Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection (Star Wars x Chronicle Books) Paperback – November 28, 2012

The very first review I ever wrote for Amazon.com was for this book's predecessor: The Star Wars Action Figure Archive. I liked the original quite a bit, so I immediately pre-ordered this book when I first saw it. I have spent the last couple of days carefully reading some parts and an quickly thumbing through others (for now) so I could write this review and let folks know what to expect. All things considered, I think this book is as good as the the original in most ways and believe it easily deserves at least 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars since fractions were not an option). Here's why.First, this is a reference book and not a price guide (so, it contains tons of timeless information, but no prices that are quickly outdated). Second, it shows a picture of every figure released as off the time the book was set to the publisher, including most variations and many more obscure figures (with nearly 340 pages containing 6 or more photos each, I have no doubt the author covers at lest the 2300 figures mentioned in the intro). On a related note, all of the pictures are nicely sized so you can easily see the detail for each figure. For example, there are 54 Darth Vader figures covered over eight pages, and 89 Luke Skywalker figures covered over 11 pages. Second (at least for the vintage figures and probably for the rest, too, though I can't say for sure because I don't collect those), it shows each figure holding/wearing all of the weapons/accessories it originally came with. Third, it shows at least one still photo for a vast majority of the figures from the movies, TV shows, and/or comics (this is a wonderful way to see how the figures compare to the character they represent). Fourth, there is a brief commentary on every figure, and a slightly more in depth commentary on more important figures. Fifth, everything is in full color and on high quality semi-gloss paper (the book is an inch thick and weighs over 3.5 pounds). Finally, on p. 10 it shows a sample photo of the card/packaging from each of the 29 production lines included in the book (I mention this as it was one of my favorite features of the book).That said, this book is a reference guide for the figures themselves and therefore does not deal with packaging of each figure in any meaningful way (so, if that is what you are looking for this may not be the book for you). This is too bad as it was a great feature in the original book (and my primary reason for giving it 4.5 rather than 5 stars). But, it does what it set out to do exceptionally well, is very fun to go through, and contains a lot of useful information that is not readily available elsewhere (especially all in one place), and I'm happy to round up to 5 stars. So, I think most Star Wars action figure collectors will find it to be a worthwhile reference for their library.

Great packaging, shipment was received quickly and in the conditioned that was described.

Great images, quality and very thorough. Perfect for anyone that grew up in the 70s/80s and collected.

THIS BOOK IS A GREAT RESOURCE TO HAVE WHEN YOU CATALOG YOUR COLLECTION. IT HAS EVERYTHING A STAR WARSACTION FIGURE COLLECTOR NEEDS SO THEY CAN IDENTIFY WHAT SERIES A FIGURE BELONGS IN. FOR EXAMPLE IF YOUBOUGHT A MIXED LOT OF STAR WARS FIGURES BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SERIES THE FIGURES CAME FROM. THIS BOOKSHOWS YOU WITH FULL PICTURES OF EVERY ACTION FIGURE WITH INFORMATION ON EACH ONE. YOU CAN'T GO WRONGSTEPHEN J. SANSWEET KNOWS HIS STUFF. AND I HOPE HE MAKES UPDATES FOR THIS BOOK . BECAUSE I WILL BUY THEMFOR SURE. SO IF YOUR A FIGURE COLLECTOR LIKE I AM . PICK UP THIS BOOK YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID.

A comprehensive overview of all SW action figures from the first Kenner offerings up through ~2012. The pictures are excellent and offer close up views of virtually every figure made over this time.Where it perhaps comes up short is the exclusion of playsets and vehicles. The way this book is organized doing so would have undoubtedly made it very big and perhaps unwieldly so a 2nd volume covering that in the same style to side aside this one would be excellent idea for the authors to consider, not to mention an updated edition of this one to bring us to 2020!The other thing I miss is pictures of the figures actually on their cards. They are all shown loose throughout the volume with a Key/Legend at the front of the book that shows each card version/style and an accompanying code so to easily ID which line the figure is from. The book itself is organized by character so a page or run of pages will show all the iterations of a character before moving on to another. It works and once you understand the coding (easy for fans versed in this kind of thing) makes for great reference - aside from the absence of carded images. It's easy to understand why they did not include the carded images and the style they chose DOES work but I often find myself heading to the internet to ID the carded look of a given fig after being piqued by its entry in this book.Paired with the '90s "Action Figure Archive" book this is a very nice and maybe even essential volume for serious collectors and certainly is at the top of the heap in terms of quality of the book itself and design/presentation. It's not a telephone book/price guide kind of book but more an appreciation of the aesthetics and iterations of the toys. If you go in knowing and expecting that you will enjoy having this book.

I grew up with Star Wars and still have all my original Kenner SW toys- they're a little beat up from years of play but hey that's what toys are for. Anyway when I heard about this book I had to pick it up. They've documented every figure from the Star Wars universe to date. I haven't really followed the newer figure releases from all the prequels so this got me up to speed- overall a great reference and seeing some of these figures brings back great memories. I do wish they would've put everything in overall chronological order instead of by character- just a preference thing.

Glad and proud to review this awesome book. I keep it on my night stand and read a bit every night. Steve sansweet is the author and one of the biggest Star Wars fans. He knows his stuff. Paul from the Jediarchive.com website worked with him. He is a great guy. I met him at toy fair two years ago. This book covers everything you need to know about the figures. May I be the first to suggest a sequel for ships, play sets and accessories. Very happy with this book. Must have for toy collectors. I don't think there will ever be one to top it.