Gamer's Handbook to the Marvel Universe (all volumes)Tag Line: Abomination to Dreadnaught (etc.)
Makers: TSR Inc. for the Marvel Super Heroes RPG
What is it?
Four main volumes, then four updates (1989 through 1992, I only have the first two updates) detailing Marvel comics characters in Marvel Super Heroes RPG terms, usually using artwork straight from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition encyclopedia comics series. Each character has game statistics, full description of powers, gadget and abilities, brief role-playing notes and a history (nothing as long as the Deluxe series though).
Neat Stuff
-Though in the then-popular loose-leaf format, each volume is bound. You can rip the sheets out if you like (each character takes both sides of a page), but I never did.
-The Gamer's Handbook is more complete than the Official Handbook, not in amount of information, but in inclusion of characters (usually with much less worthy art). Iron Man 2020 (as well as many alternate Iron Man armors), Coldblood 7, Startosfire, the Resistants, Goldbug, Quicksand, the People's Defense Force, and more (admittedly mostly from the updates). If you don't know who those are... it's because you're only using the Official Handbook!
-You'll find characters that are both dead and alive, from all eras of the Marvel Universe (WWII and westerns included). Even godlike entities like the Living Tribunal and Eternity are in here.
Bad Stuff-Obviously dated. You'd have to be willing to either play in the 1980s Marvel Universe (not a bad proposition actually) or be ready to tweak the stats. Still, a lot of characters can be used as is and haven't changed that much since 1990.
-The loose dustjacket and perforated sheets makes for an awkward, destructible product. It's held up well, all things considered, though the more perused volumes do have detached pages, and all of them show wear on the dustjacket.
-Not all characters are pictured, especially if they were part of a group in the Official Handbook (like, say, the Hellions) or if they are "legacy" characters (so you get Hatemonger I's picture, but not Hatemongers II and III's).
Quote
"Equipment: Stark has a nuclear powered artificial heart." (From Iron Man stats... You'd think they'd include his armor.)
How I've used it
Played Marvel Super Heroes exactly once and found the mechanics a bit lacking, but that didn't stop me from buying these to indulge in my geek fetish. 1) You've got Marvel characters stated up and 2) it's fun to use those stats to convert Marvel heroes into, say, DCHeroes RPG stats. Your definition of fun may or may not fall within mine's exacting standards.
In conclusion
For comics fans, flipping through the Gamer's Handbook can be more efficient than doing the same with the Official Handbook. There are way more entries per volume, and the histories are more to the point. You lose a lot of the detail and artwork, of course, though it's still a more colorful read than the recently reprinted Essential Official Handbook. For the gamer, it was made for a now long-dead game that still has a lot of appeal and obviously isn't current with the post-Civil War Marvel Universe. Is that a bad thing though?
Comments
The only person I could get to play MSH with me was my brother because of the "quick and dirty" mechanics. He became pretty obsessed with it to the point where he was modeling DC characters into the game (which doesn't work well at all).
It's unfortunate that the mechanics of gameplay weren't better as the supplements and modules were pretty darned awesome (that is, when production issues didn't mar their quality e.g., Fantastic Four Compendium).