Favorite Hardy Boys covers

[MacGyver]

Yeah- and by 1997, it was really time to change the cover from pictures of the stars of the (unfortunately) already cancelled Hardy Boys TV series back to painted covers.

[tomswift2002]

Yeah- and by 1997, it was really time to change the cover from pictures of the stars of the (unfortunately) already cancelled Hardy Boys TV series back to painted covers.

Well if you notice that starting around #112 they dropped the "New" from the star on the front covers advertising the TV series and just had "the exciting TV series".

[MacGyver]

Hmm- that's true. Maybe the show was still on in reruns at this point. I do recall seeing one episode of the '90s Hardy Boys show on TV back somewhere around 1995 or 1996 when it was first originally airing. (But that's all I was ever able to catch of it until I got the whole series on DVD many years later.)

[SDLagent]

And then of course in 1997 when the last 6 books were brought out it was probably another marketing push to sell the series.

And as a result, we got some of the strangest looking covers in Hardy Boys history.

[Bigfootman]

LOL- because I'm absolutely no good at choosing and hate to knock any book of my beloved series- I'm not saying it's the best, but I think there's a good bit of wilderness-style action in there. There was some suspense at the end with The Hardys getting trapped in the tunnel.
I generally try to find something good in everything to enjoy and if I look hard enough, I can usually find something. In any case, it's another adventure hanging out with Frank and Joe- and this is one of the last Casefiles I read because it's one of the last ones I found in the series (I've read them all)- so it was fun just to have another Casefile to read.

Wilderness style action? That must be a joke! There's no action anywhere in the book! There?s not even a mystery in the book, it?s hilariously obvious who the bad guy is!  The first half of the book is just Frank and Joe sitting around doing nothing, and the second half is them walking through the desert, while an escaped convict (wow, that?s a new one, I never seen an escaped convict as the bad guy before in an Hardy Boys book! In case you did not know, that was sarcasm) who has no idea who to aim a gun, is chasing them.  Wilderness style action indeed. I?m that there were several much better manuscripts with actual action sent to the publishers that weren?t published because the publishers choose to publish this piece of trash instead.

Back to the topic of covers, the ?TV covers? were the worst covers I have ever seen on Hardy Boys books before the UBs. The one for Cave Trap was the worst. I?m planning to cover the cover with a blank sheet of paper so I don?t have to look at it when I want to read the book.

[MacGyver]

Well, it's been a while since I've read the book, but I don't recall it being nearly as bad as all that. But obviously it is that bad for you- and that's okay.
And as for the three variations of covers for The Hardy Boys Casefiles, I honestly don't have an issue with any of them. The story is more important than the cover after all. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good.

[hardygirl847]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I figured it had to do with marketing, sales, and the like. It's interesting still though.

Dan, I think you are as passionate about NOT liking Survival of the Fittest as I am about LOVING Brother Against Brother.

Well, it's been a while since I've read the book, but I don't recall it being nearly as bad as all that. But obviously it is that bad for you- and that's okay.
And as for the three variations of covers for The Hardy Boys Casefiles, I honestly don't have an issue with any of them. The story is more important than the cover after all. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good.

While there are some I like more than others...I have to agree. I'd like the cover to have something to do with the story but it's not necessary to the story itself. I actually bought my first GN because of the cover only to find out it was quite misleading. Although I was a little bummed by this, I did enjoy the story and it wasn't big deal.

It did its purpose...It got me to read and buy it.

[tomswift2002]

I remember years ago I saw Attack of The Video Villains at a local used book store.  I didn't have the money to buy it at the time, since I was young and I wanted to try and read the books in order, and #106 was still quite a ways a way from where I was in the, I think it was , the 20's.  Or I figured that the next time that I went in with some allowance money I could get it, but it was gone by the time I was able to return.  But about a year later I ordered the book with some birthday money and it's been a favorite of mine ever since, especially because it reminds me of the times I spent with my brother and sister and friends playing the old NES, SNES and Genesis.

[MacGyver]

Cool, man- "Attack of the Video Villians" is a fun one- reminds me a bit of the classic 1989 movie "The Wizard".

[hardygirl847]

I remember years ago I saw Attack of The Video Villains at a local used book store.  I didn't have the money to buy it at the time, since I was young and I wanted to try and read the books in order, and #106 was still quite a ways a way from where I was in the, I think it was , the 20's.  Or I figured that the next time that I went in with some allowance money I could get it, but it was gone by the time I was able to return.  But about a year later I ordered the book with some birthday money and it's been a favorite of mine ever since, especially because it reminds me of the times I spent with my brother and sister and friends playing the old NES, SNES and Genesis.

First off, old school Nintendo ROCKS! I have some games on our Wii and it's so much fun. Very nostalgic!! Bring back the good ol' days!

It's amazing though how sometimes we DO judge a book by its cover and it can make a difference in whether or not we pick it up.

What about a book, Hardy Boys of course, that you were NOT that crazy about the cover but you liked the book?

Any examples of this?

[tomswift2002]

One example that I can think of off the top of my head as to not being crazy about based on the cover was #175 Trick-Or-Trouble.

[MacGyver]

"Trick-Or-Trouble"'s cover was okay to me- although all the covers from that era of The Hardy Boys weren't all that great because neither Frank nor Joe generally appeared in them- but they still had some element of the story in them- so it wasn't all bad.
In any case, I was mainly going to say that I really liked this particular book as well.

[hardygirl847]

Well that is good that the book was still worth reading.

Hardy Boys Super Mystery #1 Wanted's cover is so pointless. There is a blue flap covering a horribly fuzzy picture that shows someone running away. Not very enticing. Luckily, they wrote "TWO TEEN BOYS COMMITTING CRIMES ALL OVER BAYPORT..." to entice people to pick it up. However, you have to read the back to find out that they are talking about Frank and Joe.

I haven't read it yet but the cover does nothing to help this book.

[SDLagent]

I always thought the cover of Wanted was kind of a cool, for some reason...maybe because it was just so different from any Hardy Boys covers I'd seen before. I can see where your coming from about the photo on the cover, though. Rather lame.

[tomswift2002]

Well that is good that the book was still worth reading.

Hardy Boys Super Mystery #1 Wanted's cover is so pointless. There is a blue flap covering a horribly fuzzy picture that shows someone running away. Not very enticing. Luckily, they wrote "TWO TEEN BOYS COMMITTING CRIMES ALL OVER BAYPORT..." to entice people to pick it up. However, you have to read the back to find out that they are talking about Frank and Joe.

I haven't read it yet but the cover does nothing to help this book.

Last time that I looked at Wanted in a bookstore I noticed that S&S had removed the blue cover and all that was left was the "blurry" picture.