Customer Reviews

200 Years of Dolls: Identification and Price Guide

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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.

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.

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.

The book is very incomplete: a great many dolls are not listed; mostly only composition. The dolls that are mentioned are way to often not pictured, which i found enormously frustrating.I thought paging through my new book would be fun but instead it was just irritating. And of course the prices change, so ones really needs to check the internet for those. It's a horrible pictoral reference. Better to invest in the more specific books like Cindy Sabulis's guides.This book is not recommended.

This book has been so helpful to me and my friends this author has covered everything

This is a GREAT reference book! It is well written, well laid out, filled with great photos and clear descriptions, and the best part is the accompanying cd. The cd has the maker marks for a huge number of doll manufacturers. And, for the collector and/or the buyer and seller of dolls, this cd is a very valuable resource. This is a reference/price guide that I have absolutely zero hesitation in highly recommending.

I purchased this book to assist me with identifying two unmarked dolls that I had inherited from my mother. Although I still haven't identified the dolls, I was able to get an approximate time frame (1925 - 1930) from this book as to when they were created.

The book includes a CD of doll maker marks that has been helpful as I look at dolls on auction websites. Sometimes the seller is not quite knowledgeable about the doll that they are selling but will show a picture of the doll with the mark visible. I can look up the mark and read about the manufacturer with this book.

The pictures are very good and some have inspired me to look for dolls to add to my collection. The histories of the companies and their products are most interesting. In this one book, I can find dolls that my mother may have been exposed to as well as dolls from my own childhood. This book has been delightful to read and to keep handy for a ready reference to the identity of a new old doll find.

Very nice book large easy to read book full of information and beautiful photos for each type doll. Great book for doll research or pleasure reading. Worth the price. You will be happy with this one.

I used this book while conducting an estate appraisal of a collection of some 45 high-end collectible dolls, all in pristine original condition with boxes, hang tags, etc. and some with custom-made display cases. Only 20-25% of the dolls in the collection were listed in this book.

This book has provided many hours of investigation for my wife Joan as she is selling off many of her dolls. This book really helped.