James Bond's Lotus sells for 105,000 pounds

A Lotus Turbo Esprit featured in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only has sold for £105,000.

The BBC News reports that the car sold to a Middle Eastern buyer via telephone as part of the Coys sale at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire on 18 July.

The car is fitted with a ski rack, which came in handy for Roger Moore’s 007 in the film. Two identical cars were supplied for the Bond film, but Edward Bridger-Stille, a director of auctioneers Coys, said the other one was blown up during a stunt.

Mr Bridger-Stille had earlier estimated the car would fetch between £80,000 and £120,000 and said it had ‘great investment potential’ in times of economic uncertainty elsewhere.

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James Bond autograph schedule for Comic-Con 2009

This year’s upcoming Comic-Con will feature many notable James Bond film stars (including George Lazenby) in attendance and CommanderBond.net has gotten a look at the autograph schedule so you can know when to show up to meet your favourite.

Comic-Con 2009 will be taking place from Thursday, 23 July – Sunday, 26 July, with a preview night on Wednesday the 22nd, at the San Diego Convention Center in California.

The autographs area is located upstairs in the Sails Pavilion. For specific details regarding autograph signing as well as memberships to attend Comic-Con, visit the official website.

The James Bond autograph schedule follows below:

• George Lazenby (James Bond, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
• Trina Parks (Thumper, Diamonds Are Forever)
• Lana Wood (Plenty O’Toole, Diamonds Are Forever)
• Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver, Live and Let Die)
• Yaphet Kotto (Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big, Live and Let Die)
• Maud Adams (Andrea Anders, The Man with the Golden Gun & Octopussy, Octopussy)
• Lynn-Holly Johnson (Bibi Dahl, For Your Eyes Only)

• Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton, A View to a Kill)

• Virginia Hey (Rubavitch, The Living Daylights)

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for complete coverage of all the latest 007-related news.

Bond girl Honor Blackman has a licence to thrill at Llangollen 2009

Goldfinger‘s Honor Blackman truly had a licence to thrill this past weekend as she hosted a very special concert dedicated to 007.

The event took place as part of the 2009 Llangollen International Musical Festival in Wales on Sunday, 12 July. As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, Blackman acted as host for the concert while conductor/composer Carl Davis led the Welsh National Orchestra and soloists Mary Carewe and Simon Bowman through a string of popular James Bond theme songs, including Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and, of course, Goldfinger.

To add to the the Bond atmosphere, there were two Aston Martin cars on show on the festival field throughout Sunday afternoon and evening, and guest of honour at the concert was David Pender Richards, chairman of Aston Martin.

Speaking earlier about the neverending popularity of Bond music, Davis said: ‘The music is terrific. It’s very dramatic and very sensual with compelling tunes. You hear one and that’s fine. But when you hear the series and you see how it’s spot on the style of the time. They always wanted to be cutting edge.’

To view photograghs of Honor Blackman, Carl Davis and others from the event, visit the Evening Leader.

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James Bond's Lotus Esprit goes up for auction

A Lotus Turbo Esprit featured in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only is going up for auction later this month in the UK.

This Is London reports that the classic metallic bronze James Bond car has been tipped to sell for as much as £120,000.

The car is fitted with a ski rack, which came in handy for Sir Roger Moore’s 007 in the film. Two identical cars were supplied for the Bond film, but Edward Bridger-Stille, a director of auctioneers Coys, said the other one was blown up during a stunt.

Mr Bridger-Stille estimated the car will fetch between £80,000 to £120,000 and said it had ‘great investment potential’ in times of economic uncertainty elsewhere.

It will be auctioned by Coys in a sale at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, on 18 July. For further details, visit the official Coys website.

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James Bond first editions sale at Bloomsbury Auctions

James Bond will be hitting the auction block later this month as apart of the latest sale being held by Bloomsbury Auctions in London.

Ian Fleming’s Thunderball

34 lots of first edition 007 novels by Ian Fleming join the 700+ other lots in the Bibliophile Sale which will be sold on Thursday, 16 July at 10:00am and 1:30pm. Literary Bond fans will want to note that included is one of the elusive signed limited first edition of Fleming’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Bloomsbury Auctions is located at: Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 1PP. For further details, phone +44(0) 20 7495 9494 or visit the official website.

Details on selected James Bond lots follow:

Lot 298 – Casino Royale

Casino Royale, first edition , second impression, light spotting to extreme edges, original boards, slight shelf lean, minor marking, otherwise very good, 8vo, 1953.

Estimate: £150 – £200

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Lot 300 – Moonraker

Moonraker, first edition , minor browning to free endpapers, original boards, slight shelf lean, overall fine, dust-jacket, spine slightly dulled and rubbed with fraying to head with small splits, small tears to upper fore-corners, a few minor chips, overall a very good example, 8vo, 1955.

Estimate: £1,500 – £2,000

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Lot 305 – Dr. No

Dr No, first edition , ink name on front pastedown, original first state plain boards, dust-jacket, torn at head of spine, some browning, corners chipped, 8vo, 1958.

Estimate: £200 – £300

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Lot 306 – Goldfinger

Goldfinger, first edition , publisher’s promotional card loosely inserted, original boards, fine, dust-jacket, without the usual browning, a few marks, darkened at edges, very small hole to upper fore-edge, otherwise very good, 8vo, 1959

Estimate: £450 – £550

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Lot 318 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, first edition, number 37 of 250 copies signed by the author, colour portrait by Amherst Villiers, large bookplate of Patrick Nicholson mounted on front pastedown, original vellum-backed black buckram, spine very slightly darkened in places, original plastic jacket, spine ends chipped, t.e.g., a very good copy, 8vo, 1963.

Estimate: £2,500 – £3,000

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Lot 326 – You Only Live Twice & Octopussy and The Living Daylights

You Only Live Twice, first edition , first state, small tear near head of jacket spine, otherwise fine, 1964; Octopussy…, fine, 1966, first editions, original boards, dust-jackets, price-clipped, 8vo (2)

Estimate: £180 – £220

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James Bond film star reunion at the Hollywood Show

A reunion of James Bond film stars including several Bond girls is set to take place at the upcoming Hollywood Collectors & Celebrity Show in Burbank, California this July.

The current line-up of 007 film stars include:

• George Lazenby (James Bond 007, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
• Richard Kiel (Jaws, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker)
• Caroline Munro (Naomi, The Spy Who Loved Me)
• Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver, Live And Let Die)
• Lana Wood (Plenty O’Toole, Diamonds Are Forever)
• Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona Volpe, Thunderball)
• Martine Beswick (Zora, From Russia With Love / Paula Caplan, Thunderball)
• Maud Adams (Andrea Anders, The Man with the Golden Gun / Octopussy, Octopussy)
• Molly Peters (Patricia Fearing, Thunderball)
• Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton, A View To A Kill)
• Trina Parks (Thumper, Diamonds Are Forever
• Virginia Hey (Rubavitch, The Living Daylights)

The Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show will be taking place on Saturday, July 18th (10 AM to 5 PM) and Sunday, July 19th (10 AM to 4 PM) at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.

Admission costs are $20 per day (children under 14 years old and accompanied by an adult are free). Admission for both days is $30.

Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show
The Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center
2500 North Hollywood Way
Burbank, California 91505
Phone: 1-818-843-6000
Official website

Keep watching CBn for all the latest details on James Bond events.

Discuss this James Bond news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum on the internet. Thanks to Richard Kiel for bringing this to our attention.

The Original James Bond Watch coming to America

Following up our news report from late last year that an exhibit of timepieces featured in the James Bond films is planned to run at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania in summer 2010, we now have further exclusive details of what to look forward to:

THE ORIGINAL JAMES BOND WATCH COMING TO AMERICA

Ian Fleming’s personal Rolex 1016 Explorer, which served as his basis for the personal James Bond wristwatch he described in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Ian Fleming’s character James Bond has always been associated with the finest of everything; cars, clothes and, of course, watches. The National Watch & Clock Museum will be presenting an exhibit opening in the summer of 2010 that will explore the subject of the watches of James Bond. The exhibit, Watches, James Bond Watches, will feature the watch that provided the inspiration for James Bond’s wristwatch: Ian Fleming’s own Rolex Explorer. This wristwatch was recently identified by Dell Deaton of www.jamesbondwatches.com, as the original, literary James Bond watch in his recent article for WatchTime magazine. Mr. Deaton is serving as the National Watch & Clock Museum’s Guest Curator for the exhibit; it was through his direct work with Fleming heirs that the display of this important and historical timepiece is possible.

This is the first time that Ian Fleming’s watch has been exhibited in the United States. The watch was recently on display at the Imperial War Museum in London, featured in an exhibit on the life and work of Ian Fleming. Fionn Morgan, Ian Fleming’s stepdaughter, states “Ian would have enjoyed the idea of displaying his own Oyster Perpetual as part of an exhibition of James Bond watches … It is wonderful to see the James Bond legacy presented through the watches that this character has worn. It is further most gratifying to see Ian’s Explorer number 1016 displayed as the origin of this long and continuous chronology. Collectors and the public will learn a lot through this exhibition.”

Dell Deaton, the National Watch & Clock Museum’s guest curator for the exhibit, Watches, James Bond Watches

“The National Watch & Clock Museum is honored to be able to display Mr. Fleming’s watch” Museum Director Noel Poirier comments, “and we are thankful to the Fleming family for allowing this one of a kind object to be a part of the Bond watch exhibit.” The exhibit will also include examples of the watches worn throughout the James Bond novels and motion pictures. Additionally, memorabilia from fans of the character will also be included in the exhibit.

The National Watch and Clock Museum is operated by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association with close to 21,000 members, representing 52 countries. April through November the Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. December through March hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Discounts are available to seniors, students, AAA members, and groups of 10 or more. Groups of 10 or more are encouraged to call ahead. For more program information, directions, or general Museum information, call 717-684-8261 or visit our website at www.nawcc.org.

For further details on this ‘Bond Watches, James Bond Watches’ exhibit, visit this CommanderBond.net article.

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Bond girls Valerie Leon and Margaret Nolan at the Vintage Magazine Shop

James Bond fans will be able to meet up with two Bond girls later this month at the Vintage Magazine Shop in London.

Valerie Leon (who starred in both The Spy Who Loved Me and Never Say Never Again) and Margaret Nolan (Goldfinger) are both scheduled to appear on Saturday, 18 July from 12:00 to 2:00pm for a meet & greet and to sign autographs.

Visit the official Vintage Magazine Shop website for further details on this upcoming 007 signing.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

Bondstars Private Signings In August ’09

Bondstars.com will be holding private signings with three Bond girls this upcoming August.

Featured are Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore in Goldfinger), Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in Dr. No and From Russia with Love) and Jenny Hanley (Irish Angel of Death in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) for this signing.

Each Bond girl will be signing a variety of 10″ x 8″ stills from their respective Bond films. Each item is £26.00 apiece (this includes worldwide shipping).

For further details, click on the following links:

• Bondstars.com – Honor Blackman
• Bondstars.com – Eunice Gayson
• Bondstars.com – Jenny Hanley

All orders must be received by 7 August. They will be shipped on the week beginning 24 August.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

Celebrating 50 Years Of John Burningham

An upcoming exhibition is set to celebrate the work of writer/illustrator John Burningham. In the world of James Bond, Burningham is best known for his work illustrating Ian Fleming’s classic children’s adventure Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

‘Mr Gumpy and Other Outings: Celebrating 50 years of John Burningham’s Work’ will run at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios from 7 July to 5 September 2009.

Full details follow below:

Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

For over 50 years John Burningham has been writing and illustrating books for both acults and children and this exhibition will bring together some of his best-loved works for the first time in Europe.

Burningham began drawing at a young age and some of his early collages and sketches of Glaswegian life will be on display alongside information about his childhood. One of his earliest commissions was to design a series of posters for Transport for London to encourage people to take advantage of the many leisure activities London had to offer. All 8 of the posters will be on display. Burningham’s unique use of collage, photography and drawing can clearly be seen in all of them.

Mr Gumpy’s Outing and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, two of Burningham’s best-loved works, will take centre stage. In perparation for the exhibition, Dovecot Studios is producing a hand-tufted rug featuring a scene from Mr Gumpy’s Outing which will hang alongside original artwork from the book. In 1964 Burningham was approached to illustrate Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; his designs for the book including his original model of the car will be on display.

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