Amid the hailstorm of information that poured out of this year's G.I. Joe Convention was a little mentioned gem: a full color picture guide to Internationally released G.I. Joe figures. Those familiar with this site know of my interest in figure releases from Europe, Argentina, China, Brazil and India. As such, this guide, written by Ron Conner and Derek Anderson, is a perfect addition to my collection.

The primary purpose of this guide is to showcase international Joe variants from all over the world. Unlike earlier representations that have primarily focused on those international figures who were drastically different from their American counterparts, this guide shows all the figures available in various countries and attempts to catalog even minor differences among them.

The guide starts off with a series of expository pages regarding the history of the line, some basic tips to help you identify figures from around the world, general collecting tips in regards to maintaining a collection, an overview of the C-scale of grading figures and a glossary of terms. While it may appear innocuous at first, this is the type of added extras that helps make this guide more valuable than being a simple visual representation of some action figures.

The next sections cover figures released in various countries around the world. The list begins alphabetically with Argentina. It then covers Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Europe (Including the UK), India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Venezuela. As you could imagine, the Argentine, Brazilian and Indian sections are the largest as every figure released in these markets is different from it's American counterpart. Some countries have little information and others have a great deal. Each section begins with a historical overview of the Joes in that country, a quick guide to identifying a figure from that particular country and some quick info regarding country specific packaging.

The meat of the book, however, is in the individual figure pictures that adorn most of the pages. Each figure is shown facing forward, surrounded by the full complement of their accessories. If the figure has a variant, that figure is pictured in the next box so comparing the differences is easier. Under the picture is a small caption with the figure's native name, American counterpart name, a price guide line and, in some cases, a little bit of extra info (such as what vehicle the figure came with, notes about the construction, etc.) that gives a broader picture of the figure's history. Figures are first arranged by either year or series for a particular country and then alphabetically by their native names. There is a maximum of 12 figures on each page, arranged 4 to a row in 3 rows. The pics are small enough to fit on the page, but still provide enough detail of the figures and their accessories to get a good idea of what the figure looks like. However, there are a few examples wheres very slight color nuances are lost due to the size of the photos. To their credit, the authors made note of these, so you are aware of the differences, even if you can not see them.

Interspersed throughout the pictures are little side notes that offer interesting tidbits of info about a particular figure, certain variations, or "fun facts". These are notes about figures that make this book more valuable than just a picture guide as they offer some details into harder to describe parts of the hobby. Things like nuances in helmet design, figures packaged with different accessories, close ups of foriegn logos, comparisons with American figures, and other little tidbits help to flesh out the book and make for interesting reading.

The book is fairly complete. Aside from offering glimpses of rarities like the Funskool Clutch and Flagello, it also showcases many common figures, but complete with their accessories. This is an invaluable guide for someone like me who tossed all his Funskool figures into a box without separating individual accessories. There are a few missing items. Some of the world's rarest figures (Blue Hawk from India, Red Beach Head from India) as well as some minor players (Grunt from Brazil) are not picturesd. This is acceptable, though, as there is at least a placeholder for the figure to let collectors know of its existence. Future volumes of this guide are planned and they should fill the few missing items.

The final section of the guide is a price guide. Personally, I think price guides are of little use. Prices fluctuate on a whim with the changing tastes of collectors worldwide. The attempt was to at least ballpark some values to help give neophyte collectors some idea of certain items' general pricing. Beyond that, though, I don't think the guide will become a de facto standard. However, as there is no international Joe price guide out there, the mere attempt to put one together is to be commended.

This leaves the final two questions which are, perhaps, the most important: Where do I buy this guide? and How much is it? The guide is currently available for $29.95 from Back In The Day Toys. At first, that price might seem a little high. However, as a referece, this guide is excellent and deserving of the price tag. Many of the figures presented in here have not been show publically, in this format, ever. It will probably take a great deal of time before anyone else is able to assemble a compendium of figures like this and make it available to the public free of charge. As such, I feel that this guide is well worth the asking price.

My personal impressions of this guide are that it is an incredibly well done resource that is invaluable to every Joe collector. We are now to the point in the Joe world where many international figures have been interspersed with American collections. A visual guide that can aid in identifying these differences is something that every dealer, collector and even fan should have readily available. I commend both Derek and Ron for their extraordinary efforts in creating this guide and feel that this fills a gaping hole in the Joe community. I will certainly be anticipating future volumes.

Note: all images on this page were used with permission from the authors.