Star Wars Movies Books

This is the best Star Wars action figure guide ever published, period. I have been collecting STar Wars figures since 1977 and like this book so much that I have bought multiple copies so that I could take one apart and use with my binder in which I track my collection. Beautiful graphics and well organized. Do not buy this if you expecting a price guide though. My only wish is that Stephen Sansweet would create a second volume, continuing where he left off.

This book is a super resource for it has a lot of glossy pics which are highly detailed of the Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Returo of the Jedi and Power of the Force Action Figures as well as Star Wars Action Playsets and Spaceships. It is well worth the money and is easily divided into many sections.

I use it all the time to find Vintage Star Wars items for gifts for Star Wars collectors. I strongly recommend it if you collect Star Wars or are going to in the future. I bought my book from Amazon and also, it is a great gift for any one who loves Star Wars.

John Ling and Steve Sansweet have outdone themselves. Being a fan and collector of the films and memorabilia of Star Wars for over 26 years, I was impressed by the attention to detail that was paid in this book. Or, as Darth Vader would say, "Impressive...most impressive." My area of collecting lies mainly with carded figures and this book has it all. I was also wowed by the many never before seen deleted scene images from the films that are showcased throughout this book. Too bad this book isn't in print anymore, but good for me I was able to get a copy!

I first purchased this book on another site in California. The book is on one island in Hawaii and I am on another island in Hawaii. So, I bought another one through Amazon. It is a wonderful source of information. I did however notice that there are some items of significant value and/or rarity that are not included. One such item is the Special Action Display that recently sold online for close to one thousand dollars. Perhaps the author of the book did not have the informamtion available at the time of publication.

The first Star Wars Vintage Mailaway Display 1979

The Star Wars Action Display Stand was first offered through a coupon redemption included with the first four (4) Early Bird Kit Action Figures:

Luke Skywalker with Yellow Telescoping Lightsaber (very rare)

Princess Leia Organa with White Vinyl Cape & Laser Pistol

Chewbacca with Green Crossbow

R2-D2

The second time that it was offered on the back of Star Wars Action Figure Cardbacks. The offer stated:

Star Wars Action Collectors Stand

Display all 12 figures on this colorful galaxy stand. Sturdy plastic with action levers to move figures back and forth. Figures easily removeable for individual play. Send your name, address, zip code and proof-of-purchase seal (shown at right) from 2 Star Wars Action Figure packages alone with $2.00 to: Star Wars Action Collector Stand, P.O. Box 1313, One Industrial Drive, Maple Plain, MINN, 55348. Collectors Action Stand FREE with proof-or purchase from 12 STAR WARS Action Figures. Allow 8 - 10 weeks for delivery. Offer expires May, 1, 1979. Void where prohibited, taxed or otherwise regulated The third time it was offered boxed in toy departments and stores. The Stand came in a attractive box which showed all of the twelve (12) Action Figures that could be placed on it. The box that was shipped to individuals was just a plain white mailer.

The Grey Display Stand came with a slot in the back of it for the cardboard backdrop which depicted the Death Star and a Space Battle between X-Wing Fighters & Tie Fighters. A thin adhesive strip was included for the front of the stand which instructed kids where to place their first twelve (12) figures:

Stormtrooper

Jawa

Death Squad Commander

See Threepio

Darth Vader

Ben Kenobi

Sandpeople

Luke Skywalker

Chewbacca

Han Solo

Princess Leia

Artoo Deetoo

As for the promised action, each of the three (3) black levers in front turned the bases of the four (4) figures giving them at least limited movement. Each base had two (2) foot pegs to hold the Action Figures in place. I had a lot of fun putting my Stand together along with my older brother. The parts included in the box reminded us of Legos. Be sure to check out my other Reviews in regards to rare Vintage Star Wars action figures. One can still find this item either loose or still in the original box.

The Special Action Display is the one rare item which is not covered in the book much to my amazement. The Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Special Action Display had the same thin black strip that one could place on the front with the exception that there were only the names of six characters on it which were:

Luke Skywalker

Princess Leia Organa

Lando Calrissian

Boosk the Bounty Hunter

Stormtrooper

FX-7 Medical Droid

This item is very rare indeed and ranges in the $1,000.00 + range.


I have studied the book intensively and find it useful. I am a collector of Star Wars items and find the Action Figures a wonderful way of reliving my youthful days and memories of Star Wars when they first appeared in the late 1970's. I cannot post my web address here but if you do a search on darthoz, one can find me on the internet. I do believe in sharing information. Amazon is a excellent resource to find items.

darthoz november 2005

The best part is that this is a REFERENCE BOOK, not a price guide. Thus, it contains tons of TIMELESS information, but no bogus or outdated prices. I recently ordered and read seven price guides and reference books dealing with vintage Star Wars figures (and numerous other collectible figures), and this is by far the best of the bunch. It shows a picture of every vintage figure from numerous angles, it shows numerous figure variations, it shows EVERY card variations for EVERY figure, and it identifies the weapons and accessories that originally came with each figure. It also shows all vintage play sets and mail in promotions (though unfortunately it does not provide quite as much information about these). It also does a nice job covering early POTF figures, and more recent figures from the mid to late 90s. And, EVERYTHING IS IN FULL COLOR ON HIGH QUALITY PAPER! If you're looking for a price guide, this is not the book for you. But, if you are looking for an outstanding reference book dealing with vintage Star Wars action figures, you will not be disappointed with this book. In fact, I actually ordered a second copy for myself in case my first one gets damaged with use!

This is a great visual aid if you wonder how everything is made and works in the world of Star Wars.

An excellent book! I have all of the titles in this series and plan to purchase Inside the Worlds of the Classic Star Wars as soon as it comes out. I think that they could have gone a little bit more in depth with this book, but you're talking to a Star Wars freak who could never get enough. I also think that The Attack of the Clones edition could have been longer, but overall, a wonderfull book of detailed maps and explanitory paragraphs.

An indepth review of the Episode 1 locations which are quite impressive, such as the Mos Espa arena and the Theed royal palace. An extention of the Pictorial Directory and Cross Sections, this book really explains alot of how why and where things happened in this first chapter of this tail.

Finally, a cross-sections that gives the audience a look inside the buildings of Star Wars! Why they waited so long to release it is anyone guess, but the wait is over. If you've read my reviews for the other cross-sections books then you know how much I love cross-sections. That said, Inside The Worlds Of Episode 1 breathes new life into The Phantom Menace. Particular favorites of mine include Otoh Gunga, Watto's junkshop, the Galactic Senate building, and the Jedi Temple. Not only does the book talk about particular locations in the movie, but also the very planets that the movie is set on: Naboo, Tatooine, and Coruscant. Inside The Worlds Of Episode 1 is full of wonderful illustrations and is packed with amazing information. Indeed, it's the chosen one...of cross-sections books, that is.

I just saw this book yesterday. I don't think it was marketed as much as the other books. That's a shame because it's magnificient.

I am truly blown away by the content and pictures of the locations from Episode I. The art is unbelievable. The detail level is extreme and it must have taken an enormous amount of time for these two artists to complete this work. Every detail you could possibly want is here.

This is a lot like the Star Wars Cross-Section books of the ships only it is not as technical. Imagine those books but for the locations and you have a pretty good idea of what this is.

What's really great is how you get to look at things from angles that the film doesn't show you. The long shots really put everything into scope. You also get to see areas that you can't in the movie such as this place Watto can fly up to above his countertop in the junk shop. I can't wait to study this book some more and then rewatch The Phantom Menace again. I believe I'll look at it in a whole new way.

My fingers are crossed for an Episode II version. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

This great book not only does give you insight and complete (though short) history of how the Original Trilogy came to be. From early inceptions to the new Special Editions (1997). The book leaves off just weeks to the release of Episode I but has some chilling insight when refering to the future of the Saga. For instance, when they comment on the burp jokes on Return of the Jedi the authors write "whats next? Bodily function humor? Maybe we'll see that on the next movies" Well, they got it right, didn't they. This books makes a complete recollection of all things Star wars since from 1977 to 1997. From an extensive detail of all the books so far published, to the comics and radio dramas. Especially amusing is the sections 50 reasons why Return of the Jedi sucks. Never had I laughed so hard at any form of Star Wars humor. You will see ROTJ with different eyes after reading this. If you are a SW fans, don't let this one pass.

My first impression on the book was how it contrasted to all of the works authorized by Lucasfilm: it is very refreshing to get another point of view on the whole Star Wars phenomenon. I agree with the authors honest criticism of the Special Editions. For example, was it really necessary to see the wampa monster having a bloody lunch in the Empire Strikes Back? I guess that I am one of the few who thought the original scene was more suspensful because we hardly saw anything on the monster. The authors obvious despise of the ewoks of Return of the Jedi gets tiring after a while but other than that this is an excellent read. Before reading this book I did not realize that the word "ewok" was never mentioned in the film! I would recommend it to any Star Wars fan who has grown tired of only reading the Lucasfilm version (hype) of things.

This Unauthorized Star Wars Compendium was published just four months before the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode I movie was released. Therefore, the book could only speculate as to the quality of the third Star Wars sequel. But this is the only dated aspect of the book; otherwise, it's a valuable (and very readable) compact version of the legend that is Star Wars.

The book re-tells the familiar anecdotes about the movie's creation--how writer-director George Lucas shopped his script around 20th Century-Fox took a chance on it, and so on. Once the groundwork is laid, the book gives in-depth insight into the groundbreaking technical work and mythical story that fills Star Wars and its sequels. The book also offers incisive critiques of the myriad Star Wars spin-offs, such as novels, comic books, and a late-1980's National Public Radio version of the movies' stories.

My only complaint is that the book offers a smidgeon too much sugarcoating of how happy everyone was with the saga. (For example, the book offers only the most positive quotes from Sir Alec Guinness, who loudly commented in his autobiography about how he did not wish to be remembered solely as Obi-Wan Kenobi.) As a partial remedy to this, however, the book closes with an insightful and hilarious essay titled "Fifty Reasons Why Return of the Jedi Sucks." All in all, an enjoyable account of a movie legend.

This book is very interesting, since it brings together the movies, the comics and the novels into one book. It goes over how the trilogy was conceived, and why it became so popular. It gives the reader an insight to the thoughts behind the creative process. The book also puts together many of the major novels and short stories in chronological order, and give a short synopsis/review of the titles, complete with rating. It also goes over the special additions, the comics by Marvel and Dark Horse, and the upcoming prequel. It ends on a humorous note, with 50 reasons why Return of the Jedi Stinks. Since this is an unauthorized book, it is honest and to the point. I would recommend this to any serious fan of the Star Wars universe.

The Federation is locked into a brutal interstellar war with the Dominion, a group let by the Founders, a society of shape shifters. The Dominion is extremely well ordered with the founders at the peak, then the Vorta who fill the role of field commanders followed by the genetically engineered Jem Hadar soldiers. The sole purpose of the Jem Hadar is to fight and die for the founders. That is what they have been bred to do and that is all that they can possibly do. Control over the Jem Hadar is maintained by their dependence on Ketracel White, a combination narcotic and nutrient. At this time, the Cardassians are allied with the Dominion, and their combined power is more than the Federation can handle.
The Federation is in full retreat from the might of the Dominion/Cardassian forces. Although they were able to mine the wormhole so that no new Dominion forces can come through, the Federation was forced to abandon Deep Space Nine, destroying it as much as possible before leaving. At the urging of Cisco, the Bajorans signed a treaty to remain neutral in the conflict, an action that many Bajorans find difficult to accept.
Cisco leads his team in several actions against the Dominion, successfully destroying a major White processing station. However, they are damaged in their retreat and crash land on a planet, their ship sinking in an ocean. A Jem Hadar ship that was pursuing them also crashes on the planet and the two forces fight it out on the ground. The Federation party emerges victorious and is eventually rescued. The story closes with Cisco and his crew back in the fight and preparing to launch additional raids against the Dominion.
This novelization stays very close to the action of the TV series. That is both a positive and a negative. On the positive side, the struggle between the Federation and the Dominion is explained in great detail as the Federation forces continue to retreat. The negative side is that there are too many characters that are involved to keep a novel on track. Cisco's son Jake stays on Deep Space Nine as well as Quark, Odo and Kira. The action moves back and forth between the actions of Cisco and his crew and what is going on at Deep Space Nine. This bouncing back and forth can more easily be done in a visual medium where you have had time to flesh out the characters but is very difficult in print. If you have not seen these episodes of the television series, then you will it very difficult to follow. In my opinion, some of what occurred in the series should have been dropped from the novelization.

This is not Diane Carey's worst effort, not by a long shot. Still, as is frequently the case in her writing, there are places where her word choice is, to put it charitably, questionable. It's never as bad here as it is in, say, "The Search", or some of her other earlier works, but it is still noticeable that she's trying too hard to be "clever and creative", and generally succeeding only in being distractingly odd. The story itself, being mostly an adaptation of several episodes of the "Deep Space Nine" television show from the time period of the "Dominion War" of the book's title, is good, and the changes that Ms. Carey has made are as often improvements as not, and generally don't seem to detract anything from what we saw onscreen. But as of the writing of this book, at least, she had yet to learn that being a "wordsmith" (which seems to be what she wants to think of herself as) does NOT involve playing such games with the language as to distract attention from the story she's telling.

Everyone say the book is always better then the movie. Diane Carey's novelization of these Deep Space Nine episodes holds to the same standards. We get to see into the minds of the characters and understand the choices they made on screen. We get to see specific outcomes of events never fully disclosed during the series.

There were a few new characters introduced but the development of the regular cast was great. Captain Sisko's development and the insight into his choices I felt were completely in character. General Martok showed new depth into his character but having read the two part series by J. Hertzler, am not sure of some of this character's actions.

Overall, a wonderful read and I enjoyed pushing through it quickly. As a four part series, I was hoping for some interaction and cross over with the first book. From what I have read so far, I see two, two-book series, rather then an interconnected four part I was hoping for.

This review is for the Dominion War (DW) 4 book set. I hoped that the people in charge of star trek could have written a series of books that gave us some of the grand sweep of the war in our galaxy that earth could have lost. THIS WAS NOT THAT SERIES. A better Title would have been SNIPPETS FROM THE DOMINION WAR (a lttle french military inuendo there) as we learn very little about the Dominion War.

Star fleet takes their greatest leader Picard (is kirk dead again?) and puts him in charge of a commando operation that has little chance of success in a tiny back water to a great war. We see virtually nothing of that war, only that the federation getting slaughtered. At least Picard knows to use two teams, instead on relying on only one team.

Of course it is not the publishers fault that I assumed they would fill in new information about the DW story with fuller richer detail. That would have been to much work. What was i expecting from a non-Shantner book.

SPOILER!!. At least they don't kill a popular character, which is why i gave 2 stars instead of 1.

I knew the plant from the beginning. Cone on. How many of you were shocked to learn who the saboteur was. A slow piece of junk defeats 3 enemies? Enterprise shows up right on time WAY behind the lines of the most guarded thing the dominion has?

This series would have better placed a Junior Star War series, featuring Picards, Rikers Troys geordis and datas children.

Books 1 and 3 should really be part 1 of the Dominion War, and books 2 and 4, part 2 (or vice-versa) since there is no overlap between the two whatsoever. So it is ok to start reading book 2 having not read book 1. I believe had I not just watched DS9 on DVD that I would have enjoyed book 2 and 4 more than I did. The episodes were among my favorite, but reading it, much of which is taken word for word from the show, hardly offered new exciting twists. I agree you get a lot deeper insight into characters, especially Sisko and Martok's plan to do something about the War. At times I questioned whether Carey was right about some of the inner thoughts of Sisko and whether the producers of DS9 had the same views, or if Carey just invented them. Either way, it works. It's also good to see more of what happens when the Defiant goes off on a mission, esp. when Dax is in command. It was also good to see Charlie Reynolds and his crew. For that, I give this book 4 stars rather than 3, and also because I believe if one hasn't seen these episodes, that the books will be quite enjoyable. Seeing O'Brien on a suicide mission was quite funny, although the Tex character seemed very odd and out-of-place. Personally I prefered TNG books (1&3) more.

"Hollywood Hoopla" is an interesting and informative book on the Hollywood publicity machine of yesteryear and filled with many unknown facts on the industry's behind the scenes. HOWEVER, at the end of each chapter, Mr. Sennett comments on today's Hollywood customs on a certain subject and never fails to compare it unfavorably with those of forty-to-sixty years ago. Why does he have to prove at the end of each chapter on how Hollywood has grown vulgar and inferior over the ages? Doesn't he realize that Hollywood has always been vulgar?