National Book Month - Day 7 - The World of Lego Toys

Lego - a company in Denmark - is derived from the words "Leg Godt" - meaning "play well."

Certainly those of us and our kids - who've played with Lego have played well for decades.

This book - The World of Lego Toys by Henry Weincik was published in 1987. It's been around for awhile. I remember buying this in 1994. It is one of the first toy books I had ever seen by that time.

You can purchase the book used from Amazon for about $4-7. A very good deal.

The book takes the reader through the history of the Lego company up until 1987. A great resource for any Lego enthusiast.

National Book Month - Day 6 - Collect These Figures and Accessories

We are going to visit Philip Reed's wonderful world of Star Wars and toy books a few times this month.

Philip runs the blog and website http://www.battlegrip.com/ and has published numerous books on toy collecting.

Collect These Figures and Accessories - An Unofficial Look at Star Wars Newspaper Advertisements - 1977-1986 is a serious nostalgia inducing trip through advertisements that showed our wonderful 3-3/4 inch Kenner Star Wars figures well before we could see them online. Newspaper ads and holiday catalogs were our best source of seeing the figures daily.

Looks like the book is all sold out on Amazon right now.

I cry when I see the prices listed on the ads.

National Book Month - Day 5 - Ghostbusters Collectibles

This book just came out in late 2016 to coincide with the hype around the new Ghostbusters - 2016 movie as well as the awesome increase in original Ghostbusters collectibles.

I never realized there were so many Ghostbusters action figures during the 80s/90s, as well as other ephemera.

The book can be found on Amazon for around $16.

It's nice to see the new Mattel and Diamond Select action figures being released. Awesome tribute to he blockbuster we all love.

Matt has done a fantastic job putting this guide together.

National Book Month - Day 4: John Kellerman's Star Wars - Vintage Action Figures - A Guide for Collectors

This book eluded me for awhile. I didn't realize how detailed and awesome it would turn out to be. I had almost all of the Sansweet books (all are awesome) and the collector's guides from Geoffrey T. Carlton and Gus Lopez, but this one specifically focuses on only vintage Kenner Star Wars figures. It is bigger than I expected. The level of detail is amazing in that it examines every card and offer variation that ever hit the vintage Kenner line.

If you want to pick this one up, get your wallet ready. Runs around $300 used on Amazon.

National Book Month - Day 3: Marx Fort Apache - The King of Playsets

As toy collectors, the first toy for many of us may well have been the plastic green toy army men. If you were lucky enough in the 50s through 70s, you may have had a playset from the Louis Marx Toy Company. Until about 1970, Marx was the biggest toy company in the country.

I had two Marx playsets.  The first was Navarone.

And the Prehistoric Dinosaur playset.

If you are a fan of plastic army men or the Marx playset, then you definitely have to look at Playset Magazine. They are one of the few remaining print magazines focused on toys, specifically the Marx line and other similar toys during the Atomic age. They are currently on issue 91 and going strong. Their DVD documentaries are fantastic as well. The owners and editors of Playset Magazine (Rusty and Kathy Kern) are in the movie/documentary business so they are true professionals and the magazine and videos show it.

They did a two volume hardcover history of Marx Toys about two years ago. The run was so successful, they just released a book focusing on Marx's best selling playset of all time - Fort Apache. The book shows off each variation (there were many) along with packing lists and other neat information on how the playset evolved.

The book - Fort-Apache-King-of-Playsets - goes for $39.95 for the soft cover and $59.95 for the hard cover.

So if you like plastic toy soldiers or playsets, check out Playset Magazine and their books and DVDs.

National Book Month Day 2: R2-ME2

This book came out last year, I believe coinciding with SDCC. Anyway, it was published by Sideshow Toys and it is a collection of customized artwork created around the 1/6 scale R2 units sold by Sideshow. Many artists took a crack at it, and there are some great ones in there.

The book is still available at Sideshow Toys for $20.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/star-wars-r2-me2-a-sideshow-exhibition-catalog-sideshow-collectibles-500455/

You can also look through the awesome gallery using this link.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/events/r2-me2/

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.