The Hardy Boys Digests and Casefiles are becoming hard to find

[Bigfootman]

I often go to used book stores in search of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, and while I often find Nancy Drew books, I'm having a hard time finding Hardy Boys books that I don't already have. The last Casefile I bought was No Mercy (which I found at a Book Market, along with a few digests that I already have) and the last digest I've found was "Motocross Madness" (which I found at a Chapters last year. Recently, I've also found the Hardy Boys Collector's Edition at another Chapters, but I already have it.). I recently found 5 SuperMysteries at a Value Village, but no Casefiles or Digests were there at all. Is anyone else having a similar problem?

[MacGyver]

It's definitely gotten a bit harder to find The Hardy Boys Digests books and Casefiles at used book stores nowadays. Every now and then, I can still find new copies of later Digests at Books-A-Million, but these are mainly later reprints (most commonly I've seen Slam Dunk Sabotage). I like to visit my local used bookstores every so often and over time, some of the books do pop up here and there. Of course, I've already acquired the whole Hardy Boys Casefiles series, so I'm not really worried about those books- although I do run across them here and there- but not as many as I used to. It really depends on where you go- a while back, I found a very nice set of a number of the Casefiles at a used bookstore- they looked brand new almost and I picked up quite a few of those. I've also gotten a number of them from Amazon.com and other online book dealers like www.abebooks.com
Those are always good options when it looks like the local bookstores have been drained dry for the moment. You might also like to try these book trading sites I mentioned in another post- www.bookmooch.com and www.paperbackswap.com - I've been able to trade a number of books through these sites- so I get rid of extra books that I don't really need- and pick up some titles I've been looking for in exchange- and the only thing I pay is the postage for when I mail books out. It's a pretty sweet deal. If you choose to use either one, send me a PM, so you can list me as a referral. Thanks.

[JoeHardyRocks]

I don't think there are any used bookstores where I live, but I get all my Digests and Casefiles from Amazon. They have a bunch and they always have whichever one I'm looking for...

[tomswift2002]

I remember that even back in the 90's the Casefiles and Digests rarely turned up at used bookstores in the Ottawa and Ottawa Valley area that I visited.  Or when they did, there would be the odd couple of books that I didn't have, but the books would usually only be in the stores for a few days to a week before they were sold.  So, even now, I usually check the used bookstores at certain times during the year (especially around the Labor Day long weekend when the Fiddling and Stepdancing competition is in town and a lot of outside visitors are coming in for the event) since the outside visitors will sometimes bring different Casefiles and Digests with them to read, but they don't want to take them back home.

But you have to remember that with all the paperback Hardy Boys books that they've only been around for 31 years, whereas the Grosset & Dunlap books have been around for 84 years (DJ editions) and 49 years (PC), and the G&D books are still being printed, whereas all of the Casefiles and the vast majority of the Digests have been sent to the "Out Of Print" lists, so there are not as many copies of those books around as the G&D books.  Plus, most people tend to list the books online because they know that they can get a better price than by taking it to a used bookstore where they might only get a couple of dollars.

[hardygirl847]

I found some Casefiles and a few digests recently at a local used bookstore I didn't even know existed! I already have all of the Casefiles but I did pick up the  Digests as well as a Supermystery I actually already had. Oops. Oh well.

[MacGyver]

I finally broke down and ordered one of the few Digests I didn't have yet- it just came in the mail the other day. So now I have a copy of #177 The Case of the Psychic's Vision - and though there are actually a few things that are pretty cool about it- and I can enjoy the story somewhat- this is probably one of the very few cases where I can say that I did not like this book very much. I didn't appreciate Frank and Joe's ready acceptance of the psychic world and jumping in and training their psychic powers and all. I don't mind some stories like this where The Hardy Boys delve some into the paranormal supernatural, but they have typically debunked a lot of it and if that had been the case here, I would have liked this book a lot better. But that aspect of the book aside, I did actually like the story okay as far as the writing goes and I appreciated the references to The Hardy Boys' history.
      Anyway- I am expecting the few other Digests I'm needing to complete my collection soon- #145 Terror at High Tide, #148 The Ice-Cold Case and #151 The Rocky Road to Revenge- I've actually read all of these books before- but I just missed picking up copies of them along the way for whatever reason. I still have some Wanderer copies of some earlier titles (from #59-#83) that I'd like to trade out for Minstrel editions eventually, just for uniformity's sake- and because I like the look of the Minstrels better, probably because I grew up with those- though I still like to keep a few Wanderer books around just for the sake of having a few examples.
    Besides- I've kinda thought it would be nice to have the Wanderer edition of #68, since that is the only one called The Submarine Caper, whereas the Minstrel edition renamed it Deadly Chase (and I've got that book.)

[hardygirl847]

I have 2 of the 3 you don't have.

Does the psychic part bother you because of your religious beliefs or something else? Just wondering...You're entitled to your opinion.

I'm almost on 4 shelves packed with HBs books....I need to make more room before I can add a whole lot more.

In 2 weeks I will be adding BREAK UP though!!! I am SOOOOO excited!

[MacGyver]

Does the psychic part bother you because of your religious beliefs or something else? Just wondering...You're entitled to your opinion

Well, beyond just my Christian beliefs- there is also the fact that it flies in the face of most every other Hardy Boys books that has dealt with the supernatural. I don't want to spoil any plotlines for people- but at least of most of the canon and Digests and Casefiles- there is usually a logically explanation to the ones that deal with the paranormal. (Obviously they veer off from this with The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories and it gets kinda murky in The Witchmaster's Key as well.) But it just seemed out of character that Frank and Joe would be so readily accepting of psychics without at least some skepticism. I don't think they would've necessarily belittled Colin for claiming to have such powers- but I do think they would've been a bit more hesitant in accepting those powers to be real.
      But yeah- I'm also wary mainly because of what The Bible says about staying away from fortune tellers and witchcraft. Leviticus 19:31 is pretty clear- "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am The Lord your God."
Later on in Leviticus 20:27 it says- "A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads."
     And of course- there are other Bible verses I could point out. And keep in mind that these verses were written specifically to the Israelites at that time- and for Christians on this side of the millennium- we're under the grace of Jesus given to us by His death and Resurrection through faith in Him- and not under the Law. This doesn't give us the option to ignore The Law of course- but it's the reason why Christians today don't go out stoning fortune tellers at their booths at carnivals or something. (At least they shouldn't since that's murder- and that's also wrong.) (But this gets into a much deeper theological subject.)
     I know that this is just a book and it's not quite the same as consulting a psychic hotline or whatever- but 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says to "Avoid every appearance of evil." So I want to be careful- especially considering The Bible's other commands about being careful about what I allow my mind to dwell on. (Philippians 4:8 for one.) The thing is- ultimately there are only two sources of power in the world. There is the unlimited, omnipotent power of God and there is the limited power that the devil holds. If God condemns such things as witchcraft and spiritism and so forth- then anyone claiming to to communicate with the dead or know people's thoughts and such are not getting their powers from God- thus, it only stands to reason that it is really demonic in nature.
    So this is the concern here.
Now I know one could argue that The Lord of the Rings employs similar magic, as does The Chronicles of Narnia- and the difference with both is how those powers are portrayed. It helps that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were Christians of course. But you had clear distinctions about the side of right and the side of wrong in both. The danger comes when what God defines as evil is being portrayed as good. And of course, as 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us- "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
    Of course, I can tell that the writer of #177 obviously is not coming from a Christian perspective, so I can recognize the book as the world's general view of such things- if people believe in it at all, that is. C.S. Lewis once said in The Screwtape Letters- "There are two errors men fall into concerning the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence and the other is to believe and express an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased with either error." (I was quoting that from memory, so it may not be verbatim- but that's the gist of it anyway.)
      Anyway- that's why I am reserved concerning such things. Of course, The Bible also says that because of the freedom Christians have through Jesus' grace, there is a choice that must be made as to where The Holy Spirit is leading each person on individual matters. Romans 14 talks a lot about this- along with other passages.

[tomswift2002]

I remember that I read The Case of The Psychic's Vision when it came out and I really found that there was no mystery to it at all, and the boys were sort of going from place to place (kind of like the 1940 version of The Disappearing Floor with no real purpose.  Out of the last 20 OC books, that was probably the worst, with The Mystery of The Black Rhino being not that far behind.

As for Terror At High Tide, as I recall it was an okay book that I found tended to drag in places.

The Ice-Cold Case was a really great book, and when I first read it back in 98-99, I really enjoyed it since the previous couple of OC books had been set in places other than Bayport (except for 143 and 146) and I had been finding that the boys had been away from Bayport for too long (not knowing that from January 1999 till March 2000, the boys would be away from Bayport for 8 straight books; #'s 154-160).

The Rocky Road To Revenge was written at the height of the X-Files phenomena (not to mention Unsolved Mysteries), and heavily reflects the show.

[MacGyver]

(not knowing that from January 1999 till March 2000, the boys would be away from Bayport for 8 straight books; #'s 154-160).

This just made me think of something- it seems that they usually try to align the books with the actual seasons of the year (well, sometimes anyway.) So with some of those titles, it seemed natural that they would be away from home on different trips and working at camps and such, because it was summer break. [I'm mainly thinking of #156 and #157 and #158 here.]
This doesn't always work out perfectly of course, but it helps when it does align well. And then there are other books that match up well with the school year, so with books like #170 and #171, it feels right to be reading a mystery revolving around football or set in the fall in general- because it actually was that time of year at the time.

[JoeHardyRocks]

Kinda more on-topic: My library is having a huge booksale this weekend, and I'm hoping to find some Hardy Boys Digests and Casefiles. Originals would be good too, if they're cheap LOL.

[MacGyver]

Sweet! Library book sales are a great place to find all kinds of good books! I have found some of The Hardy Boys books as well as many other series that way.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Well, beyond just my Christian beliefs- there is also the fact that it flies in the face of most every other Hardy Boys books that has dealt with the supernatural. I don't want to spoil any plotlines for people- but at least of most of the canon and Digests and Casefiles- there is usually a logically explanation to the ones that deal with the paranormal. (Obviously they veer off from this with The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories and it gets kinda murky in The Witchmaster's Key as well.) But it just seemed out of character that Frank and Joe would be so readily accepting of psychics without at least some skepticism. I don't think they would've necessarily belittled Colin for claiming to have such powers- but I do think they would've been a bit more hesitant in accepting those powers to be real.
      But yeah- I'm also wary mainly because of what The Bible says about staying away from fortune tellers and witchcraft. Leviticus 19:31 is pretty clear- "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am The Lord your God."
Later on in Leviticus 20:27 it says- "A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads."
     And of course- there are other Bible verses I could point out. And keep in mind that these verses were written specifically to the Israelites at that time- and for Christians on this side of the millennium- we're under the grace of Jesus given to us by His death and Resurrection through faith in Him- and not under the Law. This doesn't give us the option to ignore The Law of course- but it's the reason why Christians today don't go out stoning fortune tellers at their booths at carnivals or something. (At least they shouldn't since that's murder- and that's also wrong.) (But this gets into a much deeper theological subject.)
     I know that this is just a book and it's not quite the same as consulting a psychic hotline or whatever- but 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says to "Avoid every appearance of evil." So I want to be careful- especially considering The Bible's other commands about being careful about what I allow my mind to dwell on. (Philippians 4:8 for one.) The thing is- ultimately there are only two sources of power in the world. There is the unlimited, omnipotent power of God and there is the limited power that the devil holds. If God condemns such things as witchcraft and spiritism and so forth- then anyone claiming to to communicate with the dead or know people's thoughts and such are not getting their powers from God- thus, it only stands to reason that it is really demonic in nature.
    So this is the concern here.
Now I know one could argue that The Lord of the Rings employs similar magic, as does The Chronicles of Narnia- and the difference with both is how those powers are portrayed. It helps that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were Christians of course. But you had clear distinctions about the side of right and the side of wrong in both. The danger comes when what God defines as evil is being portrayed as good. And of course, as 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us- "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
    Of course, I can tell that the writer of #177 obviously is not coming from a Christian perspective, so I can recognize the book as the world's general view of such things- if people believe in it at all, that is. C.S. Lewis once said in The Screwtape Letters- "There are two errors men fall into concerning the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence and the other is to believe and express an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased with either error." (I was quoting that from memory, so it may not be verbatim- but that's the gist of it anyway.)
      Anyway- that's why I am reserved concerning such things. Of course, The Bible also says that because of the freedom Christians have through Jesus' grace, there is a choice that must be made as to where The Holy Spirit is leading each person on individual matters. Romans 14 talks a lot about this- along with other passages.

I have The Case of The Psychic's Vision. But, also like you, I thought it was a bit odd that they accepted it. I'm a Christian as well, and do you have any idea why they weren't like "whatever" 

[AlwaysAJoefan]

Well, beyond just my Christian beliefs- there is also the fact that it flies in the face of most every other Hardy Boys books that has dealt with the supernatural. I don't want to spoil any plotlines for people- but at least of most of the canon and Digests and Casefiles- there is usually a logically explanation to the ones that deal with the paranormal. (Obviously they veer off from this with The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories and it gets kinda murky in The Witchmaster's Key as well.) But it just seemed out of character that Frank and Joe would be so readily accepting of psychics without at least some skepticism. I don't think they would've necessarily belittled Colin for claiming to have such powers- but I do think they would've been a bit more hesitant in accepting those powers to be real.
      But yeah- I'm also wary mainly because of what The Bible says about staying away from fortune tellers and witchcraft. Leviticus 19:31 is pretty clear- "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am The Lord your God."
Later on in Leviticus 20:27 it says- "A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their
blood will be on their own heads."
     And of course- there are other Bible verses I could point out. And keep in mind that these verses were written specifically to the Israelites at that time- and for Christians on this side of the millennium- we're under the grace of Jesus given to us by His death and Resurrection through faith in Him- and not under the Law. This doesn't give us the option to ignore The Law of course- but it's the reason why Christians today don't go out stoning fortune tellers at their booths at carnivals or something. (At least they shouldn't since that's murder- and that's also wrong.) (But this gets into a much deeper theological subject.)
     I know that this is just a book and it's not quite the same as consulting a psychic hotline or whatever- but 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says to "Avoid every appearance of evil." So I want to be careful- especially considering The Bible's other commands about being careful about what I allow my mind to dwell on. (Philippians 4:8 for one.) The thing is- ultimately there are only two sources of power in the world. There is the unlimited, omnipotent power of God and there is the limited power that the devil holds. If God condemns such things as witchcraft and spiritism and so forth- then anyone claiming to to communicate with the dead or know people's thoughts and such are not getting their powers from God- thus, it only stands to reason that it is really demonic in nature.
    So this is the concern here.
Now I know one could argue that The Lord of the Rings employs similar magic, as does The Chronicles of Narnia- and the difference with both is how those powers are portrayed. It helps that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were Christians of course. But you had clear distinctions about the side of right and the side of wrong in both. The danger comes when what God defines as evil is being portrayed as good. And of course, as 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us- "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
    Of course, I can tell that the writer of #177 obviously is not coming from a Christian perspective, so I can recognize the book as the world's general view of such things- if people believe in it at all, that is. C.S. Lewis once said in The Screwtape Letters- "There are two errors men fall into concerning the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence and the other is to believe and express an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased with either error." (I was quoting that from memory, so it may not be verbatim- but that's the gist of it anyway.)
      Anyway- that's why I am reserved concerning such things. Of course, The Bible also says that because of the freedom Christians have through Jesus' grace, there is a choice that must be made as to where The Holy Spirit is leading each person on individual matters. Romans 14 talks a lot about this- along with other passages.

And a heart amen to that!  I believe that we can be led by spirits. Don't get me wrong, I've got more to say. There are two versions of spirits: God's and Lucifer's. We can choose either. It's like a dogfight, only with Satan's demons and the Holy Spirit doing the fighting. What we read, watch, and listen to affects the fight. If we take in things of the flesh, then the demons will grow stronger. But, if we take in things of God, then the Holy Spirit will grow stronger. The fight between the flesh and the spirit is always going, but who's winning is decided by our actions.

I'll step off my soapbox. For know. 

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

And a heart amen to that!  I believe that we can be led by spirits. Don't get me wrong, I've got more to say. There are two versions of spirits: God's and Lucifer's. We can choose either. It's like a dogfight, only with Satan's demons and the Holy Spirit doing the fighting. What we read, watch, and listen to affects the fight. If we take in things of the flesh, then the demons will grow stronger. But, if we take in things of God, then the Holy Spirit will grow stronger. The fight between the flesh and the spirit is always going, but who's winning is decided by our actions.

I'll step off my soapbox. For now. 

I agree. Have you read the Forbidden Doors series?