Customer Reviews

Spy Toys; A Pictorial History and Price Guide

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If you are a guy (or an adventurous girl) and just entering your 40s now, you will love SPY TOYS, written by Cramer Burks, a collector's guide to the move and TV tie-in merchandise of the espionage genre of the 1960s.

I had a lot of these toys. As a matter of fact, as I flipped through the book, I remembered having (or having played with) many more of these wonderful toys than I originally thought. It wasn't until I worked my way through SPY TOYS that I realized how profound the impact of the Secret Agent was on my young years.

Burks lists virtually every Secret Agent related toy in general distribution in the 60s. James Bond 007, of course, is the centerpiece of the book, but Burks also covers THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E, SECRET AGENT, I SPY, HONEY WEST, GET SMART, and others. He misses a few (I remember cheap "Agent 707" knock-offs that were fun additions to our playing James Bond), but not many.

Had I realized how valuable some of these collectibles are, I never would have tossed them away. When moving house (as an adult) I threw away a Sean Connery Bond hand puppet in fine condition which Burks lists at [amt] value. Never mind the price, the nostalgia is worth more. And Burks and I share a passion for the "coolest toy we ever owned," the original Bond briefcase, now valued mint at [amt]. Go find one.

The shortcoming of SPY TOYS is that Burks only lists "Mint" values, and also fails to give the beginning collector even a hint of where to go to find Spy toys in the world. A lesser failing of the book is that most items have very little commentary attached to them, so the "Why" of valuation is generally missing.

One of the most fun things about the book is the reprints of the Montgomery Ward and Sears Christmas catalogue pages, showing prices. A complex and detailed toy like the James Bond briefcase (the quality of this toy was outstanding right down to the molded leather graining on the outside of the plastic case; it had codebooks, a code machine, business cards, a wallet with play money that looked very real, "explosive" combination locks, a multi-part firing gun, hidden rubber throwing knife, plastic bullets, and more), retailed for well under [amt]. A toy like that today (assuming the morality and litigation police would allow the making of a toy that could shoot, stab, and blow things up) would be at least [amt].

It's a different world, but with SPY TOYS we can at least visit our innocence and relive our childhood fun.

ENORMOUS fun! This may not be a totally complete listing of all things Bond, and may not have pictures of EVERY item logged, but there's an undeniable thrill to seeing so much, including Man from Uncle, James "Wild Wild" West, and Honey West among many others and items as disparate as Bond promotional tumblers and cover art work for old RCA Selectavision video discs. Hey, as time travel goes, this ticket is cheap.

A very disappointing publication. The book offers very little in the way of insight, description, and the impact of these wonderful toys had during the 60's. Coupled with poor black and white pictures which were mis-labled, mis-positioned, or just wrong, the book gives no benefit outside of the casual curiosity seeker. While the title specifically states Spy Toys "A Historical History and Price Guide", there was enough other things such as records, army toys, books, glassware, and current Toys R Us toys which obviously did not belong. For the advid collector or the neophite starting a collection, this book offers little interest, you'll get better information and pictures off the descriptions on E-bay.