Toys & Prices 2005

Editor:  Karen  O'Brien

Paperback, 824 pages, 2005 Edition 12TH

Pub. Date: Dec 2004, Publisher: Krause Publications Inc

ISBN: 0873498305

First, I love price guides. Yes, I know that sounds sort of weird but I enjoy going through them and seeing stuff I either used to own, wish I could own or will never have a shot at getting.

And toys are always going to have a soft spot for me, because when I was a kid I really didn’t have a lot of toys to play with. Thank God I knew how to make a fist. You know, so I could get into fights or hold a hammer turn on my TV, stuff like that.

Anyway, when I got married I got lucky enough to be with a woman who understood my obsessions. And it seems like Krause Publications understands them as well. With the new Toys and Prices guide they have given the collector a great resource for their toys and childhood memories.

Normally, this is the best regarded value guide for toy collectors. Now revised and updated, the 2005 edition is both a price and identification guide that features over 30,000 toys made after WWII.

It claims to be the most comprehensive listing of toys ever assembled. And buddy, I think it is. I found everything from action figures to Matchbox cars. I wonder if Karen O’Brien got to play with all the toys she talks about? I know I would have been. I collect Matchbox cars when I can find the ones I like, the older metal ones. And they are getting harder and harder to find every year.

Sure, you can find the plastic ones all over the place. But the really fun day is when you hit a yard sale and find a box of them for a quarter each. And no, I don’t hide in a corner then with the price guide and see if I got a rare car worth a lot of money. Why sometimes I never even check and see if it is worth anything. I have been known to buy toys with no wheels, paint all scratched up, windows broken.

I figure what the heck? I drive cars like that, I might as well buy them as toys. And I actually play with my toys. Yes, I play with them.

But, I will admit I was quite happy to find that one of two of my Matchbox cars are worth a few dollars.

The entire section dealing with metal cars was pretty good. Covering everything from Corgi Cars to Johnny Lightning to Dinky and lastly to older Japanese tin cars there is very little missing. The photos were fun to see, and they brought back a lot of memories.

For the rest of the book, I found stuff ranging from a Man From U.N.C.L.E. Big Little Book to Restaurant Premiums. But I still can’t find a Superman PEZ.

I really liked the section on Lunch Boxes also.

Complaints? Well, the color section seemed a little brief. And I wish I could come up with something more to gripe about.

This is a fun book, excellent for reference work or as a price guide for the folks who collect for future use, or to see if you got rooked by that dealer at the last show. Track one down.