Figurines Books

I found this story to be really a fun read, a good whodunit that doesn't get too complicated or cumbersome. It reads quickly but not at the expense of being too elementary or simplistic. The events are narrated in the first person by the protagonist, an author by day and a self-trained thief when it suits him. In addition to the entertaining story, Ewan makes good use some wry and sarcastic humor displayed by our author/thief. I also liked his laid-back demeanor and persona. Ewan makes it all fit together very well and those bits of humor along with the plot twists and turns keep the reader turning the pages. There is, however, not a classic "good vs. evil" in this story, as most all of the characters live on the shadier side of life. Ewan's use of Amsterdam and it's world-famous diamond trade, as well as its neighborhoods and references to some Dutch cultural nuances and mannerisms, lent this story authenticity. It was clear the author has spent time in Amsterdam and is acquainted with the Dutch people and culture. He used his knowledge well to support the story.

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam (2007) introduces Charlie Howard, a professional thief who writes a mystery series about a professional thief. While in Amsterdam trying to wrap up the loose ends of his latest mystery (he can't figure out how to get a briefcase containing a severed hand to the right place), Charlie is hired by a mysterious American to steal two small monkey figurines. Then the American is killed, and Charlie is a suspect. This light-hearted caper novel is full of classic elements: a beautiful girl in distress, menacing thugs, stolen diamonds, and a group unveiling of the solution to the mystery.
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Literally the second I finished this book I thought to myself, "This would make a great movie!" I've never thought like that before. Come to find out this book was written by an entertainment lawyer so that may have just been what he had in mind. This is not an orthodox whodunit. The main character is not your typical leading man in any way. But he is really fun and interesting. I found all of the characters and the story itself to be unique and intriquing. The only issue I had at first was some of the British wording and the spellings of certain words are slightly different than we use here in the US. But don't for a second let that put you off. You can't go wrong with this one in any way. The only way you could not enjoy this book is if you are dead inside.

Diamonds, who has them and who wants to get hold of them, is central to this exciting debut novel by Chris Ewan, their origin fundamental to the dilemma that faces Charlie Howard, a mystery writer and part-time thief who is currently living in Amsterdam in the hope that the city will inspire him to sort out some of the plot problems that plague his current story.

Charlie is surely not your average thief. A man who despises guns and violence, Charlie has only taken to thieving so that he can earn that little bit of extra cash on the side, despite being a little tentative of the risks involved. Cautious by nature, Charlie is hesitant to take chances, even when a shady American contacts him via his web site, asking to meet him at a well-known café in central Amsterdam.

Charlie has no idea who the American is and has far less reason to trust him, but the lure of a new job is something that he's long since given up trying to fight. When the American hands Charlie, a plaster of Paris figurine of a monkey, and asks him to steal two more, one that covers his ears, and the other covering his mouth, Charlie is at first uncertain on whether or not to take him up on the offer.

All things considered, it is hard to imagine that the figurines are worth more than a handful of pounds or euros, but the American is determined that Charlie should be the one to do the job as both are in private dwellings, one in a houseboat, the other in an apartment, and therefore both will be relatively easy to steal. After initially saying no, Charlie decides that he can't really resist the challenge, especially as the American, Michael Park has guaranteed that no one will be home in the respective residences. T

The houseboat burglary goes well, but Charlie is unceremoniously interrupted when he's in the apartment just as he's holding the second precious monkey figurine in his hands. Forced to hide in the attic, while the intruder slashes all of the furniture, little does Charlie know, however, that this particular adventure into the world of petty thievery is going to become a lot more complicated than he first thought.

Figurines in hand, he arrives back at the Café only to be told by the blonde bartender Marieke that Michael Park has disappeared, taken by two men, one thin and one large. Charlie notices that Marieke's movements are rushed and she looks anxious and when he then shows her the figurine, her blue eyes surprisingly transfixed by the object. His suspicions are even further aroused when Park turns up beaten to death, perhaps an unsuspecting victim of a botched robbery.

Charlie has never played this game before and when he finds himself the chief suspect in Park's murder, he finds himself caught up in a cat and mouse game as he tries to thwart the lead Dutch police officer Inspector Burggrave, who has taken a severe disliking to him. Charlie's dilemma is further complicated by the arrival of two masked henchmen who are determined to get their hands on the precious figurines.

Of course, everyone is corrupt or ruined in Ewan's Amsterdam, the motive for Park's murder appearing to be illusive at best. But much needed help arrives in the form of overweight Englishman Henry Rutherford who arrives on the scene from the British Embassy and is determined to unlock the mystery of Park's past life. Holding on to the key pieces of evidence, the figurines, Rutherford appears as the affable and loyal lawyer, who helps Charlie unlock a dark secret involving a botched diamond robbery at a Dutch trading company called Van Zandt's where apparently Park once worked as a security guard and where he ultimately stole a fortune in prized stones.

It's not entirely surprising that The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam actually does read like a tour guide to this famous city, with Ewan evoking the chilly atmosphere, including the red light distracts, with the dance music pulsing out from the sex booths, the grandness of Central Station and the Damrak and bleak expanses of the eastern dock areas. All is a perfect fit for murder, thievery and double crossing treachery as Charlie, a burglar who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, races against the clock to figure out the secret of the set of figurines and who was really responsible for Park's death. Mike Leonard December 2007.

A great mystery for people who normally don't like mysteries. Amateur thief/writer Charles Howard is asked to steal two plaster monkeys for an acquaintance. The acquaintances dies, Howard is pegged for the murder, and goes on an invesigative hunt and thieving spree for the third monkey and the real killer. It's eloquent like a good '50s movie. Laughs throughout.

Great book for getting the current value of Royal Doulton items.
Easy to use and very thorough.

A useful catalogue for the collector of Royal Doulton Figurines.

The book is very good and has photos of all but the latest figurines. The prices in the book would have to be considered "full retail". I found many figurines for sale in mint condition for 1/2 the book price or less. It is well organized with easy indexing by name or number.

This volume is enormously helpful in identifying & valuing Royal Doulton Figurines. Sorted by series (e.g. HN or M) & series # (4-digit number following series) it is very easy to use! Also it has cross-references which are very helpful when you have a name/title instead of the series #.

This book would have gotten a 5-star rating from me if it did not have missing HN series #'s, most of which correspond to animal figurines. Since I am interested in a FEW animals, it would have been nice to have them all in one volume! (I don't really want to buy ANOTHER reference just for the few animals I'm interested in!)

Also, if you are a Bunnykins collector, that info is also missing from this volume. (I'm not, so it wasn't a problem for me.)

An extremely comprehensive book on Royal Doulton figurines for
the beginning or advanced collector. Each HN series figure is
pictured, described, and priced with artist noted. An excellent
resource for appraising your collection. The company history
section is fascinating. Well worth the price!

I got this little gnome to go everywhere with me. I originally had a larger ceramic gnome which I took w/ me on a trip to Ireland. But I wanted something smaller for my purse, so I got this little guy. He goes with me everywhere (and I have photos to prove it).
http://flickr.com/photos/laserone/sets/72157606484218213/
I recently got another one for my friend, now we each have one. I gave mine a new hat so we wouldn't get ours mixed up. He's a real conversation piece when sitting at a restaurant table. People think I'm weird, but I'd hate to be normal.

Really cute product, I bought this as a birthday present for a friend who loves Amelie and is traveling to France. Quirky and funny.

I ordered this little guy because I thought it would be a lot of fun, I thought I could pass him around various family members when they travel. His first trip will be to Iraq to visit my son. I'm very happy with him but (there's always a but) the included passport isn't really a passport. OK, I didn't expect it to be the real deal but I did expect there to be blank pages where you could write a note about where he'd been, maybe include a tiny picture. The cover looks like a passport, and the first page is like a passport the rest is just a cute little book about gnomes. I'm planning on taking the book apart and using the cover but making my own "official passport pages"

A very cute little gnome who, for now anyway, is happy to maintain his perch upon my desk. When he gets the itch to travel, he'll be ready to go with his handy passport.

When I had to cancel an overseas trip with a friend, I provided her with this helpful gnome to accompany her in my absence. Fortunately he comes with his own passport, so getting through customs was a breeze. He is made of sturdy stuff, so he did not break in her backpack, and was always available for photo-ops, looking his best. He did get her in trouble in front of a sacred monument when she tried to photograph him, but its hardly fair to blame it on him. He always let her choose the hotel and restaurant and never complained about having to sleep with her old shoes. Really, he's far better than a lot of people I've traveled with. I don't think she'll choose him over me next time (his conversational skills are limited, and the fact he can't drive meant she had to stay sober most of the time) but if you need an amiable travel companion, this is your guy!!

Excellent book for a collector. However it's kind of pricey for a catalog that most collectors would like to buy every year to stay up with the latest info.

This is a GREAT book for a Precious Moments Collector! They have pictures of ALL PM merchandise, figurines, plush, ornaments, plaques, etc. I would recomend this book to a fellow collector. This is also a great book for a new collector. The only thing is that the book is a little pricey.

This book is a necessity to all PM collectors. It is a bit pricey but is well worth the cost. This book provides excellent pictures of figurines as well as a alphabetized and numerical index that can be used to locate the specific figurine.

This is the BEST reference book you can buy if you are a PM collector. All the figurines are in this book with their value, depending of the year the figurine was issued - even the most rare ones! You can also read about the story of how PM started, how they are made, variations in figurines and much more! It's a good "investment" to make, believe me!! :)

This guide is awesome! It is so complete in it's content that you can find any piece ever made by name, category, or item #. Full color, easy to use and carry around while shopping.

Ancient & Medieval Wargaming

A good all-in-one rules set for miniature gaming in the Ancient and Medieval worlds. Lots of armies included and room for growth.

The rules are a bit dense and the formatting isn't very intuitive, but if you have a background in gaming generally and miniature gaming in particular, Ancient and Medieval Wargaming may well be just for you.

Mr. Thomas Ancient and medieval Wargaming is about as good as it gets in wargames rules. The general period is subdivided into 5 sub-eras, all of which share generally similar mechanical rules. Around this frame the real joy of the book is constructed - period detail that is sensible, and dozens on dozens of army lists. What makes this combination different is that the rules can be easily understood by anyone, and yet there is considerable complexity - a complexity that comes from decision making, not rules generated minutia. You may wonder about what to do next, but you'll have no problems with 'how to' do it next. Likewise the rules make it plain that these are game rules - not simulations. It is refreshing to have a specific and carefully defined victory, not a 'We'll play until we're tired, or until our wives clear their throats one time too many...' In these rules there will be a winner and a loser in about two hours.
I've been a miniatures wargame for more than thirty years. This is the best twenty bucks I've ever spent!

I love this book. I got Neil's earlier more general wargaming book and this has everything he couldn't fit in there. Including rules for each period, scenarios with "special rules" that fit the circumstances of the scenario, background info on the period and its warfare and just great writing!

I intend to do a full review of this book in my next podcast of The Solowargaming Show.

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This book is great, I have dumped all my old wargmes rules and now am using this one extensively, it is simple enough for me to remember how to play when I like, unlike all my other sets, which I seem to have to re-read over and over again before being able to play again but not with this book nor his previous book Wargaming and Introduction, which is a very good as well, hope to see some more from Mr. Thomas soon I hope. Get this one if your tired of re-hashing complicated wargames everytime you wanna game.

Carole Jean Boyd is the Master of the Cypress Knee and you will see this when you purchase this book. Fox Chapel has done it again.

This is a very good book but since much of the work is done with power tools or wood burners it wasn't appropriate for me...my bad...good book

This is a great book which is a must for learning to carve cypress knees. Great pictures and clear instructions. Thanks J Mallory

Good reference if you are looking to identify dolls, but very few of the dogs, mice, horses, and wildlife the company produced are listed, which included, unfortunately, none of the ones I was looking for. The pictures are very clear and the price guide is easy to follow, however.

Josef Originals were figurines from my childhood and are a wonderful collectable to pass down through generations. This well illustrated book will delight any Josef collector. It begins with a short written history and jumps into many pages of clear pictures. Each page is a delight to view. This guide has a price listing in the back. Collect all three "Josef" books by the Authors Jim & K Whitaker. These books are indeed collectibles in themselves.

I love this book. The photos are very clear and sharp. It has a great and easy to read price guide and background on the artist. Invaluable book if you collect Josef Original figurines!

This book is a beautiful book as far as the pictures go and it does have all the lines and styles in one book, but the price guide is very limited. It doesn't break down the generation of the shoes, ie: Thailand or China, shoe box colors (a collector's item in themselves), or oddities and their value as most are rare. This publisher should use the similar guidelines of their Beanie Baby Collectors Guide and break down the generations or in this case production generations, and it's varities. As it stands now, it is just a catalog.

I'm not the shoe collector... the wife is so I bought her this guide. She loves it, which ends up costing me more money, 'cause now she wants more shoes.

Considering this is the only book in the market for the JTRS collection, it contains mostly everything you would need to complete your collection. All of Raine's shoes, up to the end of 2000, are included in this book along with her Take A Seat collection. There are brief descriptions for each shoe and the suggested retail price with a place for you to enter the price you paid for each piece. There is an interview with Raine as well as a brief history about the shoe collection. Keep in mind that since this collection is rather new, the market value information will be limited.

I am a NZ collector and have kept records for last 5 1/2 years which do not agree with descriptions, dates and other catalog info published in this book. Having written to Author with correction list, like a few others have also done, I was disappointed with the total nil-response. Many NZ collectors are still trying to find toys that were never released here, though the book says otherwise. Pictures etc still helpful for reference regarding some countries.

This book includes lots and lots of pictures of Happy Meal Toys issued around the World. The ckeck-off boxes make it very easy to organize and keep track of your collection. It is also very useful in finding out which toys were issued and when

You may have never thought you'd find a "foreign" McD's toy at a garage sale in Kansas, but it happens! Sometimes European toys are used as fill-ins here in the US, or someone may have taken a vacation and eaten at McD's! The foreign toys are very exciting and even if they parallel a promo in the US (such as Disney's "Aladdin"), they aren't always the same toys. Full-color photos let you know exactly what you have and what you need to finish that set.

Don't think that because this book was published in the 1980s that it is somehow out of date. It is an excellent book that will show even the first time carver (like me) how to get started and to achieve good results with minimal outlay on tools and materials. When my husband saw my very first Santa, he pronounced that he wants me to make him 10 more like it. Well, I don't know about that... But carving is enjoyable, just make sure to buy a leather thumbguard so you don't cut yourself like I did!

The Santa carving and painting techniques are well illustrated and explained. I also like how he describes how you can modify his patterns to personalize your Santas. He even shows how to cut a wood blank without a power tool.

Ron Ransom's book is highly recommended for the novice carver who would like to produce nice results. Mostly photos and captions, the book takes the reader through the basic steps of making some attractive "folk art" santa figures. Don't be fooled by the sparse text -- the photos offer a wealth of guidance. Ron also describes a simple yet effective way to give the carvings an "antique" look. Warning: once you do a few of these projects, expect to get many requests for your work around the Holidays!