4 comments about Composition & Wood Dolls and Toys: A Collector's Reference Guide.

1. Most books like this only show pictures with prices. Michele's book gives me more information, background and a true understanding about the dolls, there origins, and the true history. Besides, it's a fun book to read with great photos. I'm glad I found it.



2. An extremely resourceful book. Deep histories and information on composition & wood dolls, plus an extensive photo gallery of many rare dolls. A must have for any collector in their right mind!



3. Of all my years of collecting dolls, I've never seen such a complete and informative book. Most impressive are the clear color pictures and the interesting discussion of the Cameo doll company. I.m very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to novice as well as experienced doll collectors.



4. 
   I own both volumes of this book and both are great! You cannot go wrong with buying both volumes ,or just one. Together though, both volumes are so valuable!
   
   But if you must own just one of the volumes (in this series) then buy this volume first, & then see if you need the next volume. It could be that this volume fills your need, since this volume is packed with soooo much information! Also, the color photos are just great!

No comments about Corgi Toys (Shire Library).

1 comments about The Mini Rubber Duckie Kit (Mega Mini Kits).

1. Not what I ordered! I did not receive what was pictured! When asked for a refund they didn't respond.

5 comments about Talking Toys of the 20th Century: Collector's Identification & Value Guide.

1. "Talking Toys of The 20th Century" is the only book of its kind in the world...It is an outstanding, comprehensive photo and value guide, not simply a resource for the "serious" collector, but instead it's an easy to read, fun to look at pictorial of some of the most important and obscure talking toys ever made. Once you see the wonderful photos and read the product descriptions of these magical icons from the past, you'll want to get a second or third job to satisfy your ever growing hunger to collect these treasures. Also check out the Lewis' first book on Chatty Cathy and Family Dolls...A must have for Chatty collectors!



2. I have spent hours reading Talking Toys of the 20th Century. It is an outstanding book and Kathy and Don Lewis did a remarkable job in their research to make this book possible. Thank you Kathy and Don.



3. Another wonderful, informative book from Kathy and Don Lewis, the authors of "Chatty Cathy Dolls." It's wonderful to see a real guide, using photos from collectors which depict items in played with to mint condition, which is realistic for older dolls and toys. How often are we lucky enough to find mint condition collectible playthings? Highly recommend!



4. When one looks for a collectors guide they are looking for an informed source. A truly good "guide" will show an item in it's mint, original state. This way one can tell if the item they own is in Mint, Good, or Poor condition. It is unfortunate that Ms. Eisenstein and others make excuses for the untidy and ragged condition of some of the dolls and toys in this book, and for the sorry state of the photography. It tells me that the authors did not feel that it was their job to find really great examples of things that are not that hard to find... It takes hard work and imagination for this, and I'm afraid these things are lacking.



5. Kathy and Don Lewis' Talking Toys Of The 20th Century provide an outstanding collector's identification and value guide, using small color photos to provide clear pictures of not only the toys, but the boxes which house them. An organization by toy publisher makes them quick to locate.

1 comments about Plastic Novelties And Toys of the '40s, '50s, And '60s (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Jean Rossi's book is a very fun book to read. All of the Schiffer Publishing books are wonderful. It's loaded with large color photographs of very good examples of each collectible. I have many reference books. This is one of my favorites. Rossi puts the item's maker, year, size (in inches), and price range directly next to the photo. There's no flipping pages and searching for the price! Every single example has a large photo with it. Her chapters include information on polystyrene, caring for hard plastic novelties, Rosbro, Irwin Cohn, the Knickerbocker Plastic Co., Union Products, and manuf. of electrical novelties. This book is definitely one I'd recommend to collectors of holiday related plastic novelties (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and some Valentine).

No comments about Toys That Shoot: With Values (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1 comments about Corgi Toys (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book covers most of the Corgi toys that were available in my childhood.This book brings back memories.So many colour photos shows so many Corgi toys.
   
   If you are a collector or just love looking back through your childhood memories then this book is inexpensive and will impress you.

3 comments about Babes, Beasts, and Brawn: Sculpture of the Fantastic.

1. Yes, the book is generously illustrated and the how-to section is informative but Mr. Kiwus is an average talent and this book seems to be more about self promotion than the art of toy sculpting. For a look at some truly wonderful sculpture one only need pick up a copy of Toy Fare, Wizard, Previews, Toy Review or any number of related publications. Certainly, Randy Bowen, the father of the mini-bust and comic related sculpture is more deserving of a book reviewing his remarkable career.



2. The reviewer below is actually right, but I did like the book.
   I like Mr. Kiwus works, and I don't think he is just average. He's capable of doing excellent likenesses and very smooth forms.
   However the How-To section is the main reason I bought this book and for that it's a keeper. I mean, it's the only book I know focusing on action figure sculpting.
   Great stuff!



3. I should have read the reviews here before purchasing this, but I really hoped to be inspired by this book. It didn't happen, as most of the sculpting pictured here is from early to mid-90s toys, well before action figure sculpting hit its stride. Everything is static and fairly mediocre - which is not a comment on the artist, but that's just how action figures were done at that time.
   
   Not really a worthwhile part of a collection.

5 comments about Treasures from the Misty Mountains.

1. I was disappointed in the level of detail that is presented in this book. The majority of the book covers various editions of the books that JRRT has published, for the most part they do not have pictures for all of the versions. For those that they do, they have a simple "front view" of the cover, with minimal details on the edition itself.

   In addition, I found the sections on the remainder of the merchandise very lacking, considering I had a number of items not even mentioned, and I am a very entry-level collector. For example, I have numerous pewter figures based on Tolkien's works made by the Tudor Mint, and I was hoping to see a large description and possibly even some pictures about the ones that I do not have, for there are many. However, the only section that even mentioned the Tudor figures was a small paragraph, with no pictures, and only 4 figures were mentioned! I have 10 myself.

   Additionally, they included a very large and detailed section on the figures and toys based on the New Line Cinema films of this year, which to me are not considered rare of collectible yet, since they are still available at most toy stores. It seems that these were the easiest things to find information on, since they are new, and therefore they put a good portion of that in there. The book should have focused more on things that are no longer in production, hard to find, and had more pictures of these types of items.

   There's more I could mention, but this sums up my opinion of it. This book is a good starting point for knowledge of this sort, but it falls far short of the mark.




2. As the first attempt that anyone has made at a Tolkien guide this is a great effort. Not all of us have the money to buy all the stuff that's out there but at least this book gives us a heads-up on a lot of it. Frankly to make a book comprehensive would be all but impossible and I don't think that was the author's intention. He has done a laudable job just compiling this much and presenting it so well. If you have that collecting itch, buy it.



3. I found this book to be an exstensive resource for Tolkien's writings, the many publishers and cover artists, the first editions and the latest available, and the writings you may never heard of. Seeing the covers of some of the early paperbacks was like finding long lost friends, the editions I grew up reading. I also found the sections on the merchandise spawned by the previous animation features and the new movie trilogy to be very detailed. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the visual history of Tolkien's works and the art inspired by them.



4. I had originally purchased this book to assist me with my new hobby of collecting Tolkien books. It seemed to me that the book was hastily researched and quickly assembled to capitalize on the momentum that the movie trilogy had provided. There seemed to be too little detail for the various books out there and way too many errors in their description. It is now in the possession of my 9-yr old son who enjoys thumbing through the pages and looking at the pictures (probably the best part of this book). If you want a book that will truly help you with collecting Tolkien books, I would suggest Wayne Hammond's "JRR Tolkien, A Descriptive Bibliography" published by Oak Knoll Press, 1993.



5. For the money (I paid $3.84 plus S&H), a great deal. However, The Lord of the Rings box set (?1988) and an animated hardback book that I own were not pictured in this guide. I also expected more information about the different printings. I did not see anything about collector First Day Covers, stamps or coins but I haven't read the whole book. Maybe they are in there but not pictured. Again, for the money, I think it is an enjoyable guide for the amature collector or Tolkien fan like myself but a serious collector may find this guide to be lacking.

No comments about Collecting Toys: Identification and Value Guide (O'Brien's Collecting Toys).