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Rating: 
Summary: The Second Best Book Ever Written for Toymakers
Review: I bought this book a few years ago when I started making wooden toys.
I loved the designs in this book. They ranged from simple to more complext to suit differing levels of skill. Of course as your own level of skill increases, you can confidently tackle some of the tougher projects, although even the toughest of them was not overly difficult.
I began selling the toys I was making from these plans at craft shows. They went like hot cakes! I could not make enough of them. Seems I wasn't the only one who thought these toys were neat.
But for the Toymaker, whether you are a hobbyist, or looking to make a living with them, these toys are easy to make, great looking, and popular!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Projects Without Spending A Mint
Review: I was looking around to find a few projects which I could work on in my spare time and which didn't require a whole room full of expensive woodworking tools to complete when I stumbled on this book. One nice thing is the nice variety of projects included. There are detailed plans and illustrations of 53 wooden toys. Required skill levels range from beginner (me) to the relatively more experienced woodworker. Projects range from a pretty basic pull along train with an engine and four cars to several variations of cars, airplanes, trucks, constructin vehicles, paddlewheelers, and a variety of locomotives and rail cars.Each project comes with pictures of the finished product, step-by-step instructions, materials lists, and detailed drawings. The drawings are shown on a grid in which each square equals 1/2 inch. This makes it relatively easy to expand the patterns and transfer them to the wood stock or other material if you choose to make templates for future use. Most of the projects can be made from relatively inexpensive 1x4 or 1x6 pine. That was a real plus for me. Have you taken a look at lumber prices lately? Tools were not a problem since I had almost all the basic power tools and accessories I needed to get started. I bought a couple of hole saws to make the wheels. Marshall also includes an introductory chapter in which he discusses wood choice, tool needs, tips on cutting, gluing and clamping, patterns and templats, and finishing. Those who are experienced working with wood will probably find these basic tips unnecessary, but I found them helpful. All in all, I like what Marshall has included in the book. Some of the projects seem a bit repititous, and many may not be sophisticated enough for experienced woodworkers. However, if you're looking for a fun, inexpensive, and satisfying hobby working with wood, you might want to try this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the skilled woodworker with good tools
Review: Since I purchased this book I have madea Model T Ford and am now making a Stearman biplane.
The instructions are generally clear with good illustrations. Most of the projects are not for beginners and most require a table or radial arm saw, a band saw and a power drum/belt sander. The author's suggestion to use knotty pine is economical but most of this wood in my local home improvement stores is warped, bowed and generally a pain to work with. Spend a little more and use clear pine or better yet, poplar which in my area is available in many different sizes and thicknesses. Also, the author may love resawing wood to get the sizes that he recommends but it would be a lot easier to scale the projects so that they require standard thicknesses.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: The author has a very nice approach to toy making, putting every step in the perspective of the main objective of a toy: making children happy. It has a nice hands-on approach and even when it lacks some detail, the projects look very nice when finished. Making some of the toys as been very challenging because of the limited tools I own, still you can get around most parts with a scroll saw, a hand drill and a belt sander.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Toy Book!
Review: This book is great for making fun, easy projects that make great gifts. I have made a total of four trucks from this book. This book is a great way to introduce woodworking to kids. I would reccomend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A great buy.
Review: This really is a worthwhile book to get if you are thinking about toys for children. Each project has a detailed picture of what it looks like and any necessary plans/templates. The projects start from beginner level to the more seasoned "wood-worker" as I am more of a beginner I am finding it a very rewarding learning experience. One downside is that the toys are mainly for boys aged 6-10 I would say, lots of cars and trains. If cars and trains are what you are looking for then this is PERFECT. (Hopefully my daughter likes trains).
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