CommanderBond.net
  1. New UK Publication: 007 Spy Files

    By The CBn Team on 2002-01-16

    ‘007 Spy Files’ is a new fortnightly magazine produced by Eon Productions and published by GE Fabbri ltd. The first issue which retails at a reasonable 99p (£1.99 for each further edition) comes complete with a small metal ‘007’ tin, along with ‘Decoding Lenses’ to decrypt various puzzles within the magazine, and 14 007 starter cards, catergorised within ‘Allies’, ‘Villains’, ‘Locations’, ‘Vehicles’, and ‘Q branch’, with 30 cards per category. This is a nicely produced set of cards, if a little flimsy, but will make for a nice addition to anyone’s Bond memorabilia.

    The magazine itself is well laid out and visually interesting, although the content will really only suffice the casual fan. The magazine on the main is aimed directly at the younger age range of 5-11, presumably in the hope it will make younger individuals more aware of Bond and his upcoming exploits. On this level it succeeds and would make a more than interesting read, with technical specs and information on, The ‘Q Boat’ and Ericsson mobile phone, and biographies of Bond and Oddjob. The 007 cards that come with each issue can also be used for a ‘Top Trumps’ style game where each, Gadget or Vehicle etc has its own spec. There is a triple page Mission Dossier concerned entirely with Moonraker which is to be continued in the second issue, and some very nicely rendered 3D CGI’s of Karl Strombergs ‘Atlantis’, in particular ‘Strombergs study’ (I’d like to get my hands on a CD of those images). Also included is a seperate leaflet detailing the upcoming issues and what to expect from each, these include a file holder for you to keep your series in, and another 007 tin, this time larger, to contain your completed set of cards.

    On the whole this magazine is well suited for a younger audience and those of you with younger children and relatives would do well to introduce them to Bond via this magazine, it would be a good platform for them to become interested and involved with the world of 007. I would not put anyone off buying this magazine, as I will continue to collect it as it as a nice addition to my Bond collection, at £1.99 weekly from the second issue onwards it is a reasonable price but as far as I can tell it is only to be released in the UK so don’t go out of your way to buy it if you are living outside the UK, the content is basic for the hardcore fans and you may prefer to invest in a more comprehensive read. Well done to EON for their efforts and I hope it will introduce a new generation of younger fans to the World of Bond.

    For more info visit GE Fabbri ltd.