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New Books for Collectors
—
January 2007
Doll Values,
Antique to Modern
by Linda Edward
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Doll Values remains the number one best-selling doll book at Collector Books, and with good reason. It represents distinguished coverage in a dandy format. Some 500 color photographs supplement the book’s more than 60,000 listings from advertising dolls to efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Those listings are complete with 2007 values.
This book is in its ninth edition starting with Patsy Moyer, later Patricia Smith, and now under the editorship of Linda Edward.
Doll Values is laid out in basic alphabetical order, but it avoids specific antique and modern sections. Edward notes the distinction for dolls is hardly a clear-cut one.
“The line is blurry although it generally falls somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 years,” according to the author. “Dolls 30 to 75 years old are most often referred to as collectible vintage and dolls 30 years old or less are usually referred to as modern.”
At any rate this volume has a wonderful array of dolls lined up mostly according to maker. Additionally, there is a marks index and a molds index to further help the collector identify a particular doll. The index too is exceptional. From Addams Family and Alabama Baby to Fawn Zeller and the Zu Zu Kid, it offers a sweeping view of the book’s very ample contents.
“The best piece of advice this collector ever received was to buy every doll reference book you can find,” says the author. “Each volume, be it old or new, contains some piece of information that will be of aid”
Indeed, there are lots of doll books out there for the collector. Some are top-quality in their resourceful offerings, and this is one of them.
Doll Values, Antique to Modern by Lind Edward, color illustrated, 384 pages, $14.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-626-5420.
Old
Magazine Advertisements1890-1950, identification & value guide
by Richard E. Clear
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
 |
Old magazine advertisements get their just recognition in a newly released book of the same name from Collector Books. More than 1,100 color photographs fill Old Magazine Advertisements 1890-1950. They are finely matched with 2007 values.
In the book are lots of the expected major product advertising such as Coca-Cola, Cream of Wheat, Ivory Soap, Campbell’s Soup and Maxwell House Coffee. There are lots of less expected ads too such as Adams Gum, Franklin Automobile, Kalamazoo Stove, Marion Electric Toaster and Orange-Crush.
Additionally there is a rich sampling of renowned advertising artists including Maxfield Parrish, Rose O’Neil, J. C. Lyendecker, Norman Rockwell, Coles Phillips and N. C. Wyeth.
The author Richard Clear offers that “matted magazine ads are very saleable, many people have decorated with them, including several restaurant chains. Other people collected scrapbooks full of advertising.”
With its wealth of illustrations, captions, and prices, it encourages the collector to start searching around form similar but as yet unclaimed treasures.
“When searching for ads in the vast variety of periodicals,” Clear cautions, “remember ads were designed for an expected audience. Advertisers always paid attention to demographics of publications; so, Cosmopolitan or The Saturday Evening Post will have artistically and culturally different ads than Vanity Fair or Vogue.”
Clear also points out that many specialized publications such as movie magazines or sports magazines with advertising designed for their audiences will also have soft drink, automotive or household product advertising.
The author is a veteran bookstore operator as well as a veteran writer.
His book, Old Magazines, is in its second edition. Clear also
contributed to Time-Life’s Encyclopedia of Collectibles.
Old Magazine Advertisements 1890-1950 identification and value
guide,
318 pages, is $24.95 plus shipping from Collector Books, 1-800-626-5420.
Instant Expert:
Collecting Toy Trains
by Richard Friz
 |
Collecting toy trains is one of America’s oldest collecting traditions. In the United States alone there are an estimated 200,000 toy train modelers, and the hobby continues to grow.
Author Richard Friz has been collecting for over 35 years and has authored ten other guides for House of Collectibles. His book recognizes that toy trains can be a hobby or an investment, or both.
Features within Collecting Toy Trains include: What to Collect — Toy Train Categories, The Essentials — Grading, Reproductions, Restorations, Model Railway Systems, Inventory and Insurance, Buying and Selling Trains at Auctions, on eBay, or through private vendors, A History of the Toy and Model Train Industry and a Resource Guide, including club information.
Instant Export: Collecting Toy Trains is $14.95 and available from House of Collectibles, www.houseofcollectibles.com.
Kovel’s
Antiques & Collectibles Price List 2007
by Ralph and Terry Kovel
 |
No doubt some antique dealers and lovers of antiques count the days for the release of a Kovel’s Price List. The release to the 39th Edition likely brought the expected anticipation.
At nearly 900 pages, this is the largest edition released by the Kovels and offers collectors of all levels a roadmap necessary for collecting and antiquing. Inside are full-color pages and prices for more than 45,000 items.
Values are set by the extensive research done by the couple as they visit shops, flea markets, read publications and catalogs, check online services and auctions, and network personally with the people in the antique business. Also invaluable is the news on collecting trends and an easy-to-use index with alphabetical cross-references.
Kovel’s Antiques & Collectibles Price List 2007 is published by Random House and priced at $19.95. To order, call 1-800-733-3000 or visit www.kovels.com.
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