "Red Scare" Roy Cohn to it's present day owners. If you had Lionel trains as a child or have always loved them from afar I cannot tell you how much fun this book is. With stories on all of the most famous cars and the people behind the genius it's an engrossing read.

5 comments about Collectible Gi Joe: An Official Guide to His Action-Packed World.

1. I cannot praise this book highly enough. While I have most of the other G.I. Joe books, this is without a doubt my favorite. The pictures and level of care and detail are so perfect that they are the next best thing to owning the toys themselves. It's also a great reference tool for collecting and posing your own finds. I take it out and look at it constantly.
   
   Most of us will never have the time or money to put together a collection like this, but we can enjoy the fruits of the author's work via this amazing book. If you love G.I. Joe, even just a little, by all means BUY this book. For those of us who dreamed and longed for the pictures we saw in the old Sears "Wish book" catalogs, here is the dream!



2. This book has a lot of great photos, mostly in color. The information is pretty good, but there are some areas that seem to have gaps in the narrative. I also would have liked more in-depth information relating to Hasbro instead of mostly the kind of information that you can get from a list. The book tells you when everything was released, what year, who did what, etc. But it lacks any human warmth, and there are really no warm stories of the original creators sitting together and working on GI Joe. Sadly, most of the GI Joe books totally ignore the human factor, aside from giving credit to the names of the people who designed, invented, patented, painted, funded, etc. The book is great for photos, and lots of interesting information. Sadly, it is not a warm, fuzzy book about a children's toy!



3. Plenty of useful and interesting information here, but the real appeal is the generous collection of photographs of vintage Joes and equipment in their natural element : on bivouac, at sea, ready to roll. These are the kind of set-ups that used to make me salivate as a kid and it's fun to revisit via this book.



4. I bought this book as a gift for my husband, who recently began collecting GI Joes. He was very pleased with the book and you can frequently find him browsing it, especially after he receives his catalogs/magazines.



5. I bought this book to help me prepare to sell off a number of GI Joe items on eBay. My plan was to sell the book too, after my collection was sold. Well, things change; this book is a keeper. It really recaptured the fun I had had of collecting and playing with GI Joe. The photographs are of the kinds of scenes I'd have loved to create for myself (if only my collection had been this good). The text reads as if you were listening to guy with a great sense of humor warm up to his favorite topic. Thanks Mr. Depriest for a job really well done.

2 comments about Invisible Ink Pen Kit (International Spy Museum Series).

1. This pen barely works... and is much too small. Look for a better product.



2. My friends and I all bought this "Invisible Ink Pen Set." It came in a smaller box than expected and didn't have the quality product we were hoping for. It still worked quite well and served it's purpose. I guess that is what you get for five dollars!?!?

1 comments about Collector's Toy Yearbook: Identification & Values: 100 Years of Great Toys.

1. Any toy collector will find indispensable this survey of 100 years of toys in COLLECTOR'S TOY YEARBOOK IDENTIFICATION AND VALUES, a blend of outstanding, colorful close-up color photos and articles on toy and manufacturer history and toy trends over the last 100 years. Other books focus on pricing alone: this blend of in-depth detail and identification tips offers beginners and avid toy collectors much more and makes for a colorful, inviting reference suitable not just for toy collectors but for any general-interest lending library.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

2 comments about Miniature Kitchens, and Shops from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center.

1. This book presents a charming look at some important historical dollhouses in the Rockefeller Folk Art Center. Good pictures and texts. Not useful if you are looking for realistic projects for your own dollhouse crafting hobby, but for the historian, this is a wonderful look at historical dolls, dollhouses, and furnishings that were used over generations as toys and learning devices for girls. For extravagant historical dollhouse rooms created by and for an adult collector (that you would perhaps want to emulate in your own hobby), see another book, Miniature Rooms, about the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago.



2. I consider this book to be one of the best dollhouse references out there. Every page has color photos. Many of the furniture pieces are photographed individually. Each photograph is clear and detailed. The author is careful to note when a piece is original, antique, or modern. Everything in this book is well-researched and documented. You could carve replica furniture pieces from the photographs in here, they are that good!

   Needless to say, the houses featured in here are gorgeous in their own right. My favorite part of this book are the great photos of the Grodnertal peg-wooden dolls. This book contains some of the best Grodnertal photos I've ever seen!

5 comments about Complete Book of Hot Wheels (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I feel that the price guide was very badly placed, it is in the back of the book. The listings of the cars were in alphabetical order to some extent. I prefer the prices to be right under their corresponding cars.



2. I came across this book while shopping at my local bookstore, I started looking through it, and without a moments hesitation, I knew I needed this book. It is very good as a refrence book, also for giving me information on my collection. Very well done book.



3. Due to the organization of this book it is extremely hard to locate any particular diecast unless you have the diecast number or item name or designation. Photos are very small and indistinct making it hard to identify items. It appears that not all diecasts produced are listed in the yearly listings nor are all photos shown. Overall rating on this publication is 2 stars or less!



4. I liked it. It had a lot of information about my hot wheeles.Like value and colors and sstyles and when they were made.



5. This book is One of The BEST Hw colleters guides...Full color photograpy and Complete Listing of every car up to 1998...All the Rare ones And an Accurate Pricing Guide...I use this book to Document and Price my collection of Near 1000 Hot Wheels

1 comments about Tonka.

1. I enjoyed the large, clear photos of the toys and the historical information that is presented in this book. Mr. Laumann is a former Tonka employee and must have an impressive collection of toys and memoribilia given all the credits he receives in this book. This book was a "walk down memory lane" for me as my mother was employed by Tonka Toys for 24 years, only ending with the plant's closure in Mound MN. Baby Boomers, take a look at this book--I'm sure that the photos will bring back memories of a sunny afternoon outside with your favorite Tonka toy.

No comments about American Machine-Made Marbles: Marble Bags, Boxes, and History (A Schiffer Book for Collectors).