Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Cigarette Lighters: Identification & Values

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

 

 

This book is useful for identification of some lighters. The values are out of date and need to be converted for 2008 prices. The photo images are clear and easy to use. It's a good reference book for lighter collectors or anyone interested in tobacciana.

This is a great book for vintage lighter collectors. I have two from the 50's that I could not find a value for anywhere until I bought this book.

Waste of time and money, there was almost no information, not a Zippo in sight, all odd ball lighters, no details just quickie price information including sections on matches, holders and other non-lighter items. We needed a price guide to lighters, and this was not it. The only thing big about it, well there was nothing big about it, as a matter of fact there was not a big value, or even a big book, much smaller than most price guides.

Apparently one of the reasons for this book is values for lighters. Obviously, any book of values is fairly obsolete by the time it is printed as markets change. Add that you must know what condition is being used for the quoted price and the whole concept falls apart. The only way to get a snapshot of prices to to check eBay and see what lighters are going for now or in the very recent past.

Since price wasn't a good reason for the book, it had to be lighter identification. OOPS! This book doesn't get it there either. In some cases model names are used instead of manufacturers (e.g. Brown & Bigelow Redilite is identified as a Redilite by Redilite). In other cases, the manufacturer is correct (e.g. Evans, Ronson, etc.) but model names aren't given. So, lighter identification is nothing to brag about either.

There is little apparent organization to the book other than broad categories. Within a category it would be reasonable to expect lighters from a given manufacturer be grouped together - didn't happen. Alternatively, one might thing the lighters would be organized chronologically - nope. I found just enough mistakes to make me question the accuracy of anything I didn't already know - though most of the information that I was already sure of was correct.

This looks like a book that was just thrown together with minimal research and the barest of information - just to get a book put together. Although the markets may have been quite different when the book was put together, knowing some of the recent prices on eBay, the pricing seems wildly out of proportion for a great percentage of the items; in relative terms, some vastly overpriced - some seriously undervalued - and some pretty much on the money for today. It is the relative values that are a problem; if the values seem right they can be adjusted for inflation and the movement of time - but if they don't seem correct in proportion to one another, then there is no logical way to even consider the price information.

It's a shame that such a nice book with great pictures wasn't researched and put together as a serious book where the written content did justice to the pictures and overall quality of the book itself.

This book was a complete disappointment. We bought this book because we are ebay merchants wanting a good book to identify some vintage lighters we had recently purchased.
First, its title is highly misleading! It claims to be an identification and value guide but there is no effort made to help the reader identify anything or explain how the prices were obtained.
The author, James Flanagan, makes no effort to explain to the reader the most basic information on the topic. No information is provided that explains how to identify vintage lighters, names of brands or manufacturers etc. Indeed aside from an exceptionally long list of acknowledgements (10+ people) the author provides two short paragraphs on the subject that explain how writing the book was "his labor of love". That's it!
He then goes on to show 200 pages of vintage lighter photos along with their supposed values. The trouble with this approach is that he does not explain why he selected the lighters he did and how he arrived at his prices. Indeed many of them seem highly dubious. For example the "Bell Hop Cigarette Holder" on page 204, Flanagan gives a valuation of $75-100 but if you were to look it up in past ebay sales history you would see that since 2000 that lighter has consistently attained a price in the $500+. Ditto for most of the other lighters -- you cannot obtain most of them at the low prices he quotes. Considering this book was published in 2005 and the data cited above was easily obtainable on a site like eBay's marketplace research, such an error is unforgivable!
I could go on to citizen the book on many other levels (like its lack of high end lighters, its filler topics like match books covers & ephemera, its poorly organized table of contents and many of the obvious errors / typos)... but you get the point. The book was poorly conceived, organized and executed.
The obvious question arises then as to why the book was published in the first place? The answer is simple: This title is part of a broader series called Schroeder's Antiques - there are several advertisements all over the book for other titles from the series. It looks to me like they wanted a title that they could pass on to retailers as an actual price & identification guide as there are not many good ones out there at this price level. What the consumer gets is a highly questionable source of data with a title that makes it sound as though it is the authority on the subject. Don't be fooled!

Colorful photos capturing details of hundreds of all kinds of lighters make this a prime guide for collectors. The captions right beside each photo note material, manufacturer, date, size, and price range--e. g., "Chromium lighter/case, made for king-size cigarettes, by Evans. Circa early 1950s. 4-3/4"h, 2-1/2w. $30.00-50.00." Animals, Art Deco, Beyond the Ordinary, Decorative, Miniatures, and Sets are among the many different categories. The category Miscellaneous Tobacco Accessories for pipe holders, match boxes, cigarette tins, etc., comes at the end. Numerous sharp photos, simple informative captions, and clear organization make this a ready reference for collectors and dealers at all levels. With its many photos arranged orderly, it is particularly useful to beginners to scan through to find out what types of lighters and related items to keep their eyes open for at flea markets and other resources.