The DC Comics Action Figure Archive [Hardcover]

Scott Beatty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2008

For the legions that collect the immensely popular DC Comics action figures, we have good news: the official visual compendium of more than 1,400 characters has finally arrived. The DC Comics Action Figure Archive is the definitive reference for the serious enthusiast. Assembled by lead collector Scott Beatty and the experts at DC Comics, this sturdy hardcover features more than 600 full-color photographs and an easily navigable A-to-Z structure. Here, too, are previously impossible-to-find release dates, variants and "redecoes," as well as detailed information on action figure scales and articulation points. From Ace the Bat-Hound to Zauriel, with lots of Batman and Superman in-between, this collector's must-have guide doesn't miss a beat.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best of the Month, January 2008: Looking for a one-stop tome chronicling every DC figure ever produced? In The DC Comics Action Figure Archive, 1,400 characters line the pages in 600 full-color photos with every release date, variant, and accessory included. Batman alone takes up 25 pages with Superman commanding 11 (and one tiny corner for Beppo the Supermonkey). You can pore through every page in A-to-Z fashion (Ace the Bat-Hound to Zauriel) or flip randomly throughout to land on welcome surprises like a pistol-packing Mad Hatter, Solomon Grundy (DC Comics' only zombie action figure), Spider Jerusalem (whose accessories include a two-headed cat), and a red-and-black jump-suit clad fellow known as Elongated Man. The book serves as the ultimate wish list for fanboys while doubling as a rock-'em-sock-'em pop-culture-packed coffee table book. Shazam! --Brad Thomas Parsons

About the Author

Scott Beatty is a former editor of Toyfare magazine and author of The Batman Handbook. He lives in Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (January 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811858324
• ISBN-13: 978-0811858328
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not remotely archival., January 18, 2008

By 

Pops Gustav (Hoboken, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The DC Comics Action Figure Archive (Hardcover)

What an enormous disappointment! This book falls short on every level. First of all (and amazing for Chronicle Books), it's NOT an attractive book. The layout and design are very clunky and there's lots of wasted space. Historical background on the figures is cursory at best, and much of the text reads like it was written for someone who's never cracked a comic book (surely not the target audience for this book). The sculptors are not listed for any of the figures and it seems as if perhaps some artwork from the designers of some of them might have fit nicely. But worst of all, most of the figures listed in this book do NOT have a photo! For instance, while there are 20 Lex Luthor figures listed, there are only pictures of 8 of them. While Jor-El is listed as having four figures, there's not one photo of any of them. On top of that, while I'm not a MOC collector, I find the fact that the packaging is not represented for ONE SINGLE FIGURE to be a bizarre omission. Why not do a side-by-side comparison of say, every Dr. Fate figure, so readers can compare the Super Powers version with the Justice League Unlimited version and the DC Direct versions? And show what the boxes or blister cards looked like for at least SOME of them (ironically, the hidden cover is the book's most attractive part, with a closeup of the Batman Captain Action box on the front and the DC Direct HUSH Batman on the back)? And finally, the book seems incomplete. There are no figures pre-Captain Action in this book, and while "action figures" as we know them may have begun with that classic line, surely some predecessors such as the Ideal wooden Superman figure merit inclusion (not to mention perhaps just a few of the many knock-offs that have been available over the years).

In the end, this book is an enormous missed opportunity, hardly archival, and I'd advise anyone who's interested in it to peruse it in a bookstore before ordering it. I wish I would have.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and Full of Mistakes, January 20, 2008

By 

B. Heiler "map fan" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The DC Comics Action Figure Archive (Hardcover)

I had high hopes for this book, hopes that were dashed when I got to about the fourth page. I actually became angry with this book.

To call this book an archive of any kind is false advertising, there is little to no content here for any toy line that appeared before the mid ninties.

Captain Action has a couple of entries (One where they say the line was created by Mego (!) nice proofing), Mego fares a small bit better, if you like pictures of incomplete, damaged figures with the wrong hands. Comic Action Heroes are misidentified as Pocket Heroes, do your research!

The rest of it is comprised mainly of DC Direct figures currently on clearance at my local comic shop. So if you want a hardback book about DC Direct and Total Justice figures, here you go.

If you want a decent book on other toy lines, check the books on Captain Action and Mego published by Twomorrows. Hopefully somebody will publish a nice SuperPowers book one of these days.

This one isn't worth your time, AVOID!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING AN ARCHIVE !, January 24, 2008

By 

Vincent J. Murphy "Chenzo02330" (Carver,Ma USA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The DC Comics Action Figure Archive (Hardcover)

Being born in the early 1960s,I have had lots of DC action figures growing up,this book does not come close to having all the DC action figures.Most of the figures covered in this book are from at best early 1990's.I'm definately thinking about sending this book back.If I could,I would have giving this book a negative 5 stars because of its title.Buy MEGO 8" SUPER-HEROES:WORLD'S GREATEST TOYS! this book brings back good memories.