7 responses so far ↓

• 1 Simonsen

  As Disney collectors, we are constantly looking for that great deal! This book not only has an extensive listing of Disney collectibles, it is small enough to carry in a pocket or backpack. Just what my husband needed. He was really happy that it was under the Christmas tree for him this year.

• 2 Jean

  The first thing to know about the various Warman’s Field Guides is that by design they are not meant to be all encompassing. If you’re looking to a comprehensive guide to every Disney collectible then you will have to look elsewhere (if there is such a beast). The Warman’s Field Guides are designed to be pocket-sized guides, easily able to take-along on those trips to flea markets, antique shows, or garage sales. They are meant to give an example of various types of Disney collectibles, more for the casual or new collector, than one who’s a veteran. Thus you won’t find every item in the book but you’ll probably find pretty close approximations, enough to at least make an educated guess about an item’s value. It’s either that or haul around a Webster’s Dictionary-sized guide.

  The book is alphabetized by character name/film beginning with the “Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad”, and then goes on from there. There are marvelous treasures in the book that will make Disney collectors salivate and it’s complemented by fantastic, full-color photography, highlighting one item per page for the most part.

  Among the treasures are a complete Alice in Wonderland lobby card set of 8 valued at $1400, a Davy Crockett one-sheet movie poster from 1955 for $650, A 1950’s Donald Duck tin lithograph bank from Marx toys for $265, a 1930’s Clarabelle drinking glass for $40, a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs bisque figure set for $215, and a Mickey Mouse pocket watch from the 1930’s, valued at $465.

  There are a myriad of toys, figurines, books, posters, and lobby cards to be found within the pages of the guide. If I have one minor complaint it would be that there are too many examples shown in the book of the Mickey Mouse Magazine, Dell Four Color Comics and Walt Disney Comics and Stories. There’s probably a hundred pages, one-fifth of the book dedicated to these items which to me is a bit too much since there are already many excellent comic book price guides (Krause themselves puts out many great comic price guides) on the market which do a better job on these types of items. I would have rather seen much more coverage of non-comic book items.

  All in all though, the book definitely does what it intended to do.

  Reviewed by Tim Janson

• 3 VanCleve

  Was not overly impressed with the coverage of collectibles in this guide. Can’t be too specific except to say I perused the book when I received it a month ago and have not even opened it a 2nd time. Pretty much a wasted purchase. Sorry to be so critical.

• 4 Lame

  This book goes through the entire Disney legacy, in what is supposed to be art criticism. As far as it goes, the text is pretty good, but they are mere accompaniments to the photos, which is the bane of many art/design books. Finch makes an effort at being comprehensive, though ultimately - if you read through the whole thing - it comes off as a vanilla milk shake, with virtually no depth and ultimately flattering to just about everything Disney.

  Moreover, the beginning of the text is far stronger than the end, reflecting hte fact that this is an update. As such, the author worked much harder and dug deeper on the sections that covered Walt Disney’s work and ideas directly - the subject of the first edition and far more interesting than later work - and then feels the rest is pasted on to update it. To cover the post-Walt Disney things, many of which represent great art in and of themselves - would merit an independent work like the first volume.

  Futhermore, by separating the book into discrete sections devoted to film, TV, parks, etc., the author misses one of the most important aspects of the Disney company: its work is self-reinforcing through all the media. Thus, though the early TV shows did not get enough commercial sponsorship and hence lost money, Walt Disney viewed the shows as the ultimate tool to implant his brand in the minds of the young. Even the toys were part of this, though they are almost entirely neglected in this book. It all fits together, each part morphing into the others, which Finch fails to see.

  The worst failing of this book, though, is its utter lack of analysis beyond crude evocations of historical context. Though purporting to be a critic, Finch does not ponder any of the company’s impact on, or as a reflection of, American culture, particularly the dark side. Why do many people (myself not among them as I essentially love the DIsney legacy) despise the way the company transforms culture into its own immediately recognizable brand? What does it say about the American predilection to recreate realities, such as a mock European village, rather than seeking out the real thing (even at similar cost)? These are tough questions.

  In the end, this reads like something directly out of a PR department. I enjoyed the images and some of the reconstrctions of the films. But this offers little in the way of true criticism.

• 5 Quella

  This book gives good insight into the story of the Disney company. It was nice to hear an honest account of whether each movie was a success or failure with critics and audiences, though I feel some were a little shortchanged. A book of this size should have had a chapter (or at least a full page) dedicated to each movie. And while it is heavily illustrated, the text does not in any way rely on the pictures. I guess screen shots from the movies or brochure style pictures of the parks are “art” but based on the title I was expecting more unique in depth imagery like preproduction and concept art, storyboards, construction photos (from the parks).

  If you have the older Concise edition of this book, then I don’t think this one is necessary. So there are stills from a few more movies, but all the classics up to Fantasia 2000 are covered in the smaller book. Besides, the best of the new movies covered is Finding Nemo, and who doesn’t have that on tape or DVD? Don’t spend this much money on a few screen shots, just watch your movie. And I was particularly interested in seeing some of the new parks that weren’t in the other book (California Adventure and Tokyo DisneySea) but alas they accounted for about 3 pages. Just a warning because the annoying shrink wrap prevents anyone from flipping through to decide based on the contents whether or not to fork over that much money (and the cover is so enticing…).

  If you have never read anything about Disney this is a great place to start, but if you already have a collection of Disney books (especially this one’s concise ed.) then this one doesn’t have much more to offer. And if your true passion is in the theme parks, don’t let this deceptive title make you believe that equal emphasis is given to the “Magic Kingdoms”. There are way better (and cheaper) books on that subject that will give you much more insight.

• 6 Dempsey

  If you love animations from Disney, or the Disney success story, this is a must buy. My Wife loves this.

• 7 Dockery

  This is such a great book with great information about the disney company and of course mickey! and lots of great pictures!

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