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Rating: 
Summary: Great but outdated
Review: How amazing that a toy such as Hot Wheels should create political dividing lines, pro or against Strauss. Like it or not, as Hot Wheels guides go, this one is the best of the bunch. While improvement in several areas could be accomplished, clearly this is the best "one-stop" source for Hot Wheels info. No book is ever going to give you the up-to-the-minute value of a collectible. That is impossible. Use the pictures to identify and the prices as a rough GUIDE and you will not be disappointed. Cudo's to the Strauss' for doing a third edition, flawed or not.
Rating:
Summary: This is THE book about Hot Wheels
Review: I found the third edition to be an improvement over the second edition in terms of the prices of cars listed, but still off in many instances. As a price guide, it allows the reader to see the relation of different colors and variations to others, but the prices themselves are not, and cannot be expected to be, current. If it takes about a year to revise and publish a book, how can that price guide have "current values" in it? Before criticizing this book, and it's author, I think Hot Wheels collectors should consider the huge effort of time and organization in producing a book of this type. It is a massive undertaking. As a general guide to the world of Hot Wheels, this stands as a great example of a fairly complete, authoritative manual to this ever-changing, (usually appreciating) toy collectible. No matter how you slice it, this is THE Book for Hot Wheels collectors. I like the layout, the photos, and the historical information that introduces the book. As a collector I am intrigued by the history of this legendary toy brand! It is easy to criticize, but I'd like to ask the collectors that are overly critical of this book: "How knowledgable would you be WITHOUT the Tomart guide?"
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Summary: Hot Wheels guide probably indispensable
Review: I have an interest in older Hot Wheels, and was looking for values and prices. This is the only book that differentiates between the various colors of the early cars, and those colors make all the difference in value. As a result this book is almost indispensable. The color guide itself is only so-so, being particularly difficult to match up with some of the brighter colors. There were so many shades that sometimes the guide is only so-so too. But since this is the only book that even bothers to attempt to divide the cars by color, this is the one to get.
Rating: 
Summary: The best resource book available for hot wheel collectors
Review: This book is easy to use and fun. I learned a lot about my hot wheels and this encouraged me to keep searching and collecting. If you are a hot wheel collector this is a must have. Can't wait for the 4th edition.
Rating:
Summary: Tomarts 5th
Review: This book is loaded with valuable information. Lots of pictures & needed specs, but as in previous editions, the incomplete index leaves much to be desired, and the pricing is out of this world. However, that said, it is a great addition to a collectors library.
Rating:
Summary: Tomarts 5th
Review: This book is loaded with valuable information. Lots of pictures & needed specs, but as in previous editions, the incomplete index leaves much to be desired, and the pricing is out of this world. However, that said, it is a great addition to a collectors library.
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Summary: Guide for hot wheels flawed but probably indispensable
Review: This book purports to be a guide to all of the hot wheels cars produced for the last thirty plus years. It's very up-to-date, and well written and thought out. It has lists of all of the cars, with the early ones priced by color so you can keep track of which ones are more or less expensive. The colors in the color guide don't look that good to me, and since there are so many shades, I didn't find it that valuable, but the price guides are very good. They aren't completely up to date in and of themselves (how could they be?) but they're as good as they can get, and you can use them to judge how much one color will cost as opposed to another.
Rating: 
Summary: It's OK
Review: Two words describe this book: essential, and outstanding. Not only is it an invaluable resource for those sorted greedheads and bean-counters out there who like to know the value of their collections down to every dime, nickel and penny, but for the rest of us who engage in the collecting of Hot Wheels for the sheer LOVE of it, this book serves almost as a muse for the hobby . . .enticing us to continue the search in an all but impossible quest of obtaining every one. While frequently criticized for not being entirely "accurate" and "current" with listed prices, I have found through my own experience that the prices give you a fairly good "ballpark" figure to know whether or not you're getting ripped off. As with all collectibles, beauty and worth is in the eye of the beholder. On this note, this book is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL if you use Ebay or other online marketplaces to look for cars.More than anything, this book is a superb gallery of Hot Wheels cars so that even if you'll never own them all, you can at least SEE what they look like. As all collectors know, there will never be enough Sky Show Deoras or rear surfboard Beach Bombs to satisfy us all, but with this book you can at least see what you're missing. My advice? Simple. Do not hesitate to buy this book. You will not regret it (unless of course you go over your credit limit and the bank hooks you with fees!), and you will be guaranteed with hour upon hour of satisfaction with the love of these little cars that only true collectors understand.
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