Toy Book: JB & Indiana Jones

superado

Just got a slightly shelf-damaged but new copy of this book, James Bond and Indiana Jones, pretty cheap from www.abebooks.com for a little over $10 total with shipping. I see it was previewed on CBn and can be ordered from Amazon.uk as well. It's a pretty cool review of practically all Bond related action figures ever produced. It does not cover vehicles or other non-figure Bond toys, which I would think will need a book several times thicker. There are a ton of photos, but I haven't gotten to actually reading any of the text, which speaks a lot about my real reading habits! In short, the book covers Bond figure lines such as Gilbert, Medicom, Exclusive Premier, Hasbro (modern Action Man) and of course Sideshow.

As the title states, it's just not about Bond, but also features Indiana Jones. With the new Indy movie and the unprecendented toy licensing granted to several toy brands simultaneously, it looks like the future chapter on Indy toys will eclipse all that's been done before and will soon render this book's coverage severely lacking.

The book is published by Histoire & Collections, which I did not realize earlier; this is the 4th book they've published and I have their 1st offering that showcased customized WWII 12" figures. They also did a book on Action Joe, which is the French line of the 12" GI Joe figures, which I might eventually get.

Overall, this is a nice book on Bond toys, so much so that I keep neglecting the Indy "half," which is funny since I'm also big on Indy toys. I guess that shows which one I love more!

PoorMansJB

I wish the author had used mint pieces for his examples and possibly shown some rare figures like the Cecil Colemans. As it stands, he really goes into greater depth in the Jones section; the Bond stuff is pretty routine and some (because they're not mint) are shown with the wrong accessories, etc.

I actually think the most interesting bit is in the frontcepiece where he lists actors appearing in both the Bond and Jones series; never realized the two shared so many players!

superado

Yes, ultimately books like this are only as good as the specimens presented, which I could only imagine is largely dependent on the author's research efforts and lengths taken (such as travel). Ultimately as well, all this depends on the author's ability to obtain access to key collections.

For example, I collect Palitoy Action Man (AM) reference books and the first one I ever got had poor examples, but for me was presented beautifully enough to get me more interested in these toys. Later on, however, the owner of arguably the best collection of vintage AM in complete and pristine condition took it upon himself to write the most comprehensive references (3 volumes) on the toy line.