Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Of Its Kind - Anywhere! Anytime! A+++++++, December 16, 2005
This is, without hesitation, THE best toy reference guide I have ever read. It's a well written book... it's fun, informative, and has no competition as far as I can see. Bellomo gives you info on all aspects of the world of G.I.Joe: all figures, all accessories, all vehicles, all playsets, all for YOUR fun and for your personal info. Wizard Magazine just released an Ultimate (!?!) G.I. Joe guide in this month's issue of ToyFare Magazine (12/05) and it was RIDICULOUS compared to Bellomo's excellent TEN STAR book. There are SOOOOOOOO many other Joe Guides out there that are complete crap, but NOT THIS BOOK! Great intro, great index, great summaries of the charcters PLUS lots upon lots of new info on characters that I've never seen ANYWHERE before. One of the BEST gifts I've ever received and it has FORCED me to get back in to G.I.Joe collecting and my collection again, not that that's a bad thing ;) . The simple fact that Bellomo took every pic, wrote every word, and owns every single toy in the book is unbelieveable, but to put this book together for all of us to enjoy is even cooler... I hear (according to the great web site [...]) that he's currently writing a second edition wih some minor corrections and bonus pages with interviews with Hasbro designers from the 1980's PLUS some of the true minds behind the Joe Team's backstory like Mr. Kirk Bozigian, Mr. Ronald Rudat, and Mr. Larry Hama. YES!!! I've been reading this book for a week straight and I'm not bored yet, and I'm halfway done.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent reference guide - if perhaps a little sterile, November 21, 2005
I purchased this book following a rather comprehensive comparison and evaluation between this book and other "similar" products. For my needs, this was the perfect book for me and I'm very pleased with my purchase from Amazon. The obvious reason to choose this book over any of the alternatives is if your interests lie exclusively with the 3-3/4" G.I. Joe line. For the convenience of those reading this review, I will begin with what I liked about the book and what I wish would have been included.
I'll be honest, the primary reason I purchased this book was for the color illustrations. With over 250 pages of incredibly detailed (and clear) photos, I was very impressed with the presentation and layout. I was pleasantly surprised with the 2-3 sentences on each character - as they nicely tied together the toy line, cartoon series, and comics. I will have a bit more to say about the pictures in my portion on suggestions for improvement (perhaps a 2nd edition?)
While I agree with other readers that the price guide may not be entirely accurate - it is, nevertheless, useful for gauging the relative prices among the figures. For that reason, no matter how seemingly inaccurate the prices may be, I appreciated some measure of the toys' value.
To be sure, there were a few instances when this book didn't meet my expectations. Nevertheless, I awarded this book a 5-star rating because, while there are some things I sorely missed from this edition, those things that it did present were done so well.
While I previously lauded over the quality of the images in the book, like other reviewers I took exception to the "bird's-eye" angle used for the vast majority of the vehicle images.
This brings me to my next point - I think the book would have been perfect as a reference guide (and I do mean perfect) if it included more box art. I firmly believe that a gallery of figure file cards, as found on the back of each packaged toy, would have really made this book complete. For comparison's sake, Tomart's price guides for Star Wars figures do this and I find it extremely helpful in identifying variants.
Lastly, I would have really enjoyed more anecdotal accounts about the 3-3/4" G.I. Joe line. In the book's defense, it does open with a few paragraphs about the toys and the series itself. However, the book felt very sterile - which was odd given that it was written for a very passionate fan base. Perhaps highlighting the collections of, say, 5 of the largest G.I. Joe collections would have made the book seem less lifeless. Similarly, I think the book would have been improved by including a section recounting the production and development of the toys themselves. There are a few instances when production variants are raised - and I think giving a step-by-step of the creation of the toys would have been great. On a related note, [...] (which is credited in the book) has a very thorough section dealing with prototypes and I would have loved to have seen that in this book.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book if you are interested exclusively in the 3-3/4" G.I. Joes and no other aspects of the G.I. Joe universe. The book is very comprehensive and brings together the entire toy line in an easy-to-read book with clear, color images. As a reference guide I think it is nearly perfect (though without box art and file cards).
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate 3 3/4" Resource Guide, February 15, 2006
I've been buying the 3 3/4" Joe figures at Garage Sales for years and re-selling them on eBay. The only trouble was finding the correct figure names and matching the correct acessories to them. I've had to rely on scouring other auctions or by excellent websites like www.yojoe.com to find this info...until now that is. The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994 finally provides the one stop reference book I needed to identify and match up weapons and accessories. The book is 256 pages and features more than 1,300 color photographs of every figure with accessories, every vehicle complete with a listing of easily lost parts, and all accessories for the line. Included in the book are current prices for the items, both in package and loose, variations, pictures of inserts and paperwork, and even a Foreward by G.I. Joe Writer Larry Hama.
The photography is first rate and acessories such U.S.S. Flagg are shown with multiple pictures showing the ship from different angles as well as the acessories. Bellomo also includes the original prototype dossiers that Larry Hama wrote for the characters. This is just a marvelous guide and one I take with me to flea markets and garage sales. Truly an indispensible reference source. Well written, concise and knowledgeable. This is the one resource that Joe collectors must have!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
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by Mark Bellomo
DVD ~ Charles Adler
