People Do Anything for James Bond Memorabilia

James Bond has been in the news lately and not because of some new movie coming out. Seem James Bond memorabilia is attracting people from all walks of life and people will do just about anything to acquire something James Bond. For those who have been living under a rock for many years, James Bond is the fictional spy in the popular Ian Fleming novels. Also known as Agent 007, James Bond movies have been the longest running film franchise in history with twenty two movies. The character itself has been played by many stars, the most notable being Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. It was a gun used by Roger Moore in a movie that first made the news this week.

According to the authorities in Hertfordshire, England, the gun used by Moore in the movie The Man With The Golden Gun, has been stolen from the Elstree Studios. The gun, which is valued at more than $160,000 was made specifically for the movie and was in the care of the studio’s prop division. However, not all Bond memorabilia collectors are thieves, some buy the collectibles outright, even if they are not perfect.

The second piece of news this week involving Agent 007 was that a fan paid more than $400,000 for the Aston Martin DBS automobile that was being used to film the newest Bond movie, Quantum Solace. Normally that wouldn’t have been newsworthy, except that the car, which was being driven to the set of the new movie was involved in an accident and totaled before the collector paid the steep price for a piece of memorabilia. The price of this piece of James Bond memorabilia surpassed the price of what the car is worth new, $270,000 and it topped the price of a recent auction for a rare set of novels I wrote about recently.

Record Auction for Rare Set of James Bond Novels

A rare set of James Bond, 007 novels and other memorabilia sold today for a reported $55,800 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The books and memorabilia, which were originally owned by the late Sir Fitzroy Maclean, were purchased by John Gilbert who is writing a book about author Ian Fleming. It is widely believed that the fictional James Bond character is closely modeled by Sir Fitzroy Maclean, who was a soldier and diplomat, and was stationed in Moscow in the late 30’s.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an author and journalist who served time in the British Navy during World War II. He wrote and is best remembered for writing twelve James Bond novels and nine short stories. Born in Mayfair, London, Fleming was educated at Eton and then went on to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Munich University and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. While serving in the war he was promoted to Commander. In 1953 he wrote his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in which a lot of the background came from his work in the intelligence field.

Sir Fitzroy Maclean was born on March 11, 1911 and served as a soldier and politician. After Eton, he studied at King’s College and Cambridge University. In 1933 he joined the England’s diplomatic service and in 1939 was stationed in Moscow. He used his exploits in Moscow to write an autobiography titled Eastern Approaches. In 1941 he left the Diplomatic Corp and entered the Army as an enlisted man, but later became a commissioned officer. He saw acion in Northern Africa and Yugoslavia. Sir Fitzroy Mclean passed away in June 1996.