GI Joe: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action

by John Michlig

From the creators of the GI Joe Masterpiece Edition comes this exclusive history of the world's greatest action figure. The only book to tell the whole story, from the initial concept born in the early '60s through the phenomenal GI Joe renaissance of the '90s, GI Joe takes us behind the scenes with the people who made it all happen. Featuring over 200 color photographs showing early prototypes, sketches, rare items, and more, including many Hasbro...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811818225
• ISBN13: 9780811818223
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 2.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

Well researched and a tale well told

Don't confuse this book with the "GI Joe collector's guides" that exist in various forms. This is a different animal - - gripping, well-written nonfiction, telling the story of a small family-owned business and its leap of faith on a brand new type of toy for boys, the now-ubiquitous "action figure." The story of the GI Joe product illuminates the story of the toy industry itself. I found this look inside the process of bringing a product to market and maintaining its value over the course of decades fascinating.

What great fun!!

I don't normally give a Five Star rating, but my god, this book is wonderful. The story is fun and indepth. The design is AMAZING and the images of the GI JOE figures are wonderfully shot.If you have even a slight, passing interest in GI JOE, buy this book, you won't be dissappointed!

GI Joe's history comes alive

This book is so wonderfully written and designed, it's hard to imagine anybody not enjoying it's large closeup photos and detail rich text. The history of one of America's favorite toys is told with relish, humor and a great deal of "insider info". Mr Michlig's love of original design art also is evident in the use of many photos of prototypes, box art and samples. The attractive, large sized volume looks very impressive and tempting on the coffee table too.

A great inside story of the joe world.

For anyone who grew up with gijoe as a back yard play mate this is the book for you. You will be amazed at the behind the doors work that went on to bring gijoe to life. This is a fascinating story of joe and how he came to life his rocket to stardom and then fade to twilight. A must read for any joe lover and collector. 5 stars

Fun and Factual

The best researched book on GI Joe ever written. My only complaint is that the sections on the 70's and 80's need to be expanded. But that is a minor complaint, this is a beautiful book and a must for GI Joe collectors.