The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures, 1977-1985

I understand why some have given this book such a low rating and will cover both the pros and cons.I own a Swansweet action figure guide (an excellent guide) so this guide was purchased as an addition to my existing guide to expand the information I already have.First lets cover the negatives:Previous reviewers quite correctly point out that for some figures (not all) there is very little written on the figure itself. As other reviewers quite rightly point out, there is more written about the character and Star Wars history than the figure itself. It almost feels like they don't know what to say about the figure, so they cover detailed background on the character as filler and then talk about the figure in the last paragraph (in some cases they don't even do that). But I would add that all have an information box on the figure itself and most have great pics with other information (notes next to the pictures) so combined you do get sufficient basic information (plus some have detailed information in the text). Also when I compare it to my other book, it approximately has a paragraph per figure so can't really say it is that much better and am happy with that guide (as it also gives concise and good information on the figure). In summary, they should have used less character filler and concentrated on more figure content (I would add that this does not occur for the playset and spaceship section where they do concentrate a lot more on the toys).The Price guide element, these fluctuate and appear out of date but I didn't puchase it as a price guide, but a resource book so am neutral on this point.The positives are as follows:The book only deals with vintage action figures, so every page deals with what I am interested in and nothing else. My other book is half full of later figures (I have no interest in knowing about a later Luke figure who looks like he has been on steroids LOL).The number of photographs in this guide are excellent, (this is probably the best part of this guide). Most figures have more than one photograph, with close ups so you can see variations, weapons etc.All have basic, concise information for quick reference.It also covers vehicles & playsets in a lot more detail than other guides I have seen.Overall I am very happy with this guide as it does what I wanted it to, add further information to what I already have and think it is worth the five stars, but would not recommend if you are looking for an ultimate guide, if such a thing really exists, (I find that you end up having to buy a few guides to get more rounded coverage when it comes to collecting).This book is great for someone who knows nothing about the history of Star Wars toys and their variations and needs a good introduction or someone like me wanting to add to an existing guide.If you are looking to purchase this book, I would review the first pages in Amazon using the "look inside" option before buying, as they cover the early figures and will give you a much better idea of the information provided. In particular, you can see one extreme against another; R2 D2 is an example of a figure with only basic information, while the early bird package section gives an excellent summary.I hope the above helps!

well what can I say this book has cost me a fortune, let me explain. I thought this would just be a book showing the generation 1 star wars toys I was excited to relive my childhood by looking at what I had when I was a kid and what I haven't had, and what I didn't even know existedthen the bad news the book arrived and wow extremely detailed and what the hell are the last 17. well this book explained everything and that was it hooked is an understatement, dose not explain what I did so now after a lot of luck and hunting and lots of money I'm afraid. I own a full collection of 1977-1985 and its all thanks to this wonderful book (did you know that the x-wing has three variations two of which have lights and sounds ) well this book has it all ,so my advise if your a fan this is great if you like me a collector you cannot go wrong I'm waiting for the the transformers one now :)

All vintage toys covered in great detail and estimated values make for interesting reading as well

If you're going to publish a large book about a range of toys from the 1980s then anything short of an exhaustive guide is inexcusable, and this is a LONG way short. Most of the pages are wasted with descriptions about the characters themselves, rather than interesting information about the actual toys. If I wanted information (a lot of which is sourced from the now defunct EU publications) about Star Wars characters then I'd look them up on Wookiepedia or StarWars.com. I don't need yet another book filled with facts from spin off material, most of which is now utterly irrelevant. As a collector of the vintage Star Wars range I was expecting the book to cover all sorts of in-depth information about the action figures themselves, NOT the characters on which they are based. There are already libraries and servers full of that kind of information. Why make a book aimed specifically at collectors and fill it with superfluous character bios? It's baffling.Figure variations are included, although the images are too small to discern what exactly the variations are, and since most of each figure's page is taken up with pointless information there is little room to include descriptions of the variations. The lack of information regarding the cards is notable too. I'm not a card collector myself, but if I was this publication would be utterly useless. Another unforgivable omission is the complete disregard of the Palitoy variations. Collectors of vintage Star Wars figures are global and restricting this guide simply to the toys released in the US is frankly, insulting.Considering there are only around 100 action figures from the vintage range, and only a couple of dozen vehicles and playsets. you'd think that by now someone would have collected images and information about them all in one place. However, currently, there are no guides available, either in publication or online, that contain a complete guide of the entire vintage Star Wars range, and I hoped this book would finally fill that gap. Sadly, although it's a beautiful publication, it doesn't even come close.

OK so the prices may be a bit out of date but actually, if you're a fan rather than an expert looking to collect the original Star Wars toys or maybe sell them this book is a really great guide to working out what's what, what goes with what and whether its rare or not. Lovely illustrations, good clear write up and the right level of information. Best of all it doesn't cost anything near the price of the Kellerman bible and current prices can easily be found on eBay and Star Wars collectors' websites. I was very pleased with this guide!

Arrived today after I Pre-ordered before xmas, Great book covering the vintage figures & loose not NRFB versions which starter collectors are more likely to collect...shows what weapon goes with which figure & has lots of photos of each figure & variations.I would HIGHLY recommend this to any starter Star Wars figure collectors or Just for those who had the toys & want a trip down memory lane :-)