G.I.Joe Collector Books

Written by Mark Bellomo and published in 2005 by KP Books (an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc.), The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994 focuses on the U.S. G.I. Joe 3 3/4" line from 1982-1994. This book is 256 pages in length and features more than 1,300 color photographs of every figure with accessories, every vehicle complete with a listing of easily lost parts, and all accessories for the line. Also included in the book are current values for the items, rare variations, pictures of inserts and paperwork, and a Foreward by Larry Hama.

On August 19, 1994 a G.I. Joe auction was held at Christie's auction house, signalling the start of the 1994 G.I. Joe International Collectors Convention (August 20-21, 1994). The auction included many one-of-a-kind items like prototypes, paint models, sketches, and even props and costumes worn by actors for the G.I. Joe commercials. The catalog established the rules for the auction, listed the items available, and also set the minimum bid amounts.

This auction catalog is not available for sale, although one may occasionally be found on an online auction site. Since this catalog is not available but stills serves a purpose as an invaluable reference for G.I. Joe concept art, collectibles, and prototypes all of the pages pertaining to 3 3/4" G.I. Joes can be viewed by clicking on the image below. Missing pages are pages that only included G.I. Joes prior to the 3 3/4" line. Please keep in mind that the catalog does not contain images for each auction but the images that are included in the catalog contain numbers that can be matched with corresponding numbers in the item descriptions.

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James DeSimone's two guides, The Official Collector's Guide to Collecting & Completing Your GI Joe Figures and Accessories and The Official Collector's Guide to Collecting & Completing Your GI Joe Figures and Accessories Volume II, picture nearly every G.I.Joe figure released in this country, and nearly every gun, backpack, and accessory that came with the figures.

Volume One features the G.I. Joe 3 3/4" figures from 1982 to 1992 and even includes the 12" Hall Of Fame figures from 1991 and 1992. In addition to the pictures it also includes an alphabetical list of figures by code name and a numerical index of the figures. It was released in 1993 and is 24 pages long.

Volume Two features the G.I. Joe 3 3/4" figures from 1992 to 1994 and also includes the 12" figures from 1993 and 1994. In addition to the pictures Volume Two also includes an alphabetical list of figures by code name, a numerical index of the figures, and short articles about the G.I. Joe comics, cartoons, and International figures. It was released in 1994 and is 24 pages long. Keep in mind that the numbering for Volume Two starts at page 25 and ends on page 48, so the two guides combined equal 48 pages.

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The equally excellent Compendium of Corrections to "The Official Guide to Collecting and Completing Your G.I.Joe Figures and Accessories" by Brian Mulholland fixes nearly all the errors in the DeSimone guides. For only $3, if you have the DeSimone guides, you must have this companion.

To order, send $3 U.S. to Brian Mulholland, 426 West 1st Street #15, Tustin, CA 92780.

NOTE: The Compendium is not endorsed by James DeSimone.

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Compiled by G.I.Joe collector Simon Hurley, an eight book series titled The G.I.Joe Complete Collector's Set contains copies of every file card and blueprint which were included with the toys for the entire U.S. 3 3/4" line, and some additional international and custom material. All eight volumes are printed, bound, softcover books and seven of the eight are currently available:

Volume I: Blueprints (1982-1987) - Includes full-page black & white copies of the blueprint page from EVERY piece of G.I.Joe equipment released from the start of the line in 1982 up to and including the 1987 line. 135 pages, $15.00.

Volume II: Blueprints (1988-1997) - Includes full-page black & white copies of the blueprint page from EVERY piece of G.I.Joe equipment released from 1988 up to and including the end of the line in 1994. Bonus pages also include the entire 1997 re-release of G.I.Joe vehicles. 150 pages, $15.00.

Volume III: Filecards (1982-1989) - Includes 3-per-page clear full-size black & white copies of the filecards from EVERY G.I.Joe figure released from the start in 1982 up to and including the 1989 line. 115 pages, $15.00.

Volume IV: Filecards (1990-1997) - Includes 3-per-page clear full-size black & white copies of the filecards from EVERY G.I.Joe figure released from 1990 up to and including the end of the line in 1994. Bonus pages also include the entire 1997 re-release of G.I.Joe figures and rare copies of the unreleased 1994 Star Brigade Manimals filecards. 125 pages, $15.00.

Volume V: Special Forces - Includes clear, full-size black & white copies from a number of international G.I.Joe lines and U.S. G.I.Joe-related lines. Includes filecards and blueprint pages from Australia, Canada, Mexico, Agentina, England, Brazil, and other countries, with a number of them translated into English. Also includes the filecards for the complete Sgt. Savage, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Bronze Bombers lines (based on G.I.Joe concepts, figure molds and specifications). Bonus pages also include the 1990 Wal-Mart set created by Hasbro as in internal promotion campaign. 250 pages, $20.00.

Volume VI: International G.I.Joe - Contains clear, full-size B&W copies of file cards, blueprints, and other material from several international G.I.Joe lines by Habro and other companies all around the world. Includes G.I.Joe file cards and blueprints from Canada, Mexico, Argentina, England, Italy, Brazil, Japan, China, Norway, France, Spain, India, and several other countries; translations into English of several Brazilian exclusives; the Australian exclusive D.E.F line; the U.K. exclusive Action Force and Tiger Force lines; and more! 250 pages, $20.00.

Volume VII: Dossiers and Equipment Specs - Contains clear, full-size B&W copies of profiles, dossiers, equipment specs, and pinups from the Marvel Comics G.I.Joe series. Included are: the complete Order of Battle set from the 1987 comic mini-series, including extra ones from the trade paperback release; character profiles and equipment specs from the yearbooks and early issues of the comics; maps and headquarters layouts; dossiers and equipment specs from the European Action Force series; dossiers, equipment specs, and pinups from the last few years of the G.I.Joe comic; and more! 250 pages, $20.00.

COMING SOON! Volume VIII: Missing In Action - Includes copies of never-released authentic-looking G.I.Joe filecards, custom made by Simon (a knowledgeable G.I.Joe collector and enthusiast), fully detailed with additional explanations of where each character came from and how their filecards were made. Contains filecards for characters from the comics and cartoons which were never made into figures, figures which didn't have filecards, and Hasbro's never-completed toy concepts including the entire 1995 A Real American Hero line (which was cancelled and replaced by Sgt. Savage). Over 100 file cards in all, plus over 30 blueprints, maps, building schematics, organizational heirarchy charts, and more. A must for every G.I.Joe collector!

Several other countries around the world produced their own lines of G.I.Joe figure, some under different names. Many of these were virtually identical to the U.S. versions, and many were quite different.

There is an excellent source of information on the international G.I.Joe lines, The Joe Files. Published by Michael Livanos and Wai Wong, it contains detailed descriptions of nearly all the G.I.Joe figures produced outside the U.S.A., including a few color and black & white pictures.

It has recently been updated for the year 2000.

Written by Jeff Killian and Charles Griffith, the Tomart's Price Guide to G.I.Joe Collectibles has b/w images of nearly all the figures carded, and images of the boxes for nearly all the playsets and vehicles. Also, half of this guide is dedicated to the collecting of the classic 12" G.I.Joe figures. The majority of this book is black and white but there are eight color pages of vintage 12" G.I. Joes and eight color pages of 3 3/4" G.I. Joes. If you are interested in mint-on-card figures or the vehicles and playsets, then this guide is great. This book was published in 1993 by Tomart Publications and is 144 pages in length. The MSRP for the book is $24.95.

Unfortunately, the guide is out of print at this time but used copies are occasionally sold on most online auction websites.

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