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Title: Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994
ISBN: 0873416694
Author:
Mark Bellomo
Publicate Date: 2005-05-06
Publish: 2005-05-06
List Price: $24.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $15.62
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $11.29
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.49
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great Book for the GI JOE Collector
My husband has collected GI Joe guys since he was a kid. He bought this book after a GI Joe collector website recommended it and when he's not poring over it, he's raving about it. It's a great book for collectors old and new and features A LOT of detailed images and good information. A must-have for any GI Joe collector.
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2: Excellent Collector Resource
As an avid childhood collector of GI Joe 3 3/4 figures and vehicles, I can certainly say that this guide seems extremely accurate. Although most of my collection sadly did not survive my childhood, this book certainly brings back some memories. It also helps to appraise some the pieces that did survive. I'm only depressed now that I didn't take better care of my original collection as it would have been worth a lot. As a GI Joe geek, it was interesting to see Larry Hama's (the original author of the Joe's Filecards) comments and thoughts on the characters. As a kid, I can certainly say I never gave the ideas behind the characters much thought. I also didn't understand half the things written on the filecards as they had more military jargon than a Tom Clancy novel. It does contain numerous references to the GI Joe cartoons and comics to help illustrate complete character biographies - which is interesting only if you were (or are) well-versed in the comics, the cartoons, and the toys. Overall, this is a great resource for serious collectors and devoted GI Joe disciples, but it's probably a bit too technical for casual fans.
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3: Great guide to Joe's
My husband and I enjoyed this guide and found it very useful for our collection. Great pictures with accessories. Just seemed very complete for the collector. Well done in my opinion and would recommend.
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4: Excellent reference guide...
For those of us that collect this is an excellent reference guide. It details weapons, vehicles and just about anything you can think of. The only thing I was expecting was to have pictures of the figures/vehicles..carded. And thats one thing that would have made this book perfect, that aside its a great book and I am glad I picked it up. The pictures included are crisp, clear and the information on them is detailed. Enjoy...
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5: Casual fans take note: this is for collectors ONLY!
What this guide is essentially comprised of is clinical pictures, bland details and a very dry presentation. This book is entirely geared towards the Joe collector who isn't necessarily interested in the fun or cool aspect of the toy line. For the casual Joe fan or those looking for some glorious nostalgia, the book fails miserably.
The promise of the immense amount of full-color pictures are what sold me on this book. What it actually delivers are unenthusiastic shots with no fun factor at all. Each figure is shown with legs and arms straight out laid on their backs on a flat white background. Each piece of personal equipment is shown beside the figure, not on it. It is all quite cold and boring to flip through.
The vehicles and bases fare even worse in their representation. They are mostly photographed from a full-on top-down view. A small handful are shown from the side. You only get one photo per vehicle, so if the angle doesn't inspire you (and it never really does), you are out of luck.
While there is absolutely no action to the pictures, they are very sharp in quality.
I would have liked to have seen pictures of the cards the figures came on and the boxes the vehicles came in, since the artwork was always amazing. Since this is an aspect to some collectors, I would have assumed it to be included. You can see the actual carded figure or vehicle/playset box about 5 times throughout the whole book. What a travesty!
The information presented with the photos spits out name, classification and then proceeds to take some direct quotes from the file cards. The whole file card is never printed and would have been a great inclusion. Instead you are forced to read what the author decides is important enough to document. In most listings you are given other proposed codenames for the figure, which are obscure tidbits of info I found worthless. Specific figure variants, when actually mentioned, are discussed only briefly with no accompanying pictures. Suggested prices are given but compared to actual prices at hobby shops and eBay, they are practically useless.
Unless you are a collector looking up banal manufacturing details, there isn't much enjoyment to be gleaned from reading what is printed.
Nearly a full third of the guide covers the 90s era Joes, which many agree are easy to dismiss as part of the Joe universe. Again, only the most avid collector would care for this much info. The guide even goes so far as to cover the Street Fighter series of figures put out by Hasbro in 93. That has so little to do with actual Joes it's not funny.
I had an enormous GI Joe colelction up until my teens and I still love the Joes to this day. I am not a rabid collector. I am a nostalgic fan. For me, this book was a waste of money. No cool photos of the Joe figures with their gear on and no fun displays of the vehicles and such. I read the comics and watched the shows. For me, there was nothing worth reading into here. No interesting information or exhilerating facts.
Before you go out and get a copy of this guide, ask yourself if you are a general fan or a collector. If you answer fan, pass on this book. It is strictly for the OCD collector.
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