Tuesday 29 March 2016

I just dont understand this dust-wrapper?


I will never be able to afford a first edition of LIVE AND LET DIE from Jonathan Cape in 1954 since these sell for around £8 750. Or I can afford it but I would not be able to say to myself that I have control over my James Bond collecting and it would be hard to look my wife in her eyes afterwords. There is so much you can do with that amount of money.

But today's blog post is about the dust-wrapper for LIVE AND LET DIE. Since I have a second impression edition I thought that I might be able to buy a first edition without its dust-wrapper and then take the jacket from my second edition to make it complete and save some money wile doing so.

But on the backside of my dust jacket it says "second impression" and the wired thing is that it says so on the first edition as well and that is so strange?

Does the backside of LIVE AND LET DIE refer to Casino Royale being released as a second impression in time of the release for LIVE AND LET DIE? If so, why do they even mention it on the dust-wrapper?

And if you do know the answers to these questions can you also tell if the dust-wrapper is identical between the first edition, second state and the second impression?

Now if you have both the money and the need to spend £8 750 on a single book then you can buy the LIVE AND LET DIE first edition buy clicking here!


 

Saturday 26 March 2016

Happy Birthday to Tiffany Case, 60 today


It is not only Ester today it is also the birthday of Tiffany Case or more interestingly the birthday of Ian Flemings forth James Bond novel DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.

The book was first published on March 26 in 1956. The first edition was ha hardback edition from now famous Jonathan Cape and the cover was designed by Pat Marriott and the front page carried a drawing on the front page with a picture of Tiffany Case wearing a diamond neck less. On the back was a picture of Ian Fleming in his forties.

The first edition was printed in 12 500 copies and is now hard to obtain and sells for load of money.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was also the first story that Fleming sold to The Daily Express to make into a comic strip.

Later in 1956 Pan Books produced a paperback version of the book and sold 68 000 copies before the end of that year.

Ian Fleming said this of Diamonds Are Forever in an interview with the Daily Express in 1956:
“I’ve put everything into this except the kitchen sink. Can you think of a plot about a kitchen sink for the next one? Otherwise I am lost.”

Happy Birthday DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER!

UK first edition

Jill St John as Tiffany Case in the 1971 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Thursday 24 March 2016

Swedish "Antiques Roadshow" is way of in valuating Fleming books


On this weeks Swedish version of Antiques Roadshow I was amazed that the section "Good, Better, Best" was covering something as rare in Sweden as Ian Fleming first editions. I do not know if this section is present on the British versions of the show but what it comes down to is that the public will see three objects and try to figure out which of the three is worth the most money.

According to the owner of the books and book expert Torgny Schunnesson one of them was worth 20 000 SEK (£1 600) the second one was worth 100 000 SEK (£8 000) and the third was worth 300 000 SEK (£24 000).

And then the public got to guess and most of them actually guest right without touching the books.

Now I was very curious to know more about these books since the evaluation was far higher the usual. But I got disappointed when the owner and said expert on the matter said that a first edition of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is worth 20 000 SEK (£1 600) since I bought my second first edition earlier this week in excellent condition and only paid 4 100 SEK (£330) for it. And that is a bit more then most of you would pay. You can currently find it on Ebay for 4 400 SEK £350 in fine condition.

The difference between the to LIVE AND LET DIE editions is that one of them is a true first edition and the second one is a second state version. the actual difference is very small. On the front flap of the dust jacket of the second state is says "Jacket design by the author and executed by Kenneth Lewis". According to the expert on Swedish television the version with the text is worth 100 000 SEK (£8 000) and the one without the above text is worth 300 000 SEK (£24 000).

Once again a quick search on Ebay tells you that this is not the case. The cheaper second state can be bought for 71 000 SEK (£5 666) and a true first edition can be bought for 135 000 SEK (£10 840). 

All in all the Swedish Antiques roadshow was off with an amazing 209 600 SEK (£16 800).

I would almost have paid to be there that day of recoding just to smack the expert on his fingers. But that would never have made it through the cutting room.

If you wish to see the program and this part of the show you can follow the link and then skip forward to 31:30 and then to37:00 to see this for your self.

I believe I will have to call my insurance company to raise my insurance after this ;0).






Wednesday 16 March 2016

VARGR Issue 5 is finally out


Issue 5 out of 6 of the James Bond comic series VARGR is now out and have found its way all the way to Sweden.
The issue was supposed to be released on March 2 but was postponed twice and was finally released today on March 16.
I find it quite wired that the release date for the next issue is never mentioned in the comic itself. I also find it strange that the publishers work with their material so close to the release date. Would it not be more easy to have a deadline for the material with a release date a few months ahead so that problems can be solved without hurting the sales.

Anyhow the fifth issue is now out and the sixth and final chapter is said to be released on April 6. Then I will shut down my computer for one night and finally read the entire story.

Below you can see the cover for issue 5.

A reviewer had this to say about the Vargr series:
A tense action thriller that knows how to take its time and deliver a page turning comic. Whoever’s writing the next Bond flick should check this book out and take notes!

You can order your issue here!


Sunday 13 March 2016

The books to read about all things Ken Adam


Sadly the Bond family lost its best Production Designer ever this week when 95 year old Sir Ken Adam past away.

I dont believe there are as many books about any Production Designer as it is about Ken Adam, The first Production Designer for the James Bond films.

Below are the books to own to study Ken Adams work.

BOND BY DESIGN was released in 2015 and carry many drawings and sketches by Ken Adam for all his now famous production designs from James Bond apartment in DR. NO to the villains supertanker in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. A sound stage so big that it was later called 007 STAGE at Pinewood Studios.

THE JAMES BOND ARCHIVES is a massive book that was released in 2012 and contains a lot of interviews with Ken Adam where he tells us the story of the James Bond sets that he worked on. A fantastic read for any James Bond fan. But note that reading this book in bed like I do will make your wife jealous for many nights to come. This book is huge.

MOONRAKER, STRANGELOVE AND OTHER CELLULOID DREAMS: THE VISIONARY ART OF KEN ADAM. Now that's a long title for a book. The book was published in 1999 and was in conjunction whit the exhibition in England whit the same title. This book contains pictures and drawings from all Ken Adams films.

He was a fantastic Production Designer and I am certain that Ken Adam is on of few reasons that James Bond became such a huge success all over the world.

Ken Adam
1921-2016



You can order BOND BY DESIGN by clicking the link below.


Thursday 10 March 2016

The UK paperback cover for TRIGGER MORTIS is here!


Our friends over at The Book Bond got the "scoop" on the paperback cover design for the upcoming release of TRIGGER MORTIS by Anthony Horowitz and I am happy for them. Well done! I believe they even released it one day before Ian Fleming Publications and that is how splendid marketing is done.

You can see the cover design below on this blog post. Sadly I do not have any information whom or what company got to do the design. Hoping that someone will answer my emails someday ;0)

So what do I think about the paperback design?

Well first off I have been waiting for this to be unfolded since the hardback was out on September 8 last year. Also, this is my main fascination with James Bond. We are all James Bond collectors but for me, the books and the posters have been the highlight. I collect the covers of the books that I like or need to have.

Sadly the James Bond books have not been graced with good cover designs since somewhere around 1986. And that's a very long way to be waiting (I must say that the US cover for DEVIL MAY CARE was great but I consider the UK releases the most important one for me since Ian Fleming was British).

I also liked the Trigger Mortis hardback cover alot. It was truly cleaver and a very cleaver marketing tool that the cover could actually be folded into a rocket. Read more here!

And sadly this cover for TRIGGER MORTIS does not do it for me. This cover has nothing to do with the character James Bond and working daily with sales for motion pictures I guess that the publishers feel that they have sold the book to the fans and they have sold the book towards men but now, with the paperback, they are targeting women and therefore the cover design is far more feminine then for the hardback. So from a selling point that is off course cleaver but since I am a collector and a fan I much more hoped for something much more contemporary or something that was a bit more action packed. I wanted to see something drawn from the burial scene or something with Bond up close with Sin in the background. Something like the Pan Paperback for Dr No. I wish publishers and movie studios dared to use painted covers and posters like they used to.

But in the end its all about selling books and on that matter I am sure that the publishers know what they are doing and have there reasons (metadata) on who will be their target audience the second time around. I am sure the book will be a great success for the second time.

Please comment below on what you think about this new paperback cover for TRIGGER MORTIS.




You can pre order the TRIGGER MORTIS paperback on Amazon UK for £7.99 below.


Wednesday 2 March 2016

New James Bond auction with 108 lots coming your way!

On Tuesday march 15 an new James Bond auction will be heading our way.
Once again it is Vectis Auctions Ltd in the UK that will have a specialist sale featuring 108 lots of James Bond merchandise.

As a James Bond book collector sadly there will not be anything for me to bid on but I believe my wallet (and wife) is happier about this more then I am.

The stuff fore sale this time around looks very familiar to the last James Bond auction that Vectis had. Can it be that collectibles did not sale the last time around or is it just allot of James Bond stuff out there that all looks the same.

You can see all of the 108 lots of James Bond memorabilia at this link.

Please use the comment section below to comment if your see something you would wish to own. Would love to hear about it.

Happy collecting!




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