Antiques Collectibles Books

If you are just getting into collecting, this is a fun book to review. Lots of overall ideas of varieties of collectibles...for more serious colletors, I would suggest books oriented to the subject matter of interest.

Nice book and provides considerable information. The author does cover alot of territory in one book. Should consider a series and provide more photos.

Most of the pages in this book are a drab black & white print, with a few (emphasis on few) pages in the middle that are glossy, full-color. I was thinking "coffee table book" when I bought it, but it's definitely not that fancy. I sent it back.

If you are into collecting this is the book for you. It has lots of interesting facts and discussions about why people collect things and how to get started if you're thinking about a collection.

It doesn't talk about EVERYTHING though, so if you are really into a specific collectible you would be better off with a book that addresses that collectible.

The scope of the book is too broad and the depth of the topics considered is too shallow. Complex collectibles such as costume jewelry or art glass are given a few pages of attention, but the book tries to cover too many areas at the expense of giving adequate attention to any area. If you want a very, very basic overview, history, and details about popular collectibles, you may find this book of some use. However, your money would probably be more wisely spent on books that deal with your specific topics of interest. It's fun reading, but definitely not a "complete guide to collecting...".

This is a great addition to our collection of books to help us identify antique glass ware!

I recently decided to delve into Milk Glass. The decision came in a round about manner: I needed a vase or two and opted to go the eBay route. Remembering a friend's milk glass vase, I decided that was what I was going to get. The variety and choices out there are phenominal. More choices that the average person can navigate. I purchased a couple just because they were there and realized that I needed to learn more about these beauties. Enter a book search at Amazon. This was the first book listed and it provided the "search inside" feature. This way, I was able to stroll through the index and find a couple of my new purchases.

Well, the book arrived yesterday and it is incredible. This edition has been updated with 2005 values but it is fun being able to read about the companies and check out the pictures. Not all milk glass is pretty. Some of it is just darn disturbing and some is just plain kitchish. All in all, I am finding this to be an excellant resource especially for me the newbie collector.

Why 4 stars and not 5? At the back portion of the book, some of the pictures are difficult to make out. It may be the result of copying directly from the original company catalogues.

I needed a picture book with decriptions. I got that and a history on each kind of milk glass. I think I'll keep this one.

Good resource for exceptional pieces, but it's not organized well, and does not cover most everyday pieces. Values are over-inflated, especially for what milk glass is selling for online.

I pick up a lot of milk glass in thrift stores and was hoping this book would help me identify some of the pieces. Unfortunately, most of the items in this book have long been unattainable to the casual collector. The informational section was too short and poorly researched, and the author virtually ignored contemporary milk glass from makers like E.O. Brody, Anchor Hocking and Avon (only a few of Avon's dozens of milk glass pieces were featured).

If you want a book about milk glass from 1950 to present, this isn't it. Hopefully someone will realize the need for a book that covers "common" milk glass, which is getting harder to find and will ultimately be tomorrow's collectibles.

Somehow, if I had spent the time reading the book a little before purchasing, I wouldn't have bought it. He talks extensively about competition rigs, rules, etc. which I had no interest in. I have yet to see a gun rag writer talk honestly about guns. Ever see a bad review in ANY of the gun magazines?

Quite honestly I found this book mediocre at best. It's something of a "Jack of all trades, master of none" effort. If you're a big 1911 fan then you might consider this book, but if you're not, spend your money elsewhere. One good point, there are detailed examinations of 23 different kinds of 1911 pistols which is great if you want an STI or an Auto Ordnance, but where are the various Colt models in detail?

This is a MUST have for anyone interested in the 1911 pistol.

Read more than the table of contents! Some people have obviously rated this book without reading it. The Author explains why some guns are included in the test and others are left out (in 2 Places in the book). The author also talks about and praises his personal "Colt" 1911's. So you Rampant Pony fans should not feel left out. This book is obviously not ground breaking as there have been many books about the 1911, but it is very informative (gunsmithing, tactical course, competitions,& reloading). It provides an indepth comparison of the wide variety of the modern makes of the 1911.

Buy this to learn more about your 1911 pistol. I really followed some things written here and presto!, My gun worked better. (with the help of my gunsmith)
Knowing your pistol can save your life and money. And knowing your pistol means that it is safer to handle and carry.

Presented in this book is practically the very definition of BAD TASTE! But, two stars given because if you happen to be into the silly skateboard scene, you'll probably LOVE this one.

I bought this book based on the two other reviews on Amazon but when I received it i was a little disappointed. It wasn't exactly what I expected. I wasn't very familiar with Jim Phillips' art before this book. I own other skateboard art books, but this kind of art is too busy for me. If you're a fan of Jim Phillips' art then I guess this book is for you, but it wasn't exactly my taste.

I think there is a big difference between this book and the Skateboard and rock poster book. This book comes with full blown pages of closeups of all of or most of Jim's artwork. I'm a hobby artist myself so I'm really jazzed up about this book. Another book to get that is rather intresting is Disposable which covers different skateboard companies and riders but you will be happy with this book here.

Jim Phillips is finally stepping out from the obscurity of his drawing board to take a bow for the countless skating design innovations for which he is solely responsible. The skateboarding, surfing and rock & roll art of the last 30 years was trailblazed by this softspoken and humble artuer and the rest if the world has been playing catch-up ever since. Any skater who grew up riding in the 70s, 80s and 90s had these designs plastered on every wall of their bedroom as well as the decks of their boards. The ripples started in Santa Cruz, CA but have radiated out to impact the art worlds of Europe, Japan and Canada. Check out Jim's other 2 books on Rock Art and Surf/Skate art, too! AWESOME!

This is a great book. If you make knives, it is even better.

Thanks David

The story of John Moses Browning and his inventions.
It gives a clear look on his live, and on his arms.
Most of his inventions are still in use today.
A must have for the one who is interested in the development of the fire arms from the single shot breech loader up till the modern fire arms of the 2000 century

This book has some okay pictures and covers the major milestones of Browning, but there were inaccuracies which seem to make the remaining information suspect. For example, one old photograph in the "Shotguns" chapter directed the reader to notice a particular type of shotgun in the hands one of the hunters in the picture. Unfortunately, the individual in the picture is clearly in possesion of a Remington Model 81 rifle. I sent this one back and am still looking for a more reliable and authoritative guide to Mr. Brownings legacy.

Very interesting book about the greatest gun designer ever lived.
As engineer and owner of a 1911 I found this book very interesting. This is a kind of history lesson I like!

David Miller, the author of this excellent book, is a former British military officer and writer for Janes and other military publishers. His expertise, graceful style, and thorough research are attractively packaged in this beautifully illustrated book on John M. Browning and the firearms he designed.

The book itself has the slick eye-appeal of something designed for a coffee table and its photography is first-rate and full color. In fact, it's almost too pretty to take very seriously.

The narrative, however, is worth the price of the book. Miller has covered all his bases in his research, from the LDS archives in Salt Lake City, Utah, to the factory archives of FN in Herstal, Belgium.

Miller does an impressive job of combining a biography of John M. Browning with a description of the family of firearms he designed, including a couple (like the M-2 .50 caliber machine gun) which are still in use today by American soldiers their allies around the world today. Browning was a patriot and would doubtless be pleased to know the high regard in which some of his firearms are held by American soldiers, police officers and sportsmen.

I enjoyed this book and gave it five stars. If you're interested in firearms and their development, or in Browning's designs, you will like this book. The only thing it lacks is a good bibliography.

The Browning gun design firm was influential in the field of American firearms ever since it was founded in Utah in 1855. For the most part, the history of Browning Firearms is about the founder's son, John Browning (1855-1926), who came into the business in the latter 1800s and headed it for decades until his death. John sold designs for hundreds of firearms to companies which then manufactured them in quantity. Because of the popularity of the Browning firearms both in their design and performance, copies of them were produced by other manufacturers; but these were inferior to authentic Brownings. Beyond the pistols, rifles, and shotguns familiar to many, Browning designed machine guns and automatic rifles for the military since the 1890s, and also knives for outdoorsmen. A complete, mostly photographic, introduction to the history of the famed Browning Firearms and the variety of its products.

I purchased this book to use at the consignment store that I work. It has really helped me identify antique glass and price it to sell. Reviewiing this book has helped me make some purchases at auctions too!

Our copy of this book has lots of paper markers sticking out, because it has helped us identify so many items, found in our travels. Vintage glass is a great favorite at our house, and it can be challenging to ID, so we appreciate Mr. Florence's help! Great color photos, clear information and the authoritative voice of experience.

I found the book to be very informative about the collectibles I have interest in collecting. It even gave me insight on others that I have seen and may consider collecting. Great, Great book!!!

This guide was great if you don't have any other volumes. The pricing so far seems to be very accurate to the market. If you have another earlier edition of 40's 50's 60's there are not very many new patterns in the book. Great photo reference.

Gene Florance is, I think, the best person to go by, when it comes to depression glass and collectible glassware. his books are like the bible to me.
one of the best things about Gene's books, they are easy to follow and the pictures are AWESOME! I'm a better person to compare pictures than try to read what someone is telling me. so thats why, I dont leave home without him/it!

Beaucarmen shows noon on his watch. I'm getting groceries. Sure, I want to wait, but not until we marry. Can show the date not being interested in fakes of anything, Beaucarmen might sing Allentown only in the shower. Doing this risks the ruin of his tan line. Difficult to catch the bus without boasting a timepiece, the bearded time traveling only disciple capable of a Class-D license sees the display, spits out. These contenders. Tricky slider windows of pull-in, push down. The last day with graded papers into it goes shrubs. But those final drafts.

I bought this with a few other books on the same subject. The material is presented well, but I'm still deciding my interest level, so I'll use it for reference more than for current information.

The book is well written, and is primarely about watches produced in the USA, and pocket watches at that. There are a lot of illustrations, and describtions of most of the principles of the art of watchmaking.

This book is more or less a repeat of the introduction to the Complete Price Guide to Watches, by the same author. Save yourself time and money by buying the latter work, which is much more informative on watch pricing and contains all the information in this one.

This book is primarily written for collectors of pocket watches and only gives cursory information regarding wristwatches. Should be titled: Collecting Pocket Watches

i can track my collectible item from this catalogue.
this book help me a lot

thanks


ari

It is amazing to see every single matchbox diecast ever made into production grouped under one title. You can easily assess the value of your cars and hit the road to find precious collectables with this very usefull guide.

Interesting book with a bias in its pictures towards Matchbox models released in the last 10 years. Great that it concentrates almost wholly on the 1-75 series Matchbox models which is all I collect. Very useful if combined with other books as a model identification guide, especially as this one is in alphabetical order and up to 2003 year. I would rate it as less than useful in terms its value to me as a price guide. There are better and more accurate books around reflecting international prices especially of the 1953 to 1969 series issues.

The benefit of this book is in its arrangement. For the first time in any toy car price guide, models are listed alphabetically by model name, making this the easiest-to-use Matchbox toy collector's guide ever published.

The only compromise, due to time constraints by the publisher, is that the book only lists three-inch models, which leaves out Major Pack, Kingsize, Models of Yesteryear, Skybusters, and larger Matchbox Collectibles, hence the 4-star rating. This will thankfully be remedied with the release of Volume 2 in 2005.

I collect superfast Matchbox from 1969-present. This book only lists 1-75 (1/64th scale) Matchbox cars which is fine for my use. It is good becasue it lists all models in alphabetical order so you can cross-reference the number (1-75) of the model - most model numbers are not imprinted on late model cars so it is helpful in that respect. However, I found it lacking in the number of variations it listed. There is no consistent differentiation between wheel type (other than RW and SF), interior color, stickers/decals or other minor variations. This guide does not use the same numbering system as Charlie Mack's Encyclopedia (e.g. 14 A 3) making it difficult to have the references compliment each other. This guide does list more recent models where as Charlie Mack's guide is typically long overdue when a new edition comes out. But again, this one is not as complete regarding model variation so you may not know if you are collecting all the variations of a particular model you want in your collection. Another positive point of this book though is that not all pictures are of perfect cars -- the cars in the photos have a little play wear and is more reflective a practical collectors cars rather than some ideal collection most of us will never have. Lastly, in comparison to Charlie Mack's guide, I find it nice becasue most of this book does dedicate it's picture space to the 1-75 models. One of the dissappointments I have found with Mr. Mack's guide is that it lists a lot of subtle variation (i.e. light blue, mid blue and dark blue Soopa Coopa) but does not show pictures on how to tell the difference (neither does this one -- it doesn't even try to differentiate). Also, much of the picture space in Mr. Mack's guide is with models that no one I know really collects (i.e. NOT 1-75 series, super kings and models of yesteryear). I'm still not sure where 1/2 of the pics in Charlie Macks book come from (I've been collecting MB superfast for 20 years) -- perhaps thats why it is called an encyclopedia. Dana Johnson's book simplifies things but does not take it to the next level by any means.

Basically, I use Dana Johnson's book as a supplement to find model numbers so I can look up varaitions in late model cars in Charlie Mack's guide. I do think Mr. Macks guide can be too complete, in that it lists more model variations than most people can possibly collect. However, Dana Johnson's guide is too incomplete. I prefer Mr. Macks guide becasue it lists all known variations and allows me to decide which variations I think are significant to collect.