In the year 1953, Ian Fleming created one of the most popular and epic characters ever, James Bond. The British secret agent spy character, typically known as 007, gained popularity through many movies, comics, toys, and more. The James Bond film series sparked the most popularity, with one of the highest-grossing film series of all time. The series not only earned popularity from it’s box office at over 7.04 billion US dollars but also consisted of 27 movies. Throughout the years, many different actors played as 007 which helped create the extravagant and widely loved franchise. Follow along with us through this Retrospective of James Bond as we jump into all the aspects of the character as well as the entirety of the franchise.
Follow along in a Retrospective of James Bond
Join us as we dive into the James Bond books, film series, television appearances, toys, and comics. We will go into 007 as a character as well as what made him popular through the years. Follow along through this Retrospective of James Bond to learn more.
James Bond Books
The franchise began in 1953 when Ian Fleming started writing the short stories and novels featuring the secret agent spy, James Bond. Ian Fleming completed 14 of these books before his passing in 1964. Since then, six other authors have contributed to Fleming’s series, completing a total of 40 James Bond books. When writing these books, Fleming gave Bond some of his own interests such as golf and gambling. These carried over into all other parts of the franchise and make a lot of the essence of the James Bond character. With Fleming’s first James Bond novel release in 1953, people in Britain were able to enter into a luxury world through Bond’s life featuring fast cars, gambling, and traveling. Although the war completed at the time, debt, bomb sites, and other effects from the war still covered Britain which made Fleming’s books that much more popular.
His first Bond book, Casino Royale, was then followed by Live and Let Die(1954), and Moonraker(1955). Diamonds are forever(1956) released next followed by From Russia With Love(1957), Dr. No(1958), Goldfinger(1959), and For Your Eyes Only(1960). Ian Fleming wrote these books, along with short stories, during his 3 month vacations every year as he managed a UK newspaper full time. Fleming’s short stories: Thunderball(1961), The Spy Who Loved Me(1962), On Her Majesty’s Secret service(1963), and You Only Live Twice(1964) released periodically. After suffering a fatal heart attack in 1964, Fleming’s last two books released in 1965 and 1966. Other authors of James Bond stories include: Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson. Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, Christopher Wood, and Anthony Horowitz also contributed to writing the Bond novels.
James Bond Comics
Next up on our Retrospective of James Bond, we have the comics. Before the success of the films, a comic strip series published for the Daily Express newspaper in 1958. Then, from 1958 to 1983, 52 comic strips released throughout other UK newspapers. From these 52 comic strips, 7 of them even published worldwide. Writers of these comic strips included: Anthony Hern, Peter O’ Donnell, Henry Gammidge, and Jim Lawrence. John McLusky illustrated the comic strips in it’s early years before Yaroslav Horak took over.
In 1963, the first James Bond comic released based on the first film, Doctor No. Written and illustrated by Norman J. Nodel, it originally came out in the UK and then later reprinted in the US by DC comics. The next 007 comic released 20 years later as a two part adaptation of For Your Eyes Only, published by Marvel Comics. Then, in 1989, James Bond comics began releasing more regularly. The comic titled Licence to Kill released first by Eclipse Comics and illustrated by Mike Grell. Grell then wrote miniseries comics which featured James Bond with an original storyline and released over a two year period.
The next comic series in 1992 released 12 issues from the animated television spin-off, James Bond Jr. Of these, the first five issues were based directly from the series while the other seven came out as original storylines. A graphic novel, SilverFin, also released in 2008 by Charlie Higson. Along with these, the companies: Dark Horse Comics, Semic Press, and Dynamite Entertainment obtained rights to release Bond comics throughout the years. Even popular today, James Bond comics have popularized within the franchise for approximately 70 years.
James Bond Movies
The movies are up next on our Retrospective of James Bond. Since 1962 with the release of the first Bond film, Dr. No, twenty six other movies also released for the franchise. These films over the years sparked immense popularity among fans grossing a combination of billions of dollars just from the movies. For over 50 years, this became recognized as one of the greatest franchises of all time. The franchise continues to grow to this day as films continue to release.
A total of seven different actors played the role of James Bond over the years. The Actor, Sean Connery, played the role in seven Bond films. Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice released from 1962-1967 starring Connery. Along with these, Diamonds are Forever(1971) and Never Say Never Again(1983) also starred Connery. David Niven starred in Casino Royale in 1967. George Lazenby acted as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service(1969).
Roger Moore starred in the films from 1973-1985. These include Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill. Timothy Dalton starred in both The Living Daylights(1987) and License to Kill(1989). Pierce Brosnan acted as 007 from 1995-2002. He starred in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. Daniel Craig played the role of Bond form 2006-2021. He starred in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die.
James Bond Toys
James Bond toys appear next on our Retrospective with those released by Corgi Toys in 1965. The first of these toys to come out, the Aston Martin DB5, released in December and became known as the first to win the “Toy of the Year” award by Toy Retailers Association. This toy instantly became a hit with over 3 million sold by 1968. This toy car released in different colors throughout the 1980s in more sizes and details. Other James Bond toys include more cars, gift sets, LEGOS, figures, and collections. Of these, the car models spiked the most popularity with Corgi’s incredible detailed designs. These model cars became a hit when they first released and today continue to show high values- especially those still remaining in their original packaging.
James Bond Video Games
Up next on this Retrospective of James Bond, the Bond video games began their development in 1982 with the game Shaken but Not Stirred. Since then, many different games released for the franchise. Some of these games base off Fleming’s novels, the films, and even some original scripts. These video games hit popularity among fans in 1997 with the game titled GoldenEye 007 made for the Nintendo 64. This game sold over 8 million copies, proving game’s popularity.
List of Bond Games
Immediately after the release of Shaken but Not Stirred, the James Bond 007 game released in 1983. James Bond 007: A View to a Kill and A View to a Kill both released in 1985. After this were Goldfinger(1986), The Living Daylights(1987), and Live and Let Die(1988). License to Kill and James Bond 007 Action Pack released in 1989. The Spy Who Loved Me and 007 James Bond: The Stealth Affair then came out in 1990. After these, James Bond Jr.(1991) and James Bond 007: The Duel(1993) released. Directly after the GoldenEye 007 release, James Bond 007 also came out for the Nintendo in 1998. Tomorrow Never Dies(1999), The World is not Enough and 007 Racing(2000), and James Bond 007 in… Agent Under Fire(2001) were all produced by Electronic Arts.
Next were 007 Ice Racer and James Bond: NightFire(2002), as well as 007 Hover Chase and James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing(2003). GoldenEye: Rogue Agent(2004), From Russia with Love(2005), and Casino Royale with James Bond Trivia released in 2006. In 2008, James Bond: Top Agent, James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace and Quantum of Solace released. 2010 was: Blood Stone and GoldenEye 007, 2011: License to Drive, Top Trumps 007: The Best of Bond, and GoldenEye 007: Reloaded. 007 Legends(2012), World of Espionage(2015), and Best of Bond(2018) came out next. The last games, 007’s Aston Martin DB5 and Valhalla released in 2021. Another game is soon to be released in the next few years. IO plans to create a brand new exciting James Bond story to turn into a video game.
Do You Have Old And Used James Bond Toys?
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Made in Collaboration with:
Chris Ingledue
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Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!