Mr. Pizza's Hardy Boys Forum

Hardy Boys Casefiles Discussion => Hardy Boys Casefiles => Topic started by: White Eagle on October 24, 2007, 07:33:11 AM

Title: First casefile
Post by: White Eagle on October 24, 2007, 07:33:11 AM
What was the first casefile you read and how did you come to read it?
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SkyWarp on October 24, 2007, 01:17:41 PM
#7 Deathgame, Weekly Reader order forms from school. 
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on October 24, 2007, 05:46:30 PM
#63 Cold Sweat.  Was at the library looking for new Hardy Boys books, saw Dead On Target, but my mom was with me and she didn't want me to read any book with the word "Dead" in the title.  That later changed.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Lola on October 24, 2007, 07:55:18 PM
Oh goodness! I can't remember which one I read first! I got my first Casefiles from ebay.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Centrion on November 03, 2007, 09:11:59 PM
Dead on Arrival was my first, but I kinda skimed through it to see if I would like the Casefiles when I was little.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: frank on November 23, 2007, 07:06:39 PM
Brother Against Brother.  A friend of mine loaned it to me.  He was the person that originaly got me started reading the hard covers.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Centrion on November 23, 2007, 08:49:32 PM
Yeah, my I kinda of got my friend into Hardy Boy books, too. I didn't really understand most of the first Casefiles I read till I re-read them, since I was about 8.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: White Eagle on November 25, 2007, 03:21:04 PM
My brother and sister were reading the casefiles when I was reading the originals. Go figure.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Olivia on November 25, 2007, 03:54:07 PM
#90 Deadly Engagement. I saw it at a used book store, and just took it. I read a couple more Casefiles before I started to read in order.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Centrion on November 27, 2007, 05:26:15 PM
To Mirage- I guess you have older siblings?
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: White Eagle on November 27, 2007, 06:46:15 PM
(Gets chills)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Centrion on November 27, 2007, 06:47:48 PM
I'll take that as a yes ;) Poor Mirage. Hopefully they're not like some older siblings that are always picking on the younger.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Kerin on December 03, 2007, 07:39:12 PM
I have an older sister.But we get along really well.We unfortunatlyget to see each other that often. :'(   I luckyly got ot see her for thanksgiving,but it may me a long time before I see her now. :(
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Centrion on December 03, 2007, 08:26:36 PM
Yeah, thats tough. I take it you meant we unfortnately don't get to see each other often
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Kerin on December 03, 2007, 09:37:24 PM
Quote from: Centrion on December 03, 2007, 08:26:36 PM
Yeah, thats tough. I take it you meant we unfortnately don't get to see each other often

Yeah,I did.Thanks for pointing that out. :)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Bigfootman on September 12, 2008, 06:32:17 PM
I fist read a tiny bit of the last laugh, but didn't finish and wouldn't for another 2 years, so the first book I fininished was the Borderline Case.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 003Robin457 on September 12, 2008, 06:36:49 PM
The first one I read was #1 because I had like 7 Case Files in my closet from when my mom was first trying to make me read and I have this thing about order so I had to go buy #1 so I could read the rest. ;D
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Bigfootman on September 12, 2008, 06:37:52 PM
I didn't read #1 until quite later on.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: NZone on September 14, 2008, 03:22:31 PM
Viking's Revenge, picked it out in a bookstore
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Jokerette on September 16, 2008, 07:54:48 AM
so many! i don't remember!(hows that, SDLagent!)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on September 16, 2008, 04:04:34 PM
Hey, why bring me into this?
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Sam Spade on September 16, 2008, 04:06:56 PM
Quote from: SDLagent on September 16, 2008, 04:04:34 PM
Hey, why bring me into this?

Seems to me that she's just lookin' for a fight. lol! :D
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Olivia on September 16, 2008, 06:54:07 PM
How can you have "so many" for which casefile you read first?
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Jokerette on September 17, 2008, 09:43:00 AM
Quote from: SDLagent on September 16, 2008, 04:04:34 PM
Hey, why bring me into this?
you said once that ATAC fans probably haven't read any other books

Quote from: Sam Spade on September 16, 2008, 04:06:56 PM
Seems to me that she's just lookin' for a fight. lol! :D

read above

Quote from: oliviatocali on September 16, 2008, 06:54:07 PM
How can you have "so many" for which casefile you read first?

i meant i have read so many i don't remember what the first one was.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Bigfootman on September 18, 2008, 06:28:56 PM
Translation: Articfox has read a casefile so long ago that the title was footgoten, and added the "so many" part for an unkown reason.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Olivia on September 19, 2008, 12:31:48 AM
Quote from: Arcticfox on September 17, 2008, 09:43:00 AM
you said once that ATAC fans probably haven't read any other books

read above

i meant i have read so many i don't remember what the first one was.

Oh okay.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Bigfootman on January 15, 2009, 06:37:46 PM
I was about to read Street Spies first, and it's a good thing I didn't, otherwise I would neaver have been a casefile fan. ::)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on January 15, 2009, 07:17:50 PM
I remember that the first Casefiles book that I ever read was Cold Sweat.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Olivia on January 15, 2009, 08:23:37 PM
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on January 15, 2009, 06:37:46 PM
I was about to read Street Spies first, and it's a good thing I didn't, otherwise I would neaver have been a casefile fan. ::)

I understand that. If I read a book from a series and I didn't like it, it's quite possible I would drop it (depending how long the series is - if it's just like 3 or 4 books I might force myself to finish it).

But like a TV show, I think everyone should always give each program at least a couple of episodes before judging it.

Good thing that wasn't you first book though anyways.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Q on January 16, 2009, 04:38:52 PM
Either Dead on Target or Last Laugh or Running on Empty.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: JoeHardyRocks on January 17, 2009, 10:42:17 PM
1st one: Dead on Target.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: mgriffith on May 04, 2009, 05:25:53 PM
I just read Casefile 22, Double Exposure.  It was the first Hardy Boys paperback I ever bought (picked it up at a local used book store on Thursday).

I have read on other HB sites that the Casefiles books were not as good as the G&D harbacks, but I really enjoyed Double Exposure!

This weekend I bought a beat-up library sale Casefiles 7, Deathgame, and will get to that as soon as I read a few other books I have ahead of it in line.

Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on May 04, 2009, 07:21:30 PM
Yeah, there's a few sites out there that bash the Casefiles (Will Oxford's site comes to mind) but most fans like the Casefiles. Many of the HB fan community are exclusively Casefiles fans, as you can tell by this site.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on May 04, 2009, 08:14:34 PM
Out on the internet there are quite a few sites where the post-1979 Hardy Boys books are not considered as "true" Hardy Boys books, and are viewed in sort of a "freak of nature" kind of way. 

But there are also quite a few people out there who consider the Hardy Boys series to not be limited to just the books published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1927 and 1979, but to all the books published from 1927 to now.

But, mgriffith, if you are a fan of the Bluespines, then you might want to check out the DVD collection of the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season One.   The episode The Mystery Of Witches Hollow is a nearly true to book adaptation of Hardy Boys #41 The Clue of the Screeching Owl.  Plus the set, and even the Season 2 set contain some episodes with titles from (or in the case of Wipeout, that would be used) some books.  This tradition even carried into the 1995 TV series where the episode The Last Laugh contained the title of Casefiles #42 The Last Laugh, although the story was completely different.  (Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season 1 & Season 2 are on DVD from Universal in both the US and Canada; the 1995 Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew TV series are on DVD from kaBoom Entertainment only in Canada).
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: mgriffith on May 05, 2009, 04:41:07 PM
Quote from: tomswift2002 on May 04, 2009, 08:14:34 PM
Out on the internet there are quite a few sites where the post-1979 Hardy Boys books are not considered as "true" Hardy Boys books, and are viewed in sort of a "freak of nature" kind of way. 

But there are also quite a few people out there who consider the Hardy Boys series to not be limited to just the books published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1927 and 1979, but to all the books published from 1927 to now.

I was never exposed to the paperbacks before now.  I stopped reading the series back in about 1978 or so, the last book being The Jungle Pyramid.

I am floored by how many MORE books are out there, in soft-cover!  WOW!


But, mgriffith, if you are a fan of the Bluespines, then you might want to check out the DVD collection of the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season One.   The episode The Mystery Of Witches Hollow is a nearly true to book adaptation of Hardy Boys #41 The Clue of the Screeching Owl.  Plus the set, and even the Season 2 set contain some episodes with titles from (or in the case of Wipeout, that would be used) some books.  This tradition even carried into the 1995 TV series where the episode The Last Laugh contained the title of Casefiles #42 The Last Laugh, although the story was completely different.  (Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season 1 & Season 2 are on DVD from Universal in both the US and Canada; the 1995 Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew TV series are on DVD from kaBoom Entertainment only in Canada).

I'm sticking to the books only for now.  Only so much time and money, y'know!   ;)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on May 06, 2009, 01:07:43 AM
Click the image on my sig and you can browse through every Hardy Boys book. There's articles there on over 480 Hardy Boys books.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: mgriffith on May 06, 2009, 08:00:18 PM
Quote from: SDLagent on May 06, 2009, 01:07:43 AM
Click the image on my sig and you can browse through every Hardy Boys book. There's articles there on over 480 Hardy Boys books.

WOW!  It' like....The Mother Lode!   :o

GREAT site!   :)

(And thanks!  I NEEDED another excuse to stay up until 2 am every night!   ::))
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on May 08, 2009, 02:06:58 AM
Glad you like the site. If you have any suggestions, complains, questions, just let me know.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: donwisenor on May 09, 2009, 07:13:10 AM
I read Dead on Target when it first came out.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Fenlaur on October 09, 2009, 01:13:33 PM
The first Casefile I read was either The Crowning Terror or The Lazarus Plot and I found them both in the library.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: hardygirl847 on October 18, 2009, 03:59:33 PM
I was about 12 and spent time with my grandma over the summer. I ended up living at the library where I stumbled upon Hardy Boys. I was a bit boy crazy so naturally I didn't take up Nancy Drew. lol I know there is a long list of over a 100 casefile books that I read that summer out there somewhere buried in a pile or box. So I can't say for sure which one was the first. But my favorite of all time is Brother Against Brother. I also remember reading Lazarus Plot several times too. Now, 13 years later, I am back into the Casefiles rereading them and collecting them from Amazon and Ebay. I'm glad I am among people who understand my affection for this series and don't think I'm totally nuts! :)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: MacGyver on November 24, 2009, 01:59:17 PM
If I remember correctly, I think the first of The Hardy Boys Casefiles I read was #5 "Edge of Destruction" after seeing it on sale in a bookstore, somewhere in the late '80s or early '90s.
From there, I eventually went through the whole series. I was already a big fan of the original 58 stories and the Digests anyway. I think I was mainly first attracted to #5 because of The Hardy Boys coming out of a sewer and I immediately thought of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! lol :-) As it is, I love reading the Casefiles- I've read all of them and they're all great fun. I'm still working through a few more of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Supermysteries ('88) series so that keeps a bit of the Casefiles world alive for me. (I love that the Network and the Gray Man shows up in a few of them here and there. And the third one, "Shock Waves" was so great for tying in Joe's melted pair of keys that reminded him of Iola from the very first Casefiles book- "Dead on Target".) Yeah, they're all good.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on November 24, 2009, 07:03:11 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on November 24, 2009, 01:59:17 PM
And the third one, "Shock Waves" was so great for tying in Joe's melted pair of keys that reminded him of Iola from the very first Casefiles book- "Dead on Target".) Yeah, they're all good.


I think that was also the last book in which the keys were ever mentioned.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: DegenerateBlue on November 24, 2009, 07:27:43 PM
#10 Hostages Of Hate
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 4567TME on December 18, 2009, 06:54:35 PM
It will probably be "Inferno of Fear" if no one takes it out of the school library before I get a chance :D
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on December 19, 2009, 01:49:40 AM
You haven't read the Casefiles? Well, enjoy reading your first one, then!
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 4567TME on December 19, 2009, 07:30:41 AM
Sure hope I can get it!
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: hardygirl847 on December 19, 2009, 04:06:20 PM
I sure hope so too because the Casefiles will forever be my favorite!! Let us know if you need suggestions on what other ones you HAVE to read! :)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 4567TME on December 22, 2009, 07:41:36 PM
OK, I read it and it's great! What other ones should I hunt the libraries and bookstores for?
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on December 23, 2009, 03:58:27 PM
Dead on Target, of course. Browse some old topics for more suggestions.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on December 23, 2009, 06:29:15 PM
Cold Sweat.  First Casefile that I read all the way through.  Then you should try to read the Operation Phoenix Trilogy and the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thriller: Time Bomb.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 4567TME on December 24, 2009, 08:46:28 AM
Ok, thanks!
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: Jokerette on December 31, 2009, 11:40:00 AM
Quote from: 4567TME on December 18, 2009, 06:54:35 PM
It will probably be "Inferno of Fear" if no one takes it out of the school library before I get a chance :D

taking that to mean that you haven't read any casefiles before, i'll ask: have you read any UBs? it would prob be wise (that is, if you haven't already) to read them together in a mix. ya know: casefiles, UBs, casefiles, UBs, etc. just so you don't get biased. :)
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: 4567TME on January 17, 2010, 10:34:36 AM
That's a good idea.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on January 20, 2010, 07:52:47 PM
Quote from: RevWolfX on December 31, 2009, 11:40:00 AM
taking that to mean that you haven't read any casefiles before, i'll ask: have you read any UBs? it would prob be wise (that is, if you haven't already) to read them together in a mix. ya know: casefiles, UBs, casefiles, UBs, etc. just so you don't get biased. :)

Good idea. I read my first UB before I read my first Casefile, and I'm not biased. I just know the truth. Most UB are lame. Most Casefiles are good.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: MacGyver on January 21, 2010, 02:52:03 PM
Hmm- that's interesting that you read a UB book before reading the Casefiles. But then, I guess from my point of view, I've progressed in The Hardy Boys as the series have come out. I grew up reading the original 58 titles ("The Tower Treasure" through "The Sting of the Scorpion") and I started reading The Hardy Boys Casefiles alongside those when they started being released in 1987. And of course I was still reading the Digests alongside those. (#59 "Night of the Werewolf" through #190 "Motocross Madness"). And then I've been collecting the Undercover Brothers series and I will probably try to plow through them sometime. I think I like the graphic novels better than the books they're based on though. lol
And I have acquired a few of the original text Hardy Boys mysteries (this would cover #1 "The Tower Treasure" through #38 "The Mystery at Devil's Paw") and I would like to read those sometime too to compare to the revised versions.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: SDLagent on January 22, 2010, 10:47:26 PM
That's cool that you've been able to read so many of the books as they've come out. Casefiles are so hard to find these days.

You should definitely read the original texts. In my opinion, the originals are almost always better then the revised versions, and two of my favorite Hardy Boys books are originals.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on January 24, 2010, 05:58:27 PM
Yeah one of my all-time favorite Hardy Boys book is #23 The Melted Coins (1944) that Leslie McFarlane wrote.  It was the second book (after The Tower Treasure (1959)) that I read since some friends had a PC edition of it that their father had read when he was younger, and my mom didn't want me to get anymore at the time because my birthday was only about a week away.    And I find that the 1970 revision of The Melted Coins is the worst of the revisions, and how it got past the approval stage...I don't know.  I remember even wondering what the artist had been thinking of when he drew the cover, since the background green reminded me of...ah...let's not go there.

As for the hardest to find, while the Dustjacketed Hardcovers (for both the Grosset & Dunlap books that were issued between 1927 and 1961, even though a number of the books issued during that time without their dustjackets; and the second Dustjacketed set are the Wanderer Dustjacket Hardcovers released between 1979 and 1985) are definitely the hardest to find since they command such high prices, as you said SDL the Casefiles are so hard to find along with the paperback Digests.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: MacGyver on January 24, 2010, 09:31:25 PM
QuoteThat's cool that you've been able to read so many of the books as they've come out. Casefiles are so hard to find these days.

You should definitely read the original texts. In my opinion, the originals are almost always better then the revised versions, and two of my favorite Hardy Boys books are originals.
Yeah- lol- I think I probably have a few year's advantage in that. But all of The Hardy Boys books are good. [I've never been good at picking favorites. ;D]
I will certainly have to try giving the originals a read when I can. I will probably get the original text for "The Tower Treasure" sometime soon- I know a place that has a few of the Applewood reprints. And I really want to read the original version of "The Disappearing Floor" and see if it's really as bad as I've heard so many people online say it is. :D
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on January 25, 2010, 02:52:19 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on January 24, 2010, 09:31:25 PM
I will probably get the original text for "The Tower Treasure" sometime soon- I know a place that has a few of the Applewood reprints.
You might want to wait for the fall when Applewood is going to release a box set of the first 6 books of the original series. ( http://www.amazon.ca/Hardy-Boys-Collectors-Boxed-Set/dp/1557091536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264451751&sr=1-1)

QuoteAnd I really want to read the original version of "The Disappearing Floor" and see if it's really as bad as I've heard so many people online say it is. :D

Trust me, I just read it last year and there is no "meat" on the story and it just seems to be one long "bony" outline.  The only book that is worst than the 1940 The Disappearing Floor is the 1938 The Secret Warning which appears to have had two manuscripts with completely different stories, based on the same outline, combined into one manuscript.  This leads to the book having portions that read like The Disappearing Floor (1940) by Dr. John Button, while other portions read like The Mystery of Cabin Island (1929) by Leslie McFarlane.  And while this is a rather long argument that shouldn't be discussed in this thread, suffice it to say, even though others have uncovered evidence indicating that Dr. John Button most likely worked and signed off on the book, which apparently contradicts Leslie McFarlane's claim to authorship of The Secret Warning which he made in his autobiography (Ghost Of The Hardy Boys), I am convinced that based on a survey of the text of the book, The Secret Warning is a compilation of stories by both Leslie McFarlane and Dr. John Button and that an unknown editor edited the two stories together. 
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: hexton on August 01, 2010, 04:33:27 PM
Inferno of Fear-got it at a school book sale because I had exhausted the originals and had no idea of other Hardy series. Instantly liked the harder edge to the stories and began collecting the ones I could.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: tomswift2002 on August 01, 2010, 06:43:19 PM
Quote from: hexton on August 01, 2010, 04:33:27 PM
Inferno of Fear-

I remember that when I first bought the book, since it was on a bottom shelf, I thought that it was #66 The Phoenix Equation which I had been looking for (and, which at that time in 1998 Simon & Schuster had declared out-of-print, and I thought that the store maybe had old stock); unfortunately it wasn't 66, but I still bought it since I had not read it.  And I don't recall having read it since Christmas of 1998.
Title: Re: First casefile
Post by: P. Walker on March 26, 2012, 08:39:51 PM
Quote from: White Eagle on October 24, 2007, 07:33:11 AM
What was the first casefile you read and how did you come to read it?

I believe it was Dead On Target actually. Or at the very least one of the first five books. I saw my best friend Larry reading it and he was telling me how cool it was. Once he finished, i checked it out of the school library and was hooked on it. Read all the ones my schools library had in order...or as close as I could. Have been a fan ever since of the Casefiles. Incidentally last night I just finished DoT, havent read it since the mid-to-late 90s...and wow! Very topical even today...maybe even moreso. Terrorism of course has always been a big deal for the last 30 years or so, whether it was South American pro-Marxist guerillas or Islamic groups. There was a lot of nice touches that I picked up on now that Im sure I didnt pick up on in middle/high school. The historical account of the Assassins (Legend has it that the members of the sect would get high off of hashish), and the fact that they, according to The Gray Man, hire themselves out to the highest bidder. Once more I always wondered if they were referencing the fact that Carlos the Jackal (a very famous terrorist during the 70s and 80s) did the exact same thing)