Triad did not publish Moonraker until 1982. The Christopher Wood novelization was still available.
Ha! You are absolutely right! it WAS the Wood novelization I got, how could I forget that!

Now in true Bond fashion I can’t quite end on too happy a note, so there also is the story of the girl one day coming up to me at the same store who said “Hey James Bond.” “Why did you just call me that?” I asked. “I don’t know, the way you are, you just remind me of him.”
Thus began 5 years of hell that made me want pray for Irma Bunt to gun us both down.
Can’t win ‘em all, gents
That was the funniest thing I’ve heard about a bad ex since James Spader’s Office character described his as “a monster that crushed my dreams and stole my forties.”
My story is nowhere near as interesting as some of yours but it may just be as convoluted…
I was born in early '72, when Diamonds are Forever was still new and on at the cinema for the first time 'round. Obviously I didn’t go to see it - much less know what James Bond was - but it was a movie that marked my intro to the idea of James Bond.
A few years later I heard my Grandmother mention that James Bond was going to be on TV, and that it was the “best” - my family’s favourite - Bond: Sean Connery. Clearly this James Bond guy was something pretty special to my family and I wanted to know more. No, apparently I was not allowed to stay up and watch “Diamonds are Forever” but they did tell me that it was the one they saw when I was a baby. James Bond was to remain, it seemed, a mystery to me. Well, for a little while anyway…
Some time later, during a trip to the cinema, I noticed that one of these James Bond films was on and could I see it? No, my Mum told me, Moonraker is not suitable for you. But it looked so awesome and so did the title! I was despatched to see "Can’t Stop The Music" about The Village People instead.
Not long afterward another James Bond was on TV and this time, being a little older, I was allowed to watch it.
Therefore my first Bond film was Dr No and has remained one of my favourites ever since. In fact, like Casablanca or The Magnificent Seven, it is a film that I will always sit down to watch whenever it airs, despite how many times I’ve seen it.
Just recalled a Bond moment I experienced many years ago. It was November 1999. I was a senior USN Lieutenant serving as Combat Information Center Officer/Assistant Operations Officer on the amphibious assault ship USS PELELIU (LHA 5) operating off the coast of East Timor as part of the Australian-led peace-enforcement mission, Operation Stabilise. I received word that my father-in-law had passed, not unexpectedly, after a long illness, and I was granted emergency leave to attend his service in Norfolk.
After a ride to East Timor on one of our USMC H-46 helicopters, I awaited a ride to my next destination, Darwin. After hanging with a group of very cool Ghurkas, a RAAF C-130 landed at Dili’s airport for the flight to Darwin. Being one of the senior officers on the aircraft, I was invited to the cockpit for the flight. When I got up there, the first thought that came to mind was, “Wow, this is a lot smaller than what was shown in The Living Daylights.”
I was born in 1990, a time I know now that was somewhat ‘in limbo’ for the Bond franchise. My earliest memory of Bond was watching GoldenEye and then my brother and I got a Nintendo ‘64 to share for Christmas that year… games included Mario Kart and GoldenEye. This was and still is one of the best games ever created. I would always play as Bond during multiplayer, and my brother would be Xenia, much to my mothers confusion - haha!
Since that movie and that game, I was hooked. I had my first part-time job when I was around 15 and I saved for a long while so I could buy the Bond box-set, which by this time only went up to ‘Die Another Day’. I then asked for a portable DVD player for my birthday so I could watch the movies where ever I went! I would then spend nearly all of Saturday in the local book shop where I would buy books such as ‘James Bond Encyclopedia’ and ‘James Bond - The Legacy’. I purchased the original novels from eBay and collected the stamps from Flemings centenary year.
No one else my age, understood the obsession! No-one else apart from you guys really understand now! For me, Bond encompasses a lot of good memories from my childhood. Unfortunately, much of this time was tarnished by fear and violence from my father towards my mother, so Bond was my way of escaping. And what a wonderful place to escape too!
I owe a lot to this franchise.
It’s taken me a while to dip into this great topic but here goes:
Born in Ireland, I was introduced to" The Saint " by my Grandfather, who adored the novels he used to say that when I was older he would introduce me to world of 007 !
I emigrated to Canada with my family in 81 and my Grandfather gave me Simon Templars Jaguar and a Citroen emblazoned with the 007 logo.
My first Bond was FYEO IN CANADA !!! Massive seats, the greatest sweets ever! and my father and I.
We moved back to Dublin in 83 so my Grandfather came to Octopussy with us and a tradition was born.
He gave me my first Bond novel to coincide with TLD release ( 11 was grown up enough) FRWL I was hooked , it felt properly grown up unlike The Saint which became something childish to me. As a teenager I dressed in second hand suits ( out of choice) and couldn’t really share my passion for 007 with any of my mates, who didn’t really get it.
Movie tradition happened every movie , now joined by my younger brother and as I moved away from home no matter where I was , I would find a way to see 007 with my family. I should say also my Grandfather, upon my graduation gave me a beautiful copy of OHMSS as present which I read yearly.
My Grandfather passed after GE and now my boys are added to the tradition.
So a film and novel series about a childless, cold assassin oddly is the thing that reminds my most in this world of family.
My Bond story is a strange one really, I was born in 1975 and when I was about two or three years old a bond movie was showing on t.v that night and apparently I kept quiet, glued to the telly even watching the romantic scenes and even insisted (probably by pointing and screaming) that I watched it until the last title rolled up at the end!
When I was about 4 or 5, I can recall a couple of bond films being shown on either ITV or BBC on Sunday afternoon and I would watch them with mum. I recall after every film they would show a preview of the film being shown next week and I recall seeing the trailer for OHMSS and being confused by the change of actor! I can recall owning and playing with the lotus underwater matchbox car and the moonraker shuttle. Cutting out the back of a shredded wheat box as it had a 3D picture of the jungle chase scene from octupussy on it, and owning a toy of the car and horse Box complete with mini plane! I recall seeing the advert on TV for NSNA and wondering why “that bond” was back! I know my step dad hired both octopussy and NSNA from the video shop. I’m not sure which one came out first, but I recall watching NSNA and wondering why the theme tune wasn’t there and thinking that there was something not quite right about the movie in general, but I do remember thinking the motor bike chase was a copy of street hawk!
I shall write part two later if any of you are awake and wish to read my further ramblings!
I started watching when I was really really young so I can’t remember which one I saw first. I always enjoyed them very much but something changed when I saw the trailer of Die Another Day ( I was 14 by then ). That car flipping over on the ice, damn that was cool! So I rushed to the nearest video rental store and picked up a copy. I am not kidding when I say that I saw that movie every single day for a month. As I grew older I don’t enjoy DAD as much as I used to. The second half has way too much flaws that as a teenager I could overlook…
Thanks to DAD I started to look for other Bond films I hadn’t already seen… Apparently there were still quite a few including a classic like From Russia With Love.
I even based my wedding date on James Bond. We got married 07/07/2017
When we got home from the wedding my son wanted to see some television before going to bed. He put on the television and, I kid you not, Dr. No was on!
I am not religious or anything but what a coincidence! First James Bond film on the television on our wedding day that was chosen because of Bond…
They show quite a lot of Bond on the television here in Belgium but they almost never show the old ones but that day they did
I saw some Bond films on TV in the 70s. I passed a second hand bookshop on the way home from school every day and picked up the books second hand over the space of a year. I’d read all of Fleming’s Bonds by the time I was 11. Seeing TSWLM at the cinema that same year I started reading the books really had me completely hooked.
Two years later, here is my part 2! I can remember in 1983, golden wonder crisps had a promotion on the packet for a 007 watch, that I never got!
By 1989 I was now 13 and looking forward to finally being able to see my first 007 movie on the big screen… Only to find out it was a 15 certificate! I made up for this when GOLDENEYE came out, and have seen every movie on the release night since.
By Christmas of 1992, I had left school that summer, aged 16 and was working on a yts scheme in a supermarket and had saved up my meagre wages and bought a stereo that could play CDs! I bought a CD of Bond themes by the London theatre orchestra and never questioned why the casino royale and NSNA again themes were on there!
In 1996 it was my 21st birthday and with my birthday money, apart from other things, I purchased the widescreen box set VHS of GOLDENEYE with the cd single, magazine and pen. I also bought the box set VHS of OHMSS, plus the VHS of NSNA and the 1954 CASINO ROYALE. I was out of work for most of 1997and with so much time on my hands, borrowed lots of flemming and other author novels from the library. I finally started a new job on the Monday, and TND came out on the Friday, and I remember being excited about going to see it after work.
As I was now working again, I slowly collected the rest of the VHS releases, and I bought all the flemmings brand new and all the gardeners in various second hand book shops and boot fairs, I have since read them all in publication order, right up to FOREVER AND A DAY. I have to admit, I look forward to the Tony Stephens bbc radio 4 plays more than a i do the movies nowaday!
At about 4 years old, my elder brothers took me to see my first theater movie. It was a double feature showing of, The Aristocats and The Man With the Golden Gun. There is still so much in the previous sentence that both boggles my mind and humors me. I’ll just blame it on the 1970s.
I remember almost nothing of the animated feature, but what I saw of the Bond movie sparked a lifelong fandom that is just now shy of 50 years. My elder brothers opened the door, but since then I’ve run the farthest into it. Bond movies were must see, pre-VCR, TV. Somewhere among there there was a Thunderball James Bond doll with scuba gear (lost to time).
Several years later, my brother brought home a wonderful looking book, the basic game manual for the James Bond 007 Role-Playing Game “Role-Playing in Her Majesty’s Secret Service”! It was my brother’s book, but I immediately became its de facto care-taker, curator, and connoisseur. It kicked my fandom to higher heights as I devoured its content voraciously and got a few game missions started in my neighborhood with friends. Though, not as many as I’d liked.
Ian Fleming’s Bond novels followed in my teenage years, with a double dose as John Gardner’s run was just beginning. Between the library and book shops, I fed my fandom. Then a recurring summer job at a video store left me as the resident “James Bond Guy” for like-minded customers. “You’re watching that, again?!”, bemused customers would say. And me responding in good humor, “You’re asking me, again?!”.
My unquestioned devotion to the Bond films continued until just after Pierce Brosnan’s famous motorcycle jump/airplane escape in Goldeneye. Though it still remains one of my all-time favorite movie moments in any genre, the Brosnan era left me far less interested. I didn’t hate his movies, nor him as an actor, but it just wasn’t my vibe.
Then I happened to see Layer Cake in 2004. And what I saw made me sit up. “That’s him!” I said out loud to my friend watching with me. “That’s the next James Bond!”, I knew without any previous rumor, but soon learned that the grapevine said Daneil Craig was on the short list. The next year I saw Munich. Again, he showed that’s he’s more than up to the task. I thought that if Craig wasn’t chosen then the entire movie industry was insane and talentless. When Casino Royale debuted and delivered in spectacular fashion, I was over the moon with the franchise again. And the ending of the movie promised the type of serialized storytelling that I’d yearned for in Bond movies, the type that had come of age in entertainment by that time.
Then QoS came. The main villain co-starred with Craig in Munich! Yes, but…ehh. It lost me again.
Then, later down the line, Christopher Waltz is going to play Blofeld?!
Yes! Great casting! Perfect! Then…not what I’d hoped for. Long story a bit shorter, I’ve not been a Bond movie fan since Casino Royale. I intensely wish it were otherwise, but, no. However, I have been pleased with Anthony Horowitz’s run of novels, so far.
A few years ago, I was able to find a rare GM to run the JB007 RPG game via remote group video. Bad luck struck as COVID19 scrambled that chance. If any of you know of a group looking for a member to play that name, I’m seriously up for it!
Here’s to hoping the next Bond era will rejuvenate my movie interest!
Banco, suivi !!
ADDENDUM (because long wasn’t long enough): Sometime during the years 2000-2002, I am almost sure that I registered an account on this forum, possibly under the name ‘GeorgeKaplan’ (North By Northwest homage). I don’t know if your storage goes back that far?
Anyway, I don’t remember posting much as I became pre-occupied with my past profession in start-up telecom and internet incubator market bubbles bursting. And the September 11th event repercussions, on top of basic life. If I did in fact have one, I certainly let my account ID fall defunct. George Kaplan, indeed.
Ha! I remembered correctly. Off by a few years. That was me. Thanks.
Psycho remains in the small group of films that still scare me.
Psycho
The Exorcist
Creepshow
Hellraiser

Yep!
And my Psycho homage says hi to your NBNW homage
Ian Fleming/James Bond was pretty accurate in his estimation–if you only go by the Fleming works. Bond ended up with 12 novels and nine short stories for a total of 21. He was right in the ballpark.
The Account That Came in from the Cold
Say, it’s Roger Thornhill!

Say, it’s Roger Thornhill!
Excuse me? No, sorry. I’m Lt. Commander Tom Farrell.
My story of Bond echoes what some others have said. I was born in 1968 and my first memories were of laying down on the couch and watching at least part of a Bond film on television with my father. I think I fell asleep early on. I am not sure which ones I watched first but I have a memory of asking my father who Shaun Campbell was in OHMSS and my father saying that he was Bond’s friend. I also recall asking my father why the police were chasing Bond in another film (I am assuming it was TMWTGG). Neither of these things made sense when I was likely 6 to 8 years old.
Like others, I had/have the Lotus from the TSWLM but I am not sure I had seen the movie when I got it. A final memory when I was young was from 1979. I was supposed to go see MR with a friend on a Friday and he could not come. My father stepped into his place and I think this was the first (and only) movie we went to together in the theatre (my mom toook me to a lot of previous films). It was my first Bond movie I saw in the theatre. We bought a $1 box of popcorn that my father completely ate before the movie started. He gave me a buck to get another one. At 11 I loved it (my view of this film has changed drastically). The next day my friend called and wanted to go that day, so we did. To this day I think it is the only movie I have seen on consecutive days in the theatre.
By the time I was a teen, I was totally hooked on Bond and I was convinced Brosnan must be the next Bond. I was very disappointed TD got the job. But I went and saw the movie, hoping it would tank and Brosnan would get the next one. Instead, I fell in love with TD’s portrayal of Bond. A year or two later I worked at a convenience store that rented videos and we were aloud to take them home for free. Over the next year or two I likely watched TLD more than 40 times (perhaps 50). There was a point where I knew the dialogue cold. I initially loved LK and for a good 10 years or so it was my favourite and then I turned against it and had it near the bottom of my list. I have since come to like it again (and love TD in it) but not as much as I first did.
Around the same time, I came across one of Gardiner’s books (likely License Renewed) and really loved it. I read all of his books and then went on to Fleming and the others. I have read almost all of the continuation novels but have a few I have yet to get around to reading.
In my late teens, Dalton was my Bond and I thought it cool that Bond drove a Saab in the Gardiner novels as I had acutally seen that car on the streets.
I do love Bond and like all of the films and probably love about half of the entries. As I entered adulthood I started to drink vodka martinis (following the Fleming recipe somewhat) and definitely have them shaken not stirred. Here is a picture of one I had on a recent trip at The Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich where Bond and Tracy stay in the novel.