Antiques Collectibles Books

I like this book as there is almost no PC from the early years that escape it. But my biggest issue is I would like to see more background on more PCs, not just a brief list of specs. Very few have any history of any detail and they're the well-knowns, like Commodore and Tandy. Bigger, color photos would be a real plus as well.

If you are a collector of old microcomputers like myself then this book is a must. It's an affordable reference guide that you'll always be referring to. Personally I'd love to see a colour edition of this book, a more international (rather than US) flavour and I'd like to see the entries per manufacturer in chronological order rather that alphabetical order.

I was very impressed by this book. Lots of information on vintage computers, some quite in depth histories. Very enjoyable read and something you would go back to. Only one gripe I have is purely cosmetic in that it was all black and white photo's only and a fairly uninspiring layout.

If you are into collecting old computers (mainly the 8bit era), this is a must own. It has the specs and approximate prices for each machine from the first minicomputers to the mid 90's with the Amigas and soforth. Some x86 architecture items, mainly the revolutionary items for any 486/Pentium items since they are ... well the industry standard practically.

I recommend in a heartbeat.

Or, if you just love the history of personal computers, then you'll be very happy with this volume. An excellent coffee table book with loads of great pictures and plenty of well-known and obscure systems. Photos inside are all black and white, but good quality and size. A handy field guide and highly recommended.

David Greelish
classiccomputing dot com

The pictures are outstanding. This is an easy to use reference guide with over 150 patterns, all alphabetized for quick and easy referance.

This is a wonderful guide to depression glass.Each page is devoted to one pattern and lists the different colors,pieces in the collection and the estimated values.It is a small,pocket book size but has 190 pages!So there is A LOT of information packed in this smaller package!!!A wealth of info and beautiful color photographs.Also,there is a section at the back about reproductions on certain patterns.VERY in depth!A must for collectors!

Excellent...great photos and complete listings of pieces in many patterns. Also light and easy to carry...I take it to auctions with me...very helpful. I would recommend it to anyone interested in depression glass.

I recently started collecting depression glass. At the time, I realized how much I didn't know! This book has been my constant companion. The material is clearly presented. The photography is fantastic. The price guide along with the description of each piece of EVERY collection is invaluable. I have become a better educated consumer and glass collector since I keep this within reach. Highly recommend!!

Many of the drawings are very difficult to study. Some are faint, some are drawn with very thick ink lines, and some are so small as to be virtually useless. Don't buy this book unless you can see it in a B&M store and determine if the drawings you are interested in can even be seen

Overall I am definitely happy I bought the book, it is worth the money and everyone who has or plans to have a substantial collection of firearms or an interest in firearms should purchase this book.

There are inconsistencies in terminology that make it a bit hard to read, for example on the Japaneese Nambu diagram they call it a "frame" while on the Glock diagram they call it a "receiver." This is misleading since both parts serve the excact same purpose.

That being said, the only MAJOR gripe I have with this book - the issue that caused it to lose a star- is its lack of coverage of more modern firearms.

Here is a short list of firearms the book has no coverage of that it should:
CZ rifles
Saiga shotguns and rifles
Imbel and DSA FALs
AK-74 rifles
Century Arms Bullpup AK
Fn2000
Beretta CX4 storm carbine, RX4 rifle
Benelli M3 Super 90
Robinson XCR

The list goes on

Also it is very hard to find many military firearms even if they have listings, one has to look under "mitchel arms" to find the only ak-47 and one of the few Ar-15s even though many manufacturers make such weapons and they are far more popular then other series of guns which have far more coverage.

-Had to look under "brno" to find the CZ 75 pistol, the book should take more effort to put things under the names which they are known.


So in conclusion the book is a great resource for any gun owner and especially those with mainly older firearms in their collections, the price is right and with a few additions and better organization it could of gotten five stars.

I was a bit disappointed with this volume. Probably should have paid more attention to the description. I assumed that there would be an exploded view of each gun I own-and wanted to buy. This would then serve as "do all" reference for componentry. Not quite--lot's of drawings but not some of the more common Taurus revolvers among others. Some of the drawings are also a bit difficult to see/read numbers part shapes etc..Not a bad investment-just not a great investment. Excellent paperweight!!

This is a pretty great book, it's layout and design is very simple and straightforward, and if you're strictly into traditional handguns, and traditional rifles I.E: hunting and target shooting, then this book is probably fine for you, however there are some serious issues with what it lacks, particularly in terms of military weapons, and some newer guns. I will be right to the point and just list all of the guns which this book does not contain, but really should have, they are (in no particular order): AK74, Dragunov SVD, RPK, M60, Hi-point guns, Kel-Tec guns, Kahr guns, AR-18, Barrett guns, Saiga shotguns, Saiga rifles, Tikka rifles, Blaser rifles, HK G-36, HK MP5-K, IMI Tavor, FN Five-seveN, FN Police rifle, Makarov pistol, Springfield XD, Beretta CX4 storm, Beretta PX4 storm, Taurus 24/7, Taurus Tracker, HK UMP, and Suomi M-31. This is just some of the guns which I could not find in the book, and granted, while some of the guns are fairly new (coming out in 2004), many of these I was shocked were not in the book, like no Saiga rifles or shotguns, no AK74, no Dragunov, no HI-points, no Kel-Tecs, no Makarov. And other little things like how things are listed is sometimes frustrating, like the AK47 is listed under "Mitchell arms"??? And there aren't many diagrams for the moderns typical AR-15, just the original Colt style M16. I guess the major problem is that while it lacks many military and otherwise typical guns, at the sametime this book devotes many pages to totally useless, obscure, and obsolete guns which many people have never heard of. SO it isn't that there is not enough space for all these guns which aren't in the book, there are just several guns in the book which don't need to be there, and should be replaced with those which aren't in it. Like they have a diagram for the Wilkinson "Linda" which is a Tec-9 look-alike, I mean come on, how many people have a freakin Wilkinson "Linda", definitely far fewer than those who have Saigas, Kel Tecs, Hi Points, or even Barrett .50 cal rifles.

I can only say, if you are in the business, it's like having a larger "Gun Parts" book. I have only found one other reference better. This is a MUST HAVE. I use it all the time. If you can work from exploded views, this is for YOU!

This is an excellent source for the collector of antique sewing implements. Full color illustrations of all priced objects make it easy to identify and place a value on pincushions, needlecases, thimbles and more. Not much text but price guides are generally short on text. If a price guide is what you want, I recommend this one.

Helen Lester Thompson's Sewing Tools & Trinkets is a collector's identification and value guide, covering everything from thimbles and needle holders to toys and trinkets. A very specific reference for the collector of sewing items.

Kelun Chen has provided a wonderful essay and overview on Chinese ceramics in this rather tiny volume. The best thing about the book how it demonstrates ways to think about China and its porcelain products from antiquity through the end of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty in 1911. One learns to think of porcelain secondarily in terms of period, but primarily in terms of kiln sites, clay, glaze and color. This is much the opposite of the beginner's or American antiquarian's (my own) typical tendency. The brief 80-page text is rich with details and insights, many of which are sparsley but adequately illustrated in the accompanying photographs in color and black & white. A book such as this must be evaluated (and "starred") in terms of what it intends to be: in this case a thoughtful overview in limited space, not a reference text. There are no indices of markings or summary observations, and the photographs occur with widely varying proximity to the related text, which fails to indicate the illustration under discussion. It takes only modest effort to find them. But the book still delivers an intelligent and thoughtful discussion that a person can go back to and refer to over time, while studying more advanced, ambitious and comprehensive works. A real bargain, and not necessarily a beginner's book. It will stay in my library on ceramics. For a tiny volume, it is really a five star work, and rated at four here only because of the limitations of space provided by the publication series.

A very interesting book. Only drawback for me was that I was hoping to get greater information on actual marks of chinese pottery.

A beautiful and informative book for the library of the connoiseur of Chinese Porcelain.

This book is definitely out of date when it comes to the suggested price range of pieces, however it is simply one of the most opulent and lovely books on Costume Jewelry. 1500 high quality images that will leave you drooling. This is a brilliant book for anyone loving beautiful jewellery or as an inspiration book for jewellers. Very happy with this purchase.

Judith Miller has done it again with her glossy pictures and informative data on all the main designers in vintage jewelry. This book gives a great synapsises on all the jewelry greats.
This book is wonderful and easy to read for a quick reference. I would recommend this book along with the Miriam Haskell book for any jewelry collector.
This book has taught me so much, just as her others. Thanks again for another great book!

"Costume Jewelry" is a full-colour pictorial guide to the main (American) makers and designers of costume jewellery. For each designer, a brief history is given, which is them followed by numerous colour pictures and 2003 values. A brief appendix of makers marks is included at the end, to allow readers to identify pieces of jewellery which they may own, as is a comprehensive index.

This book is aimed squarely at novice jewellery collectors. It gives the reader a good idea of the different styles of costume jewellery available and is a wonderful book for fueling dreams. However, it lacks much of the information that more advanced collectors may be looking for, such as detailed information on dating jewellery and advice on which are the best pieces to collect.

There are a lot of similarities between this book and Collecting Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building & Upgrading (Collecting Costume Jewelry 101). Both are visual guides to American costume jewellery makers, although I, personally, prefer "Collecting Costume Jewelery 101". It contains more advice on collecting than this book does. Nevertheless, both books are very good and if you are a beginner and you can afford it, I would recommend that you buy both.

I really like this book because the is alot if information on alot of different makers. The pictures are clear.There are alot of designers I have never heard of so this is great for me. I'm far from an expert and not a beginner so this book is good for me!
Buy it!

This book is a good one to have in your costume jewelry library. It begins with interesting background on costume jewelry through the ages followed by twenty in-depth designer profiles with example pieces. An interesting feature of these first designer profiles is the "Good, Better, Best" designations for examples of the same type of piece, such as necklaces or pins. The third section is entitled the "A-Z of Designers and Makers," which includes less in-depth information on the company or designer with photos of pieces. Interspersed among the A-Z designers are sections entitled "Hot Collecting Field," which deal with topics such as Christmas tree pins, Scottish agate jewelry, Bakelite, Coro duettes, etc. It took me a while to figure out this interruption in the A-Z organization. One surprise in the A-Z designers is that DeLizza & Elster (Juliana) is not included. The book concludes with a "Gallery of Unsigned Pieces" with some rather hodgepodge categories, such as "Miscellaneous Pins." The index is good but alphabetized by designer last name in contrast to other sections of the book which may be alphabetized by designer first name. The jewelry included in this book definitely leans toward the high end. In addition, values seem to me to be inflated in relation to eBay averages. The photography is beautiful. I would recommend buying a used copy for your costume jewelry library.

Great book for getting the current value of Royal Doulton items.
Easy to use and very thorough.

A useful catalogue for the collector of Royal Doulton Figurines.

The book is very good and has photos of all but the latest figurines. The prices in the book would have to be considered "full retail". I found many figurines for sale in mint condition for 1/2 the book price or less. It is well organized with easy indexing by name or number.

This volume is enormously helpful in identifying & valuing Royal Doulton Figurines. Sorted by series (e.g. HN or M) & series # (4-digit number following series) it is very easy to use! Also it has cross-references which are very helpful when you have a name/title instead of the series #.

This book would have gotten a 5-star rating from me if it did not have missing HN series #'s, most of which correspond to animal figurines. Since I am interested in a FEW animals, it would have been nice to have them all in one volume! (I don't really want to buy ANOTHER reference just for the few animals I'm interested in!)

Also, if you are a Bunnykins collector, that info is also missing from this volume. (I'm not, so it wasn't a problem for me.)

An extremely comprehensive book on Royal Doulton figurines for
the beginning or advanced collector. Each HN series figure is
pictured, described, and priced with artist noted. An excellent
resource for appraising your collection. The company history
section is fascinating. Well worth the price!

It's been over 7 years since this has been updated, and a lot has happened in the world of postcards. I'd say that the vast majority of prices quoted in this book are much higher than prices realized at traditional and online auctions, and many retail sales. So, if you just found a shoebox of postcards in your grandmother's attic and are planning on selling them, don't expect to realize prices anywhere near most of the prices you see in this book. That said, there are exceptions - and condition really does play an important part in pricing, but as the Internet opens up dealers to a worldwide audence it appears that many cards that were in demand 10 years ago are no longer that scarce.

This guide provides prices for over 10,000 cards and will be useful for collectors, dealers, and novices. The book highlights the most collected categories, and the artist-signed chapter covers over 250 pages. The 900 postcard images, though reduced and in black and white, are useful; my favorites included the Krampus cards, Alligator border card, and the Halloween cards are a real treat. Mashburn provides short biographies of some of the artists and publishers (and even an introduction to Krampus). Although Mashburn does present some useful guidelines on topical, views, and roadside America I thought those chapters were too short in light of the vast number of cards available. Mashburn also includes references for more specific topics also.

This book gives you a good feel for the value of postcards. Beginners will definitely get their money's worth from this guide before buying from a dealer or an online auction.

Keep in mind that Mashburn is a dealer as well as a collector and author. He devotes way too much space to the categories he collects and sells...origional art. I estimate that he devotes a measley 25% of the book to photographic postcards.

Great book! Wonderfully photographed and illustrated. Thank you Maurice Childs for going the extra mile to present beautiful photography. Leigh Leshner does a great job of describing the different types of plastics, identification tests, vintage designers, current modern designers, how to collect, and price guide. There is only one negative that I could possibly say about this book. I wish they had put more history included with the photographs such as the designer and manufacturer (if known), year made, and any other pertinent information. I especially liked knowing more about Judy Clarke, Jim Foltz, Ester & Ron Shultz, Karen & Howard Kronimus, Jackie Weeks, and others. A must have for your library!

This book is a must if you are into collecting Art Plastic Jewellery including plastic ,celluloid , bakelite and lucite.There are beautiful large coloured photographs on every page with descriptions and a price guide. Lots of chunky bracelets, dog brooches, mah-jong bracelets, animal pins, fruit jewellery etc. Very useful if you are into collecting vintage and modern plastic jewellery but also just a lovely book to look at!

I own all the books in Leigh Leshner's series and cannot fault Leigh for showing off great photos, great jewels and intense information. Leigh has done an excellent job with all of her books. Cannot wait to see what she has next in her jeweled magic hat. I hightly recommend all of Leigh Leshner's books. She gears them for various types of collections and you surely won't be disappointed.

"Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide" by Leigh Leshner is informative for the novice as well as seasoned collector. The author seems to convey a keen balance between old and new plastics to give the reader ample knowledge of both. I particularly liked the price guide; it is a good gauge for individuals new to the market. I thought the photos were very well done. Thank you, Leigh.

Leigh Leshner's "Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry" is a fascinating look at today's plastics artisans. Modern designers like Jackie Weeks, Judith Evans, Jim Foltz and Judy Clarke--excluded from other bakelite and plastic jewelry guides--are well-represented in this clear and interesting book. There are sections on vintage pieces, history and types of plastics as well as the requisite price guide (which seemed more accurate than other guides for this current market...), but it is the photographs and the info on the new generation of artisans that make this book a winner. A must for the serious and the casual collector.