Happy New Year! and Celebrating National Book Month - Day 1 - Tuff Stuff Starting Lineup Guide

So, first of all, Happy New Year's everyone. It's been a pleasure sharing this wonderful hobby with you all. My goal for 2016 was to try and post every other day. Once I hit the 183 mark, I figured I might as well round it up to 200. Goal accomplished. New Year's resolutions are a lot easier when they are fun.

My goal this year is to photograph and post more action figure dioramas. That's the reason I collect toys in the first place. Each toy comes with a diorama project in my head, Just need to make it a reality.

I am going to break that resolution right off the bat and work on a theme I've wanted to do for a long time. While National Book Month in the US used to be in January, it no longer exists. But in honor of book and toy lovers everywhere, the theme for January will be toy books. Granted, there will be a lot of Star Wars, but I aim to mix it up quite a bit. The nice thing about toy books is the ability to look at collections that may be in storage, packed away, or something you don't collect but enjoy.

So the first book is Tuff Stuff's Complete Guide to Starting Lineup. Long after Kenner stopped making Star Wars figures, they cornered the market on awesome sports figures from all four major sports. They were not articulated but based on their size: 3-4 inches, a lot of athletes were made. It was pretty awesome. Football, baseball, basketball, and hockey were all represented. During the fantastic run, they also idolized some Olympic athletes - boxers and gymnasts.

Authored by Jim Warren II in 1997, this is a great resource with tons of photos and market values. The book can be found on Amazon for about $60.