Customer Reviews

Antique Santa Claus Collectibles

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As the author of this book, I wanted to explain to readers its purpose.
This book is filled with photographs from many personal collections around the Midwest and also includes background information as to the history of Santa Claus and Santa Collecting. This is my NINTH published price guide for Collector Books, and I have been an author with the same publisher for 25 years. I have never written a response for any of my other books on AMAZON but have been a loyal customer since its inception. Since the very FIRST review was from a purchaser who gave this product a very low rating but did compliment the pictures...I wanted to respond. This book is a general overview to Santa collecting and was intended to be a reference for new collectors, general antique dealers, and people just interested in Santa antique collecting. It is not the ULTIMATE guide to Santa antiques...I am not sure any guide could ever be that. Just know that I spent many months on this project and gave it my best, including personally doing all the photography. Readers who know my work also know that I don't produce "one star" efforts. Thank you for reading this review!

David Longest's handbook Antique Santa Claus Collectibles arrived too late for Christmas mention but is a year-round reference for any avid collector of Christmas ornaments, figurines, and decorations. The focus is on Santa Claus alone, narrowing the choices and allowing for plenty of color photos paired with the latest identification guides. Any collection offering narrowed specialty focus - particularly holiday references - will find this a key title.

This book is great. The background text is very informative, yet keeps Santa fun. The book contains a wide variety of items covering many years. I found both the pictures and prices helpful. I'm always very happy with Mr. Longest's books.

My first surprize was that many of the Santas shown appeared in more than one "era" and at different prices, casting doubts on the entire project. Many of the Santas were in POOR condition; some photos were blurry. The "values" were inflated 5 to 7x market value. The final surprize was that this author has done other collector books. I recommend avoiding this one...

Photo's in book are very good, however the description of the individual Santa's are poor and the values presented are very inflated. Would not recommend the book.