Wednesday, September 12, 2012

STARLOG Photo Guidebooks

Virtually every single month of my adolescence, I made a pilgrimage to our local Mr. Paperback bookseller to purchase the latest issue of Starlog magazine. I loved that mag, and tried to collect not only the monthly issues, but their spin-off publications, as well. The annuals, the poster magazines, the souvenir movie mags, and, most of all, their "Photo Guidebook" volumes.

At $4-$5 each, that was actually not easy for me to accomplish on my meager, dollar-a-week allowance, so I only managed to buy less than half of the books they put out (Spaceships, Aliens, and two Special Effects volumes - I really wanted Weapons, but never got it).

The Starlog Photo Guidebooks were exactly what they sound like - thin, 8 1/2 x 11" paperbacks filled with stills from science fiction movies and TV shows, with descriptive captions and articles.  Here are some of the covers from that series. Enjoy!


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15 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2012 at 3:56 AM

    'Starlog' was available here in the UK (as a pricey import) but we never got the Photo Guidebooks. I remember seeing the ads and feeling very envious

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2012 at 8:08 AM

    I bought the two special effects ones in Forbidden Planet in London, still have them, full of great behind the scenes pictures that I still haven't seen anywhere else.
    Phelim

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  3. gomonkeygoSeptember 12, 2012 at 8:52 AM

    I wanted the Space Art volume badly. I did save up and order a collection of high quality art prints of space art by folks like Bonestell and Di Fate that I still have, in the original huge shipping tube from Starlog. Someday, I will get them framed. They are of tremendously high quality, not posters but gallery quality prints.

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  4. Edward HegstromSeptember 12, 2012 at 10:30 AM

    Received the "Aliens" Guidebook on my 13th birthday, and I was very excited because the credited writer for the volume was Ed Naha, whose book "Horrors From Screen To Scream" was an absolute favorite. The early Guidebooks were great, with lots of rare stills, but later entries relied a little too heavily on over-familiar studio poses, as the covers to "Heroes" and "Villains" suggest.

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  5. BogusfilmakersSeptember 12, 2012 at 12:55 PM

    I loved Starlog and still do. It really saddens me that they ended their publication. I must admit that the later years were not quite the same but overall I enjoyed them. I too bought most of the Photo Guidebooks, however I mostly concentrated on the regular mags. Now I try to find some of the older ones on ebay to fill the void. Nice memories.

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  6. dusty abellSeptember 12, 2012 at 3:22 PM

    Had all of them, great books, great behind the scenes pics- particularly the Special Effects volumes!

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  7. jasonSeptember 12, 2012 at 4:37 PM

    I collected quite a few of the monthly issues, up through the late '80s/early '90s, but never managed to get any of these Photo Guide Books, to my lasting regret. They always looked really cool...

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  8. WilSeptember 12, 2012 at 5:05 PM

    I've still got a couple of these from back in the day - Fantastic Worlds and Science Fiction Toys and Models and they both get flicked through fairly regularly. Although, in the UK, we had our own sci-fi mag - Starburst I'd always pick up a Starlog when in London. Like getting US versions of Marvel comics, it always seemed more exotic!

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  9. Michelangelo NaveaSeptember 12, 2012 at 10:50 PM

    Love Starlo still have SF Heroes and Spaceships Guidebooks mint

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  10. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2012 at 7:23 AM

    Bought Starlog every month, but only ever had 2 of the guidebooks (Heroes and Villains).

    Starlog is still the all time best SF mag... It was a shame when it dropped its print edition. That was truly the end of an era.

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  11. ScottSeptember 13, 2012 at 3:36 PM

    Loved the photo guidebooks when I was a kid. I had (or I should say still have)all of them except Fantastic Worlds and Space Art. I always liked seeing the sometimes rare photos included in these volumes. Growing up in the 70's and 80's they were like gold to hungry pre-internet sci-fi geeks such as myself.

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  12. Metal MarkSeptember 14, 2012 at 8:17 PM

    I still have some issues. I got rid of the five or six guidebooks I had because I needed to clear out some books to make some space.

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  13. UnknownSeptember 15, 2012 at 9:05 AM

    Wow! To think that this is how we all relived our favorite movies before the advent of home video! For me, growing up in the UK, the magazine of choice was Starburst, which was more widely available than Starlog. If anybody's interested (and didn't already know), Starburst has just relaunched and writes with as much knowledge and enthusiasm for the genre now as it ever did! Additionally, if you follow this link to their website, you can revisit several of their past issues in pdf format, and relive the glory days of the Space 1970 era!

    End of line!:)

    http://www.starburstmagazine.com/the-vault

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  14. RogNovember 11, 2012 at 1:05 PM

    I have the Sci-Fi Weapons guidebook - Brilliant!

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  15. Retro 80s BlogmasterSeptember 5, 2016 at 6:48 PM

    I am about to upload "Starlog Photo Guidebook Special Effects Vol 2" and "Starlog Photo Guidebook Special Effects Vol 3" tp archive.org. They already have Vol 1 and 4....so after my upload, you can have all four volumes for a complete collection.

    I am looking to find the "Starlog Photo Guidebook Space Art". Hope someone has it to share.

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