Unexpected 007 Magazine Arrives

My Aunt in England recently discovered her friend knows a gentleman named Graham Rye.  Mr Rye is synonymous for publishing the well known James Bond "007 Magazine".  In fact I, like many other Bond fans, subscribed to "007 Magazine" during the 1980's and 90's.  From memory I was member number 00212, and I still have all the copies I received in my Bond room. 

Long story short my Aunt was able to acquire a magazine for me which arrived late last week.

The envelope contained a 151 page tribute edition to Sean Connery after his passing in 2020.   

I've already spent some time reading the magazine and admiring the amazing photos and I'm really enjoying it.

Ian Fleming The James Bond Collection

A parcel arrived today.  It contained the latest set of novels published in the UK by IFP (Ian Fleming Publications) packaged in an attractive box.  The box set is titled "Ian Fleming The James Bond Collection" and is limited to just 250 sets.

The covers were designed by Webb and Webb and initially released to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first Bond novel, "Casino Royale" in 2023.  Webb and Webb were then asked to design the exclusive box.

I had already purchased the 14 titles in this set but as a completist I also had to acquire the box set.  The ISBN is 9781915797100 for anyone else interested in purchasing this set, however it's easier to locate on the IFP website.

It really is a lovely set and if these cover designs are anything to go by, Mr. Fleming's works are in good hands.  Look out for this set appearing on my Box Sets / Slipcases page soon.

Ps. Yes I did purchase this box set; it was not a freebie.  It was difficult to purchase though as currently IFP only despatch to the UK and the USA, although they are hoping to remedy that situation soon.

Chapter House Books Gone ?

As usual during the warmer months my wife and I visit the beautiful beaches on the Mornington Peninsula.  On our drive there we often stop at a few secondhand book stores along the way.  One of those shops is Chapter House Books in Mornington.  Here's some photos from one of my last visits on February 1st, 2023.  I'm sure I've visited since but I can't find the photos.

In August 2022 I noted that Chapter House was displaying a sign in the window "Business For Sale".  I assumed the business would be sold, someone else would take over and life would go on as usual.  Our visit last week proved me wrong as I was saddened to discover the book shop was gone... replaced by a skin clinic.

I'm not sure if the shop has gone altogether.  Perhaps it's moved online as their website still exists.   Or maybe it's moved to another street address.  I'd like to remain optimistic because otherwise another physical secondhand book store has closed.  And with Books By The Bay, just around the corner in Mornington, rarely open it's not a good sign for the only two secondhand book stores in the suburb.

John Gardner's "Seafire" Variation Arrives

Around the year 2012, when I first launched PizGloria.com, a fellow James Bond book collector visited the site and commented about the existence of a second cover for John Gardner's "Seafire", published in the U.S. by Berkley Books in 1995. 

At that time I already owned one copy of the "Seafire" paperback, which I purchased when it was first released.  My cover featured the book's title in silver foil.  So when this person informed me of a variation cover I immediately set about trying to acquire one.

Roll forward 12 years and I've just received a copy of the variation cover in the mail.

It's certainly been a long hunt.  There were copies appearing from time to time on internet shopping sites, but many were well read beaters.  So when I received the parcel containing this edition, plus six other Bond titles, I was eager to see what condition it was in, especially after it's journey from the U.S. to Australia.

And here's the two variations of this Berkley Books paperback side by side.  The cover on the left with the yellow text is the 3rd printing while the cover on the right with the silver foil text is the 1st. I believe the 2nd printing also features yellow text but I don't have that edition.  Both copies share the same ISBN: 0425147754.

Unfortunately I've forgotten the name of the collector who first informed me about the existence of this variation cover, but whoever you are thank you very much.

Ps. If you're interested in seeing some other slight paperback cover variations here's the page on the website.

Caulfield Racecourse Vintage & Modern Toy Fair

This morning I visited the Caulfield Racecourse where a Vintage and Modern Toy Fair was held.  I'm a regular attendee of these collector fairs as I'm always interested in what James Bond items might be out there.  In the past I've purchased a couple of scale model vehicles from The James Bond Car Collection.

As usual the event was extremely busy.  There was a vast array of vintage and modern collectables displayed for sale on each vendor's trestle table, although I didn't notice too many from the world of Bond.

Of the few I noticed there were several vehicles from the Bond Car Collection but I didn't take any photos.  Also these three carded Corgi Junior vehicles, shown below, which were released around 1977 and 1979 for "The Spy Who Loved Me" (Lotus Esprit and helicopter) and "Moonraker" (space shuttle) respectively.  I rarely see these nowadays still on their cards so they definitely caught my interest, even if I didn't purchase them.

There was also this "Thunderball" board game which I suspect was released around the year of the fim's release in 1965.  The box looked in great condition too for its age.

No purchases from me today, but it's good to see some rarer Bond collectables still out there.

New 'Australian Editions' Page

A fellow James Bond book collector, Jochem G., contacted me late last year to propose adding a new page to PizGloria.com featuring Australian editions of Bond publications.  Personally I'd never thought of doing this as I believed there were only a couple of Pan Books "Special Australian Editions" released back in the 1960's, plus the Penguin "Casino Royale" movie tie-in from 2006 featuring a full head silhouette of the woman on the cover which is only partly shown on the UK edition.

So he sent me an email with a spreadsheet and images attached, and it was then I realised how many other Aussie publications actually existed.

So here's a link to the new Australian Editions page with all images provided by Jochem from his own extensive James Bond collection.

Just a note too, if you complete reading this page and want to visit more of the website, click [Previous] instead of [Next] as next will just take you to the home page.

Happy 12th Birthday Piz Gloria Website

Today is the 12th anniversary of the launch of PizGloria.com, the website dedicated to collecting James Bond paperbacks.  Normally I'd add some statistics from Google Analytics here however I'm currently unable to access my history so I'll have to skip these details this year.

I'm still regularly updating the website.  Recently I started working on a new page for what I've termed Australian Editions with all the details and images contributed by fellow Bond book collector, Jochem G..  I'll promote this new page soon on this blog once the page is complete.  

There are also some book covers awaiting scanning which will be added to the site in the near future, so the current number of 674 covers displayed will be out of date.

As always I'd like to thank everyone who has supported my website, visited it or just contacted me over the last 12 years,  

Cheers Baz

One Bond Hunt Ends

I've been searching for the edition of Kim Sherwood's "Double Or Nothing" (shown below) for several months now.  I knew it was available in Australia but strangely there were few copies in book stores around Melbourne.

I first encountered a physical copy at Dymocks in the City, however only one copy existed on the shelves and it was damaged in the top left corner of the front cover.  So I visited many, many more book stores on the hunt for another elusive copy.  When I finally found one at Robinson's Bookshop in Frankston I was disappointed to discover it too was damaged in the top left corner of the cover.  I suspect the books were damaged in transit from the UK.

Tired of travelling book store to book store without success I decided it was time to take an alternate course.  Now I'm well aware I could order this book cheaper online but I'd rather go through the traditional methods when possible.  So I asked Robinson's to order another copy... and it arrived yesterday with a perfect cover.

Here's the existing copy on their shelves.  The cover damage (top left) really is very minor but as I've no plans to read this edition I'd prefer my copy to be in as perfect condition as possible.

Inside Robinson's Bookstore...

And a Bond related title in the sport's section...

I was pleased to finally knock this book off my wants list.  Another Bond hunt ends.

The Last Parcel

Today is a sad day after the news late last night of the passing of a fellow James Bond book and memorabilia collector.

Back in 2012, the same year I launched PizGloria.com, I received an email from a fellow book collector, John F., who lived in New Zealand.  He sent an image of an edition of Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" that he owned as part of his extensive James Bond collection that was missing from my site.  From that point on the two of us frequently kept in contact, and traded / purchased books from each other.  And when I finally managed to acquire that missing edition I was quick to remind him of his first email to me.

A few months ago I received a parcel from John containing some items I'd purchased from him.  I delayed opening this parcel simply because I wanted to include photos of it's contents on this blog and I'd gotten a little behind in my posts.  Last night I learnt that John had passed away on New Years Eve, just 6 days ago.  This morning I opened the parcel knowing it would be the last contact I would ever have with him.

The items I purchased from John included 7 collectors cards released to accompany the Charlie Higson - Young Bond novel "Blood Fever" in 2006.  Also a small "bookmark" released as part of the "Choose a Title" promotion for the 2007 Young Bond novel which ultimately became Charlie Higson's "Double Or Die".

Finally, I received a copy of John Gardner's movie tie-in "Goldeneye" published in 1995 by Coronet.  This is the rarer paperback cover that features three script writers on the front cover instead of two.  I already had this edition but it was a lovely copy and very scarce.

These items may now reside in my collection, but they will forever be John's.   I shall miss our message chats and collection updates, as well as his interesting and informative contributions to the book collectors world in general.

Vale John.

Latest IFP Editions Arrive

James Bond is alive and well at Ian Fleming Publications (IFP).   On October 5, 2023 IFP published and re-released three Bond novels.  They were Raymond Benson's "Zero Minus Ten" first published in 1977, Kingsley Amis' "Colonel Sun" first published in 1968, and John Pearson's "James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007" first published in 1973.  

I think all the books look great.  They have uniform cover designs, the quality of the books is first class and most importantly it's great to have these three titles in print again.  I'm hopeful IFP will release more titles in the same series.

As an added bonus this copy of "Zero Minus Ten" was signed by the author too with a limit of 250 copies.

On a personal note I have to thank Tim from the great Pan collectors website Tikit.net who sent me these books from the UK.  Thanks mate.  Much appreciated.

"James Bond Is Missing"

"James Bond is missing" it exclaims from the cover of this trade paperback size copy of Kim Sherwood's "Double Or Nothing" published by Harper Collins in the UK.  The reason the novel's title is absent from the cover is due to this being an uncorrected proof released in September 2022.  I was fortunate to purchase this copy over a month ago and it arrived in the mail last week.

The publisher details/copyright page contains the ISBN's for both the future hard back and trade paperback versions.  The final cover for the trade paperback edition looked like this which is certainly similar:

I don't own many uncorrected proofs or advanced reading copies, but here they all are.

Sun Theatre Bondathon Film Festival

Last night I attended the 1983 James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville with another Aussie Bond fan.  The cinema is currently screening all the James Bond films as part of a 'Bondathon' from November 30 to December 3. 

Yesterday afternoon they also screened the Climax TV episode of "Casino Royale" from 1954 starring Barry Nelson and the comedy spoof film of the same name from 1967.  My friend attended these screenings and commented to me they were much better than he remembered.  For me though, I was only interested in "NSNA".  I wanted to see it at a cinema again for the first time in 40 years.

And what did we both think of "NSNA" ?  Obviously some scenes involving computers are a bit dated, and the soundtrack in places isn't great, but overall we felt the film still holds up very well.  And Sean Connery in his last performance as Bond redeems himself from his "Diamond's Are Forever" sleep walk.

If last night was any indication I definitely recommend attending other films in the festival.  Plus there's this great passport the cinema is giving away to people which they'll stamp for each film attended from the Bond programme.

Just one thing though, be sure you know the way back from Yarraville to Melbourne with all the roadworks and detours currently occurring, otherwise you could end up visiting Coode Island on your journey home like I did !