Use The Force!Released in 1977, the movie Star Wars: A New Hope changed pop culture forever. The accompanying toys became a global phenomenon and are now the most hotly pursued toys in the galaxy. How hot? A Boba Fett action figure or Cloud City Playset in mint condition can be worth thousands of dollars to collectors. Learn the secrets of the universe with this hands-on, how-to guide to picking Star Wars toys. Fun, informative and easy to use, this indispensable pocket gu...

Trains are the cluggity-clugs that you see racing down the tracks. Do you know all there is to know about these wheelers? If not, turn the pages of this book and start learning! Picture books are highly effective at breaking down facts to make them appealing for young children. It is a great resource to use when introducing complex scenarios early in life. Order your copy today!

Featuring striking photographs and lively, insightful commentary and histories, The Best of Barbie is a full-color visual feast that novice and experienced collectors alike will treasure.Scattered throughout the book are trivia facts that test the reader's knowledge of America's favorite doll. Plus, accompanying each photo is a handy identification and value info bar - facts readers need at a glance.With complete descriptions, 300 magnificent color photos and more ...

It has now been over a century since Frank Hornby invented a toy to amuse his sons and called it Meccano, coining a word which is now known all over the world.Hornby's vision of an educational toy became the basis of perhaps the most successful British toy business of the twentieth century. Meccano has amused generations of children, encouraging many to become successful engineers.Roger Marriott here explores the long history of Meccano, charting the develo...

Elaborate cinematic universes and sophisticated marketing tie-ins are commonplace in entertainment today. It's easy to forget that the transmedia trend began in 1982 with a barbarian action figure. He-Man and the other characters in Mattel's popular Masters of the Universe toy line quickly found their way into comic books, video games, multiple television series and a Hollywood film. The original animated series (1983-1985) was the first based on an action figure, and the cult classic ...

Dinky Toys are a part of many people’s childhood. They were one of the many famous brands produced as part of the Meccano empire set up by Frank Hornby at his Binns Road factory in Liverpool. Although they began before the Second World War, it was the post-war ranges produced by Dinky that really caught the public’s imagination and helped to make the period into the company’s golden years. This colourfully illustrated book tells the story of Dinky Toys, including small Dinky Toys, the larg...

The film Ghostbusters was released in June 1984 and became a cultural phenomenon and an instant classic, reaching No. twenty-eight in the American Film Institute’s top 100 comedies of all time and voted funniest film of the past twenty-five years by Entertainment Weekly in 2008. The release of the film marked the beginning of a franchise that would include a sequel (with a third film being released in 2016, more than thirty years later), comics, television series and action figures. In thi...

This is the first full-colour history of the world-famous toy soldiers to chart the whole story of their development from Victorian table toy to 21st Century collectable. Prior to 1893 the family toy business of the Britain family was struggling as the toy industry was dominated by German manufacturers and importers. Then came the fateful decision first to import, then to design and manufacture, toy soldiers, an area the German firms were particularly strong in. Britains Toy Soldiers were ...

Matchbox toys were ubiquitous items for children across the Western world.Originally labelled Christmas-cracker trash by retailers and shopkeepers, the small-scale 1-75 series soon began to see unprecedented worldwide sales in the 1950s. Smaller and cheaper than most of its competitors' toys, Matchbox models were also far more accurately modelled, but the company has nevertheless seen its own share of competition and challenging times over the years.In this...

In this companion book to Dolls Remembered, men reminisce about the boyhood toys and games that still hold a place in memory.

The expert model maker takes readers through every stage of building a miniature navy board model in this fully illustrated step-by-step guide.In this clear and detailed volume, Phil Reed tackles the ultimate expression of the ship model maker's art: The Navy Board model. These early eighteenth-century works of art are well represented in major maritime museums and private collections. Here, Reed takes on the construction of a miniature 1/192 scale model of the Roy...

"One neat book full of markings for British Shermans. It will greatly appeal to both modelers and AFV enthusiasts and historians."—AMPS IndianapolisWith production in excess of 55,000, the Sherman tank was eventually in service with most Allied armies of the Second World War and by the time of the Normandy landings was the mainstay of Britain's armored battalions. In his second book in the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver uses wartime photos and extensively research...