5 comments about Luckey's Hummel Figurines and Plates: Identification and Price Guide (12th Edition).

1. A absolute must have resource - well organized, descriptive, and easy to use. It has served me exceptionally well each time I have had to use it!



2. I was hesitant to purchase Luckey's 12th Edition Price Guide because I have always relied on Robert L. Miller's No. 1 Price Guide in the past. However, curiosity got the better of me and I'm glad it did. It's a great reference, and a very good companion to Miller's guide. The main advantage Miller's 10th Edition No. 1 Price Guide has is all figurines are now shown in color... but the images are smaller than in previous editions. Since Luckey's guide (updated by Dean Genth) is presented in a larger format, it has larger images and text, which makes it easier to read. It also displays more images of the older trademark figurines to show the differences between the older figurines and their current production versions a bit better. This was important to me because I generally prefer to collect the older, more rare figurines.
   
   Figurine pricing is now essentially the same between the two guides, which isn't surprising considering Dean Genth owns Miller's Hallmark in Eaton, OH, the home of Robert Miller.
   
   For the average collector, or one that usually tends to purchase the newer released items, Robert Miller's guide is now more up to date. However, for the truly serious collector, Luckey's guide has more or different information on some of the more rare figurines such as those made in white overglaze and sold only in Belgium in the early days. Since I own several of these figurines, I found the information contained in Lucky's guide very useful.
   
   Highly recommended for both the novice or serious collector... but don't forget to purchase Miller's book too.



3. This book holds all the information any collector will need. I found it to be very useful.



4. This book is very helpful if you are buying or wanting to know the retail price of a hummel or if there are any markings you should be looking for. Luckey's does give some extra information on some hummels that Miller doesn't have in his book. One thing that would be helpful is to have color pictures of the figurines since many times a figurine's color determines it's age.



5. These prices are not only inflated, they are downright lies. It's as if they didn't take the internet into account at all! The only redeeming quality of this guide is that it helps you identify the names and the pics are nice, but as i found out, nearly all the information you need is already located on the bottom of your hummel. If you want truth, do some completed auction research on ebay or contact a site like vintagerarestuff. google it :-) You may not like what you'll hear, but at least you will know what you will get for your item and what you can count on! My advice? Save your money and contact someone who will tell you the truth.

1 comments about Canadian Coins 2009 A Charlton Standard Catalogue (Charlton's Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins).

1. This is like the Red Book of Canadian coins. This book gets better every year I buy it.

2 comments about Warman's Antiques & Collectibles 2008 Price Guide (Warman's Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide).

1. This latest edition contains 634 pages of very useful reference information with over 600 black and white photos. There are now over 50,000 items in over 500 categories presented with detailed descriptions and prices. Entries include a brief history of the category and also useful lists of references for further study. The comprehensive index helps make finding items easy. Contains a huge amount of information that will be useful to you as you antique.



2. I found this book to be better than most of the others that cover a wide range of antiques and collectibles. But if you have a favorite category such as glass, you are better off buying a book that is specific to it. The more you can narrow down what you are interested in collecting, such as carnival glass, or depression glass, the better the info the book will provide. From those categories you can even narrow it more definitively, such as Lancaster glass in the depression glass category.

5 comments about Batman: The Complete History.

1. This is a real tough book to describe. It's packed with great comics art, paintings, photos, animation art, rare interviews and information. There's a ton of Bat-material from every media, and a comprehensive chronology of the Caped Crusader's comic chronicles. BUT--the layout is strictly a frenzy of "look what I can do with Quark!" Copy jumps several pages at a time to accomodate ridiculously enlarged Bat-heads and sidebars, completely derailing the reading experience. I know some may consider this chaos trendy and artistically modern, but its just the same old "pop art" condescension towards "kiddie books." Obviously readers cannot cope with page after page of words and relevant illustrations, so the "Award Winning Designer" has pumped up the volume with lots of big cropped images and 7-inch wide columns of copy in reverse-type sidebars (the nuns should whack his knuckles with a ruler for that alone--"BAD, BAD, designer.") Content is definitely A+. Presentation is strictly art school C-. This book is worth it for the rare and exciting artwork, but it really could have been so much better. When will the comic companies stop being so ashamed of their product? Books like this just contribute to the presumption that comics are hyperactive adolescent trash and the readers are unsophisticated cattle with the attention-span of gophers who will buy any incomprehensible crap that insults them. Wait a minute...
   
   DC also released a calendar book using the same design aesthetic. Guess what? Same cluttered, crappy, childish look. My advice? Don't buy either product and let them choke on a couple thousand copies. Problem is, they won't blame the design, and will just assume that the Batcraze is over. You really can't win, because the "designer" probably has an MA, and we're all just stupid comic fans. Guess who can't be wrong?



2. This book chronicles in great detail the history of the Dark Knight, from his comic book debut in 1939 to the various media incarnations of today. While this book does not include Batman Begins or the Justice League animated series, everything that came before is laid out in vivid detail, with some excellent photographs by collector Chip Kidd, who previously collaborated with author Daniels on Batman: Collected, a book about the various Batman products that have been marketed and sold over the years. This is an excellent item to own for fans of Batman of any age (reading skills desirable). Final grade - A



3. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Les Daniel's history of the Batman concept as expressed in comic books and strips, television shows (animated and live action) and movies. As a young child I took great delight in the Adam West TV show--blissfully unaware of how really campy it was--the comic books, of course, and all of the Batman paraphernalia that was available in the 1960s. I picked up this book for nostalgia's sake, and did not expect it to be a very sophisticated treatment of the subject. It just looked visually like a lot of fun.
   
   So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Daniels takes his subject very seriously indeed. He plumbs the cultural antecedents of the Batman concept, and describes its realization in the comic book. He meticulously details the process in which the comic book stories and art for Batman were accomplished over the decades, paying particularly close attention to the key artists and writers involved in the process. He carefully explains the changes--subtle or not--made to the Batman concept over time, and reveals the business and artistic philosophies behind these changes.
   
   It's fascinating to see how this cultural icon evolved over time, like a pendulum moving back and forth from the dark and creepy to the silly and campy. Daniels reveals Batman's role in the 1950s debate over the morality of comic books, and he explains how Batman's creative team sought to deflect criticism that Batman and Robin's relationship was suspect by introducing a "family" for Batman, including a Batgirl and a Batwoman.
   
   Daniels deftly addresses both the art and writing of Batman and the hugely popular cultural phenomenon Batman has been over the decades. It might have been tempting, from a commercial standpoint, to have given a lot more attention to the live action television show and the recent movies, but Daniels treats all manifestations of the Dark Knight rather evenly.
   
   I can understand the concern, expressed by others here, that the busy layout of the book distracts the reader. Admittedly, as I mentioned above, it was that eye candy that attracted me to the book in the first place. And, for me, I did not find all the illustrations and sidebars unpleasant distractions in a book devoted to such a primarily visual topic.
   
   I highly recommend this delightful, and well researched and written book, to all readers who have an undying fondness for the Batman cultural icon.



4. 
   This book is very thick, nicely done, and chock full of -Holy History Museum, Batman!- lots of amazing photos and comics. It tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Batman. If Bat-History were to be a subject in school, this would be the book in all the desks.
   
   The reason that I only gave it four stars is because there is one very sick-minded and disgusting comic towards the back of the book, that's all about man/woman stuff that no kid should be reading. I tore it out as soon as I saw it, because it's a flaw in this otherwise amazing and beautifully constructed book on the Dark Knight. Also, go through this book with a black marker before giving it as a gift- there are some pictures in it of women who need to learn how to dress themselves better!
   
   All in all, a PRICELESS volume.



5. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. As a Batman fan, I found it very interesting reading about the history of my favourite superhero - from the way he was created, through various evolutions over the years, and how he (and his comics in general) have developed into the modern style that I am most familiar with.
   
   There are plenty of pictures which are great, and help to illustrate the changes that batman has gone through.
   
   A few slight criticisms though: First, the amount of book dedicated to each era of batman seems disproportionate. As expected, there is a great deal dedicated to his origins and early days, and quite a bit on the campy batman of the 1960s TV show, however there seems to be far less focussing on the way he evolved into the modern batman, and his modern appearances. Specifically, the movies of Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher receive little more than a passing mention, when they could have been fleshed out much more to explain the Dark Knight's successes onscreen.
   
   Also, be aware that this book was written in 1999, and as such is almost a decade out of date in terms of Batman's recent appearances - the most obvious that I would have liked to hear about was the new imagining of batman for Batman Begins etc. However, this is not a fault of the book, but merely of time - but it is best to keep in mind that it is no longer a 'complete' history of Batman.
   
   All in all though, an excellent book for the Batman fan, or anyone with an interest in superheroes or the comic book industry.

4 comments about How to Restore Classic John Deere Tractors: The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Guide to Rebuilding and Restoring Deere Two-Cylinder Tractors.

1. This book give a very good overview of what to expect if you've never done this kind of work before. It is not a step-by-step road map on how to do the work, but it'll give you an idea of what is in store for you. It's a nice read to get you psyched-up to start a project.



2. Not Mugh Here, information is scant, lacks detail, content and so on... I've found sales flyers more informative...



3. Nice pictures, and enjoyable to read. But as an actual reference for restoration it is pretty lacking. It varies from being either too general, or in some instances specific to a particular model that you don't own. It either assumes you are a competent backyard mechanic, or that you are new to turning wrenches. The author has apparently never restored a tractor himself, but he has interviewed at least two hobby restorers, and apparently has watched them do a few.
   
   I would rate the book higher (at least 3 stars) if it wasn't titled as an "ultimate restoration" reference. It isn't.



4. Very interesting for restorers. Some new info and helpful at all stages. A good book to read before starting a restoration.

5 comments about Matting and Framing Made Easy.

1. This being the only book on the subject that was on the bookshelf in the brick&morter store, I was very disappointed in the author's handling of certain key aspects of the subject, that I felt, as a novice were very important.Specificly alternative sources of suitable supplies and materials.



2. This is simply the best book currently out there for the do-it-yourself framer. In particular, after looking at dozens of books in libraries and bookstores, it's the only book I found that really gives satisfactory attention to archival considerations, pros and cons of different methods of mounting artwork, and protection of the framed materials from moisture in the environment (a real area of concern if you're living in an extremely high-humidity region, as I am!). After an hour or so of browsing through the book, I already felt I had gotten my money's worth in answered questions and useful information. Everything the beginner needs to know, plus a little more in-depth information for those of us who have already learned the basics. Recommended!



3. As a beginning framer, I found this book to be a wealth of valuable information on equipment and techniques. It covers every aspect of framing and answered most, if not all, of my questions. This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning the art of framing.



4. As a total beginner, I thought this book was very strong on presenting information about materials and archival vs. non-archival and such. However, I found the author's instructions on specific techniques to be lacking...I often had to read them many times just to understand a fairly simple procedure.



5. Extensive instruction on matting pictures for personal to archival matting. Practically anything you would need to know about matting. Not a lot about framing pictures but a very basic start at simple framing near the end of the book.

5 comments about Selling Used Books Online: The Complete Guide to Bookselling at Amazon's Marketplace and Other Online Sites.

1. I have been selling my old books on line at ebay and half com for awile now and thought an online book store sounded like a good idea. I thought that I would seek some expert advice and in doing so purchased Selling Used Books Online by Stephen Windwalker. This book has proven to be an excellant choice. While some of the information is a bit dated, overall it is a very good book. It doesn't sugar coat the book selling business and make it seem like a wonderfull and easy way to make a living. Mr. Windwalker gives you the good with the bad and shows how selling used books requires a lot of work and and a lot of knoweledge. This book has helped me tremendously in my attempts at making money selling used books. Not only has it helped with my book selling but it has made me more aware of what to look for in my book buying. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who thinks they can just go online and get rich selling used mass market paperbacks.



2. We published this book, so we won't review it ourselves, but we can refer you to the hard-copy edition of the book with over 40 5-star reviews:
   
   Selling Used Books Online: The Complete Guide to Bookselling at Amazon's Marketplace and Other Online Sites
   
   You may also be interested in the following articles by the book's author, Stephen Windwalker, who has turned his attention to the publishing, email, and wireless features of the Amazon Kindle after providing the inside scoop on the online bookselling business:
   
   20 Effective Steps to Publishing a Kindle Edition of Your Book or Document: How to Connect Your Amazon Kindle Book with Readers (Publish and Market Your Book on Amazon Kindle)
   
   How to Use the Amazon Kindle for Email & Other Cool Tricks: Read and Answer Email Anywhere, Anytime on the Amazing Amazon Kindle (The Amazing Amazon Kindle)
   
   The Amazon Kindle Basic Web Wireless Service: Why It Is a Revolutionary Feature, and Why Amazon Should Keep It Free or Cheap



3. This is an EXELLENT book for the newbie or advanced bookseller. There is a little something for everyone in it. It was written in laymen language for the new comer to the business sauve. I found it informative, helpful, great for anyone in the book business. A MUST read book. Worth the purchase. I give it a 5!!!!



4. There are so many books out there nowadays that talk about online book selling. The reason I picked this one to read is because I liked it's author's name - Windwalker. It was delight to find out that the author is in fact Native American. But besides that personal preference of mine, I found book to be very helpful. As most people, I started selling books online as a means of relinquishing non-essential inventory from my personal library. It is thru the interactions of my online customers that I learned to enjoy an activity previously considered a chore. Although I am not a professional bookseller, I am delighted to be a part of the bookselling community for the books I no longer wish to keep in my personal library that can still find a good home. This book manual has helped me understand some basic business rules on bookselling which I kind of pick up on intuitively. This is a comprehensive handbook that covers everything, from building a business plan, to making a proper book descriptions online. Without large inventory, I cannot see how people can make living off this. But as a hobby, this is a great way to deliver books to a reading community where readership has limited resources or time to find them in the regular brick and mortar book stores. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about online bookselling.



5. Excellent detailed information on how to do an honest business online. Includes many links for other helpful information for packaging, mailing etc. Highly recommend this for anyone looking to sell books, or who are already in the businss.

5 comments about Gun Digest Book of the .44.

1. If you like .44 hanguns then get this book. I gave it a 5-star rating even though I was a bit disappointed with it. Taffin has now written 4 excellent books on revolvers. So why am I a little disappointed? Much of what is in the new book as been published line-for-line in his other books. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of Taffin and will continue to read everything he writes...even when it starts to sound familar.



2. Excellent source for history and loading data for caliber 44. A little more loading data for those who want to shoot smokeless powder in reproductions would be helpful. I believe that there are no 'replicas' as such, since modern metallurgy is now used in producing the older designs...'replica' denotes produced exactly the same as the 'original'. Text could stand a good editing for sentence structure in order to increase readability. Overall, though, an excellent read.



3. This was a very easy read. The author injects facts and humor at a fast pace keeping the information easy to digest. A complete history of the .44 from the very beginning. I thought I knew allot about this caliber but I soon found there was far more to know. Highly recommend this book to both the novice that is just curious to the serious gun enthusiast.



4. Fun to read about the history of the .44 from the Walker on up to present day. Still enjoying this book. Glad I bought it!



5. Overall this is a good, well written book with many interesting personal stories. My problem with it is the lack of accuracy concerning the history of the .44 cartridge and designation. For example, it is mentioned that there never was a firearm with a bore of .44 inches. That is patently false. The .44 cap and ball revolvers of the Civil War period fired a ball with a diameter of .451 to .457 out of a bore (land to land) of .44 inches. Further, he states that the .44 American, which was a .44 Henry converted to centerfire, had a diameter of .434 inches. According to Charles W. Pate's book, SMITH AND WESSON AMERICAN MODEL, this cartridge was loaded with bullets ranging from .428 to .446 inches, with the differencs attributed to the less than precise manufacturing tolerances of the day. As far as designation is concerned, modern firearms are designated as .44s because the original .44, the Henry rifle, fired a true .44 inch bullet, which over time evolved to its present .429 and .430 dimensions and not because forty-four has a nice ring to it. As I mentioned, Taffin's book is a good read and entertaining, it's just that he is better when relating his experiences with various guns and loads than he is with actual history.

4 comments about Backroads of New England: Your Guide To New England's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures (Pictorial Discovery Guide).

1. When fall comes in New England, the trees turn into a splendid mass of reds, oranges and yellows that temporarily distract us from the coming winter. At the same time, the first fresh snowfalls have a special beauty that New Englanders love as well. But the first blush of spring causes a special joy to burst out from our hearts. In the lazy days of summer, we love to watch the wind blow the grasses and trees from languid poses.
   
   At any one of those times, I find myself thinking how much fun it would be to see some new sights in the context of those favorite New England conditions. In the forty years I've lived in New England, I've found many of my favorite locations purely by accident. The back roads are always the best. But I don't have the time to randomly drive all the back roads to find the best ones.
   
   That's where Backroads of New England comes in. Kim Knox Beckius has found 30 delightful drives over back road that mix scenery, history, culture and just plain fun. I have taken about half of the drives in the book, so I can swear by those. I am looking forward to doing the rest now that I know where to go.
   
   How can I tell I would like the others? First, Ms. Beckius provides helpful essays about where to begin, what to see, and what to stop and do along the way. She even includes some suggestions for hiking to beautiful waterfalls. Second, William H. Johnson's gorgeous photographs colorfully illuminate the main sights for each drive. Whether you love covered bridges, snow-capped peaks, delightful streams, pounding surf, or mysterious vistas, you can page through the book to find the places that speak mostly fervently to your soul.
   
   The book is also organized by state. So if you are planning to go just to Maine and arrive by air in Portland, you can simply focus on the Maine trips and those in New Hampshire and northeast Massachusetts that are not too far away. If you live in New York, and want to drive for no more than two hours, you can focus on that radius in western Connecticut and Massachusetts.
   
   I have been looking at travel guides for New England for many years. I've never seen a finer one for back roads adventures.
   
   Give it a try!



2. Kim Knox Beckius, a well-known New England travel writer, has teamed up with New Hampshire photographer, William Johnson, to create a pictorial guide to 30 scenic drives throughout the region.
   
   You get five scenic drives each from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Rhode Island offers up another four, and Maine weighs in with a larger six. The drives cover the best of New England, from mountains to the ocean, and from the lakes to the beaches. And a whole bunch more.
   
   Kim doesn't spend a lot of time on directions. They tend to be brief and on the side of the pages - enough to get you around but not much more. Kim focuses her travel writing skills on making sure you experience in words the sights, sounds, and smells of each region. The beautifully produced photography greatly enhances this experience.
   
   While I love this book if you're looking for one crammed with detailed directions and a step-by-step tour of attractions this isn't it.
   
   This is a book to keep near you throughout the long winter... to browse whenever you want to remember a drive already taken... or one waiting for you in the spring.



3. My wife and I just came back from vacation in New England. Aside from the Delorme maps, this book was the most important item we took with us. We went on several of the scenic drives described in the book, and they were all absolutely beautiful! The directions were perfect, even if they don't tell you the distances involved. The photographs in the book are worth the price alone, but it's even better when you come across the places pictured in the book and find out they're just as gorgeous as the author said they would be. If you're going to New England, you need this book.



4. This was obviously a carefully researched, well-written book, with great photos. But I was disappointed that there was so little focus on maps. Rather than showing a detailed maps of a recommended route, the author chose to write a verbal description of a recommended route. That's sufficient if you wish to follow the author's route exactly. But if you would rather create your own route with some guidance from the book, it's virtually impossible.

5 comments about Fabric Glossary (4th Edition).

1. I received this book in a timely manner and it's in great condition. thanks.



2. It has places to attach sample of fabric so you can feel, touch, and learn about them. It is organized alphabetically which is nice if you know what fabric you are looking for. It should have an extra source to look up by the weave of fabric.



3. Okay. Remember those old sticker books? This is sort of like that, one swatch of fabric at a time, except you're not licking them...Sound tedious? Sort of, but the process of putting the swatches on the correct pages/descriptions is great tactile exercise. This is a good reference, and the suggested uses will help to keep you from making a really bad choice for a given project. A drawback to this book is that it gets a huge bulge in the middle, making it difficult to shelve or stack with other books and materials.



4. this is an excellent reference book for those working with textiles. It is made better by the (separate) purchase of the swatches that can be inserted throughout the book.



5. I bought this book for a Textile class I was taking. It's a good book, and has lots of information in it. Although it is only useful if you have the sample swatches to glue on each page so that you can see and feel the fabrics. I will keep this book as a great "reference book" for future use.