200 Years of Dolls: Identification and Price Guide [Paperback]

Dawn Herlocher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

With entries ranging from Acme Doll Company to Wooden Dolls, this second edition of "200 Years of Dolls" makes identifying your prized collectible a breeze. Whether that special doll is an antique Jumeau or your big sister's Barbie, you will find easy-to-read charts and fascinating histories to help you to uncover the true value of your cherished possession. This book features: 32 color pages; 400+ photographs; 5,000+ dolls; 176 doll manufacturers; manufacturer's marks; comparison charts; updated pricing; and, thorough histories.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended for all doll dealers and collectors" -- Model and Collectors Mart, July 2002. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dawn Herlocher has been collecting dolls more than 35 years. Herlocher consults and has served as technical advisor for auction houses including Sotheby's, Christie's and McMasters. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Antique Trader Books (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930625293
• ISBN-13: 978-0930625290
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,210,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over 275 doll manufacturers are included in a lovely coverage, September 6, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 200 Years of Dolls: Identification & Price Guide, Third Edition (Paperback)

Dawn Herlocher's 200 Years Of Dolls Identification And Price Guide, 3rd Edition unlike competing doll guides, over 5,000 dolls of all kinds are identified from Raggedy Ann editions to Barbie. The book comes packed with color photos - but the inclusion of manufacturer's marks, comparison charts and histories is what makes 200 Years Of Dolls so special. Of course, there's the latest pricing to aid in valuations. Over 275 doll manufacturers are included in a lovely coverage.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice e ffort but falls short for me, December 9, 2007

By 

Tell It Like It Is (Stuck on Midgard) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 200 Years of Dolls: Identification & Price Guide, Third Edition (Paperback)

I just got done looking through this book, which is the 3rd edition and is dated 2005. I bought this book for $2 used on Amazon and that is all it is worth to me. I bought it for business purposes and if I'd paid the full retail price, I'd have been inclined to return it.

The photos are nice, full color and close up enough to get a good feeling of what each doll looks like, but there are many more dolls mentioned in text that are not pictured. It makes it hard to identify a doll if there's no photo of it.

For example, I mostly deal with Barbie and other fashion dolls and dolls of the later 60's and 70's. There is a section on Barbie but it offers only a few photos and most of the dolls listed are only mentioned in text. If you didn't already know what you had in your hand, how would you be able to look it up?

Crissy is one of the most popular dolls made by Ideal and there is only a mention of her in the 4 pages devoted to Ideal. There is not one photo of Crissy or any of her family. The only photo I saw listed under Mego was a NRFB Cher doll from the 70's. All the other Mego dolls are only mentioned by name. This book also does not list dates for most dolls. I find that frustrating, too. And the prices suggested as the value are very theoretical. Maybe pre-Ebay somebody would have spent so much for Barbie, let's say, but prices are not that good today, although the author does state she based prices on the doll being in mint condition and with original box, outfit and accessories. Still, I haven't seen too many Barbies in the condition she describes go for quite that much online.

Now, I don't want to say this book is all bad. Its just very incomplete in terms of it being a real history of 200 years of dolls. Its a very brief overview of dolls throughout the last 200 years and most of the photos that are featured, are of antique dolls, not fashion dolls, even though many fashion dolls are listed in text. I don't feel it would be worth $30, which is the suggested retail price. This book would be greatly improved by adding LOTS more photos and if it were spiral bound. Its very heavy and thick (415 pages) and pages don't stay open well. There's a whole chunk of pages seperating from the spine already and this book was like new! I also think the year for each doll should also be added next to the description. Again, a nice effort but falls short. It may be that it is too great of an undertaking to be covered in one volume. I feel the author should have covered less to give us more.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Third edition: Doll Identification by Herlocher, June 14, 2007

By 

LinAnne "Lin22" (Puget Sound) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 200 Years of Dolls: Identification & Price Guide, Third Edition (Paperback)

I refer to this doll book often.
Any author who attempts to include 200 years` worth of antique and collectible dolls in one book has quite a feat ahead. But the author does a wonderful job.

This hardback book is printed on quality paper.
The photos are very nicely taken.
Information is very helpful.

PS: Addendum (July,2009): I just found out that this author has just issued "VOLUME 4", in this series(out in July,2009).
I will surely buy Volume 4, and enjoy both VOLUME 3 and VOLUME 4 together, because this author does such a nice job with all her books, and it's worth owning both Volumes 3 and 4. In my opinion, that's how valuable Volumes 3 and 4 will become in my own doll library. Thus, if you are a doll lover or doll collector, I would look into both Volumes (ie:3 and 4).

PSS: I do not own Volumes 1 and 2 in this series.