1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Wish it had more of the collectibles, but is better than most, 2007-10-21
I like the fact that the book shows so many color pictures. That is great! Unfortunately, as, with many of these types of books, it doesn't list many of the collectible coca cola items. The book could also be organised better. There are several different places to find clocks for example. If you go by the table of contents you might miss what you are looking for. When you go by the index you have to sift through different sections of the book looking for it. However, the back of the book was very helpful with the section on slogans for different years. It is a good book, but I wish it listed more of the collectibles or at least mentioned them. Still, I recently ordered a few other books on coke collectibles and this one seems to have more info than they did.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Great resource, but are the prices realistic?, 2003-11-17
I have owned most editions of this book, and as a resource for researching Coca Cola memorabilia, I would have to say it is unsurpassed. I haven't seen any other guides come close in the number of items shown.I do question the pricing of these items, however. I don't see how everything can continually increase in price from one edition to another, especially when you consider internet sales activity (a very large part of Coca Cola memorabilia sales nowadays). As a collector, I never pay at price-levels shown in this edition, and I certainly do not obtain these prices when I occasionally sell an item off on an internet auction site. I just feel that the prices are a bit inflated. No one could keep track of the huge amounts of Coca Cola memorabilia sales in all venues around the country. I tend to take pricing in guidebooks with a grain of salt, especially, as in this case, when the author is also a major collector. Just a little too much potential for conflict of interest.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Fed Up With This One, Too, 2003-10-04
Right off the bat: I agree that the omission of blotters and assorted other collectibles from this guide is a gaping omission as big as a barn. I hardly use this guide anymore for several reasons:
1) The back index is as bad as they come. Totally incomplete.
2) You want to find a certain tray? Be prepared to bounce from one end of the book to the other looking for what you need. There is no apparent logic to the way this guide is arranged. I'm sure the author felt it was completely logical, but his logic escapes me.
3) The front index is just painful to figure out. There is a usability book out there called "Don't Make Me Think". The author of this Coke guide should study it.
4) Too much rhetoric and opinion about "fantasy" items. I find this section of the guide painful to sift through. Just the facts, please. And then there's the illogical order of everything .The best that can be said about this guide is that it's big. It is poorly organized and has way too many omissions to be my primary guide. If a 12th edition ever comes out, I'm going to check it out before buying, to see if these problems have been fixed.
I much prefer Wilsons' guide over this one.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Too Much HYPE !, 2003-06-27
A lot of pictures. Prices that reflect nothing on reality. Not one Cleveland Electric Neon Clock. Not one American Time Clock. I have 3 originals hanging in front of me. Missing some of the major buttons. Typical collectors book. Pictures of everything that's out there, except the rare items you buy these books to find out about. Total dissapointment. I have stacks of collector books that have proven useless. There all written by the "authority" on the subject on hand. I think this explains the ... in collecting and the stacks of used books available. If you're going to make a "Know It All" book, than you better know at least %90. Monster let down.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
WHY NO BLOTTERS??, 2001-07-28
I'm very dissapointed in this book! After waiting 3 months beyond the original publish date, I find there are no blotter pages. I understand there will be no more blotters in future books, also. As I've been buying and selling blotters based on the Petretti's prices, I feel I cannot give this book a good rating. Also, why do we now have to jump all over the place to find the trays? They used to be simplified in one area.