THIS IS A KEEPER... great price guide. Better yet a great read

This book definately lives up to its name, "The Ultimate Roy Rogers Collection" and is an absolute "must have" for all collectors of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Trigger & Bullet memorabilia.

208 pages of rare and vintage collectables, more than 1,000 color photos, item descriptions and pricing information as well as a special interview with Dusty, Roy & Dale's son.

Ron Lenius displays exceptional overall quality and first class presentation throughout this book.

Happy Trails, Ron Lenius, and Thank You.

Exceptional job from cover to cover. A great tribute to the Legend of Roy, Dale, Trigger, Gabby, Pat, Bullet and the legacy that they left us. From Chapter 1 to 21, through the 1,000 plus colored photos of incredible memorabilia, it is unquestionably the best of the best Roy Rogers collector guides published. Thanks, Ron Lenius, for your tremendous effort and wonderful contribution. Happy Trails.

The title of this book is somewhat misleading because it does not indicate the full scope of what Steinmetz provides...and achieves. True, he suggests all manner of strategies and tactics to overcome sales resistance based almost entirely on price. (He correctly suggests that those who buy ONLY on price be avoided. More about that later.) However, I think this book's greater value is derived from Steinmetz's systematic and convincing repudiation of various self-defeating mindsets. For example, those who are so desperate to sell (and earn some money) that they make all manner of unnecessary concessions. In effect, they negotiate against themselves. (Steinmetz: "Business is a game of margins, not volume.") Here's another example. Those who fulfill what I call the "Self-Fulfilling Negative Prophecy": They are convinced that they cannot succeed and therefore eagerly gather and then cite "evidence" to prove it. (Henry Ford: "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.") I stopped counting but there must be at least 50 self-defeating mindsets throughout the book which Steinmetz examines and then dismisses.

This is NOT a sales manual. Rather, an extended dialogue between Steinmetz and those readers who are reasonably intelligent, very ambitious, highly energetic, eager to learn what they think they know but don't, not easily discouraged, and -- most important of all -- willing to consider vary carefully what Steinmetz suggests. He requires each reader to set aside their (probably cherished) assumptions about "salesmanship," most of them based on received wisdom that is either obsolete or never true in the first place. Is selling always a "numbers game"? No and Yes. No if the percentage is based on the number of sales made as a result of cold calls to everyone in the telephone directory whose last name begins with "J." Yes if the percentage is based on the number of sales made to carefully selected, pre-qualified prospects. True, there are differences between walk-in sales (e.g. at vehicle dealerships and department stores) and offsite sales (e.g. at the prospect's location). Even so, Steinmetz cites five "cases" (price, quality, service, competence of salesperson, and error-free delivery) which apply to both. I agree completely that "business is a game of margins, not volume." I am also convinced that re-orders (i.e. repeat customers), not merely orders, should be a primary objective. As Steinmetz explains, price may result in one order but quality, service, competence of salesperson, and error-free delivery create and then sustain long-term customer relationships.

Why avoid those who buy only on price? Steinmetz offers nine reasons:

1. Price-buyers take all of your sales time.

2. They do all the complaining.

3. They "forget" to pay you.

4. They tell your other customers how little they paid you.

5. They drive off your good customers.

6. There's not going to buy from you again anyhow.

7. They'll require you to "invest up" to supply their needs -- and then they'll blackmail you for a better price.

8. They'll destroy the credibility of your price and your product in the eyes of your customers.

9. They will steal any ideas, designs, drawings, information, and knowledge they can get their hands on.

There are dozens of such checklists, step-by-step processes, reminders, dos and don'ts, cautions, and value affirmations. throughout the book as well as hundreds of examples of real-world sales situations. Problems and complications are inevitable. Steinmetz identifies the most recurrent ones and explains how to resolve them. Implicit is Steinmetz's pride in what he views as the profession of sales. He is wholeheartedly committed to quality of product and service. He understands the importance of making prudent promises and then keeping every one of them. He has little (if any) patience with whiners, chiselers, corner cutters, liars, and hypocrites. He views providing service to customers as a privilege, indeed as a moral obligation.

Here in a single volume is a wealth of information and wisdom which Steinmetz has accumulated over a period of many years, presented with a non-nonsense writing style enlivened by his wry sense of humor. All of his advice is eminently practical and easily applicable to most sales situation. However, I presume to offer some advice of my own. Read and then re-read the book, highlighting or underlining whatever seems most relevant to your own situation. Then focus on your most urgent needs. That is to say, do not attempt to apply immediately everything you have learned. Experiment. Take a few prudent chances. Over time, I think you will achieve significant improvement of your skills and a stronger sense of pride in how you earn a living. One final point. Not all prospective customers are worthy of your attention and effort. Concentrate only on the ones who are.

Tells the truth about discount pricing and the type of customers it attracts, not to mention how it taxes your ability to service your customers effectively while eroding your profitability. Learn how you can make more money by saying no to customers who shop by price only. A crucial lesson in sales economics that every sales professional needs to learn in order to be successful and profitable. I just hope my competitors never read it.

Larry does an outstanding job of presenting the hows and whys of making your pricing stick. In the process he effectively presents the tricks that buyers use to beat prices down (and you can now use them too to save money) and how to combat them, why it is critical to maintain your prices so you have the profits to develop new products, why it takes 50% more volume to bring profitibality back to the same after a 10% price cut, why you can lose 50% of your business and still make as much with a 10% price increase and other important lessons on pricing. Every sales person and every businessman should read this book.

This is an excellent state work, with detailed and accurate text, excellent photographs, precise maps, and up-to-date scientific nomenclature. Common names are those standardized nationwide since 1978, with the exception of the names used for snakes of the genus Tantilla. Purchasers of this book should go to page 307 and simply cross out the tongue-twisting "black-headed" and replace it with Blackhead (so much easier pronounced; it just rolls off the tongue -- truly a common name). Highly recommended. Certainly the best book on the subject, and a must for all herpetologists. Buy it quick before they run out of copies.

There are many, even myriad, good things about this book. However, there are a few things I did not like and which, if corrected in a future revision, could turn this book into a world beater in the field of herpetology. First the "bad" things: 1. This book needs a topo and political map or several. Places and physical features are constantly mentioned but, other than the tiny range maps associated with each species account, there is only one map at the front of the book which shows the counties and major cities, that is if you consider Animas and Hobbs to be major cities. 2. The glossary needs improvement. There are many terms which are used constantly which should be defined but are not. For instance, in one species account, a lizard is described as having scales which are "imbricate and mucronate." Just for kicks, I looked in the glossary. "Mucronate" is defined - "imbricate" is not. 3. Find another way to arrange the "List of scientific and common plant names used in the text." There is no arrangement whatsoever to the list. Plants are listed alphabetically by genus under the family. However, the family names are haphazard. Thus, if one does not know the family name, one has to peruse the list from top to bottom to find the plant named in the text. Woe be unto the reader who doesn't know that Helianthus is in the family "Compositae," the last named family. Pardon me for saying this but it appears as if the authors used their college botany texts to research the family names. After years of not complying with nomenclatural convention, the botanists finally joined the world and changed family names to agree with convention. Thus, Compositae became Asteraceae and Gramineae became Poaceae, for example. Also, ALL plants mentioned should be listed, even aquatic plants. Plants are keys to finding reptiles and even subtle differences in plant denizens of a habitat may make a great deal of difference in the animals found there. NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF The standard items are all found at the beginning of the book, e.g., Foreword, Preface, Acknowledgments followed by a concise Physiographic Sketch of New Mexico (Words, not pictures) which in no way can take the place of a good physical map of the state. One of the best features is a "Brief History of Herpetology in New Mexico" in which the authors give insight into the historical aspects of herpetology in the state. This theme is repeated in the text of the species accounts with interesting snippets of history intermixed with the drier facts of science. A checklist of NM herps is provided and this is where disagreements are going to arise. The authors utilize what some would consider "old" or "controversial nomenclature." However, if one reads the species accounts, all disputed uses of nomenclature are explained. Even though I disagree with some of the generic nomenclature used, the authors gave good and valid reasons for using what they did. There are good keys to all the major groups of herps in NM and they appear detailed enough to lead a novice to the right creature, as long as the scales are not imbricate. The species accounts are very well written except for the occasional typo - "then instead of than", for instance -and give loads of information. Virtually everything one would want to know about an animal is in here. The species accounts follow a format similar to the SSAR Catalogue species accounts and that is not at all bad. It might be good if a majority of this type of book were to follow a similar format. A very fine section of glossy photos is found in the midst of the species accounts. It seems that this is the way publishers are going to make books now so, take it or leave it. The photos, by the way, are arranged in the same manner as the text for fairly easy location. Degenhardt, et al, have compiled a magnificent bibliography with everything you ever wanted to know about New Mexico Herps and where to find it. The authors have years of experience in New Mexico herpetology and have used every one of those years in producing an outstanding volume. It's a little large to carry out in the field but it is worth every penny and when in New Mexico, should be at least carried in the vehicle. This book would be a bargain at twice the price.

No matter how old you are, Madlibs are hilarious. My husband & I love to play these Madlibs to relax after a long hard day...we both remember them from our Childhood. The best thing is that you can work on a madlib book and then put it away for a few months and do them all again with different equally hilarious results.

Sometimes they are more funny with more creative, perhaps more taboo words...

really fun. great game for on trips or at partys

This book is very informative and has loads of pictures.
It is fun to read and I recommend it to any collector of
toy trains. The author also has written an excellent book
on the Lionel postwar F3 locomotive. Both books are a great
resource for collectors and fans of Lionel trains.

This book is loaded with research and photo's of Lionel Postwar Space and Military Trains. How many years of study and collecting did this take to compile Joe? What a masterpiece of Toy Train History. Thanks, Joe!

MAD LIBS are the best thing!!I will be buying some [...]! Living in Oz,It can be hard to buy mad libs but I managed to get this one.It is really good,really fun,and gives lotsa laughs.And,if you are wondering,yep,you can play each story again and again as you forget them.I suppose one of my favourite stories in it is Beauty Advice.

These aren't only for kids. They are fun anytime...traveling, rainy days, late night entertainment. They take at least 2 people though. One person has the mad lib book, which is full of short stories with missing nouns, verbs, advebs and adjectives. That person asks the other person for the nouns, verbs, etc, writes them in the blanks and then reads the story outloud. My sixth grade teacher used to do this with our class...almost 20 years ago

Our 5 year old loved to help creatate stories on our summer vacation. By the end of the trip he understood what types of a words adjectives and verbs were! My husband and I were impressed at how much of a fun family activity this was. For families that loved the movie SHREK as much as we did you will enjoy the way that the story is told in the same fashion as the movie, scene by scene. This will be the first thing that I pack on our next trip!

This mad lib is the best they are sooooo funny.....

Mad Libs are HILARIOUS-- this collection will truly get you in the X-mas Spirit!

Of all the books on Akro Agate out there, this is the most complete and accurate guide out there. They are well knowledged in all areas of Akro...having talked to old Akro employees, Akro records and digging at the site. A MUST for all Akro Agate collectors!!

A good, well written update on the power industry. Conrad is balanced, shows no bias but is obviously concerned about the future power situation. 20 years of underinvestment, in his opinion, will start taking their toll and it is up to us to rethink this and take a long, hard look at the changes taking place in the industry.

Good for the investor and a must read for the Analyst (if there are any left) on Wall Street.

A very well written, balanced and unbiased update on our power situation.

The author is not trying to "push" his viewpoint but rather attempts to show us where we are and what we should be thinking about to start us on the road to a new power infrastructure.

Highly recommended for the individual and the Wall Street Analyst.

Essential reading for anyone interested in how to take advantage of the changing forces shaping the energy and telecom utility industries. Well-written & interesting. I'm a subscriber to Conrad's excellent newsletter, which I also recommend.