Diana - Collecting on a Princess by Charles Nobles (2000)

Written in 2000 and published by Hobby Horse Press, this book can be summed up as one man's love affair with his personal collection. It is the only book which has been written solely about Diana collectibles; Diana collectibles can be found as chapters or sections of general royal memorabilia price guides (most of which do a better job than this one.)

It was sold as a price guide, but amounts to a vanity publication written by a collector showing off his goodies. The author focuses on showcasing his personal collection, while ignoring many aspects of the Diana collectibles market. He includes items such as books, magazines, a few dolls and newspapers, but leaves out large segments of what avid collectors consider to be essential items in such a collection.

To give him some benefit of the doubt, a huge number of Diana items were created after 1999, when he must have gathered most of his material, but even so, the book neglects items such as the figurines, plates and the plethora of general royalty china commemoratives that were issued throughout milestones in Diana's life. He shows a few, but not enough to qualify his book as a price or collecting guide.

While it does include over 200 colour photos (which can be helpful to collectors in identifying their own treasures,) the price quotes are somewhat wishy washy and uninformed. At the time I am writing this guide (2008,) they are also vastly out of date. The Diana collectibles market has gone through severe changes since I started collecting in 1983 and I don't see that the author recognised this, other than to provide vague price estimates.

Above and below his estimates, he includes disclaming language that excuse the information he is providing. He does mention that item condition can affect prices, but focuses mainly on conditions relating to paper items, which aren't at all helpful to doll and figurine collectors, who need to take into account conditions such as whether original packaging, certificates/paperwork, clothing, and accessories are present and dust/fade free, whether there are chips, scratches, stains or crazing or something as simple as whether something has been displayed (which can fade and ruin fabric.)

It should be noted that Hobby Horse Press was a publishing company that helped hobby authors publish books about their hobbies. Some of their publications were excellent and some were slightly questionable in value and information. I admire Mr. Nobles' enthusiasm, but I would have liked to have seen him do more research in the wider Diana world.