1 comments about Cartoon Toys & Collectibles Identification and Value Guide: Identification and Value Guide.

1. This beautiful 224 page book features over 800 full color, large, sharp photos and estimated values. Major categories include: Disney, Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Character Hall of Fame and resources. There is a complete history of each major category where you'll find interesting and useful information. A welcome addition to your library.

3 comments about Encyclopedia of Antique Tools & Machinery.

1. This book provides a good overview of many tools (including a lot from obsolete trades). Some prices are provided. A good book for a beginner looking for background on the many tools out there.



2. This book of tools and tool values contains many misnamed, mislabed, or inaccurately named tools. Save your money and buy the latest edition of Keane's book of antique tool values, the most accurate one for tool prices, or Barlow's most recent edition of Antique Tool Collectors Guide to Value,
   which will give lots of pictures and general tool info without misleading you. Wendel's book has too many tools
   named wrong and prices that are way out of touch with reality. Condition is very important, and Herb Keane, in his
   A Price Guide to Antique Tools, does a good job in discussing condition and its effect on prices.
   Once you read some basic tool value books, you will want to advance to specialized books centering on brands, locale of manufacture, or type of tool. These will seldom be price guides, but will be filled with important details that can make a big difference in the price paid for a tool.



3. Not quite what I needed. I do not get much usefull information from it.

No comments about Issues of Authenticity in Chinese Painting.

No comments about Antique Vienna Bronzes.

2 comments about Chinese Furniture: A Guide to Collecting Antiques.

1. Hi,
   Have not yet recieved the book from Amazon com. It was ordered 11/22 2006. Date today is 01/09. Maybe the delivery from Amazon to Sweden is not working??



2. For those interested in learning about Chinese furniture, this is a very useful book. It is well written and illustrated and gives a good over-all survey of the field. It isn't written for experts, but for the "lay" person who wants to know something about the field either for personal interest or because he/she is beginning to collect.

No comments about Miller's Buyer's Guide: Silver & Plate (Miller's Silver & Plate Buyer's Guide).

5 comments about Depression Era Glassware: Identification & Value Guide (Depression Era Glassware) (Depression Era Glassware).

1. I have many other books that show depression glass and all of them are great. But this book shows the patterns in line drawings. Sometimes pictures of glass patterns are not as clear as they could be. This book shows a drawing of each pattern and lets you really study it. I found it very helpful in sorting out the initial confusion that new comers sometimes have. Now that I am an 'old pro', I still find myself using this book just to be on the 'safe' side.



2. Now in an expanded and fully updated fourth edition, Depression Era Glassware Identification And Value Guide, glassware specialist Carl F. Luckey is a straightforward guide enabling the reader to competently and confidently recognize and fairly price classic works of 1930s glassware artifacts. While most of the glassware illustrations are in simple black and white, Depression Era Glassware is impressively enhanced with an insert section of superb color photography, all combine to present a variety of patterns from the era in unmistakable relief. The price guide is extensive and lists price ranges for individual pieces of varying sizes. Depression Era Glassware is an excellent, indispensable, authoritative resource for dealers and collectors.



3. As a new collector of depression era glass, I found this book to be incredibly helpful with identification. The line drawings are clear - the reader has no doubt of the pattern (sometimes photos can be unclear due to the nature of glass). I also appreciate the value ranges given and, of special value to me, each pattern has info on what pieces have been reproduced or reissued.



4. I found that the values were very helpful, but since mostly all that was shown pattern-wise was the plate, it was a bit difficult for me to identify some other pieces.



5. I have solved many mysteries of Depression Era Glass patterns on unmarked pieces through the use of this wonderful, well documented guide. Although this guide presents a small insert of colored pictures the bulk of the pages provide "drawings" in black and white which are actually quite helpful in determining the pattern you are matching. In addition, pattern names, manufacturers and years of manufacturing are provided.
   
   As a dealer I find the value guides helpful and they are separated by item category, color and value range. The author is honest enough in the introduction to advise you to depend on other references for value accuracy in the ever changing market, particularly with the advent of internet auctions. This book has been extremely helpful as a reference guide and is a welcome addition to my glassware book library.

1 comments about Collectible Vernon Kilns: Identification and Value Guide (Collectible Vernon Kilns).

1. This book is a must have for anyone interested in collecting any of the numerous shapes and/or patterns of pottery made by Vernon Kilns. I won't repeat what's said above in the book description or product details, but I will add that many years of obvious painstaking research has culminated in Maxine Nelson's 4th book on the subject.
   
   I had no idea what a challenge it would be to complete a collection of dinnerware in just ONE of the patterns ("Gingham", a green and yellow plaid design) that was made. Even with this book in hand you will never be 100% sure of all the pieces that exist in whatever pattern you're attempting to collect. In my opinion, the "not knowing" is part of the challenge that only serves to make collecting this truly versatile line of wares that much more fun, interesting, and rewarding.
   
   By the way, this book has 320 pages, not 192 as listed above. Sadly, this book is already out of print. However, at the time of this writing quite a few copies are still available.
   
   If you're a fanatic, you'll want to find copies of the newsletter "Vernon Views" printed from 1981 through 2003 by Pat Faux and Nancy Scadeberg, but we'll save that for another time...

3 comments about Russel Wright (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Collectors really do need an ultimate compendium of Russel Wright's designs - this book isn't it, but then it doesn't promise to be. Photography proves to be both a strength and a weakness throughout. Photographs are numerous and sharp, but color is wildly inaccurate in some chapters (see "Cedar Green" looking grey). The irony is that so many of these photos are included for the purpose of showcasing color combinations. The other problem with the photos is that some of the most mundane single items get a half page photo while an important grouping of rarities gets a small one. This - and too much coverage of American Modern and Iroquois - was done at the expense of information about less common lines (particularly Knowles).

   Not including a chapter about Wright's furniture designs is forgivable in a book about dinnerware, but why is there no coverage of flatware? I can't imagine that the size of the book would've been impacted much by its inclusion. Also, aluminum is featured, but there is no trace of the Chase chrome items.

   The best feature of this book is its chapter about Highlight for Paden City. There isn't much information, but there are photos of extremely rare pieces. This is reason enough for an advanced collector to buy this book, but if you want a general guide or a better read, I'd stick to the latest edition of Ann Kerr's book.




2. For Russel Wright collectors who need more visual information and current pricing than Ann Kerr's more thorough narrative reference provides, this is a good option. Many of the photographs are lovely and make a collector drool! I particularly enjoyed comparisons of mold variations (American Modern sauce boats, Casual China butter dishes) and pictures of rare pieces (Highlight, Bauer art pottery) that Kerr does not feature.



3. Pro:
   -Many pages of large glossy color photos
   -Many rare items revealed in great photographic shots to make them easier to spot on your own
   -Very complete listing of pieces and prices (note: prices are subject to wide market opinion, one data point only)
   -We think Keller and Ross make many beautiful arrangements and color-pairings as Russel intended
   -A relatively lengthy book considering that it is intended for reference and identification purposes
   -Very complete listing of lines as they are known to us today, including Mary Wright and others
   
   Con:
   -Not information rich, for this seek out other texts
   
   Bottom line: excellent, recommended for identification of hard-to-find pieces.

1 comments about Collecting American Country.

1. I bought this book in the early 1980's, and back then ,this was considered a very up-to-date book. I loved it back then!
   
   However, now that it's 2007, many of the photos in this book will seem out-dated ....to the reader.