Since the Ideal toy company released the very first DC Comics licensed action figure accessories with their 1966 Batman and Robin costumes sets for their popular Captain Action action figure line, barely a year has gone by when kids and collectors alike didn't have a new series of DC Comics action figures to look forward to, and keeping track of all those figures could be quite a hassle, that is, if it weren't for Scott Beatty's The DC Comics Action Figure Archive, and alphabetical listing of every single DC Comic action produced from 1966 up to the books publication in 2007.
This book works like the ultimate "wish list" guide for DC Comic action figure fans of all ages, with its easy-to-use, yet fun to follow listing system along with the fact that it's simply jam-packed with pictures. In fact, just strolling through the photographs alone will take you down memory lane, help you spot figures you didn't know existed and get an overall view of the history and trends of action figure design over the decades. This latter aspect clearly drove home the undeniable point that the 1990s were pretty cruel to action figures. Good thing that's over.
The Good
All in all, I was extremely impressed with this undertaking after seeing the vast amount of information that had to be hunted down just to make the list, much less then laying it all out in a flowing design and peppering it with excellent photos of many of the figures discussed.
Another fun aspect of this book were the interesting tidbits of information, whether it was counting how many Wonder Woman action figures there have been throughout toy history (there have been 31, as of the books publication) or learning other little pieces of action figure trivia such as the fact that there have never been any DC action figures produced that have names that begin with X or Y! I never knew that, and I'm a sucker for little know toy trivia such as these little morsels.
The Bad
One thing that stuck in my craw a little as I flipped through the book is that, despite it being a monumental undertaking, the selfish collector in me would have like to have seen even more pictures of action figures, even if it meant that the pictures were a little smaller to accommodate them all. In fact, one of the things that I loved about The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994 is that they included pictures of every single figure.
Another thing I would have liked to have seen, and I realize that this is nit-picking, is a bit more historical information about the various toy lines represented throughout the book. So, basically, more trivia, if you please. And I'm only asking for more because what was given in the book left me only wanting more.
The Summing Up
Is this the ultimate guide for DC Comics action figure collectors? Should you buy it immediately and take it to every toy show you go to? Well, frankly, no. This book is not meant for the hardcore collectors as a definitive collecting bible, and in fact, it doesn't even bother listing prices for the figures. So if that's what you're looking for, there are far better books for this.
Rather, this is simply a quaint checklist, mixed with a healthy dose of "coffee table art book." Something to thumb through on a lazy Sunday afternoon. A great book to keep on the shelf and refer to every now and then, but that's about it.