Let me explain my definition of no-frills. This is not a coffee table style book, those typically have hundreds of pictures and are designed more as eye-candy. This is a work-horse of a book, it gets down to the nitty gritty with its excellent coverage of the popular toys. And if you're into toys, it will soon be well thumbed through as you use it again and again for reference.
At the beginning of each chapter is short piece authored by an expert in that particular field, along with the top ten toys of the category.
Toys covered include:
- Action Figures
- Advertising Toys
- Barbie
- Battery-Operated Toys
- Character Toys
- Fisher-Price
- Games
- G.I.Joe
- Guns
- Lunch Boxes
- Marx Play Sets
- Model Kits
- PEZ
- Restaurant Premiums
- Robots
- Rock and Roll
- Sci-Fi and Space Toys
- Star Wars
- Tin Toys
- Vehicles (from Buddy L to Tootsitoy)
- View-Master
- Western Toys
Although a book with hundreds of pages -- all in black and white --can be tiresome to read, this one is not. It's laid out in great fashion. Enough bold type on the pages, along with reverse-type headings, makes it very easy to read and pick out what just what you are looking for.
As always a price guide needs to be realistic and the toys that I am familiar with appear to be right on target with the prices. If you need a toy price guide in your library, this is a great choice and at a very reasonable price.
- Nicely laid out and very easy to use format
- Type and fonts are eye-friendly
- Even though black and white pictures are small, most are very clear
- 16 page color insert is excellent
- I even like the 7" x 10" size!
- A nice touch - Book is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Reeve for giving "Clark Kent a heart and Superman a soul."
- A FIVE-STAR book!
