Customer Reviews

Zippo: The Great American Lighter (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

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

 

 

David Poore's book is the first english-only book to focus entirely on Zippo lighters. It should be on the shelf of every lighter collector. The pictures are well done and the date code explanation appears to be accurate.

However, recent discoveries have rendered the book obsolete, and a new edition is needed that incorporates the new findings. The sections on Metalliques, the Zippo Car, Town & Country artwork, and the Zippo Rule contain incorrect information.

There is little or no information about the rare Canadian, Advertising, or Emblem Zippo lighters. There are also some problems with the structure of the book itself.

For instance, each lighter is given an "access code." However, there is no explanation for what this access code is, nor a frame of reference that ties a given access code in with a corresponding Zippo ID number, resulting in painstakingly compiled information that is confusing and not very helpful. Also, although the section on advertising lighters is very sparse, there are references to "generic advertisers" and "featured advertisers." What is a "featured advertiser?" What is a "generic advertiser?" No explanation for these terms, or for how to determine whether a given lighter is one or the other, creates additional confusion. Several of the captions refer to different values for "featured" versus "generic" advertisers, so this is obviously a correction that is badly needed.

Despite these caveats, David Poore's book deserves to be owned by every collector of tobacciana. I bought two copies of the first edition, and eagerly look forward to a new edition that corrects the flaws of the first.

Poore does a first rate job in introducing and detailing the history of the Zippo lighter. The book is very easy to read, great detail is paid to the markings found on the lighters and their inserts. This book has become a bible for novice an expert alike. I find that this book pays dividends time and time again as an invaluable reference tool. More Military and Advertising Logo photos in the future would be well appreciated. I highly endorse David Poore's book as a must have for serious seller and buyer alike in the field of Zippos.

David does a great job of describing different "eras" of Zippo, and how you can tell the difference between them. Wonderful illustrations of many wonderful lighters. Only problem I see is that it refers to 1932 Zippos, and it has been proven that production did not start until 1933. In that respect, a new release does need to be made, but still, the best one out there. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!

The book is very detailed and offers a depth of information never seen before. It offers accurate guidelines for dating Zippos as well as a complete and accurate price guide. However, prices can vary significantly. Some of the items are priced lower than the market would allow today. The quality of the publication is very good. Excellent photos. Very well done. Christian Wenger for 'Spark International' lighter collector's club

First the good:
*Probably one of the best books written about Zippos, and is a good book for begining collectors to start with.
*Some good photos
*Easy to read

Now the bad:
*Values are out of date. Any book written will be out of date regarding prices, but you can use the prices as a comparative value of lighters.
*The author has too many photos of one-of-a-kind and prototype Zippos. So basically he is just showing us his collection. This is interesting, but doesn't help a collector, because you and I will never come across those same lighters. It would be more helpful to show pictures of the Zippos we might actually come across in the real world.
*The book is sometimes in chronological order, sometimes not. It would be helpful to keep it all chronological.

In summry:
There aren't many good books on Zippos in the first place, so by default this is probably the best.
Your best bet is to have more than one lighter books if you are serious about collecting.

I bought this book for my boyfriend who is just starting to collect lighter's. He just loves it. He has it by his side when ever he is looking at one to buy on-line. It has the prices and great photo's.This book has alot of info on Zippo's. Very easy to understand. Plus it keep's him busy! LOL You will enjoy this book.David Poore has done a great job with this book. I've never seen the first addition but we really like this one.

While the 1st edition of David Poores "Bible" of Zippo guides was outstanding his 2nd edition falls short. This would have been a great opportunity to add new pictures, variations and other information, instead what we get is the same old info from the 1st edition with updated pricing.

The Bible of Zippo, packed with info, prices out of date, but the information alone is outstanding. Tons of Pics, dating and history of the Zippo. Awesome!