Tom Heaton

Since being a child, I have been obsessed with the old days, or simply the past. The old days to me are from the 1970s back to the pre world war II era of my parents. I enjoy nostalgia, looking back at photo's of my family, and researching my family's history up thru my childhood. In 1996, I was hit with the hunt for toys of my youth. Not just any toys, but more specifically Marx Action Figures. The problem was that I quickly discovered there were little information on the toys. Most toy dealers would say Johnny who? "Johnny West", I would reply.

It had become apparent that a website and book was needed to give these toys an identity. Taking the leap, I decided to go for it and do a website and eventually a book on these fine toys. In 1996 I developed an idea of The Marx Toy Room website, which went live by 1997. Quickly it was changed to The Vintage Toy Room and brought my first domain, www.vintagetoyroom.com. For various reasons, the name name was changed, but in the end it allowed me to not only feature Marx figures, but Huffy rail bikes, GI joe's, games, Hot Wheels, or any other toy interest of my childhood. That is what we are about. Remembering those pain free days of being a kid. Buying penny candy at a mired of corner stores, getting doughnuts from Trivilinos bakery, grabbing a burger at Wimpys. All part of the past in my small childhood "city" in Ogdensburg New York with about 16,000 people.

In 1999 The Encyclopedia of Marx Figures was released. this was my first book published with Krause Publications. About 7-8000 copies were made and distributed worldwide through book stores, Amazon, Barns And Noble, and of course The Vintage Toy Room. The book images were all taken on film. That is right, film, not much digital help back then. I shot a few thousand pictures and had them all developed. These were then scanned, and unedited for the most part, picked over and added to the book.

In 2005 we continued the journey of books in the form of modules. The First module was The Johnny West Adventure series. Two more followed, and plans are on the table to do more. The modules added better images, layout and design all done by me personally. No big publisher in the mix on these. As a result, they take a great deal of effort. I also took on the pre press work, and had them in direct to press shape for printing. This saved costs so I could do small collector runs of 200 copies. It also allowed me to be more hands on and critical of what was to be printed in ink. Thats right, ink. Here is something old school, vintage, retro, something you need no internet, no mouse, no power to enjoy. Thanks for being a part of my journey.

Sincerely,

Tom-

Tom Heaton

P.O. Box 26901

Rochester NY 14627