G.Wayne Miller's new book, Toy Wars, covers the "epic struggle between G.I.Joe, Barbie, and the companies that make them". I received an advance copy of the book and interviewed the author about his book.

What is it like to be a multi-billion dollar company that exists to figure out what kids want to play with? What happens when they create a hit toy that an entire generation of American boys grow up with? What happens when that hit toy fails? Can they duplicate success? And at what point does a toy company try to appeal to its stock holders and not the kids? If you stop and think about it, a book about this would make for interesting reading.

Toy Wars is better than interesting reading - it's great reading. Miller's book is superbly researched - the several years he put into this book are easily apparent. The book has a great history of the major toy companies, the toys that made the companies famous, the men and women that led the toy companies through the 80s and 90s, and the trends that will create toys for future generations of kids.

For fans of the 3 3/4" Real American Hero toys, the book covers the Real American Hero's creation, it's success, it's eventual cancellation in 1994, and Hasbro's attempts to recreate that success through Sgt Savage and G.I.Joe Extreme. Along the way, we're introduced to many of the brilliant minds that made the Real American Hero a cultural icon again - and how those same brilliant minds made mistakes that led to the 1994 cancellation of the Real American Hero.

But the book has more than just the G.I.Joe stories. The book has stories behind many facets of children's culture - Barbie, the X-Men, the Power Rangers, video games, etc. Some of the toys were before my time, some toys I'd grown up with, and I was too old to play with some.

I highly recommend this book. G. Wayne Miller's writing style is very fluid and easy to read. The narrative is excellent, clear and never confusing, and leaves few stones unturned.

And even with all the facts, numbers, meetings, focus groups, at the heart of it, Toy Wars is a great story about big corporations, fascinating characters, and toys.

Great book.

More information about the book (including the first chapter online) is at http://www.gwaynemiller.com.