Customer Reviews

Kovels' Antiques and Collectibles Price List, 36th edition

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

 

 

...it's also difficult to find your way around.

This book basically consists of a long list of "antiques", (including all possible kinds of 50's colletibles) sorted by type. The good thing about this book is, that the prices quoted are actual realized sales, i.e. there are no estimates and guestimates in this book.

The bad thing is, that whatever you're looking for will almost certainly not be in this book. And if it is, you will not be able to find it, unless you already know the book/the market very well.

Why? Well, there is, of course, an infinite amount of "stuff" out there. Even Kovel's 900 pages cannot cover it all. That would be less important, if the book a) limited its scope a bit e.g covering only "real" antiques OR "real" collectibles and b) showed us how to determine the value of something not in the book(e.g. if "your" chair is made out of a different kind of wood from the type described in the book, how does that influence the price?).

Instead, the problem (of looking up a certain kind of antique) actually is aggravated by the fact that the organization of items is not very clear. Example: if you're looking for the price of a Meissen Porcelaine Figurine, you may have to look under all three categories (Meissen, Porcelaine and Figurines). That of course being subject to you knowing that there is a separate "Meissen" category and not looking up "porcelaine" only. Forget the index, it rarely helps.

In my opinion, this book can be useful only for people that are willing to put a lot of time into the subject, learning the organization of the book by heart and visiting a lot of auctions / flea markets in order to develop a feeling for the factors influencing prices. A beginning collector is likely to be frustrated by this book.

If you're at all interested in antiques, this all-new version of the Kovels book is for you. I was attracted to the Kovels books years ago, but lately had stopped buying them. That was foolish because I'm a collector and NOT having a current guide probably meant I paid more for some things than I should have. I was attracted back to the Kovels while watching their very informative -- and funny -- TV show on Home and Garden Television. The show reminded me that I hadn't bought a guide for a few years, so I ordered one and started using it immediately. In a word, the Kovels new, updated, easy-to-use guide is indespensible!

I was very disappointed about this book. I find it poorly organized and lacking in content. It basicly consists of very long lists of items, and each item occupying approximately one line, and containing only very little description, and there are very few photos. Everyone who has tried knows that evaluating antiques is very tricky, and even from detailed descriptions and pictures it can be close to impossible. These lists are rather useless unless accompanied by lots of details. Perhaps for very specific items, i.e. china, glass, etc. it could be useful, but I think it has very limited use for furniture.

This, like lots of antique price lists, can make anyone a little nuts to use. As has been noted by others, 80% of the time what you want will not be in the book and then if it is, chances are that your items condition will be different that the one the book lists a price for. That said, these books can be helpful as a reference and give you kind of a "good idea" what different types of items go for. This book, like most general antique price lists is a little weak in the area of antique tools (one of my areas of interst) but this should not be much of a problem for most. Kovels' book is as good as any of the general interest price lists out there and worth having around.

This is the first book I had seen by the Kovels and I am totally impressed!It is just as it says-a listing of items and their estimated values!It does contain some helpful hints and small black and white photos through out (of some items).If you are looking for a photo guide-this is NOT it(I wasn't).Otherwise it is VERY informative.It also contains some background information about the companies (ie-Tiffany's,etc).Overall a great book and great authors!

Overall a okay book. It seems that everything is under priced!!!

Excelent to review but need more pictures about products and most clearly explanation about the prices right.

Kovel's like Martha are over rated. They can't know all. I recommend the Antique Trader 2004 Price Guide. The Antique Trader authors go to the expert for the information and give them credit.