Boys' Toys

by Jed Novick

An ideal gift book for the boy in every man. This stylishly designed history of the best toys from the sixties to the eighties is filled with absorbing facts and stories and specially commissioned photographs. Boys' Toys is the ultimate tribute to the cars, planes, trains, and games that enriched millions of boys' lives—and to the men who continue to remember a childhood filled with play. Among the many toys represented
-Action heroes like GI Joe and Action Man
-Movie and television tie-ins from Star Wars, Dr. Who , and Lost in Space
-Automobiles from Matchbox, Hot Wheels, and Corgi
-Computer games from Atari, Apple, and Commodore
-And many more! Like a nostalgic stroll through holiday catalogs of the past, Boys' Toys is sure to fire the imagination of men of any age.

Genres: Nonfiction, Pop Culture

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2005

Reviews

[Finn Parker]

My dad gifted me this book when I was 8 and I recently re-read it.
It is an interesting book about all the old toys that were around when my dad was a kid such as Darlick figure's. The book was written by Jed Novick who explains he almost had everyone of the toys in his book. My Favorite quote from the book is written below an X-Man Figure that says "I wanna shred you up" It was a good quote as the figure had extremely sharp blades that were on the end of his hands. This book has different chapters of each timezone of toys and each chapter had more historic toys than the last. I rated this book a 3 star because It was good but didn't have alot of toys that I would have known but overall a decent book

[Theresa F.]

The chapters discussing 12 inch action figures and various film and television related toys were very interesting to me. However, somewhere around the seemingly endless sections on model trains and model airplanes I lost my initial enthusiasm. But then I'm also female, so I'm not really the target audience.
Some of the photography choices for the book were also confusing. Often the text would describe one product, but the corresponding photo would be of another product from the same line.
Did I like it? The first half or so of the book was good.
Would I reread it? Possibly, but not in its entirety.
Would I recommend it? Maybe.

[Mark]

A nice little book of nostalgia, the bulk of which (I appear to be at the lower end of the intended market, which is 35-55) struck a very pleasant chord with me. Some of the toys I remembered as I read about them, a lot I remembered quite clearly - I still have the Saint Jaguar, but my Steve Austin, Action Men and Evel Knieval are long gone. Some notable omissions (Tin Can Alley, the Jaws game) are easily overcome by the humourous writing and the profusion of photographs. Well worth a read (especially if you're male and between 35 and 55).

[Nicholas]

I liked this book because I wanted to know about the toys in the past so I read it and Jed Novick had great disscriptions about the toys.