Matchbox books

[Martin Avis]

I am currently compiling a catalogue of all the books I can find that cover Matchbox toys. I thought I had quite an extensive collection, but have discovered that their is a huge amount of literature out there. Right now, my list is up to almost 100 entries with a picture of the cover for each one. Mind you, I am including all the editions of each book, so the actual number of unique titles is a lot less!

A question for other book collectors (the first, I suspect, of many) is about the Bruce and Diane Stoneback books, all called Matchbox toys: The Collector's guide to selecting, collecting and enjoying new and vintage Matchbox Toys. From what I can tell there were two versions published in 1993, two in 1997 and one in 2002. Is there any difference between these five versions, apart from the covers? Also, why were there two different covers in 1993 and 1997? Were they meant for different markets?

[Tinman]

Welcome home!!! If you look at the fine print of your moderators contract, you will discover that "You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!"

Is your book list viewable on the web? I have other questions, like do you note if the book is out of print, do you rate or provide any critique of the books, etc.?

[matchboxmarcel]

there are indeed 3 versions for the Bruce and Diane Stoneback book.
I only have one at this moment.
I think the 2 different covers are for the UK and USA market but not sure.

I just used GOOGLE by the way and found 4 different covers !

marcel

[Idris]

Amazon usually shows whether a book exists in different editions, so that might help you determine what's going on.

[Martin Avis]

Welcome home!!! If you look at the fine print of your moderators contract, you will discover that "You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!"

I never intended to leave - I just ended up staying away longer than I expected! It feels really nice to be back.

Is your book list viewable on the web? I have other questions, like do you note if the book is out of print, do you rate or provide any critique of the books, etc.?

Hopefully it will be available. Right now it is a spreadsheet, but that’s not particularly user friendly.

I could put it all on a website, or maybe create an ebook in either PDF or Kindle format. I’m open to suggestions.

The columns I have are title, author, publisher, book type (hardback, paperback, PDF etc), year published, edition number, a picture of the cover, area of interest (RW, YY, general, etc) and notes. I can only offer reviews of those I have - about 25 out of the 95, but taking into account the number of books that have multiple editions, that covers a lot. I am happy to accept reviews of the missing ones from others, if anyone wants to help.

I hadn’t considered out of print dates because most all of them, barring a few odd self-published ones, are always available on Amazon or EBay.

Would there be an interest in a price guide, do you think?

P.S. I thought the list was pretty much complete already, but I found a different edition of one of the existing entries just last night!

[misterpop]

Nice one Martin I will look forward to perusing your list when its ready....Nice to hear from you BTW...Ian.

[Idris]

Hopefully it will be available. Right now it is a spreadsheet, but that’s not particularly user friendly. I could put it all on a website, or maybe create an ebook in either PDF or Kindle format. I’m open to suggestions.

I think a simple list of titles, authors and ISBNs would make a useful addition to The Reference Library. Individual entries could then be hyperlinked to reviews as and when they become available.