5 comments about Antiques Roadshow Primer : The Introductory Guide to Antiques and Collectibles from the Most-Watched Series on PBS.

1. I received this book for Christmas, and though I'm not an antiquer, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It has provided lots of great background for me as a writer, as well as being entertaining. Antiques Roadshow is the most popular PBS series for a reason. If you love it, you will love this book!



2. You have seen the program. Now read the book. Reading this book gives you a better insight as to what an antique is and what to look for. The program is ok but you can not take it with you or unless you own the video you can not go back on a point.

   There is a small color section. But for the most part the pictures for the descriptions are black and white. There is a section on "Art Glass" however not enough detail to tell the difference between amberina and cobalt.

   The tittle includes collectibles also. And the different furniture styles. I could not find anything on "Lebus" furniture.

   All in all this is the place to start. Before looking for price guides you need to know what you are looking at. However you will need to branch out from here. There is an extensive index and lots of photos. There is a list of Auction houses, appraisal organizations, and Antiques Road Show appraisers.




3. Antiques Roadshow is an enigma. It is at the same time one of the most informative shows on television and one of the most misleading. This book is quite similar. The information presented to help identify styles is very good overall, although there are some serious shortcomings in certain sections. However, this book also includes the ubiquitous "Find" featured on the show which gives the reader an unrealistic expectation of the value of what they may own.

   Also featured in the book are sections on items which are "out." In many of those sections I found items which sell quite well in our local market as well as online. It seemed that the decision to call something "out" was made solely on price issues. Invariably in this work the items which bring sums over $1000 were mentioned while hot collectibles & antiques that can be had between $50-$500 were either left out or barely touched upon in the text.

   I use this book as a reference for styles, periods, and such, but I do not trust their market research any more in print than I do on TV. ....and I'm a professional appraiser.




4. Really a fun read, on a very unique show. Frankly, what I love most about the show is when somebody thinks they have something so valuable and it's fake, they are so smug, then shocked, it's priceless to watch them recoil. They should get this book and they might learn how to spot a fake. Honestly, those two weird twins on the show freak me out, they are so bizarre looking, but those two ecentric fops really know american antique furniture and their expertise is honed in this book. But seriously, if you enjoy the roadshow or just want to know more about antiques then I do recommend this book



5. If you love the Antiques Road show you will love this book! It's packed with Beautiful full color pictures of the antiques that made the show such a hit, and the stories that go with them.
   
   There's even profiles of all the antique dealers that have been in the show since the beginning.

5 comments about Antiques Roadshow Collectibles: The Complete Guide to Collecting 20th Century Glassware, Costume Jewelry, Memorabila, Toys and More From the Most-Watched Show on PBS.

1. The scope of the book is too broad and the depth of the topics considered is too shallow. Complex collectibles such as costume jewelry or art glass are given a few pages of attention, but the book tries to cover too many areas at the expense of giving adequate attention to any area. If you want a very, very basic overview, history, and details about popular collectibles, you may find this book of some use. However, your money would probably be more wisely spent on books that deal with your specific topics of interest. It's fun reading, but definitely not a "complete guide to collecting...".



2. If you are into collecting this is the book for you. It has lots of interesting facts and discussions about why people collect things and how to get started if you're thinking about a collection.
   
   It doesn't talk about EVERYTHING though, so if you are really into a specific collectible you would be better off with a book that addresses that collectible.



3. Most of the pages in this book are a drab black & white print, with a few (emphasis on few) pages in the middle that are glossy, full-color. I was thinking "coffee table book" when I bought it, but it's definitely not that fancy. I sent it back.



4. Nice book and provides considerable information. The author does cover alot of territory in one book. Should consider a series and provide more photos.



5. If you are just getting into collecting, this is a fun book to review. Lots of overall ideas of varieties of collectibles...for more serious colletors, I would suggest books oriented to the subject matter of interest.

2 comments about Warman's Glass: Values and Identification (4th Edition).

1. Now in an updated and expanded fourth edition, Warman's Glass: A Value & Identification Guide compiled and edited by antique glassware expert Ellen T. Schroy is an superbly presented and illustrated price guide to more than 200 types of American and European Glass. Offering histories, references, clubs, and museums, Warman's Glass is accessibly structured in alphabetical order, and consists of entries offering brief and succinct descriptions of various individual pieces. Warman's Glass is an excellent catalogue and a reliable resource recommended for antiques dealers, auctioneers, hobbyists, and collectors.



2. A detailed reference book for many types of glassware. If you are a collector you will find this book very informative.

5 comments about The Art of Buying Art: An Insider's Guide to Collecting Contemporary Art.

1. When someone recommended this book I was skeptical, as I thought of art collecting as something beyond my means. But Paige West does a good job of demystifying the art world, with solid advice on understanding, selecting, buying and living with contemporary art. It's an easy and enjoyable read, and the book is packed with examples of works from emerging artists. Some I don't care for, but there were others whose work I'll seek out. Fortunately, the book also explains how galleries work, and how to find artists you like. This book is not a coffee table decoration - read it and use it.



2. I'm not particularly well-versed in art history, and visit museums infrequently (there are few notable ones near my home), but have always intended to learn more about fine art, and particularly contemporary art. Either from the perspective of a novice collector or someone who wishes to educate him/herself, I highly recommend this title. The book is accessible and informative, infuses the reader with the writer's clear sense of enthusiasm for the subject, and lacks the condescending or arcane tone taken by some of its similarly-themed predecessors. If you want to familiarize yourself with the basics of the fine art trade, sharpen your tastes, and/or eventually own a small collection, I strongly recommend this title.



3. For anyone leery of investing in art, anyone interested in starting collecting, and anyone simply interested in learning more about contemporary art, Ms. West's book is essential. "Buying Art" is well written, engaging and very informative and will make you a much more knowledgeable and shrewd collector.



4. "The Art of Buying Art" is a wonderfully comprehensive primer for anyone interested in real art collection for real people with real budgets (but sophisticated taste levels to boot).
   
   The author's unpretentious take on collecting is a refreshing point of view, and the scads of illustrations and pics help introduce new contemporary artists and new art styles that a fledgling collector may otherwise overlook. As a budding collector myself, I came away with an "I can actually do this" attitude, and look forward to applying this book's lessons to building my own little gallery in my own apartment.



5. I've just started exploring art collection and discovered this book. I thought the book had some great advice about how to get started thinking about what art I want to collect and why. As the author says "art should be fun." After reading this book I realized that my approach was all wrong, I was dealing with galleries that weren't fun and it was nice to hear someone in the business tell me that it doesn't have to be that way for beginners like me.

5 comments about I Bought Andy Warhol.

1. Don't worry if you're not an art aficionado. Regardless of whether there's a Warhol - or a crush-velvet Elvis - hanging behind your own couch, this book is a fantastic read. Richard Polsky has written a brutally honest and, at times, hilarious assessment of what goes on behind the scenes in the high-stakes, high drama



2. I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction because I find at times the text to be dry and boring but I was so pleasantly surprised when I read this book! As a student of art history, I knew very little about the actual dealings that go on behind closed doors in galleries and auction houses, so this book was a wonderful eye-opener. This is not just a book about Polsky's quest to purchase his own Warhol but it is about the crazy personalities and deals that go on in the art world.
   
   This is a great book that gives a lot of information on Warhol himself and the kind of struggle one might face if thinking of buying a contemporary art piece. A must read for any art enthusiast!



3. Alhthough Polsky has some interesting insights on the art market, they are relatively few, and are separated by numerous pointless anecdotes and even more pointless details. For example, in describing a visit to a colleague staying at an upscale Manhattan hotel, Polsky writes that (in case he wanted to stay there in the future) he decided to ask a few questions of the concierge, "a moderately attractive young lady, who was wearing a very businesslike skirt, jacket, silk blouse, and matching bow." (p. 208). Why exactly does it matter that the concierge was "moderately attractive"? So we can gauge how excited Polksy was? So the reader can decide whether he or she would rather stay at a hotel where the concierges are more than "moderately" attractive? Notably, Polsky then does not even have any questions for the concierge -- so it appears that the whole event was not designed to give him an opportunity to find out if he'd want to stay there in the future (as he claims), but simply so he can decide how "attractive" the concierge is. The book abounds in such pointless detail. The author comes across as self-impressed to an extraordinary degree, and while his occasional insights on the art world are interesting, the reader must suffer through a remarkable amount of banal detail. Not recommended.



4. I've been on an Andy Warhol kick lately; I go through cyclical periods where I review his Diaries and read a book or two written about Warhol. This was my latest find and it was very enjoyable, with a novel premise: Polsky's story is about his pursuit of buying an Andy Warhol painting. Polsky recounts meeting Warhol briefly in 1986, shortly before Warhol's death, when he purchased a "minor" Warhol painting (one of the "$" paintings). With engaging prose, Polsky details the ups and downs of the art market in the 1990s. I have to admit that some of Polsky's anecdotes and comments about the art world's top dealers and celebrated artists were embarrassing. It somehow gets tied together nicely, though, as the ever elusive Warhol masterpiece darts in and out of Polsky's hands.



5. Being an artist, I really got a charge out of seeing the buyers' side of the art world.
   
   Andy Warhol is my favorite artist so, needless to say, the title caught my eye and I HAD to buy it. The book reminded me of little boys who buy and trade baseball cards. It's made the business side of the art world less threatening and more fun.
   
   I found this book well written and a very enjoyable read.

2 comments about Fashionable Clothing from the Sears Catalogs: Late 1960s (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book is grea! The layout is perfect and as I work with a Costume Designer it helped me do my job so well. It captures the 60's in it's escense and also it's a beautiful book.



2. Here are pictures of all the clothes I used to wear to junior high school back in the good old days! We didn't have shopping malls yet where I grew up, and this is how I got my clothes for school. It brings back many memories. Now the Sears catalog is gone, too.

5 comments about The Illustrated Guide to Antique Writing Instruments.

1. An outstanding effort. The photographs are superb. Written in an easy language, makes it enjoyable to read to both novice and connoisseur collectors. However, the authors didn't mention some important pens (eg: Parker #14, Parker Duofold mandarin yellow, Parker Duofold Lapis Lazuli). ( My book is the Revised & Expanded 3rd edition, 2000).



2. This is a valuable and handy pocket (briefcase, etc.) guide to take on a pen expedition. It's a bit big for anything but a large overcoat pocket but is handy when carried in a case. It is mostly a guide to the identification of some of the pens to be found at pen shows and elsewhere. There are brief histories of 18 fountain pen manufacturers but they are short to rudimentary. There is a short but to the point and valuable guide to how to grade a pen.

   The rest of the book is devoted to colored photos of various fountain pens. The pictures are very good and the selection of pens shown is very good. The values shown are, like all prices shown in such books, progressively out of date. They are good though to give a relative value for pens.

   This is an excellent book for its purpose - to help identify, grade and price used fountain pens. It does its specified purpose well. It's not meant to be an encyclopedia. Such a book would have to be a many volumn set.




3. A small and handy book. There are brief history of the pen companies and short description on pen collecting. The illustrations are nicely done, though the descriptions accompanying them sometimes too short. Good book for beginners. But for serious collcetors, better off with the big version by the same authors.



4. This is by far the best book on the subject for the size. It has great pictures (all colored), concise information, and very informative price guides. It covers lots of different pens from major companies, such as Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, Wahl-Eversharp, Conklin. It also has some useful information on some obscured old US pen companies (all gone now). I don't understand why people are so excited about the big book "Fountain Pens of the World" by Lambrou. It does have more company information and time-line of products and covers more international companies, but that big book has no price guide at all, and is about 8 times more expensive than this little book. In terms of the coverage of the types of pens in major US companies, the big Lambrou book is quite much inferior to this little book. I just love this little one. But admittedly, you need to have more than one books to do some cross-reference.



5. This book is very enjoyable. If you can't own every pen, you can still have a great time looking at the craftmanship of things gone by.

5 comments about The DC Comics Action Figure Archive.

1. Being born in the early 1960s,I have had lots of DC action figures growing up,this book does not come close to having all the DC action figures.Most of the figures covered in this book are from at best early 1990's.I'm definately thinking about sending this book back.If I could,I would have giving this book a negative 5 stars because of its title.Buy MEGO 8" SUPER-HEROES:WORLD'S GREATEST TOYS! this book brings back good memories.



2. This is a great book to casually leaf through but not entirely thorough. As far as I could tell the author has at least listed every DC figure made, but I personally would have liked pictures of every item. I know that sometimes may not be possible, but a book like this is likely to be used as a reference guide and photos of every item would have been more useful. Still, I liked it and if you collect this sort of figures you will enjoy this book.



3. I'm not sure why I bought this - impulse I guess (darn your targeted marketing Amazon!)
   Do you really want to know how many stupid versions of Batman Kenner made? Some of the pages include information about the DC Universe, which is nice, but I think if it were a true archive, it would have images of the 300+ Batman toys made.
   If you are sometimes obsessive, don't look through the book! You'll see that many of the toys were sold exclusively to Target or marketed exclusively in other countries. If you can collect them all - invite us over to see! (And explain how you display them.)



4. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1Z1QHAFVEUXZG This is a brief video that shows you a little bit about this cool book.



5. Being a collector of Batman action figures and also the animated Justice League action figures, I was really looking forward to this book. But upon reading I discovered all the different versions of the Justice League Mission Vision figures were not listed and few other figures were not listed as well.

5 comments about Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography.

1. Photo postcard collectors and fans of photo postcard art have plenty to enjoy in REAL PHOTO POSTCARD GUIDE: THE PEOPLE'S PHOTOGRAPHY. Such art dominated the U.S. Photo market during the first third of the 20th century, but until now hasn't received a comprehensive coverage. The authors have plumbed archives and conducted original research to cover photo postcard history, art, and specifics on dating and preserving a collection. Over three hundred photo postcards from archives and private collections across the country display a fine range of black and white images. Any serious photography library or collector's handbook holding must have this.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. In the thirty five years of collecting postcards, with real photo post cards my speciality, there has never been a good book, until now covering this subject.
   
   This book of 274 pages covers all aspects of what one would ever wish to know about this form of collectiing. Major chapter headings are: Introduction, Fundamentals, Photographers & Careers, Dimensions of Desirability,Collecting Categories, Objects to Treasure, Sitting in the Graveyard & Conclusion. Each chapter has many subdivisions, very well marked in the table of contents by page number. At the end is a very complete appendix & index. Being on the subject of photographs there are naturally a great number, totaling around 270.
   
   The only reason I did not rate this 5 star is that the quality of the photo reproduction is not in keeping with the tremendous efforts the authors have put into this book. Though the photos are O.K., with todays technology, I feel the publisher let the authors down.
   
   Collectors have been waiting a long time for a book like this, & I very much doubt that there is more to be said on this subject. The authors are to be congradulated on a job well done.



3. This comprehensive reference book is a must-have" for collectors of real photo postcards or for anyone starting out collecting.
   It provides information and examples on how postcards document our history.
   Very well done.
   I'm very happy to have it.



4. Beautifully written, this all inclusive text will enchant all levels of deltiologists (real photo collectors et al)with an excellent in-depth study of the photographer-generated postcard. Well illustrated, this oversized edition reads like a novel: it's very difficult to put down. As a long-time collector, I learned more from this book than all others on the topic No use to take a college level course in real photo: its right between these pages. Definitely 5* & well worth the investment. Bravo to Bogden!



5. I bought this book to learn more about the Real Photo Postcards I had become addicted to buying. It is full of the history of postcards, photography and the combination of the two in the form of Real Photo Postcards. It has excellent resources in the appendixes to help you date your cards. I have used the book to date my postcards, include informational background for lesson plans (I teach a writing workshop using RPPCs, and to give me context when I creatively write fiction with the real Photo Postcards.

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

1. 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.



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



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. 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!



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