Customer Reviews

Collectible GI Joe: An Official Guide to His Action-Packed World

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tired of skimming through the "rest" of the books about GI Joe, your long time pal and friend? We all were. Joe was reduced to doll duty as a uniform display stand. It wasn't the Joe I remembered from my childhood. If it was the Joe you grew up with, its not too late, become a kid now.

Derryl puts Joe in his element. He is fighting the White Tiger (not putting a collar on him for tracking), exploring the ends of the earth, capturing the Intruders, and generally having a great time being Joe. Great photos of Joe in action poses - no stiff, lifeless lump of plastic here, Joe really comes to life.

Top off the excellent photos and most accurate price guide available (real value, not the inflated list that antique dealers like to wring out of you) with a very witty storyline and history of Joe. Derryl isn't just smart, he is even pretty funny.

Derryl knows Joe. He is an active part of the current Joe collector community. He is available to hundreds and thousands of collectors and is the final source for many of us about variations and general Joe knowledge.

If you buy this book, you can't go wrong. I liked this one so much I bought two. I use one almost daily in my collecting, and the other is a great coffee table book.

Chances are, even if you played with GI Joe as a kid, you've never seen him like this. Joe battling the great ape, Joe on the tarmac at sunset, Joe exploring the undersea cave ... The beautiful color images by (uncredited) photographer Curtis Fukuda, combined with the authoritative narrative by collector Derryl DePriest, make this collector's guide feel more like a childhood adventure. A wonderful gift not just for collectors, but for anyone with a sense of fun and nostalgia.

I have been collecting GI Joe figures and accessories for a long time, and I have seen every book that has been written on the subject. Derryl DePriest's new book is by far, the most informative, well-written book ever done. Curt Fukuda's photography is stunning, and it is nice to see the figures posed in ACTION, rather then the stiff mannequins that we see in so many other books. The text is witty and informative and the price guide is the first "honest and fair" guide to vintage GI Joe that I have ever seen. So many "collectible" books are incomplete or slanted by the views and opinions of the authors, but this book treats all items equally and it shows. There is none of the bias towards 60's era GI Joe or disregard for the 70's era GI Joe's that are normally found in GI Joe books. Forget the rest, this is the best.

As author of GI JOE: THE COMPLETE STORY OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE MAN OF ACTION and creator of THE GI JOE MASTERPIECE EDITION, I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about collecting the best boy's toy ever made. It is the best collector's guide available. Period.

I bought this book to help me prepare to sell off a number of GI Joe items on eBay. My plan was to sell the book too, after my collection was sold. Well, things change; this book is a keeper. It really recaptured the fun I had had of collecting and playing with GI Joe. The photographs are of the kinds of scenes I'd have loved to create for myself (if only my collection had been this good). The text reads as if you were listening to guy with a great sense of humor warm up to his favorite topic. Thanks Mr. Depriest for a job really well done.

This book is beautiful. If you are a longtime collector, casual toy fan or had Joe as a kid....you will be transported by the glorious photography in this loving tribute to "America's movable fighting man". The realistic price guide and detailed info will make collectors happy as well. Just buy it.

...motivated me to create my own collectible books. Derryl's amazing tome was an inspiration to me and still stands out--along with Ben Holcomb's Mego Official World's Greatest Super-Heroes book--as the finest "toy book" ever made.

Thanks to Derryl, action figure fans would have the bar raised for collectible books for DECADES to come.

Gorgeous photos, pristine toys, and ingenious composition and layouts make DDP's uber-rare 11 1/2" Joes LEAP off the printed page. I couldn't imagine how much time it must have taken to shoot those diorama shots... weeks, months, years?

Thanks, Mr. DePriest.

-- Mark Bellomo

Derryl De Priest is THE MAN. This is an awesome book with fabulous photos and a treasure trove of information. Derryl was kind enough to autograph my copy too - sweet! If you played with GI Joe or Action Man as a kid then this book will bring back memories and probably enthuse you to dig out your old toys or lament that they were thrown out. You're never to old for GI Joe and this book is just the tonic if you think you are!!

I cannot praise this book highly enough. While I have most of the other G.I. Joe books, this is without a doubt my favorite. The pictures and level of care and detail are so perfect that they are the next best thing to owning the toys themselves. It's also a great reference tool for collecting and posing your own finds. I take it out and look at it constantly.

Most of us will never have the time or money to put together a collection like this, but we can enjoy the fruits of the author's work via this amazing book. If you love G.I. Joe, even just a little, by all means BUY this book. For those of us who dreamed and longed for the pictures we saw in the old Sears "Wish book" catalogs, here is the dream!

Authoritative, factual and often very humorous this is by far the best book on GI Joe. The photos are outstanding and the descriptions give further dimension to a toy already so rich in memories. As a GI Joe collector I must say that Mr. DePriest provides the most detailed and real world price guide I have ever seen. By pricing each item individually he gives a realistic picture of what you should expect to pay, or receive, if you are buying or selling these items at a garage sale, flea market, on in an internet auction. As a collector's resource, or for a late babyboomer looking to revisit the backyard exploits of their childhood, this book is indispensable.