We can now make a best digest cover poll!

[MacGyver]

Hey- I just ran across another really nice gallery of cover art for The Hardy Boys Digest series. I don't know why it seems that this set of books gets ignored sometimes or whatever- but finally I can find cover art for most all of the books now. I like that this site has the Wanderer and Minstrel versions. http://www.hardyboysonline.net/content.php?page=series-digests
Anyway- I was just really excited to see that because I really love the Digests.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Hey- I just ran across another really nice gallery of cover art for The Hardy Boys Digest series. I don't know why it seems that this set of books gets ignored sometimes or whatever- but finally I can find cover art for most all of the books now. I like that this site has the Wanderer and Minstrel versions. http://www.hardyboysonline.net/content.php?page=series-digests
Anyway- I was just really excited to see that because I really love the Digests.

How do you know which version is which?

[MacGyver]

Well, Simon & Schuster first printed the Hardy Boys books under the Wanderer imprint in 1979 and somewhere in the mid-80s - I believe 1986- they switched to the Minstrel imprint. So the first book listed for #s 59-85 should be the Wanderer version (and you can tell a difference in the cover art and design and all)- and then the next few books would be the Minstrel edition.
The first 8 (#59-66) also have the Grossett & Dunlap reprint in hardcover from 2005 that utilizes the Wanderer artwork and illustrations. I have one or two of those- and it's a pretty neat addition to the first 58 G&D titles.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Well, Simon & Schuster first printed the Hardy Boys books under the Wanderer imprint in 1979 and somewhere in the mid-80s - I believe 1986- they switched to the Minstrel imprint. So the first book listed for #s 59-85 should be the Wanderer version (and you can tell a difference in the cover art and design and all)- and then the next few books would be the Minstrel edition.
The first 8 (#59-66) also have the Grossett & Dunlap reprint in hardcover from 2005 that utilizes the Wanderer artwork and illustrations. I have one or two of those- and it's a pretty neat addition to the first 58 G&D titles.

Alright. But what I meant was, which cover was who's?

[MacGyver]

I'm not sure I understand your question.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I'm not sure I understand your question.

Sorry! I meant to ask who had the version with the box in the upper left hand comer on the front cover. I hope that makes sense.     

[MacGyver]

Sorry! I meant to ask who had the version with the box in the upper left hand comer on the front cover. I hope that makes sense.

Oh, okay- I think I've got it now.
That version is the Minstrel printing. The Wanderer version is the earlier one- the one with more of a half circle on the top center of the cover.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Oh, okay- I think I've got it now.
That version is the Minstrel printing. The Wanderer version is the earlier one- the one with more of a half circle on the top center of the cover.

Almost all of mine are the Minstrel printing, then. Thanks.

[MacGyver]

Yeah- the Wanderer versions are nice because they include internal illustrations- and that's cool. You don't have that with Minstrel printings. However, I tend to like the design for the Minstrel books better in general. Maybe it's just because I grew up with those printings rather than the earlier Wanderer books- but ultimately it doesn't matter that much. The main thing is the story and I enjoy all the stories, no matter what printing the book is or what cover.
       

[MacGyver]

Oh yeah- I was going to add this too. If you notice on some of the earlier titles, you sort of have a midway point between the standard Wanderer cover art and the later Minstrel cover art. (For instance, on Track of the Zombie, The Voodoo Plot and Sky Sabotage - I have the second version for all of these books- and it's sort of like a hybrid Wanderer/Minstrel book- the cover art is like the Minstrel design, but they are still technically under the Wanderer imprint and except for The Voodoo Plot have internal illustrations. Perhaps Simon & Schuster was just in a period of transition there so different printings were published here and there, some with illustrations and some without, until they fully moved over to the Minstrel style.

[tomswift2002]

The "design" of the Minstrel stories that you are thinking of actually started in the Wanderer era, since both #'s 84 and 85 (Revenge Of The Desert Phantom & The Skyfire Puzzle) came in a format that would look very much like the later Minstrel books (http://hardyboys.us/hbpb.htm#ms  scroll down to "Cover Designs", and look at the covers on the side, the red 80 is style #3 that started in 1985, the yellow 80 is style #4 that started in 1987) with the only major difference being that the drop-down logo was wider than the later logo, and that for the reprints of the earlier Wanderer books in this "New" format, they would contain their internal pictures until the new Minstrel editions were printed, and the pictures were removed.

[MacGyver]

I've actually got that red #80 in its 1985 Minstrel printing. The Roaring River Mystery is a great book.
Thanks for the further info.

[tomswift2002]

I've actually got that red #80 in its 1985 Minstrel printing. The Roaring River Mystery is a great book.
Thanks for the further info.

Is it a Minstrel Printing or a Wanderer Printing.  Minstrel didn't take over the books till 1987, so there are books that look like Minstrel books, but are actually Wanderer Books.  You might want to look at the spine of the book or the back cover and see which printing company is mentioned.

I've seen that red #80 for the most part as Minstrel printings, but I have also seen others (ie. #62) in its second cover in both a Wanderer and Minstrel release, and the only thing that's different, besides the omission of the interior art is the publisher name on the book.

[MacGyver]

My copy of The Roaring River Mystery is definitely a Minstrel printing- that's what it says on the spine. Though this book was initially released in 1984, on the inside it notes that my particularly copy was first printed in April 1988. It doesn't have any internal illustrations though.
But I know what you're talking about- I have a Wanderer copy each of Track of the Zombie, The Voodoo Plot and Sky Sabotage- but all three are the later cover art so that they look like the Minstrel style, but the spines still clearly say "Wanderer."




The interesting thing is that both #71 and #79 have internal illustrations, while #72 doesn't. Also, the paper for #71 and #79 is white while the paper for #72 is more like the usual tan you would see- a different texture altogether.
   One last really interesting case-
I also have a copy of #81- The Demon's Den.

This one is clearly identified as a Minstrel printing, yet it also still contains the internal illustrations and the paper is tan and with a texture like that of #72 that I described earlier.
My copy of #81 says that it was first printed in January 1988 for the record.

[tomswift2002]

The interesting thing is that both #71 and #79 have internal illustrations, while #72 doesn't. Also, the paper for #71 and #79 is white while the paper for #72 is more like the usual tan you would see- a different texture altogether.
   One last really interesting case-
I also have a copy of #81- The Demon's Den.

This one is clearly identified as a Minstrel printing, yet it also still contains the internal illustrations and the paper is tan and with a texture like that of #72 that I described earlier.
My copy of #81 says that it was first printed in January 1988 for the record.

With your 72 and 81 it could also be that when the books were being bound the printers found that they had an excess of covers (72) and internal pages (81), so it might be that your books are from the Wanderer-Minstrel transition time where they were moving the books over to the Minstrel label and were just using up the old Wanderer stock, and in some cases, at least it looks like by my copy of the second cover of #62, Simon & Schuster were just reusing the old Wanderer Printing plates (with changes to the title page to replace the logo, and the "new" copyright page that erroneously credits Mega Books with Producing The Apeman's Secret) while they made up new plates with the stories and title pages in the font that would become the font for later Minstrel and Aladdin books.  I guess they did it that way so that the books stayed "In-Print" without having them out of print for longer than maybe a month or so (just enough time to actually print up "more" copies).

But I also see that a few of your books are the Canadian Distributed, where they appear to have been printed and bound in the US, but then imported by Paperjacks who took over the Canadian Distribution.