Ultimate Guide to 3 3/4" Joes... finally after three years...

[ImaWalkingCorpse]

Mark,
Good work on that book. I will be ordering mine at the end of the week. I say you should try and keep this thread at the top.

[bluebikerboy1]

im glad you pimped your book here. i would never have seen it. i will order one soon.

its got to be a lot better then beckets joke of a guide they have out.

if this is a sucess why not do a mini book for the file cards and blueprints? id probobly buy one of thoes too just to have for refrence.

[dmooretoys]

Mark,

I am going to pre-order it right after I type this! I'm with PJ in that I will buy it for the "extra" info alone. Just out of curiosity, how much "dossier" info is included? It doesn't really matter because I'm going to get it anyway but I am just curious.

Give me a couple more years and let's do a collaboration with misc licensed collectibles included also. There really isn't a guide out there for the non-toy items but I know a book with those items alone probably wouldn't sell enough to justify printing it so we could do a book similar to the "Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book." It has everything from pogs to toys, phone cards, curtains, etc (sorry--it is by Carlton, not Krause). Let me know when you're ready!

Seriously, Mark, I can't wait to get the book. If I mail it to you will you sign it and mail it back to me? Of course you could also forward it to Larry Hama and have him sign it too and send it back to me!

Dan

[Cavalry Man]

Great work Mark! I'll be sure to pick one up here soon. Nice job.

[Mark W. Bellomo]

There's enough prototype dossier info to make it worth your while to pick up the guide if you already have the whole 3 3/4" vintage collection + file cards and blueprints. I tried to reference the prototype information whenever I could in the bios for the figures, and the blurbs for the accessories and vehicles, but there were some restrictions on length (265 pages).

If you're a completionist who already has all of the figures, vehicles, weapons, accessories, and varaiations for the entire vinatge line, then my recommendation would be this:

If a friend of your purchases the guide before you do, take a look at theirs and then make your decision. Don't buy the book and then get disappointed if there's not enough new prototype info for a die-hard aficionado. I wouldn't want anyone here to throw away their $$$...

-- MWB

[Druss]

Looks very nice! Odds are I will be buying one. I"ve been waiting to get a guide which covers everything so when I'm sorting accessories in the basement or wherever I can reference a figure without having to pull out my laptop and hit yojoe.com, that to me will easily be worth the price of this guy.

[thunt4]

Cool I have been waiting for a new book because I wore all my old ones out. lol I was wondering though there are a few figures that did not always come with there weapons so did you say that in the book? Like heavy metal not all of them came with a mic so just wondering if something like that is listed. Also are all the sears and jc penneys redbacks listed in there or mentioned? I am looking forward to this a lot. Thanks for the book!!!!!!!!

[YELSEW]

I have an awesome book for my vintage star wars toys that had color pictures/accessories and such. I carry it everywhere. I was wondering/looking for a book like this for GI JOE and a couple of months ago; I found this! The way it sounds, it is exactly what I was looking for; something to take with me to toy shows, flea markets/yard sales. And a great quick referance to sort through when piecing through my collection!! Will be looking forward to the second edition too! Thanks for taking the time and doing this, it is appreciated!!

[Mark W. Bellomo]

FIGURES

ALL Heavy Metals that came with the Mauler indeed came packaged with a mic. EVERY SINGLE ONE. The only variant that did not was the "Rampage" mail-away variant, who is listed in the book. Anyone who says that their Heavy Metal DID NOT come w/ one is trying to snow a buyer...

This is different with the Hard Top, as there are documented cases of the figure packaged with and WITHOUT his pistol.

FILE CARDS

As previously stated, there will NOT be any file cards listed in the book. That includes the Penney's f/c's which are simply variant packaging with variant file cards. FILE CARDS ARE NOT LISTED OR PICTURES IN THE BOOK.

The figrues from the Penney's sets are exactly the same as the domestic releases. So there is no notation.

-- MWB

[whitedalek]

Great job, Mark! I'm pre-ordering one later today. Thanks for letting us know about the book as that I might have missed it otherwise. I've been looking for a guide like yours for years. I hope it does extremely well so you can do books on the later run of joes.