Arts and Crafts Books

This is one of my favorite books by John and I would highly recommend it to any intermediate to advanced folder. Like most of his books, it gives you some fairly simple models to start out on (grass, tree) and then move to some more intermediate ones (various African birds, snake, crocodile, etc.) Getting into the more difficult animals you have things like a hippo, gorilla, chimp, aardvark, etc. Next you will tackle models like the elephant, rhino, gazelle, plain giraffe and lion. Finally when you are ready to tackle the hardest models, you have his "multi-colored" animals which make full use of both side of traditional origami paper, the striped zebra and the spotted giraffe. You can see John's developing skill as one of the premier origami authors in this book. The diagrams are all wonderfully done and easy to follow for any experienced folder, and the models themselves are all quite detailed, even some of the easier ones are beautifully representative of the real animal. John clearly puts effort into making a number of these models capable of standing up and often having 3 dimensional aspects such as the lion and hippo in this book which have large bulky heads similar to the live counterpart. If you love animals and love origami, this is definitely not a book to miss!

This was my first "intermediate" origami book. I really enjoyed the fact that the models are spread out over several different levels of difficulty. You can start out with the simpler animals and gradually advance to the more complex, ending with the hardest model in the book, a striped Zebra. It took me 4-5 hours to complete the zebra, but I am so proud of it! For anyone who has experience folding, this is a great book!

For all you John Montroll fans out there, buy this book. For everyone else, buy this book also! It is one of the best books for animals, with a wide variety of difficulty levels. From simple 'grass' to complex striped zebras, this book has it all. I enjoyed making some of the more unique models, like the bee-eater and rhinoceros. Another nice thing about this book in particular is that the models are much different than what are in many other books. Because the theme is Africa, a lot of the animals in this book I have never seen made in another book. (Some however, have been made elsewhere, and quite honestly, better, such as the elephant and gorilla).
The Bottom Line:
If you like Montroll, animals, or semi-complex models, buy this book. If you are a beginner, there may be better choices, likewise, if you are an expert, there isn't a lot to whet your appetite. For everyone else, a great book for your collection.

This is my most favoured book in Origami. I have done all the models from the zebra, giraffe, elephant. All models are par excelance. Montroll is my best folder. I think folders who like folding animals should try Racoon from Inside our Origami book by Montroll.

This is a great book for experienced folders. This one along with North American Animals makes a great pair. One thing I find missing in most reviews is the contents is so here it is. There are 24 models in African Animals in Origami and they are Grass, Tree, Sacred Ibis, Crowned Crane, Flamingo, Crocodile, Hippopotamus, Snake, Chameleon, Bee-Eater, Hoopoe, Hornbill, Gorilla, Chimpanzee, African Elephant, Ostrich, Vulture, Aardvark, Rhinoceros, Gazelle, Lion, Zebra, Giraffe, and Spotted Giraffe. Happy Folding.

This is the perfect book if your local fabric store doesn't carry any (or enough) silk to learn on your own. Words just can't replace running the fabric through your fingers to see if it will work for your project, and this book lets you do that and more. The information collected here is worth twice the asking price. Now you can order what you need off the internet sites and have a better idea what to expect.

I got this book through the Crafter's Choice bookclub, but I had to come here to recommend it. It is ideal literally for anyone. Someone who wants to know more about the fabrics they wear, or as a book for someone like myself who knows a good deal about fabrics to refer to, which I often do. I'm a student at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, so I've taken textile classes before and know my fair share. I even have a swatchbook with many fabrics but this books is just exceptional. I will definitely buy the wool and cotton versions of this book eventually. Silk is my favorite fabric to sew in so it was a priority. The book has a really great layout also, making it not too much reading and easy to find the information you are looking for. You can find in the book what to expect from each fabric when you're sewing it, how to take care of it, all its variations, suggestions on fitting, really anything important that you'd need to know about a fabric.... and then more, making you knowledgable on the subject.

This book was love-at-first-sight. It doesn't blab unnecessarily about the fabric, just lets you touch and see it for yourself. While being very visual and tactile, it also devotes a page with all the relevant information about each particular kind of silk (and who would have thought there would be so many?!): how to care for it, how difficult it is to sew, the ideal projects for each fabric, its characteristics, its approximate price per yard, hints/tips for working with the fabric, etc. I wish there was a reference book like this for everything! It has really inspired me and given me the confidence and knowledge that I need to both shop for silk and start some projects.

When identifying fabric, texture is more important than appearance. Even though I don't sew, I do purchase vintage items for my prop company and I have to label the outfit in the description. If you want to learn about fabric, this is the way to go.

I cannot say enough good things about this book (or for that matter the entire series!).
The author has an entertaining, easy to read writing style. She presents a great deal of information, and rather than feeling overwhelmed, the reader is able to learn a great deal.
The very best thing about this book is the fabric samples. If you have ever wondered about what a specific type of silk feels like, then you will have your answer. You just cannot get this information from a written description. This book is indespensible for fashionistas, designers, sewers and anyone else interested in clothing or fabric.

Well, okay, maybe you would place in on the coffee table if your book shelves aren't high enough, but this is a practical book. "American Art Tile" covers the period from 1876-1941. Why does it stop in 1941? Because sadly, many tile making firms shut down for WWII and never reopened.

The book shows photographs of hundreds of tiles made by more than 100 American firms (probably every one Mr. Karlson could identify). Included are the Dedham Pottery in Dedham Massachusetts with it's famous blue and white scenes of rabbits running around the edge of the tile; the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with it's fantastic Eastern European images; The Weller Pottery in Zanesville Ohio with it's "Sicardo" works; Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati, Ohio which produced the matte glazed architectural tile used in the New York Subway system such as Fulton's Steamboat at the Fulton Street Station; and the wonderful Pewabic Pottery in Detroit Michigan from the Chippawa word for copper colored clay.

These tiles are not all individually labled, so if you're trying to identify a particular item, the book will provide only limited information. On the other hand, it will probably help you determine the origin of the manufacturing company, if not the name of the specific design. According to Karlson, many of the companies are out of business, so this may be as good as it gets since catalogues are impossible to obtain.

Mr. Karlson includes many photographs of individual tiles, but few are show 'in situ' so the pages can become overwhelming in their detail. However, the book is probably destined to be something antique tile dealers keep in their reference desk. If you're a serious tile collector or fancier, you will probably find the book worth the cost.

This is a must for anyone interested in the history of tiles and tile makers.

The book gives a history of every tile making outfit in America from 1876-1941, and shows as many color samples of the tiles they produced as the author seems to have gotten his hands on, many from his own collection. It was sobering to notice, when reading about all the tile companies, how many went under during the depression or just afterwards. This country lost a wonderful heritage, as many never came back after the depression lifted. Too bad, really. There are currently some companies making copies or remakes of some designs (what with the renewed interest in all things Arts and Crafts). Maybe this book and the Neo Arts and Crafts movement will spark some new American tile making shops? I hope so.

The book is beautifully laid out and would be a nice coffee table addition for those who are not tile collectors, but who just enjoy looking at tiles.

Superb photos and beautifully written and researched text make this a must for any serious collector of American Art Tiles! Karlson pushes the information envelope with regard to many American tile artisans. For example, he includes a photograph of perhaps the only known example of a glazed Matt Morgan art tile. If you are a serious Art Tile collector this book should be in your library!

This bountiful volume conatains gorgeous photos and detailed information on tile manufacturers from the turn of the century to WWII. Some famous ones, and a lot of obscure ones that I was thrilled to learn about. Besides being pleasing to the eye, it really did broaden my understanding of the different tile manufacturers and the influences that shaped the work and heritage. I rarely spend this much on a book, but I found it to be well worth the money.

For the pragmatic who truly needs to see "slide-show" type arrangements of tiles and short descriptions of tile makers and their beginnings...this is for you! Practical and absolutely beautiful.

I am very pleased with this book. It has a great selection of stuffed toys making it hard to choose the first pattern to start with. The size of the toys are just right. I also love the creative writing that accompanies the directions. All in all a great book!

I love Aranzi Aronzo books for their super easy instructions and light-hearted tones. So far, this one's my favorite. I actually laughed out loud while flipping through the pages. I have a boy and a girl and there are tons of things in this book that both of them love. The patterns are so easy and there's no need to measure anything. A few of them suggest enlarging them slightly, but they look great as is! I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to make cute and easy kids' toys.

I love the variety of designs in this book; there are ideas for both boys and girls such as stuffed cars, cute bunnies, bears, and snakes. The directions are very easy to follow, although all of the measurements are given in metric (finding a metric ruler was the hardest part of the whole process!). The narrative that goes with the instructions give the projects personality.

This is the first Aranzi Aronzo book that I picked up. I chose this over the other books because I liked the wider variety of dolls (snakes, cars, turtles, bears) that they featured. So far though I've only managed to make the bears, dogs and bunnies so it looks like I'll probably be picking up the original "cute dolls" as it seems to have more of the... er... cute dolls. Instructions are incredibly easy to follow. Another reviewer mentioned that the measurements are metric but I honestly haven't even noticed as I haven't had a need to measure anything because of the great pictures/explanations. I like the consistent reminders throughout the book to try new fabrics, to have fun and, of course, to make things cute.

"Fun Dolls" can be thought of as "Cute Dolls" volume 2. "Cute Dolls" provided patterns for making 18 full-sized (8-12 inch) Aranzi Aronzo character dolls (if you aren't familiar with the Aranzi Aronzo characters, check out the Aronzo website, www.aranziaronzo.com - they're sort of like the Sanrio/Hello Kitty characters, only with more personality) and "Fun Dolls" provides more of the same (18 more patterns). However, because most of the more popular and well-known Aronzo characters were dealt with in "Cute Dolls", this time around, the patterns are for some of the lesser characters (and, in some cases, ones that I had never even seen before). That's not to say that they're not cute, they are, but if you're looking for a pattern for making Brown Bunny or Bad Guy, you should buy "Cute Dolls" instead.

As was the case with the other Aronzo craft books, the patterns are easy to follow, the instructions are fully illustrated and there are colour photographs with hilarious captions throughout.

This is the third book in the Aranzi Aronzo "Let's Make Cute Stuff" series. People who enjoy this book should also consider purchasing the other books in this series: "The Cute Book", "Cute Dolls" and "Cute Stuff".

This is a must-have for anyone who loves bookbindinding and/or is a fan of Shereen LaPlantz' terrific work. There are some excellent structures and lots of great information. It's too bad that such a terrific book had to be marred by poor editing, but it is still very much worth owning. It is extremely relevant to this review to note that corrections to the book are available at http://www.laplantz.com. The book and website taken together deserve FIVE stars.

I bought this book to get a feel for the basic small bookmaking process. It is very straightforward, with directions that seem easy to follow, and many diagrams & photographs to help guide you to a finished product. It has some beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects, so essentially there is something for anybody who wants to learn about the craft of handmade books. I wouldn't recommend this for a young crafter -- it's definitely written for a person with at least a small knowledge of paper craft who is looking to expand, and the directions would be too difficult, I think, for anyone younger than high school age.

I just received this the other day and all I can say is WOW!!!
I also own Cover to Cover, but I like this one just as much or better. The samples are just to die for and are very inspiring, and this book has different types of stitches and other books .
If you own Cover to Cover, you need this one too!

Great for starting into book making. The majority of the projects in the book are more about folding paper to make structures but the structures in themselves make books like the accordion fold books, star books, tag books, tunnels, signatures within accordions, etc. For me this was perfect. The book starts with a glossary so you can get the vocabulary down and then starts in with techniques for sewing and scoring. The majority of projects use the accordion fold book as the basis but there are lots of varieties and terrific photos of completed projects to inspire. The instructions go step by step and also have 3-d line drawings showing you where to fold and such. The book builds from very simple booklets to more complex ones where you use the Coptic stitch to create more traditional books. I love the variety and it was just at my level to build confidence along the way as I learned the vocabulary and techniques

"The Art & Craft of Handmade Books: New Ideas and Innovative Technique" is such a great book on creating/making your own handmade books and journals. The book is full of amazing photographs to give ideas and inspiration, the instructions are comprehensive, and the added diagrams guide you through the process of page folding and binding stitches.

All in all, this book is fantastic!

I am so impressed with this book. For everyone who wants to get involved with their own community or others, this book can serve as a blueprint to take you from the initial conception of a program, to content ideas, and the actual funding. I personally feel it should be required reading for every organization and learning institution that has "community service" programs or graduation requirements.

Subtitled A Successful Way to Reach Youth in Your Neighborhood, this guide, training and reference book provides helpful and practical information about establishing, teaching and administering after-school art programming for children and teenagers, with the emphasis on low-income, under served and at-risk populations. The authors are administrators of Hands On, a successful and respected summer and after school arts program that is part of the Walker's Point Center for the Arts, a well-regarded community-based arts center in Milwaukee's large Hispanic neighborhood. The book is reader friendly as it presents suggestions, checklists and examples of how to establish an art after-school program in any community. Areas covered--in common sense depth --include, advocacy rationales, fundraising ideas, budget planning and grant writing advice (with examples), staffing suggestions, artists as teachers, partnerships and collaborations and more. Possible sites for establishing a program include public and private schools, libraries, churches, senior centers and storefronts. Throughout the text are quotations from children, teachers, school administrators and others who testify as to the worth of this program. Highly recommended for any individuals whose school or community might benefit from this type of program.

Kent Anderson, Past President of the National Art Education Association, is the Resource Editor for the national publication, School Arts. His review is scheduled to appear in the December, 2001 issue of School Arts.

In 1987 Jane Brite, then director of Walker's Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee, initiated Hands On, an after-school and summer art program serving primarily low-income and at-risk children in the neighborhood and using professional artists to teach the sessions. Observing the benefits of the program prompted Brite and her colleague Marlene Jaglinski to write this guide, which describes their experience and advises how to set up and implement a similar program in almost any setting. The authors point out that in addition to the beneficial effects on the youngsters who participate, such programs offer valuable experience and a source of revenue to artists.

Art After School is a great resource for start-up and continuing art and community based partnerships. Policies and procedures, examples and experiments and using art as a catalyst to enrich and enlarge a sense of community are explained with clarity in an engaging manner. I highly recommend Art After School.

Drawn from experiences with "Hands on", an after school program, community organizations and leaders, boards of directors, a cadre of staff, interns, volunteers and artists at the Walker's Point Center for the Arts, Art After School by Jane Brite and Marlene Jaglinski is a practical guide to establishing a community program for young people to develop their artistic skills, build self-esteem, and offer a constructive and positive experience especially for at-risk kids. Based on successful experience, Art After School is packed advice for planning the program, keeping costs down, sample art activities, and much more. Enhanced with illustrations by JoAnna Poehlmann, Art After School is a superbly presented and highly recommended reading for anyone looking to create a meaningful, art-based, after-school program open to the neighborhood youth of all ages and backgrounds.

Good construction recommendations. Wonderful boost to the imagination. An enjoyable, thoroughly delightful book of cloth art doll projects.

.. okay where do i start? i am 23 yrs old.. and haven't picked up a doll since i was 9. on one of my many journeys through the crafts store i picked up this book because of the strange little doll on the cover.. i opened it and loved every page of it! i immediately got everything i needed to start making a doll of my own.. the neat thing about this book is although the price is somewhat high for a craft book. the possibilities are endless.. yo can twist and conform any one of her patterns to something that suits you more as a person. the dolls were definately odd looking. and i love how in the book they not only show beautiful "goddess" and fairy types, but also some unique ideas from many different cultures.. tey even have a doll by elizabeth mcgrath which is super duper creepy.. i am a beginner and i would reccomend this book to aLL.

If you are a doll maker who is Here and want to go Over There, get this book!
Turn one page and Li's creativity and energy jump out at you. Patterns, color illustrations, Li's delightful musings, illustrations only Li can do make this book unique.
It is aptly subtitled "Exploring Projects and Processes through Cultural Traditions." Li buries deep into the souls and archetypes of societies to create her goddesses, talismen - and all with a delightful sense of humor not to be found anywhere else.
Lisa Hertzi is an artist on so many levels and I hope this is just the first of many books with which she will bless us. Below my name is an example of one of her musings, which we must urge her to increase in the next book.
Watch for more books by this unique artist!
Go from wherever you are in the doll art world and move Over to There with this book.

I can't wait to start making the art dolls in this wonderful book. I've already gotten ideas for creating my own art dolls.

I truly love this book. I make cloth art dolls, and like unusual dolls made from interesting shapes that can be tailored to my own designs. The patterns in the book are fun as is - and certainly can be adjusted and reworked endlessly.

I like the ideas for embellishments and design - the photos are well worth looking at and spurred much creative thinking and planning. The author is obviously a fun, spontaneous person who gives lots of permission to play and go your own way - while providing ideas and directions at the same time.

I have recommended this book to everyone I know who likes and makes cloth art dolls. Everyone I've shown it to has wanted a copy for herself.

I would caution those who like more traditional, Raggedy Ann dolls or baby dolls, that they may not find this to their taste. However, if you are interested in pushing your limits and opening up to new and unique ideas, you will certainly have fun with the book.

For those who wish to take the hobby of scrapbooking to the level of fine art, this book will provide plenty of inspiration. Covering everything from numerous ways to create and bind a scrapbook from "scratch" to techniques for making your own decorative paper, it's all within the covers of the book.

Many different methods of bookbinding are presented in thorough detail moving from simple to more complex. Paper making and decorative paper techniques, such as batik and various print or collage techniques are presented as well.

Very innovative ideas for ways to display your special photos are shown as well. Samples of pages are unlike any I've seen elsewhere, and are always eye-catching. This book is not one for those who wish to speed scrap, but if you want to create a one-of-a-kind album, or a unique layout for special photos, look to "The Art of the Scrapbook" for ideas.

This book is a beautiful, artistic work on book making/binding. It's thorough, beginner-friendly, and has attractive projects. I only have one problem with it: the title. I would think that the title would more prominently announce something about bookmaking, and not use the word scrapbook (since these days, scrapbooking has grown in popularity, and is a completely different hobby).

That said, this book is an excellent introduction work to bookbinding. It has instructions on many different types of book bindings (from simple to more challenging), as well as much info on decorations for your book covers (marbling, quilling, and more). The book is written in an encouraging, informative tone, with the emphasis on craftsmanship and artistic expression. The text is accompanied by full-color pictures of handmade books by various artists around the country.

This book is an excellent introduction to bookbinding, and will certainly whet your appetite for all sorts of exciting artistic expression.

This book isn't just a book that shows some examples and gives you some templates and says "go do this"... This is a book that any true artist would love to have in their collection. It gives complete instructions on construction of paper arts and all facets of the craft. There are more projects in this book than I have found in any other book on the subject. The projects are explained with clarity and I learned how to do things I would have had to take a class to learn. The author is a real artist not just a craft person. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to take this craft to another level.

I own quite a few scrapbooking and bookmaking books, and this is the one that got me hooked. I absolutely love this book. The tools and materials needed lists were extremely helpful in getting me started. The author also shows some terrific and easy techniques that I haven't seen in other books. The gallery sections are incredible -- beautiful without being completely way out there. Lots of practical ideas for projects. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

As a long-time rubber stamper, I began making books earlier this year. This book has great instructions for all different book designs, as well as decorating techniques. I found the instructions easy to follow and well detailed. This is a much used resource in my craft book library.

Was a very informative book on quilts, but was puzzeled by the caption on page 56 of the quilt titled Hank Williams. I don't believe the idea of the artist intended for it to be catagorized in pop art. Maybe a quote from the artist would be appropriate or a way to contact the artist about her view. Did the artists in the book have to sign a release for use of their quilts?

I'm a weekend quilter - and love working with rich color. This is not only a coffee-table beautiful book but it inspires creative ideas far beyond normal quilting. You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy - the art is wonderful. And if you do quilt, this will inspire you to all sorts of radically new ideas.

From the moment I set eyes on this book I knew I had to have it. The quilts are totally incredible. The skill of these quiltmakers & the detail they obtain is astonishing. They are true artists. It is a great value.

The abstract quilts combine color, pattern & shape so beautifully it takes your breath away. Surface techniques such as dyeing, painting, applique & embroidery make these quilts remarkable works of art.

Some of my favorite quilts include a nude pregnant woman & two quilts depicting Noah & his ark. I enjoyed a few scenes with vases & another made as a memorial to the artist's parents. I also fell in love with the many landscape quilts.

The text is fascinating, discussing the history behind quiltmaking & the techniques used to make these beautiful quilts. The captions are great, explaining the methods used to make the quilt as well as the artist inspiration.

Robert Shaw draws upon his impressive expertise to celebrate the traditional bed quilt as a needlecraft art form that is a creative, emotional, example of "form following function". His insightful text traces the transformation of the quilt from bed cover to display piece, the quilter from homemaker to academically trained artist, the workshop from kitchen to studio, and the materials from simple to complex. The Art Quilt is superb survey of an art form grounded in tradition and, at the same time, committed to originality and innovation. The works of such superb contemporary quilters as Michael James, Yvonne Porcella, Julia Pfaff, Nancy Crow, and more than two hundred others, serve to illustrate the quilt as art -- and the art of the quilt. The Art Quilt is enhanced with 300 full-color reproductions and numerous insightful sidebars of important technical processes and leaders int he art quilt field. The Art Quilt is highly recommended reading for needlecraft students, quilters, collectors, and popular culture enthusiasts.

Beautiful color plates. If you are an artist or quilter who prefers to emphasize color and design, then this book is invaluable for ideas and inspiration. Highly recommend for your library.

This is the best coverage of Lionel's promotional sets of the period in print to date. Highly recommend to all Lionel collectors, and to those who loved these sets peering through various Christmas catalogues, warming a boy's heart in days gone by! Nostalgic and authoritative!!

Drawing upon thousands of authentic Lionel documents, "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1969 - 1969" is an 848-page illustrated compendium showcasing the more than 700 electric train outfits (also known as 'uncatalogued train sets') that the Lionel company created exclusively as promotional items for retailers that included Sears Roebuck & Co.; Montgomery Ward; Spiegel; Western Auto; A&P; Quaker Oats; and others. Because of the limited numbers manufactured, these promotional outfits are among the most valuable items in the history of model railroading. These outfits never appeared in Lionel's consumer catalogs and information about them simply unavailable -- until now. John W. Schmid has been collecting toy trains with his father for decades. After the 2001 auction in which the Lionel Factory Orders and other miscellaneous internal company documents were purchased, Schmid embarked upon years of extensive research in newly found documents and has now distilled that research into the pages of an impressively descriptive catalog. The result is "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960-1969", a work of meticulous scholarship that is unique in the annals of the enduringly popular hobby of model trains and railroads. Included is how all the engine and cars came to be individually packed; descriptions of the original outfit box (including outfit inserts and packaging); pricing for the complete outfit (and even the empty box alone); original production quantities; diagrams for packing the outfit in the outfit box; instruction sheets, packed envelopes, as well as peripherals (track, transformer, oil, wire, smoke, etc.) Also available in a hardcover edition (9781933600031, $89.95), John Schmid's "Authoritative Guide To Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960 - 1969" is impressively informative and enthusiastically recommended for all dedicated model railroading reference collections.

Wow! This book is a must have for every Lionel collector and individual seeking to find their childhood train set...and the book is a bargain at ANY price. In 2001, the author, John Schmid, purchased internal, long-lost records from the Lionel archives for over $43,000. It took him five years to compile these records and photograph 100s of Lionel train sets into this unbelievable book value. This book contains all NEW information you will NOT find anywhere else.

The book details over 700 of Lionel's most mysterious train sets (outfits), the ones it made exclusively for retailers and promotional firms. Names we're all familiar with: Sears, Wards, Penneys, Spiegel, Quaker Oats, S&H, Western Auto, etc. Since these "special" sets never appeared in a Lionel catalog, NONE the them have been fully documented before. Individuals and collectors have spent years trying to find out the value and contents of these long lost train sets. Now, thanks to John's painstaking research and beautiful photographs, everybody has access to this priceless information.

The "Authoritative Guide..." provides everything that came in a train set, how many were made, who the trains were sold to, substitutions of items, pricing for the train set, pricing for the empty set box, and even how to pack the trains in its set box!

It is also much more than a book about sets, over 60 pages detail new information about the items that came with each postwar Lionel set. Stuff I never knew including how to identify different train cars, engines, boxes, instruction sheets, accessories, envelopes, trucks and couplers, etc.
Everything you ever wanted to know about what is included in a Lionel train set is provided.

As a final bonus, I was able to relive my childhood memories of the retailers my mother used to drag me to. John provides a description of each of the retailers (many no longer in business) that Lionel provided promotional sets. Yes even the US Army sold Lionel trains.

I could go on an on about how great this book is, but it is best to just buy it and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

One incredible source of Lionel information . . . way more than just sets. Covers promotional outfits with new information purchased from the Lionel archives. This is the first time this information has ever been published!!..."For every Lionel collector, 100s of individual item variations never before documented, a must have for any postwar collector, well worth the money". Written for all types of Lionel collectors . . . first time buyers to hard core collectors.

This book is exactly what it states in the title - "The Authoritative Guide". It surpasses any other documental guide available today because it does not only use marketplace data, rather, it uses actual Lionel data from the company archieves combined with field data to take it to the next level - a level of greater understanding of how and why these sets were created and to their scarcity and value. This book is a bargain at any price! With 848 pages and 700 outfits, it costs the same, if not less, per page, than any other guide. With this new, never before published information, the book will more than pay for itself in no time because now these previously unvalued sets have realized some serious collector values! For years collectors have been wondering what was in all those uncataloged sets Lionel produced in the '60's. Now the mysteries are solved. The volume of detail is incredible. In my 25+ years of collecting, I have never seen as much presented in one volume. Avid collectors will be conversing in terms as never before such as referring to product variations and paperwork by their stock or dash numbers instead of simply by their catalog number. Novice collectors will have the opportunity to quickly become as learned as experts that spent decades on information gathering at train meets around the country. This book will re-energize the toy train hobby and has single-handedly redefined the standard for information presentation. John Schmid's years of work on this book have certainly paid off and we should all be thankful he chose to share this information with the world. I'm already anticipating his next work, whatever it will be. In time, this book will become as much a part of Lionel history as the trains themselves. The renaissance has begun. Well done!