There's been a lot of great Hardy Boys covers over the years, and I thought it would be fun to post our favorite ones, here. I'll get things started by posting two of my favs.
(http://www.originalmmc.com/images/HB1/HB1_TowerTreasure.jpg)
(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/hardyboys/images/2/2f/WhatHappenedAtMidnight1967Revised.jpg)
Having grown up with reading some of the British versions as well as the American printings, I'll have to post a few of each for some of the covers that fascinated me as a child and that I still find cool now.
(http://hardyboys.co.uk/gallery/big/37c.jpg)
(http://hardyboys.co.uk/gallery/big/23c.jpg)
(http://hardyboys.co.uk/gallery/big/42colred.jpg)
(http://hardyboys.co.uk/gallery/big/09col.jpg)
(http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n35936.jpg)
(http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n26/n131981.jpg)
(http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n36016.jpg)
I've never seen the first cover you posted. It's pretty nice! I always thought the British covers for the Originals always made the stories look a lot more action-packed then the American covers.
Awesome choices thus far. I agree with a few that I am more familiar with but to keep the theme going...here are some of my faves...
Not shockingly this is my #1 fave. :)
(http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbcf011.jpg)
(http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbcf066.jpg)
This cover got me HOOKED on GNs...but sadly was somewhat let down (it was misleading). Still a good book though!
(http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbgn10.jpg)
This too seemed quite promising but was also misleading.
(http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbgn15.jpg)
Luckily I still enjoyed it.
I was NOT too fond of these...
(http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbcf120.jpg)
mainly because this show wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. PLUS these books have nothing to do with the covers. Their laziness will last forever unless they ever change the covers (doubtful).
I agree- "Brother Against Brother" is still one of my top favorite Casefiles- both storywise and cover artwise. And "The Phoenix Equation"- hey- well, speaking for most boys- any time you have a big explosion on the front cover with your heroes barely escaping, you're gonna have a boy's attention. ;D The graphic novels have some cool covers too- those are good ones there.
I still don't think "Survival of the Fittest" was all that bad of a story- but regarding the covers, you can't really fault them for trying to tie in the '90s TV show with the books. Yes, the covers didn't reveal very much (if anything) of the plot (with a possible exception for #110 "Bad Chemistry")- but that's how marketing goes. At least they acknowledged the show and made some attempt to support it.
QuoteI've never seen the first cover you posted. It's pretty nice! I always thought the British covers for the Originals always made the stories look a lot more action-packed then the American covers.
Oh yeah- I've always felt that a lot of the British covers are a good bit more action-packed than some of the American ones- but I still love the G&D covers, but the first Armada cover is the style I grew up with and one of my favorites. (This was back in the '80s for these covers- check out some of the late '80s and early '90s British covers on www.hardyboys.co.uk - in my opinion, those start to look a bit lame. The kids pictured just look way too young and it's not nearly as exciting-looking as some of these '80s classics.)
I don't like the cover for Brother Against Brother, it just does not look that good. The trees in the background look like they are floating. I did not like the story either. The end of the book was the worst ending in Casefile history. (Altough the ending of Dead In The Water, where Joe cheats on Vanessa :o, comes at a close second.)
My favorite cover has to be either the one for "No Mercy", the cover for "Danger Zone", or the cover for "Day Of The Dinosaur".
Interesting- I've always regarded "Brother Against Brother" as one of the absolute best of the Casefiles, or at least one of my personal favorites. And I think the cover art looks fine. But why was the ending such a letdown for you?
Quote from: MacGyver on March 15, 2010, 02:53:01 PM
Interesting- I've always regarded "Brother Against Brother" as one of the absolute best of the Casefiles, or at least one of my personal favorites. And I think the cover art looks fine. But why was the ending such a letdown for you?
Joe got his memory back too quickly, ruining the book. The lame joke at the end was pointless.
Now may I ask why you like Survival Of The Fittest?
Quote from: MacGyver on March 14, 2010, 09:50:45 PM
I agree- "Brother Against Brother" is still one of my top favorite Casefiles- both storywise and cover artwise. And "The Phoenix Equation"- hey- well, speaking for most boys- any time you have a big explosion on the front cover with your heroes barely escaping, you're gonna have a boy's attention. ;D The graphic novels have some cool covers too- those are good ones there.
I still don't think "Survival of the Fittest" was all that bad of a story- but regarding the covers, you can't really fault them for trying to tie in the '90s TV show with the books. Yes, the covers didn't reveal very much (if anything) of the plot (with a possible exception for #110 "Bad Chemistry")- but that's how marketing goes. At least they acknowledged the show and made some attempt to support it.
YES
Brother Against Brother was awesome! I still have to read the Phoenix Trilogy again but it grabs GIRLS' attention too!! I'm 99% sure BAB is the main reason I got into the series in the first place. I randomly picked a cover that had the 1995 Frank and Joe on it. I wasn't really commenting on the book more than the actual cover. Sure, the books were trying to support the series and the series was trying to support the books. However, the series was not that successful and now they will FOREVER be on the covers of our beloved Casefiles. If it was a better show then it would be satisfactory. But it kind of disappoints in the end.
Dan, I fear that we will NEVER see eye to eye on the ending or even the general feel of
Brother Against Brother. Like MacGyver, I too feel that is one of the best and one of my personal favorites. The ending didn't bother me that much because they were trying to stay alive. They didn't have a whole lot of resolution or "yay we're brothers!" time . They were busy with the task at hand.
BTW the cover art and the title alone attracted me to the book AND the Hardy Boys series. So again...pretty important things. I guess we shall agree to disagree. :-\
When I first heard about "Brother Against Brother", I was detremined to find it. I found it in a book store and was excited to read it. I finnished the book in less then two hours. I found myself wishing that I had bought the Nancy Drew File "Over The Edge" instead.
I can see where you're coming from Dan, especially since your hopes were so high. Anyway, let's not get too off topic...this thread is about the covers.
Quote
Now may I ask why you like Survival Of The Fittest?
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.
Personally I don't remember this one and am still working on rereading (or reading for the first time) my Casefiles collection. However, I have to agree with your reasons! I find it hard to knock any book either and usually find something positive and good about a book. It's Hardy Boys for crying out loud! It's another hour and a half with Frank and Joe. Being pleased is a must! :)
Back to the covers...
Does anyone know why the Casefiles covers went from blue-ish purple to different colors to red (on the spine)? Any significance to them changing towards the end? I think #105 Law of the Jungle was the first to change....
Quote from: hardygirl847 on March 16, 2010, 04:39:48 PM
Back to the covers...
Does anyone know why the Casefiles covers went from blue-ish purple to different colors to red (on the spine)? Any significance to them changing towards the end? I think #105 Law of the Jungle was the first to change....
The spines probably changed when the covers did. It messes-up the whole collection when they do this with a book series. I'm glad they left the spines alone when they changed the graphic novels' covers.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on March 16, 2010, 04:39:48 PM
Back to the covers...
Does anyone know why the Casefiles covers went from blue-ish purple to different colors to red (on the spine)? Any significance to them changing towards the end? I think #105 Law of the Jungle was the first to change....
Well with #105
Law Of The Jungle that was the introduction of the photo's from the 95 TV series as well as the logo from the show as well. But I think S&S was probably trying to change the look to get sales to pick up, since the purplish-blue spines and the Hardy Boys Casefiles-in-flame logo had been out since 1987---9 years---so someone probably thought that it was a good time to try and revamp the cover style. And then of course in 1997 when the last 6 books were brought out it was probably another marketing push to sell the series.
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.
Quote from: MacGyver on March 17, 2010, 09:41:11 AM
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".
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.) :D
Quote from: tomswift2002 on March 17, 2010, 07:54:12 AM
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.
Quote from: MacGyver on March 15, 2010, 10:52:21 PM
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.
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. :D
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. :)
Quote from: MacGyver on March 18, 2010, 12:31:12 PM
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. :D
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.
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.
Cool, man- "Attack of the Video Villians" is a fun one- reminds me a bit of the classic 1989 movie "The Wizard". ;D 8)
Quote from: tomswift2002 on March 18, 2010, 06:00:40 PM
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?
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.
"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. 8)
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.
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.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on March 22, 2010, 02:54:15 PM
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.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on March 22, 2010, 05:11:29 PM
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.
You'd think it would be the other way around. That tagline, "Two teen boys committing crimes all over Bayport...", is really what got me interested in the book, which, in turn, lead me to the rest of the UB series. The blurry picture would not have.
I agree totally Spencer.
(http://newportvintagebooks.com/images/books/childrens/series_boys/HardyBoys/HB2_Cliff.jpg)
(http://newportvintagebooks.com/images/books/childrens/series_boys/HardyBoys/HB9_Airport.jpg)
(http://authorbobfreeman.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/hb17_warning.jpg)
(http://newportvintagebooks.com/images/books/childrens/series_boys/HardyBoys/HB22_Flickering.jpg)
I've always loved the pulpy covers of the 30s and 40s, and The House on the Cliff cover by A.O. Scott, which I own, is, I think, the best Hardy Boys cover ever. I also own the cover of The Flickering Torch Mystery by Paul Laune. It's a shame these old dust jackets are so hard to come by...
Those are really cool! I notice them on Amazon once in awhile but I have a feeling that you might not get that one when it comes in the mail. That would really tick me off!!
But yeah the classics and various versions of such make them stand out and are more meaningful.
I'm not as impressed with the covers of today.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on March 31, 2010, 03:06:18 AM
I'm not as impressed with the covers of today.
Same here. The ones from the 30s and 40s are my favorite, but there's some pretty good covers from the 60s, too...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Hardy_boys_cover_20.jpg)
I picked this up at a used bookstore, last week, along with four other books. This cover's the best of the bunch,
(http://newportvintagebooks.com/images/books/childrens/series_boys/HardyBoys/HB26_Freighter.jpg)
I like this one (from from 1947), too.
I like how The Mystery of the Flying Express cover there kinda has you wondering whether Frank and Joe are running toward this guy in the bushes with Joe about to trip over that package or if Frank and Joe have just come to pick up the package and the guy in the bushes is spying on them and the Hardys have just noticed this and now undoubtedly are about to run toward the guy (but hopefully they will first successfully move past the package without tripping. :))
Plus, there isn't many Hardy Boys covers from this point of view or with close-ups of bad guys.
I really like the Phantom Freighter one you posted! Nice!! :)
(http://www.awb.com/catalog/images/covers/9781557092748.jpg) (http://www.awb.com/catalog/images/covers/9781557092748.jpg)
I think this one was kind of a no-brainer cover. I mean, if you're gonna call the book "A Figure in Hiding", I guess you might as well have a figure in hiding on the cover. ;D
I like his facial expression. Click the image for full size.
Quote from: SDLagent on April 02, 2010, 01:15:52 AM
I like his facial expression. Click the image for full size.
Is that a person's face in the window looking out?
Am I the only one that finds him creepy??? And who's window is he spying on???
Quote from: SDLagent on March 31, 2010, 10:58:44 PM
Plus, there isn't many Hardy Boys covers from this point of view or with close-ups of bad guys.
Well one of my favorite covers from the pov of the criminal is
Thick As Thieves. That hand pointing the gun at Frank with Joe in the background is what got me to check out from the school library and read the book originally back in 1995.
https://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/series/casefiles.php?book_no=029
Thick as Thieves is one of my FAVES! That's probably why it ended up on the poll. :)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Hardy_boys_cover_16.jpg)
What about the revised cover art? This is supposed to be Frank in this shot, isn't it? At least he looks a lot friendlier than this other guy.
And I guess Grosset & Dunlap thought it best to remove the girl from the window.
Quote from: SDLagent on April 08, 2010, 02:02:19 AM
And I guess Grosset & Dunlap thought it best to remove the girl from the window.
i almost missed that
Yeah- wouldn't want Frank to be a peeping Tom.
hahaha :)
Quote from: SDLagent on March 12, 2010, 04:43:17 PM
There's been a lot of great Hardy Boys covers over the years, and I thought it would be fun to post our favorite ones, here. I'll get things started by posting two of my favs.
(http://www.originalmmc.com/images/HB1/HB1_TowerTreasure.jpg)
(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/hardyboys/images/2/2f/WhatHappenedAtMidnight1967Revised.jpg)
Have never seen that first one before, or the rest of the classics you posted (except similar updated G&D versions). I really like them. They're cool.
The second one is also one of my favs.
Quote from: MacGyver on March 13, 2010, 01:04:29 PM
(http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n36016.jpg)
Yes, this is definitely one of the best!
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on March 15, 2010, 01:38:13 PM
The end of the book was the worst ending in Casefile history. (Altough the ending of Dead In The Water, where Joe cheats on Vanessa :o, comes at a close second.)
Thanks for the spoiler :P
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on March 18, 2010, 11:29:49 AM
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.
This made me LOL.
i love the cover for "what happened at midnight"
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has read my posts about my favorite Hardy Boys book...
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/24/f0/0c13225b9da097b8c49fe010.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Quote from: Olivia on October 15, 2010, 07:15:22 PM
Have never seen that first one before, or the rest of the classics you posted (except similar updated G&D versions). I really like them. They're cool.
Yeah, cool retro feel.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on October 16, 2010, 03:59:48 PM
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has read my posts about my favorite Hardy Boys book...
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/24/f0/0c13225b9da097b8c49fe010.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
That's a good one. I don't think the Hardys would fight like that, though.
Funny how this theme is revisited in #80 Dead of Night
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CYBX6M4EL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Yes, BAB, and DoN do have similar covers.
SDLagent, yeah I don't think they would fight like that either. It does seem a little much for what happens but they do fight in the story. So...it's just an embellishment of what really happens. This is VERY true of the Graphic novels.
Quote from: MacGyver on October 18, 2010, 04:01:30 PM
Funny how this theme is revisited in #80 Dead of Night
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CYBX6M4EL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Are Frank and Joe fighting each other on that cover? I always thought they were fighting ghosts.
No, Joe's swinging a shovel at Frank because he is pumped up on crazy juice.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on October 22, 2010, 07:20:14 PM
No, Joe's swinging a shovel at Frank because he is pumped up on crazy juice.
Yeah poor Joe thinks "they" got to Frank too. Frank tries to reach to him brother to brother. It's a great moment.
Though to be fair, Joe had also been swinging his shovel at the imaginary phantoms he was seeing. I always kinda presumed the woman was supposed to be a murderous, vengeful version of Iola and the masked man was Al-Rousasa. But yeah- this scene is when Joe is in fact fighting Frank because he thinks the ghosts got to him too.
Yeah Joe was swinging at everything...even before Frank got there. Poor guy!! I'm not sure that I considered who else was in there...but interesting. You are probably right.
I love how the Assassins never have to explain where they get this stuff from. Crazy juice?? We have no idea what it was made of or if there were any lingering affects...but it's okay because the Assassins had it. :) Love it.