Nancy Drew Cameo Book Club Advertising Materials

I recently purchased a set of Nancy Drew Cameo book club materials at eBay. The set came with the book club's letter, a flyer/poster (double sided) on the club, and a mail in card.

What was really neat was the artwork on the reverse side of the Cameo flyer--which was not used in the books themselves--see image below:

The artwork shown was probably just for the advertising as it appears to be all one collage image with scenes from books 30-36

Books were priced at 1.49 each and The Clue of the Velvet Mask would be 10 cents as the introductory volume in the club.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Super Mystery Bonfire Masquerade

A preview of the upcoming Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery, Bonfire Masquerade, out in July 2011.

Jenn:)

Twas the Night Before Christmas By Nancy Drew

As Told by Nancy...

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the Drew house
Not a creature was stirring, not even Togo or a mouse
The Stockings were hung by the Crowley clock with care
In hopes that St. Nickerson would soon be there

Carson and Hannah were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of mysteries danced in their heads
And Togo in his dog bed and I in my night cap
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter
Away to the window I flew with my flashlight
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash with a fright

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to sinister suspects below
When what to my mystery-loving eyes should appear do you suppose?
But a sinister fellow in ill-fitting clothes!

With a shadowy figure in a getaway car parked at the street
I knew in a moment I must be quick at my feet
More rapid than roadsters I took to the roof
As the dastardly villain was ready to spoof

And he whistled and shouted and called his hidden cronies by name
Now Stumpy, now Gombet, now Semitt and Mason
On Topham! On Shorty! on Felix and Dixon!
To the top of the porch, scale the Drew wall!
Now break in, break in, break in all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly
When they meet with an obstacle; mount to the sky
So up to the porch and the back door the villains flew
Unaware of Nancy, Hannah, and Chief McGinnis too

And then in a twinkling they saw on the roof
the heroine and famous sleuth of this little spoof
As the dastardly villains began to turn around
Down the wall scaled Nancy with a bound

She was dressed all in blue from her pumps to her cloche hat
And her clothes were all tailored with the finest of this and that
A bundle of sleuthing tools she had ready to sleuth
She would interrogate them all until they told the truth!

Her eyes how they twinkled, her dimples how merry
Her cheeks were flushed like roses, she sensed she should be wary
Her smart little mouth was on the verge of a retort
But she held herself in check unlike Hannah who was more course and short

The handle of a broom Hannah held tight in her hands
As she waved the bristled end at the sinister robber bands
She put on a stern face and with a quick shout
Chief McGinnis appeared ready to round up thieves running about

McGinnis was chubby and plump--a right jolly old police chief
And Nancy grinned when she saw him then set to off to catch a thief
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
He gave the dastardly villains visions of dread

He spoke not a word but went straight to his work
Filled his police car with villains, then turned with a jerk
Nancy and Hannah appeared with the last of the bunch
Hannah poked and she prodded, the broom sure packed a punch

McGinnis sprang to his car, to his men gave a whistle
And away all the thieves were transported like the down of a thistle
and Nancy and Hannah heard him exclaim ere he drove out of site
Happy Christmas to all and to all a peaceful villain-free night!

The End

---

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Books: Scary Things Kids (& Adults) Do #8

Oh boy...The old "glue/tape a dust jacket to the cover of a book" trick!

Gee...this dust jacket is all torn up. I know! I'll glue it to the cover of the book so I can succeed in destroying all vestiges of collectibility! Bwaahahahahahaha. :-)

I once found a blank endpaper Nancy Drew Old Clock book at eBay and it had the dust jacket glued to the cover. So sad for one of those format 1 books.

Jenn:)

The Case of the Extra Crumbling Wall DJ Disaster

Nancy Drew collectors know that the first printing of #22, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, is very scarce indeed! The first printing dust jacket advertises Judy Bolton books on the back--most printings following this for awhile just advertised Beverly Gray. One way to help tell you have a first printing among other factors. In the 13+ years I've been on eBay, not too many of these have sold--sometimes in worse shape--and usually for high amounts.

Recently one was listed on eBay and I decided to "bite the bullet" and snap it up. One of the reasons especially that I wanted this book was that the spine of the dust jacket was in really nice shape other than some minor chipping along the top--but all the lettering of the title was present and that is usually a factor in my bidding--I want it to look good while on the shelf and the spine is what you see on the shelf. The front panel had some issues but wasn't too bad overall.

Considering the fact that I spent as MUCH as I did on the book, you would think the seller would therefore package the book well so it makes it in good shape. I paid for priority mail especially because of this. And the Post Office does give out FREE priority mail boxes. FREE!

My seller, in an apparent bid to save on costs used the flat rate envelope--very thin paper-board envelope--to ship my book--only ships for 4.95 that way. And so they stuck my book inside a padded mailer without enclosing it in some kind of bag, plastic wrap, etc.. to protect the dust jacket, and then placed that in the paper envelope. With a sinking feeling, I opened the mailer to get out the book and immediately noticed huge chips along the top of the dust jacket's spine--pieces that I found lying in the bottom of the padded mailer :-(

See the original photo from the Crumbling Wall auction:

Now see what it looks like after poor packaging/shipping--the pieces laying next to it that I found in the envelope:

Most of the top of the dust jacket is now gone as well as part of the word "THE." And below--you can see how this carries over to the front panel now:

And the front panel of the dust jacket shown here in the auction;

Now has another big chuck missing taking out part of Bess's leg and the bushes under "Keene":

To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement! The dust jacket out of a book/dj combination is worth about at least 80% + of the value of the set. And in this case, where the dust jacket is very scarce, I'd say about 90% of the value at minimum for this book. So now my investment due to these chips has devalued significantly. I e-mailed the seller yesterday about the problem and haven't heard back. And I'm not a happy camper...Buyer beware!

Jenn:)

---

FINAL UPDATE: I've removed earlier updates, the seller finally communicated with me and made this right, which I appreciated. He apparently thought I was one of many eBay scammers out there and until he realized I wasn't, was not willing to work very easily with me.

Nancy Drew iPhone Cases at Cafe Press Shop

We now have Nancy Drew iPhone cases in the Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop!

If anyone wants a particular cover art, e-mail me (nancydrewsleuth@aol.com) and I can upload the case with that image to the shop.

Check them out:

http://www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Looks great with the silhouette too:
Jenn:)

2010 Nancy Drew Holiday at Cafe Press

Nancy Drew Holiday 2010 Merchandise at our Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop!

We've added Happy Holidays cards featuring the quaint Polly Bolian Cameo art for The Mystery at the Ski Jump, stockings featuring the silhouette of Nancy Drew and either "Nancy Drew" or "Girl Sleuth", plus all of our ornaments have been imported into that section for easy access--dozens of those featuring all of our various images and silhouettes.


Shop at:

http://www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

See samples below. Enjoy!





Jenn:)

2011 Nancy Drew Convention Merchandise Available!

2011 Nancy Drew Sleuth Convention Merchandise now available in our Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop!

Sleuth Lea Fox has designed another great collage for this year's convention merchandise!

We have four designs available in the Nancy Drew Shop - Nancy Drew Hidden Window Collage and the two Rudy Nappi Hidden Window cover art images plus the neat Cameo edition art by Polly Bolian.

See samples below. Shop here.

These will only be available through May 2011.




Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Vampire Slayer - Part 1

Papercutz has put out it's latest Nancy Drew Graphic Novels in a new format--larger size--and beginning over again at #1 in a series called "The New Case Files." According to the Papercutz press release, these new novels will deal "with darker, more dangerous and complex mysteries than ever before."

The first in this series is Vampire Slayer written by Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney and illustrated by Sho Murase.

The cover is spooky and depicts Nancy with a bow and an upside down presumed vampire.

The story begins with Nancy, Bess, and George dressed up in costume headed to see a vampire movie--costumes get you in for half price. They take a shortcut through a cemetery and spy a boy dressed as a vampire running--from Togo who is told to get back home. Nancy spots a strange girl at the theater but she takes off. After the movie, the vampire approaches Nancy and tries to ask her out to talk about her detective work and Ned gets jealous.

Nancy proceeds to hang out a lot with Gregor to see if he'll reveal what's troubling him, and Ned begins to get jealous. Bess and George suspect that Gregor is a real vampire. Nancy's nemesis Deirdre Shannon tries to come between Ned and Nancy. Bess and George talk Ned into breaking into Gregor's place to look for clues. Then mayhem ensues and someone who is stalking Gregor shows up in the dramatic ending of part one.

I found this novel entertaining and the art was well done for this style of novel. These follow along with the style and formula of the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series rather than classic Nancy Drew so they're very modern in style and attempt to be hip with today's kids. If you're a fan of the Girl Detective books you'll certainly be a fan of these--in fact these are in some ways better than the Girl Detective series. I'd love to see a graphic novel based on the classic Nancy Drew series which is much more Gothic and suspenseful.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe press Shop Sale 11-20 - 11-23

Nancy Drew Shop Sale!

WHEN: Nov. 20-23

SAVE: $10 on orders of $50+.

CODE: Friend10

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Collectible Computer Game Tin

Just in time for the holidays, Her Interactive is releasing a nifty collectible tin with 3 fan favorite Nancy Drew computer games: Curse of Blackmoor Manor, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, and Treasure in the Royal Tower. There's also a clever journal featuring art from the games.
It's cute and perfect for your collections. Only 5000 are being produced, so it's a very limited item. Get yours now while you can!
Jenn:)

AZ Sleuths: Nancy Drew Halloween Party Part 2

Sat. Oct. 30
AZ Sleuths Halloween Party
6pm

AZ Sleuths members attending included myself and my mom plus some family and friends and these members: Sherry, Tori, Dede, Judy, Jackie, Arlene, Laura, Beth Marie, and Tina.

Our theme combined the classic Nancy Drew tale, #15 The Haunted Bridge with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

I set the scene with spooky tree silhouettes on the walls of the porch and a few pumpkins including my Nancy Drew silhouette pumpkins.

A larger scene of trees going up to columns on the edge of the porch and the "haunted bridge" complete with a ghost haunting it at the end.

Spooky Ghost. Brown artist paper was used to make the wood planks, buckets filled with sand held wooden fence posts and rope was stapled between planks.

Mortimer Bartescue/Ichabod Crane's hat and the smashed pumpkin found on the ground near the bridge...

Setting the scene at night--much more spooky!

The Headless Horseman Silhouette

Sleepy Hollow Sign

The gang on the "haunted bridge."

Short Story to Set the Scene

Goody Bags For All

Pumpkins filled with treats

Tootsie Pop Ghost Suckers

Nancy Drew Cupcake Picks

Beth Marie, Tina, and Dede

Costumed in front of the Nancy Drew Collection

The story of Nancy Drew and The Haunted
Bridge of the Headless Horseman

Everyone Reading the Spooky Tale

The Mystery To Solve

Treats...

Tricks...

The Gift Exchange Table

& Gift Exchange Gifts:

Sherry Picked First--Nancy Drew Decoupaged Book

Book with Treats inside

Nancy Drew Haunted House

Nancy Drew Tin

Nancy Drew Journal

Old Attic Journal

Nancy Drew Trunk

Nancy Drew Basket - The Cat Caper

Nancy Drew Treat Jar

More treats!

The Whole Gang

Goody Bags for the Trick or Treaters
On Halloween

We had a great time--it was pot luck so everyone brought great dishes and snacks, we read the story, did the mystery activity with prizes, and then had our gift exchange.

I enjoyed combining these 2 themes and they worked out well. The setting for Haunted Bridge at a mountain resort with a haunted bridge in the woods meshed well with the setting for Sleepy Hollow and the frightful ride of Ichabod Crane being chased by the Headless Horseman across the bridge.

In our story as you can see from yesterday's Blog entry below, Nancy masqueraded as Katrina Van Tassel, Ned Nickerson as Brom Bones, and Mortimer Bartescue as Ichabod Crane--and the same fateful ride befell Mortimer as it once did Ichabod.

Jenn:)