I--SPY BOOKS

[Sue Webster]

hi , did anyone use the super i-spy books when younger and anyone still use the today . i have a fairly big collection and use mainly my david bellamy ones (he`s a personal friend of mine !) and the michelin ones plus some of the ravette, dickens press and polystyle ones. has anyone got any books they no longer want ? want to sell them or let me have them ? cant afford much as i`m unemployed and a student . thanks from sue , plus any i--spy membership books and badges.

[Petermax]

Now this takes me back to 1974 when I was a member of the I-Spy Club. Back then, the club had a Red Indian theme, with the leader being known as Big Chief I-Spy and the members as Redskins. This was many years before David Bellamy took over the club.

I-Spy membership packs were on sale in most newsagents along with the highly collectable pocket sized books. Once duly filled in, they could be sent off to be validated by Big Chief I-Spy himself. Lucky Redskins also received certificates and small prizes such as I-Spy pens and pencils, and were notified of this in the Saturday edition of the Daily Mail. Naturally, this was in secret code.

Perhaps an unfortunate side product of the I-Spy Club was the associated rivalry and occasional violence in the school playground with Warlord and Fireball agents. Anyone over the age of forty will know exactly what I mean!

Sadly, my fine collection of I-Spy books, certificates, pens, pencils, badges and correspondence from Big Chief I-Spy has faded away over the past thirty-four years. Thank you Sue Webster for awakening a very long forgotten memory.

[Sue Webster]

hi petermax , great to hear from you. i was in the tribe then too and met big chief on several occasions at the wigwam! i still have books signed by him. i have most of my books from 1960 onwards and orders of merit ,plus pens and badges. even now i still enjoy taking books out and going on the i--spy trail---something you can never stop! i still love i--spying.it was good with david bellamy too as he is a friend of mine and was very supportive recently when i was in hospital having an op for cancer--he even sent flowers which were waiting for me when i went in ! he kept in touch with both me and my parents and hope to meet up again soon . i have all his books ,still in use and all the michelin ones too,still in use. at the moment there are no books out as michelin are looking for a publisher for them -- my friend graham and i think they are dragging their feet over this and we still keep on at them to find a publisher as we want new books! i run an I--SPY Rangers club on our church website so if would like to have a look you will find it on http://www.stmatthewswalsall.co.uk" target="_blank and click on i-spy 60th anniversay which graham wrote. the april one is now on . it was for children and young people but i`ve thrown it open to any age . send you a badge if you`d like one --would need postal address. i-spy is still fun and great way to explore and i still love it ! glad i was able to awaken memories of when you were a redskin too! sue

[Lucky Star]

Perhaps an unfortunate side product of the I-Spy Club was the associated rivalry and occasional violence in the school playground with Warlord and Fireball agents. Anyone over the age of forty will know exactly what I mean!

Hehe yes I know exactly what you mean. I joined both Warlord and Fireball. Guess that made me some kind of treacherous double agent.

[Sue Webster]

hi lucky star ,i was a warlord agent too and had the comic! never heard of fireball agents though . sue

[Petermax]

hi lucky star ,i was a warlord agent too and had the comic! never heard of fireball agents though . sue

Fireball Agents were affiliated to Bullet, a lesser known and shorter lived comic than Warlord. For the benefit of our younger Forum readers and perhaps those overseas, it may be in order to explain British primary school playground politics of the mid 1970s.

Back then, there were a large number of comics with a World War 2 theme, such as Warlord, Victor, Battle, War Picture Library, Commando, the list was endless. Playground games consisted of re-enactments of various World War 2 events depending on whatever war film was showing on TV the night before. It was all gloriously politically incorrect and no lasting harm to international relations occurred.

I'm very ashamed to say that I still retain my Warlord badge and Fireball pendant! Sorry to take your post even more off topic Sue, but the memories just had to be shared!

[Sue Webster]

hi petermax , i too had a warlord badge but lost it years ago . i`ve never heard of bullet --hence the reason why i`d not heard of fireball agents . was an international rescue agent---thunderbirds and still a big fan of them! i remember battle and victor comics and commando . i`m rather a tomboy and always wanted to be a boy like george in the famous 5! older tomboy now! well , you cant beat i-spy so i`m still sticking with that! have you had a look at the i-spy rangers on our church website --hope you enjoy it if you havent read it yet. sue .

[Petermax]

Right, to get this thread slightly back on topic. I have indeed read the I-Spy page on the St Matthew's Church website. What a cracking read it was, the page seemed to emulate the spirit of those little books that I avidly devoured all those years ago. In addition, there were many aspects of the I-Spy club that I was not aware of, such as the original Big Chief I-Spy living to the age of 106 for example!

I had outgrown the I-Spy Club (and Warlord!) well before David Bellamy took over. It is a pity that we do not really see a great deal of him on television these days, although a quick look on Google reveals that he is as active as ever. Back in the early 80's, his television programmes were cult viewing among myself and my schoolmates, classes would frequently be disrupted by impromptu mass Bellamy impersonations!

[Sue Webster]

hi petermax , great to get your reply . glad you enjoyed the i-spy pages on our church website . look out for the next one in may . its great to know david bellamy as a friend and he was great when i was in hospital recently and we hope for a meeting up soon. yes , he was a cult figure in the 80s and i loved his bellamy`s bugle programme. i still have my badge and t-shirt i won . my friend wrote the 6othanniversary of i-spy and he was i-spying long before i started and he still spots things today for his books!
i bet the impersonations of david bellamy were fun in your class at school--wish i`d been there ! at our sutton rspb meeting last monday a chap was speaking about how he got in to wildlife work and was once a bbc cameraman and worked with david bellamy and david attenbourogh and i had a chat with him . he said david bellamy doesnt do ant presenting any more .i know he does a lot of work all over the world as well as the uk . :)sue

[Sue Webster]

hi petermax . sad to say i no longer write the I-SPY Club on our church website but glad you enjoyed it . I closed it a while ago due to lack of interest which was sd as I loved doing it ! Michelin are supposed to be bringing some new books out but they are dragging their feet over it !My friend and I keep badgering them to hurry up and a new series would be great! sue

[Petermax]

hi petermax . sad to say i no longer write the I-SPY Club on our church website but glad you enjoyed it . I closed it a while ago due to lack of interest which was sd as I loved doing it !

All good webpages have to end sooner or later. I used to run an ex pupils website for my old comprehensive school, which was a great success until it was eclipsed by the newly launched friendsreunited.

There is talk of Michelin licensing the I-SPY brand to another publisher in the future. Even though todays children have many distractions, I am sure that such books would still be very popular.

[Sue Webster]

hi , great to hear from you and that you too know about michelin producing new I-spy books and licensing another publisher ---hope I got that right!
just out of interest do you remember another series of books similar to I-SPY called Find 50? They came out in the 80`s and I have them all including the hard backed ones that were releassed a few years ago ---they were hamlyn books . I still have my Find 50 badge and pen. I still use some of them too with my I-SPY books. sue

[Moonraker]

All good webpages have to end sooner or later.

Surely not...

[Petermax]

All good webpages have to end sooner or later.

Surely not...

But certain webpages such as the E.B.S and its Forums have perhaps quite a longer term future.

just out of interest do you remember another series of books similar to I-SPY called Find 50? They came out in the 80`s

Find50? I must say, I have never heard of these.

[Michelin I-Spy]

Great news I-Spy lovers, Michelin have launched a new collection of I-Spy books which hit stores today.

You can find out all their is to know and purchase copies online at http://www.ispymichelin.com/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and add us on twitter @ispymichelin.

Happy I-Spying!