The Crisscross Crime #150

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Wow, just amazing. I never read this before, but it felt like it was a Casefile. Very fast paced. It didn't feel like the digest that I've been used to.

[MacGyver]

I personally love the Digests and I think there are lots of great, enjoyable Hardy Boys stories- including some that may approach the level of action in the Casefiles books. But the reason The Crisscross Crime might feel so much like one of the Casefiles is because it apparently was originally intended to be one of them, but when the series got cancelled, it was converted into one of the Digests instead.

[tomswift2002]

Yeah,  had the Casefiles not been cancelled, "The Crisscross Crime" would've been #130 and released around July 1998.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

So was that the whole book, or was there stuff that was left out?

[VLoneWolf]

This book was really good. I didn't know it was originally a Casefiles book. 

[tomswift2002]

So was that the whole book, or was there stuff that was left out?

The book, as published, was revised to have it fit into the Original series continuity.  So if there were any mentions of the Network, Iola being blown up or other Casefile plot points in the story, those would've been removed.  Plus the level of violence would've been toned down.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

They never mentioned any friends but Phil and Tony. Was Mr Pizza a Casefile hangout or not?

[MacGyver]

Mr. Pizza is definitely a hangout that originated in the Casefiles. But The Hardy Boys Digests have sometimes mentioned it too, I do believe, in the some of the later books. For that matter, an original Casefiles character, Liz Webling, has shown up in the Digests at least once too, I think.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Unless they just left it. I've never seen it in the digests until that book.

[tomswift2002]

It's been a while, but I think "Mr. Pizza" did appear in the Digests in the early-90's.  I think S&S was trying to give Tony a more reasonable after school job than driving truck for his Dad's construction business, as he did in the G&D books.  Think about it, how many construction jobs do you see getting done on weekends or after 4 p.m. on weekday nights?  Unless there's a time crunch, not many.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

It's been a while, but I think "Mr. Pizza" did appear in the Digests in the early-90's.  I think S&S was trying to give Tony a more reasonable after school job than driving truck for his Dad's construction business, as he did in the G&D books.  Think about it, how many construction jobs do you see getting done on weekends or after 4 p.m. on weekday nights?  Unless there's a time crunch, not many.

From what I've read, the Hardy Boys Casefiles almost are like another world...not carried on from any other series.

[MacGyver]

The Casefiles took the established Hardy Boys universe....and blew it up- literally.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

The Casefiles took the established Hardy Boys universe....and blew it up- literally.

Something that I'm very happy about. Wish they would redo it for today's audience.

[tomswift2002]

The Casefiles I see as splitting off after "The Swamp Monster".  While I was re-reading "Dead On Target" recently I noticed that the boys were described as having experience, and at the end of the book, Joe asks Frank if he thinks that they will keep up their usual mysteries, or if they are now hi-tech terrorism/espionage fighters.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

The Casefiles I see as splitting off after "The Swamp Monster".  While I was re-reading "Dead On Target" recently I noticed that the boys were described as having experience, and at the end of the book, Joe asks Frank if he thinks that they will keep up their usual mysteries, or if they are now hi-tech terrorism/espionage fighters.

How was The Swamp Monster the starting point?