Moonbase mentioned The Hardy Boys cartoon series, and a die-cast model of their car earlier in the year. I thought you might like a little more information on this series, which I dimly remember, but only just. I probably watched it well before discovering the Hardy Boys books.
Frank and Joe Hardy were the teenage sons of Private Eye Fenton Hardy, a former New York Police detective. They too were detectives, and began their careers in a series of books in 1927. This was three years before the first Nancy Drew book appeared.
There were some early television adaptions on The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s. Then came The Hardy Boys cartoon series in 1969, which ran for just 17 half-hour episodes. The boys were now part of a band, but still solved mysteries, and had a 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost for transport. There were two separate stories per episode, and some songs. The title song is performed by a live-action group at the beginning of each episode. According to some references, there were also live-action songs within the show, but these do not appear on the episodes I have seen on You Tube. Frank is the one with dark hair, Joe has brown hair.
The Hardy Boys (1969 TV series) - Wikipedia
The Hardy Boys Cartoon Show: What Happened At Midnight (1969) - YouTube
The Hardy Boys Cartoon Show: Hunting For The Hidden Gold (1969) - YouTube
As a tie-in with the cartoon, Corgi released a die-cast version of their car (using an existing model from the Corgi range), with plastic figures of the main characters. These could be fitted to a stand that could be mounted on the roof rack. Frank was on guitar, Joe on Saxophone. The model came in a long window box.
The model had blue mudguards, a yellow bonnet, red body, and yellow roof rack, with gold trim. This does not exactly match the colour scheme in the cartoon, which is mainly yellow, with red mudguards. Corgi Chief Designer Marcel Van Cleemput does not speak kindly of this model. It went on sale in the USA in 1970, and later in Britain, but sold only 40,000 units. It was withdrawn in 1971. Model number 805.
The 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, had appeared in 1966, and sold 199,000 models, plus an unknown number in 1969 (a factory fire destroyed company records for that year). Model number 9041 was part of the small Corgi Classics line of veteran and vintage models. Corgi re-used a number of the Classics models for various TV tie-ins.
Photos from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams
New Zealand
Great post Paul and an unusual die-cast car. I've seen it in books but never in the flesh. Certainly never seen one at car boot sales but then again it didn't sell well from what you say. I do like it though. It would go well with other pop cars like the Beatles Ya Ya antique car and the flower power Rolls that was released. I have a model kit book which has another Hardy Boys car in it I'm sure. There's also a large Woody that reminds me of the Hardy Boys Rolls, the vehicle of a group or gang called the Mod Squad.
ReplyDeleteI thought there was a live action series made in the mid to late 70s of The Hardy Boys, in conjunction with a teen girl detective called Nancy Drew. I think it was called The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew Mysteries, or have I miss remembered that.?
ReplyDeleteThe Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-79) starred Parker Stevenson as Frank Hardy; Shaun Cassidy (brother of David) as Joe Hardy; and Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew, replaced by Janet Louise Johnson towards the end of the series. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew episodes alternated, but there were a few cross-over episodes.
ReplyDeleteRevell did a Hardy Boys' Van kit in 1978, in 1/25th scale. The same as their Charlie's Angels van, but moulded in different colours.
The Mod Squad (1968-73) was a US Police series. Police Captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) forms of team of young people who have been in trouble with the law, with the idea of both straightening them out, and allowing them to operate undercover among those of their own age, where ordinary Police would not be able to operate effectively.
Pete Cochran (Michael Cole) was the Spoiled White Rich Kid, Linc Hayes (Clarence Williams III) was the Angry Young Black Man; and Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton) was the Pretty Girl who needed to be rescued by the boys every week. The Return of the Mod Squad was a TV movie made in 1979. There was also a terrible modern movie in 1999.
It was Aurora that did a 1/25th scale Mod Squad Station Wagon - The Customized Classic '51 Mercury Woodie in 1969. Although the instruction sheet says 1949, contradicting the box top. This came with figures of the three stars, and a set of surf boards for the roof rack.
Johnny Lightning have done a 1/64th die-cast version of the Woody (different spelling to Aurora). There are also die-casts of other cars from the series.
For years, I have nurtured strong memories of watching a dark, mysterious and spooky HARDY BOYS serial shown on the BBC while I was in junior school here in the UK in the mid-to-late 1960s. I have never encountered any other mention of it and, for years, I have been meaning to try and research it just to convince myself it WAS a HARDY BOYS piece. This post on CENTRAL has prompted me to Google it -- and here it is!
ReplyDeleteThe first mention I found of it was on a HARDY BOYS website. It was called "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" and was produced by DISNEY.
I loved it -- and was delighted when the BBC ran it again a year or so later because I had not seen every segment. That was the problem with series and serials (and EVERYTHING) in the days when TV was a continuously flowing river of content... if you weren't around when something aired, you missed it. The same was true of DOCTOR WHO. So I tuned in for the "repeat" and, again, to my disappointment, didn't see the whole thing! (I never had an issue with repeats and never understood why all the TV critics derided them. I mean: if something is good, why NOT watch it more than once? It pleases me that time -- with the success of home videos, and DVDs and box sets -- has proven I was not alone in my views -- and that the critics WERE alone in theirs...)
There are several versions of "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" on YouTube, and I've learned it dates from 1956. I am going to give it a go. I have a horrible feeling it will not match my memories... but at least I now have a chance to see all nineteen episodes! It was also released on DVD in 2014... and there are copies on eBay... Hmmm...
The HARDY BOYS site states there was a follow-up: "The Mystery of Ghost Farm" -- but this does not appear to have been shown in the UK. I have no memory of it. All twelve episodes of that serial are also available on YouTube...
Hmmm (again)...
http://www.hardyboys.co.uk/history/tv.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlNH3Ryqzs
I am glad this post inspired someone to unearth more information on a part of the Hardy Boys history. I have never seen these 1950s TV adaptions of the books, but I understand that they were originally screened as part of the Mickey Mouse Club series, at least in America.
ReplyDeleteHulloah, Paul.
DeleteThe MICKEY MOUSE CLUB association is interesting -- because I don't remember seeing that opening title "bumper" when the BBC aired the serial -- and I am sure that if I had seen it, it would have stayed in my mind. I remember the spooky shot of the house under the titles quite clearly... It was quite a thrill to see it again!
Update: I was at a fair today, with lots of kits, railways, and die-casts. There was a boxed example of the Hardy Boys Rolls-Royce, with the figures, in a slightly worn box - $300 NZ. Well outside my price range.
ReplyDelete