My eccentric grandfather is a talented craftsman and an avid fan of the James Bond films. Whenever a film is released, he crafts a little figurine of agent 007, with some iconic feature from the movie. They are made with careful detail, and each one is visibly unique. My grandfather has arranged them left to right, bonded with glue, along an antique wooden board.
When a new movie comes out, he makes the figurine and adds it to the collection. However, what makes my grandfather so quirky is the way he orders them on the board, as they are not arranged in chronological order. Instead, he arranges them according to:
- (1) the number of times the movie's star has portrayed the character, and
- (2) the order of the James Bond actors, according to the date of their first appearance.
This means that when a new film is released, the position for the newest figurine may be between two existing figurines, so then all other figurines to the right of that position need to be carefully removed and re-bonded with glue.
For example, my grandfather's collection looked like this in 1966, arranged left to right:
1. Dr. No (1962; Connery #1)
2. From Russia With Love (1963; Connery #2)
3. Goldfinger (1964; Connery #3)
4. Thunderball (1965; Connery #4)
And when Casino Royale came out in 1967, each of the other Connery figurines needed to be removed and re-bonded in the new positions, so the collection looked like this:
1. Dr. No (1962; Connery #1)
2. Casino Royale (1967; Niven #1)
3. From Russia With Love (1963; Connery #2)
4. Goldfinger (1964; Connery #3)
5. Thunderball (1965; Connery #4)
As of today in January 2017, his collection looks like this, arranged left to right:
1. Dr. No (1962; Connery #1)
2. Casino Royale (1967; Niven #1)
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969; Lazenby #1)
4. Live And Let Die (1973; Moore #1)
5. The Living Daylights (1987; Dalton #1)
6. Goldeneye (1995; Brosnan #1)
7. Casino Royale (2006; Craig #1)
8. From Russia With Love (1963; Connery #2)
9. The Man With The Golden Gun (1974; Moore #2)
10. License To Kill (1989; Dalton #2)
11. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997; Brosnan #2)
12. Quantum Of Solace (2008; Craig #2)
13. Goldfinger (1964; Connery #3)
14. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977; Moore #3)
15. The World Is Not Enough (1999; Brosnan #3)
16. Skyfall (2012; Craig #3)
17. Thunderball (1965; Connery #4)
18. Moonraker (1979; Moore #4)
19. Die Another Day (2002; Brosnan #4)
20. Spectre (2015; Craig #4)
21. You Only Live Twice (1967; Connery #5)
22. For Your Eyes Only (1981; Moore #5)
23. Diamonds Are Forever (1971; Connery #6)
24. Octopussy (1983; Moore #6)
25. Never Say Never Again (1983; Connery #7)
26. A View To A Kill (1985; Moore #7)
This is a slow and tedious proces, which my grandfather calls "the old fashioned way", and he has maintained this hobby since the first film. In his old age, he forgets how many times over the years he has bonded and re-bonded his James Bond figurines.
I think that the Dr. No (1962) figurine was bonded only once, because it's the first appearance of the first James Bond actor. In my grandfather's ordering method, no figurine can come before it.
The second Bond movie released was From Russia With Love (1963). Its corresponding figurine was crafted second, but is currently placed in the 8th position, if you count from the left side of the board. It was bonded once when he initially made it, and then bonded an additional time whenever each of the other six Bond actors had their first movie.
How many times has my grandfather bonded each James Bond figurine?