29 replies to this topic

[Blofeld's Cat]

I find this series to be most colourful and if I knew I could collect decent copies of them all I'd do so, even though the "still life" series of the 70's to be more interesting and the one I favour the most.

I was perusing Red Grant's excellent site The Art of James Bond and noticed a break in the layout of the series.

It appears that the covers for For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy were made different and I guess it could be because these two books were short story collections.

Interesting in the fact that all other series seem to treat every book the same when it came to designing covers for them.

I took the liberty of capturing an image of this series from Red's site so I hope he doesn't mind.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Oops! During typing I hit the enter key for a new paragraph and it posted my message instead. Strange that.

Anyway, here's that image....

http://forums.comman...=&postid=196016

[Bond111]

Yes very strange. I wonder why that is. On all the other books "James Bond" is in black, but on the said covers it is grey.

I have Diamonds Are Forever, Doctor No, and You Only Live Twice in the Pan series, and I would like to get the complete collection. I think they did a good job with the cover art and the overall layout of the books.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by bond111
Yes very strange. I wonder why that is. On all the other books "James Bond" is in black, but on the said covers it is grey.

Yes, certainly adds to their uniqueness in the series.

[Red Grant]

I think the choice of colour is purely down to the design of the background. Having a black "James Bond" just doesn't show up as well. It think it is just coincidence that the two books chosen happen to be of short stories. See attached amended version....

[DLibrasnow]

I have all the Pan paperbacks back in the UK as I used to pick them up at Fair book sales growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Seeing that image Brett brings back memories of collecting them all!!

I actually really like the new US covers....very inventive and interesting.

[Triton]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
I have all the Pan paperbacks back in the UK as I used to pick them up at Fair book sales growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Seeing that image Brett brings back memories of collecting them all!!  

I actually really like the new US covers....very inventive and interesting.

Everytime I look at the new US Penguin edition covers by Richie Fahey, I admire them more and more! For once, I am not green with envy that the cover art of the UK editions is far superior than the US editions.

I am rather jealous of you DLibrasnow because you have been able to pick up the Pan paperback editions over the years. For the most part, I have only been able to find the rather drab and unexciting Berkeley editions from the 1980's. Occassionally, I will find some titles from the Signet editions of the 1960's that aren't too dirty, moldy, or falling apart.

I would also like to get my hands on the UK Coronet editions with the cover art of Bill Gregory and David Scutt.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton


Everytime I look at the new US Penguin edition covers by Richie Fahey, I admire them more and more! For once, I am not green with envy that the cover art of the UK editions is far superior than the US editions.

I am rather jealous of you DLibrasnow because you have been able to pick up the Pan paperback editions over the years. For the most part, I have only been able to find the rather drab and unexciting Berkeley editions from the 1980's.  Occassionally, I will find some titles from the Signet editions of the 1960's that aren't too dirty, moldy, or falling apart.

I would also like to get my hands on the UK Coronet editions with the cover art of Bill Gregory and David Scutt.

It's amazing what you can find rummaging through the second book tables at local fairs. I got everything from the 1960s Pan editions to the Grandreams For Your Eyes Only book/annual.

I do think that the Fahey art is simply amazing. Probably the best the Fleming books have looked in decades.

[Triton]

I am very surprised that Penguin approved the Richie Fahey artwork because of the way that scantilly clad women are so prominently displayed on the book covers. Given today's attitudes, you would presume that they would reject such racy covers for fear of negative press and other criticism.

Perhaps because Richie Fahey's art conveys a hint of 1950's nostalgia and the lurid pulp detective style covers of the era, that Penguin has been able to get away with these covers.

Richie Fahey's cover art has also made me interested in a 1950's period James Bond film to save the James Bond character from 21st century political correctness and the contrived plots.

[zencat]

Thanks for posting this pic, Cat. This is one series I've never collected in it's entirety (I have these from TB and up because those were the first paperback editions). Never noticed that about FYEO and OP. Strange.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton

Richie Fahey's cover art has also made me interested in a 1950's period James Bond film to save the James Bond character from 21st century political correctness and the contrived plots.

That is an idea that I first heard about in the mid-1980s and something an interviewer was posing to Mike Wilson in an issue of "Bondage". Wilson rejected the concept but I have to admit to personally being intrigued by the idea.

[Triton]

For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy aren't the only titles in this set that are different, notice that the color of the title text is not uniform. The title text appears in white, red, blue, yellow, and orange colored ink. At least the typeface is the same and it's point size is uniform on all fourteen books. They are clearly part of the same series.

[DLibrasnow]

If memory serves me correctly the bullet hole illustration on the Thunderball are also holes in the cover. That's a different design idea for that book.

[Triton]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


That is an idea that I first heard about in the mid-1980s and something an interviewer was posing to Mike Wilson in an issue of "Bondage". Wilson rejected the concept but I have to admit to personally being intrigued by the idea.

It doesn't surprise me that Michael G. Wilson rejected this idea because of the logistical challenges it would create and the extra expense. The period James Bond film would also be an entirely different animal than the Eon Productions James Bond film.

For example, there were nine BMW 750 sedans used for the Hamburg hotel car park sequence in Tomorrow Never Dies. Could you imagine the producers recreating multiple Aston Martin DB Mark IIIs for an action sequence? Not likely. Perhaps they could find one or two cars in the hands of collectors who wouldn't mind that their vehicles were driven around in a film. But forget about intentionally damaging them for a movie.

Also it would be logistically difficult to film in Paris, for example, and make it look like it was fifty years ago. Perhaps they could use the LucasFilm digital backlot idea that allows a historical period to be recreated using CGI. But to me, CGI for the most part still looks like animation and there are other subtle flaws that give it away despite recent advances and claims of photorealism.

I don't think it will ever happen because of these difficulties, but it's a fun idea to think about.

[Qwerty]

Very nice! I have most of the Pan novels, except for Moonraker, Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me. They are still one of my favorite printings of the James Bond novels, nothing too over the top, but what's there works very well. I hope to find the other three soon!

[Lancaster]

When I first became a Bond fan I used to spend all my time collecting different editions (still do but not to the extreme). The pan series above was the first complete set I got.

[DLibrasnow]

I never went in for collecting different editions, but I do like to see what different ideas different artists would come up with.

[Lancaster]

Has anyone ever come across the Pan film edition of Thunderball (the cover has pictures from the film) that also included a letter that was supposed to be from Domino to Bond. I believe that it was a promotional item from Players as in the letter Domino also mentions her hero (the salior on the players packet).

Have seen the book several times but only ever found one copy of the letter.

Any further info anyone?

[zencat]

Originally posted by Lancaster
Has anyone ever come across the Pan film edition of Thunderball (the cover has pictures from the film) that also included a letter that was supposed to be from Domino to Bond. I believe that it was a promotional item from Players as in the letter Domino also mentions her hero (the salior on the players packet).

Have seen the book several times but only ever found one copy of the letter.

Any further info anyone?

That's one I'm still looking for as well. I believe it's the 14th edition.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I have a film tie-in copy of each of the novels, but not that particular edition of Thunderball.

[philbowski]

Originally posted by Lancaster
Has anyone ever come across the Pan film edition of Thunderball (the cover has pictures from the film) that also included a letter that was supposed to be from Domino to Bond. I believe that it was a promotional item from Players as in the letter Domino also mentions her hero (the salior on the players packet).

Have seen the book several times but only ever found one copy of the letter.

Any further info anyone?

Is the full size(width, height) of the letter the same as the book or is it larger and just folded?

[Lancaster]

It is normal writing paper size and was folded inside to book. I will dig it out and post the contents.

[Lancaster]

Unable to scan the letter, however, it reads:

Nassau
Friday

Darling,

I wondered at first whether I should write this letter, but I know you will understand. It hardly seems possible that we could be so far apart after what happened.

Carlo is kind. Of course I love him, and the children make up for everything.

But once in a while I remember... our first drive... our first supper together in the Casino. You ordered Champagne. And I told you about my hero - the sailor on the front of the packet of Players. (I believe you were jealous!)

This Christmas we're coming to London. I know you're terribly busy, but couldn't you just find one spare evening when we could meet and talk and laugh about old times?

Do please say yes. And don't let that horrible old 'M' give you any assignment over the holiday.

I think of you -
Ciao-
Domino

P.S. Came across this book in Nassau yesterday. You must read pages 152 - 155.

[DLibrasnow]

That sounds interesting Lancaster I have never heard of that edition before....

[Lancaster]

I don't know if anyone would know how any of these were printed. It always seemed a strange promotional item as it is not 100% clear it is from Players (it took me several years to find out what it was). Not sure how many would still exist as it was not attached to the book just loose inside.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I'm with you Darren. This is totally fasinating.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Lancaster
I don't know if anyone would know how any of these were printed. It always seemed a strange promotional item as it is not 100% clear it is from Players (it took me several years to find out what it was). Not sure how many would still exist as it was not attached to the book just loose inside.

It's not actually on the cover?

[Red Grant]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


It's not actually on the cover?

As mentioned elsewhere it was inserted into the paperback with no clue as to what it was other than the reference to pages 152-155. A very clever qnd subtle piece of advertising! I have no idea of how many were printed but it is a very hard edition to find. Scan of the letter attached.

[DLibrasnow]

Thanks Red Grant!

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by Lancaster
Has anyone ever come across the Pan film edition of Thunderball (the cover has pictures from the film) that also included a letter that was supposed to be from Domino to Bond. I believe that it was a promotional item from Players as in the letter Domino also mentions her hero (the salior on the players packet).

Originally posted by zencat
That's one I'm still looking for as well. I believe it's the 14th edition.

Originally posted by Blofeld's Cat
I have a film tie-in copy of each of the novels, but not that particular edition of Thunderball.

Does anyone know how many printings were made with the movie tie-in cover?

I have one but I don't remember it including the letter.