"ORDER OF BATTLE" done in "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" Style

[Arashikage_Tengu]

I remember, sometime around the late `80's/early`90's some friends of mine had these sets of role playing games. They had one for the characters of the Marvel Comics universe and one for G.I. Joe universe. There were these full size sheets of paper with 3-hole punches so you could place them in a 3-ring binder. Each sheet had stats and bio for a different character. What was this? I never played it, but I would borrow their binders to read about the G.I. Joe and Cobra characters. As well as, the Marvel characters. I went through the Collectibles More than just army toys archive, but to no avail. Help. Am I just imagining this? Was this just a dream?
The G.I. Joe/COBRA sheets may have just been a part of the Marvel universe set, and they just seperated the Joe/COBRAs from the rest of the Marvel characters. I don't know. It was still cool, and I would like to find these.

This just in:

That maybe the customizable 'Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'.

People used them for Roleplayin as well as character studies.

As far as I know there is no such thing as a G.I. Joe one....

anyone know for sure?

That information seems to be correct. I did a search on "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe", saw some pics, and that seems like what my friends had. I've yet to see any Joe sheets, though. Can anyone confirm if there were G.I. Joe/COBRA characters included in this series? If anyone else has any further information, it would still be appreciated.

[Robot Rabbit]

Hey Arashikage_Tengu, I think you are confusing two separate things....perhaps blending together things from long ago, as we all tend to do

In 86-87, Marvel published the GI Joe Order of Battle. These books featured a picture and descriptions of each character and vehicle that was released up to 1987. The descriptions were extended versions of the filecards, and actually quite interesting. However, these were published in comic book form--cheap paper and staples, and thus no holes. You can find out more here:

http://www.yojoe.com/comics/oob/

As for the Marvel characters, several different versions of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe were published--one series in 1983 and one series in 1985, with updates every year or so for new characters. These were published in comic book format. However, in the early 1990s, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition was released. Each issue contained 23 or 24 characters, and the pages were made of heavier paper and had 3 holes punched in them. These were the ones that you put in the binders. No GI Joe characters were featured in any of these issues.

I hope this info helps. And thank you for reminding me...I still need a few of those "Master Edition" books, and the Chicago Comic Convention is a month away...

[Arashikage_Tengu]

Thank you, Robot Rabbit. That was most informative. However, in the link you provided it showed that the "Order of Battle" was re-released in a trade paperback. By chance, do you or anyone else know if the trade paperback was made of heavier paper and had the 3 hole punch?
When I was originally looking for these in the archives, I saw these listed. However, there weren't any pics of the pages inside. So, I couldn't tell if they were what I was looking for, or not.

[Jeff Bohn]

Thank you, Robot Rabbit. That was most informative. However, in the link you provided it showed that the "Order of Battle" was re-released in a trade paperback. By chance, do you or anyone else know if the trade paperback was made of heavier paper and had the 3 hole punch?
When I was originally looking for these in the archives, I saw these listed. However, there weren't any pics of the pages inside. So, I couldn't tell if they were what I was looking for, or not.

Nope, OOB TPB was a regular comic TPB, no 3 hole punch.

[Arashikage_Tengu]

Nope, OOB TPB was a regular comic TPB, no 3 hole punch.

Well, Thanks, Jeff.
That sort of lets me down, though. I was really hoping it came with the heavier paper and 3 hole punches. Maybe my friends puched the holes, themselves. That way it would be more like the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe". Or, like RR said, I muddled the two things up together. Oh, well. Thanks again, Robot Rabbit and Jeff.

[Mike JT]

In the 90s Marvel did do updates in the three hole punch format. But apparently not for GI Joe.