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 enlarge | Author: Mark Bellomo
Brand: G. I. Joe
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $13.37
You Save: $11.62 (46%)
New (27) Used (13) from $12.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 124197
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0873416694
Dewey Decimal Number: 688.1
UPC: 083222006692
EAN: 9780873416696
ASIN: 0873416694
Publication Date: May 6, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Casual fans take note: this is for collectors ONLY! December 25, 2006
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
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.
 A Great Book! November 8, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
GI Joe toys of the 80's were some of the most fun and exciting ever seen, and this book chronicles them with brilliant excellence! A must have for any fan of the toys!
THE definitive guide to 80's GI Joes March 6, 2006
Many, many, many guides have been written about 'GI Joe', but many short change or ignore the most popular Joe incarnation of all. Now, finally, we have an author from our generation who painstakingly chronicles the greatest toy line of all time.
This guide has it all. Full color photos of EVERY figure, plane, tank and jeep from the ARAH line. Plus, each is given a detailed description, a guide to easily lost parts and more.
This is far and away the best guide of it's kind, GI Joe or otherwise, on the market. If you're an 80's Joe collector, stop reading this and go buy it.
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Yo, Joe!
The Ultimate 3 3/4" Resource Guide February 15, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
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
The Best Of Its Kind - Anywhere! Anytime! A+++++++ December 16, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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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