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.

This is a wonderful, warm and personal look into the lives of Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys and Dale Evans Rogers, the Queen of the West. This book gives the stories of Roy's life from his humble beginnings in Duck Run, Ohio and Dale's start in Uvalde, Texas to their present lives in Apple Valley, California. The stories of their joys and hardships are very touching. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is fan of Roy or Dale as well as anyone who wants to read an inspiring story about the Hollywood couple who are heros in real life just as they were in the movies. The only suggestion I would have for the next edition of this book is that it needs an index. The stories are so wonderful you'll be wanting to see more photos and hear more of Roy and Dales personal stories

This book is a MUST for anyone who is a fan of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger of course! Only three things could make this book better; An index would be a nice addition, MORE of Roy and Dale's own stories about their lives and lots more pictures

This is a wonderful, warm and personal look into the lives of Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys and Dale Evans Rogers, the Queen of the West. This book gives the stories of Roy's life from his humble beginnings in Duck Run, Ohio and Dale's start in Uvalde, Texas to their present lives in Apple Valley, California. The stories of their joys and hardships are very touching. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is fan of Roy or Dale as well as anyone who wants to read an inspiring story about the Hollywood couple who are heros in real life just as they were in the movies

About once a year, Jacksonville Guitar employee Ron Sawyer takes all the guitars off the wall in the museum area of the store and dusts them off.
"It's an all day job," Sawyer says, referring to the large collection of cowboy guitars on display.
Owner Steve Evans has recently co-authored "Cowboy Guitars," a collection of biographies of singing cowboys and the instruments inspired by them.
Evans, along with Ron Middlebrook, have assembled a richly-illustrated work with details on guitar designs, construction and history. Evans' love for his hobby is quite apparent; the book contains an amazing amount of details about each of the guitars.
An excerpt from the "Prairie Ramblers" guitar page reads: "It was a grand concert size (36 1/2" X 14 1/2") guitar made of birch, finished in a light brown sunburst with a white scene and with a top edge and soundhole striping painted in white. The first issue came with a black pickguard attached by two wood screws. The ebonized fretboard had four mother-of-pearl dot inlays and 12 frets clear of the body. The trapeze tailpiece had a hidden string attachment and a moveable wooden bridge."
The guitar was sold by Spiegel in 1942.
Evans and Middlebrook planned the book after Evans wrote an article for Vintage Guitar magazine. Middlebrook wrote to Evans, and while Evans concentrated on guitar research for the book, Middlebrook compiled autobiographies on such legends as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy. The book boasts a forward by Roy Rogers, Jr.
Evans began collecting cowboy guitars about 15 years ago after someone traded in a Roy Rogers guitar.
"When I saw there was more than one, that's when it started," Evans said, pointing to a shelf full of books about vintage guitars. He then bought eight more from a collector in Tulsa, and traveled to guitar shows snagging more guitars and networking with other collectors "who went ape like me," Evans said.
The rest is cowboy guitar history.
Now the walls of Jacksonville Guitar are lined with over 100 guitars made of wood, fiberboard, and plastic. Most of the guitars are made by Chicago-based companies Regal, Kay, and Harmony and originally sold in Sears, Montgomery Ward, and Spiegel catalogs.
Those catalogs, Evans says, are a wealth of information.
Evans did much of his research at the University of Little Rock at Little Rock, where old Sears catalogs are on microfilm. He also studied photocopies of old Spiegel catalogs. Evans photographed most of the guitars for the book, and became proficient with professional cameras and lighting equipment. Other collectors sent photographs of their collections.
These days, Evans makes fewer trips to guitar shows and says online auction service Ebay is "a goldmine."
Though cowboy guitars are his first priority, Evans also collects toy guitars, which became popular in the 1960's after cowboy celebrities went out of style. His has over 100 toy guitars in his collection, with designs depicting hit television shows, teen idols, and cartoon characters.
Other unusual guitars in the Jacksonville Guitar store include a foam rubber "stunt" guitar used in the recent film "Josie and the Pussycats" and a 1977 Peavey T-60 prototype with serial number 00000000. It was the first one ever made.
Evans went into the guitar business at age 18 after graduating from Jacksonville High School in 1975. He started playing guitar as a fourth-grader, and is a fan of modern country music, blues, and rock.
Currently, Evans is enjoying the latest music from the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. And there is irony in what you won't find Evans listening to.
"I don't listen to much cowboy music," Evans says, laughing.
"Cowboy Guitars" is published by Centerstream Publishing and is available at www.amazon.com.

This is an excellent book. I would definitly recomend it to anyone who loves the Ripleys museums. This book features pictures of amazing feats attempted by people Ripley encountered during his travells. I found some of the pictures to be amazing, I didn't believe my eyes!

This is one of the best ship encyclopedia's out right now. It doesn't have as much information as the Jane's Ship books, but makes up for it by the shear number of ship types. It covers every era from Ancient Egypt to the Ships that are now in the Persian Gulf.

As an authority on Roy Rogers, and a Rogers biographer, and a researcher of the silver screen cowboys and author of numerous related books and more than 300 published articles on the subject, and as a Western comicographer, I highly recommend this work for any and all interested in more data than has previously ever been published on this subject: it is thorough yet consise, and crammed full of illustrated examples of the work of the many artists who contributed to this--one of the most exciting and important media in our Western heritage, pertaining to the American cowboy in the comic art form. I have had a long association with Mr. Black, and he demonstrates here his devotion to research and the subject. This is a tremendous reference source for Western Americana buffs, students, and Western art/comics buffs and collectors. I am working on a massive reference book of all Western comics, 1900-present day, and have found Black's work to be an invaluable reference, not merely for it's content, but for it's quick and easy-to-use format. It has been long overdue!

This book was a gift to me. Randy Bird is a paraplegic cowboy and now full-time Pastor of Barn Church in Hereford, TX. His story begins w/ an angelic encounter with an old cowboy at the sight of his truck accident. It continues to unfold through his candid yet humorous description during rehabilitation to the priceless moment he sits back on his horse for the first time. Randy is witty and tells a story like only a Texas cowboy can. He's a tough guy but yet so tender spiritually that the transformation from a honky tonk cowboy to one of the most passionate men serving Jesus Christ. This book is a fast read and suitable for all ages. It will truly inspire each person who reads it.

Roy A. Rogers has proven himself well on his first publication. Jackson's Mountain chronicles the experiences of five young pilots from flight school through the VietNam War as they discover themselves, each other, and the Spirit that binds them together. Written from the perspectives of multiple characters, Mr. Rogers provides a view of how a shared experience can affect those who live it in dramatically different ways. The goal is not to glamorize the War, indeed, VietNam becomes a character in itself. Rather, it is an introspective look at human nature as it is revealed and witnessed by others.

Through different experiences with all kind of...partners, Peyrefitte illustrates the Gay milieu of Los Angeles in the seventies making the reading of this book an...informative session. I just bought it because the title was my name. Years later on I found out ROY and I had more in common than just names.

This is an excellent reference book, scrapbook, and trivia book combined. Excellent pictures.