Collecting Books

This second edition, 288 page, 8 1/2 x 11" softbound book has more than 2,000 beautiful, full color photos. There is a very complete index for easy reference. Year 2000 values. An informative introduction and history of the topic is included. Major topics range from functional ashtrays, advertising, novelty to ashtrays from the past and ashtrays without a country. There's plenty of information on pottery and porcelain, glass, metal, plastic, marble, soapstone and wood. Every kind of ashtray from alcoholic beverages to educational to world's fair. Add this book to your collectibles collection. You'll enjoy it and find it very useful.

A valuable price guide for anyone collecting ashtrays or for an antique dealer like myself wanting to learn more about what I offer for sale. Arranged by sections shown in the front of the book. Sections include Funtional Ashtrays, Advertising Ashtrays, Novelty Ashtrays, Ashtrays from the Past and Ashtrays without a Country. Plus an index by company names in the back. The book has 287 pages. Beautiful color pages throughout. Prices for 1999 shown on same page as pictures. No having to turn to a back page for each item to see a price. Some real surprises of what qualifies as being called an ashtray. What I had sold at one time and thought was a handled vase, this clever author noticed what I had overlooked; an indentation on each side for a cigarette! Besides pictures, basic identification and prices are all easy to figure out which one is describing which picture. There is a basic description for each sub-section. In section one under Glass Ashtrays there is a page of terms like a dictionary with a short definition. For example: Amberina: clear and translucent, shading from light amber to ruby red. Section one alone is divided into Pottery & Porcelain, Glass, Metal and one sub section that includes Plastics, Marble, Soapstone and Wood. Under the Pottery & Porcelain section are 9 sub-sections. If you have never owned a price guide before when you see this one you will want all future guides to be as well done and as easy to use as this one. If I were going to write a price guide I would hope I could write one as useful as this one! A real value for the price. Far better than I expected when I ordered it sight unseen.

Jerry and Elaine Heuring's E.C. Simmons Keen Kutter provides an excellent guide to identification and values of this brand's cutlery and tools, with color photos aiding in the process. This manufacturer produced a range of pocket knives, hand tools, catalogs and squares: all are surveyed and given current values here.

This volume (copyright, 2000) contains 192 pages and more than 750 full color, large, sharp photos. You'll find information about thousands of Keen Kutter items here. The book discusses Keen Kutter history, tradmarks and motto, reproductions, fakes and clubs. Price ranges are provided for each item. Major topics cover Advertising, Calendars, Catalogs, and Kitchen, Paper Goods, Saws, to Tool Boxes, Wrenches and Yard and Garden. A must have volume for collectors of this popular collectible.

Neva's daughter -- I saw a lovely set of Harker dishes at a shop, but I don't know the pattern. Would you help me identify it? Contact me at kdavis@cir2.com

OK, I'm biased. My mother wrote this one. Many of the pieces featured in the book are part of my collection. But it's still the ONLY book on Harker Pottery, America's Oldest Pottery. This book not only includes beautiful pictures of Harkerware, but also includes a price guide and some history of the pottery industry of the Ohio Valley. Harker is a contemporary of many currently collectible potteries such as Hall and Homer Laughlin. While not as valuable currently as Autumn Leaf or Fiestaware, Harker's Cameoware is becoming increasingly popular. Harker is also the only manufacturer of ceramic serving forks and spoons as well as beautiful ceramic rolling pins

It's about time someone did a comprehensive study of the Horsman company and the wonderful dolls they made. This is a book that will prove valuable to all serious researchers and collectors. Let's hope Jensen will write more books of this caliber.

Don Jensen certainly has "put meat on the bones" for the Horsman Company. A newspaper writer and editor by training, he comanded the considerable research skills necessary to ferret out extensive information on the Horsman company and their early chief designer, Helen Trowbridge. It also made it possible for him to present for the first time ever a picture and markings of the earliest composition doll made by Solomon Hoffman. Horsman's product line is delt with comprehensively, from the early imported dolls to cloth, bisque during WWI, composition and finally plastic. Not only is this an indispensible reference book for doll collectors, but also makes for fascinating reading.

This 1998, 232 page book features more than 500 full color, large photos of a great variety of collectible souvenir china. 1998 values are shown. There is a nice introduction to the topic and plenty of descriptive text throughout. It's well indexed for easy item location. Major topics include, Collecting Souvenir China in the U.S., Golden Era of Souvenir China, The Pioneers, Identifying Producers, Shapes, Forms and Styles, and related items. A nice bibliography is provided. Collectors will love looking at the great photos provided. A useful reference.

This handy paperback volume is a true gem on collecting late 19th/early 20th century souvenir china. The numerous color photos and informative text make this an excellent addition to any collector's bookshelf. Highlights include wholesaler marks and information on manufacturers.

This edition promises to be the corner stone for the souvenir china collector!

i think this book is brilliant because every time you pick it up you learn something new if anyone likes the look of this book i would urge them to get it NOW i think it is great

If you are interested in collecting trolls, this is the book for you. From Dam trolls to Animal trolls, to Hobnobbins and Clowns, this guide offers information on identifying trolls, a history of troll makers, and full-color pictures of over 1,000 trolls. Obviously written by someone who truly enjoys collecting them, this guide is a pleasure to read. Highly recommended!

I would like to buy this book as it would help my artwork and creative research a great deal. Please contact me if you have a copy for sale. Thanks. cnash@azstarnet.com

I bought this book some years ago and gave it to a friend of mine. I'm looking for another exemplar. Does someone have this book and want to sell it to me? Send information to hvieira@dialdata.com.br Many thanks

Now this is what I call a Price Guide. One that takes a realist look at what comicbooks are truly sellling for in today's marketplace.
I also recommend Malloy's American Games: Comprehensive Collector's Guide, and Robert J. Sodaro's Kiddie Meal Collectibles (on which Malloy is a contributor).

If you are looking for realistic, buying and/selling prices on your comicbook collection (or on comics you are wishing to purchase), then this is the price guide for you. Malloy has a solid handle on the pricing structure of the industry, and his prices are very much in line with what is going on in the marketplace. Rather than pricing comics as what he wishes they were priced, Malloy goes the extra mile to learn what they are being priced at across the country. Also, you might want to check out his board game prices in American Games: Comprehensive Collector's Guide, or his fast food toy prices in Kiddie Meal Collectibles.

Receiving my copy of this book is always a good day. The book has real (not articificially inflated) prices of actively-traded comics, as well as credible insights into the marketplace and readable interviews with industry pros. I highly recommend it.

The Perfessor

Comics Values Annual 2006 is Krause Publications, publishers of the long-running Comic Buyer's Guide. I've been a big fan of KP's comic price guides as a great alternative to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. My main problem with Overstreet is the endless pages of ads you get in each new edition that grows longer each year. I don't need 150 pages of dealer ads and with eBay, who really needs these dealers anyway? I just want prices and information which is what Comics Values Annual 2006 delivers in a no-frills package.

This edition gives a brief overview of the industry, a grading guide, and features an interview with Ghost Rider artist Mark Texeira, before getting right to the guide and prices. The CV Annual is very different from the Overstreet in its layout, Rather than simply list each title alphabetically, this guide lists titles alphabetically by MAJOR publisher beginning with DC and then continuing with Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Classics Illustrated, and then tossing in miscellaneous Golden Age titles, Misc. B & W, titles, and misc. color titles from modern publishers like Valiant, Gold Key, Gladstone, Malibu, etc...Now this may not be to every collector's liking as we've been conditioned to one type of delivery, but I personally like it. I mean it's still a Marvel and DC world to most collectors, especially in regards to Silver and Golden Age books so why have to thumb through all the junk no one's interested in when Marvel and DC have their own sections.

The editors have obviously ordered the book by importance with the DC and Marvel sections first, followed by the miscellaneous Golden Age titles, followed by the Dark Horse and Image sections before the final misc. section with Classics Illustrated bringing up the rear. The other major difference is that the Comic Values Annual lists each issue (almost) separately, rather than just a span of issues. This allows the book to list important information for each issue such as the initials of a noted artist or writer, the story title, special character appearances, etc...

If I had to say the one huge advantage that the Comics Values Annual 2006 has over the Overstreet guide its that it is more user-friendly. The Guide lists only a NM value for each book but the grading guide in the back of the book easily allows you to figure out prices for any grade of comic. In all there are over 94,000 comics listed. Krause keeps putting out great comic book price guides and they have become my book of choice and I've been a collector for over thirty years!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This guide is a must for beginning hobbyist to get an overview of why coins are exciting to collect. It belongs in every public library and is a must gift for the new, young, or more advanced collector.

I got his for my grandson. It is really a nice way to begin to learn about coins. My brother, which is a long time coin collector said he would like to have one. So this coin book is good for the beginners and the seasoned collectors.