eBay Today: It's All In A Name Posted by Rich on May 5, 2007 at 12:00 AM CST: James Bond Jr. is the 17 year old nephew of Britain's most famous double-0 agent and first appears in a 1967 novel titled 003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior. The Naked Gun-esque title aside, Jr. just couldn't muster the same appeal commanded by his uncle in the world of international espionage books. The spin-off idea was consequently abandoned. It wasn't until 1991 that James Bond Jr. was reincarnated; this time in a self-titled animated-series. With the help of his friends I.Q. (grandson of gadgets guru Q) and Gordo Leiter (son of uncle James' CIA counterpart Felix) Jr. battles the evil terrorist organization S.C.U.M. (Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem). The small-screen Bond adaptation imitates its big-screen counterpart by reprising the roles of familiar foes Dr. No, Jaws, Odd Job, and Goldfinger, among others. In the end, parody prevails and episode titles such as Rubies Aren't Forever and Live and Let's Dance are evidence of the lampooning. All in all, the animated-series did relatively well totaling in at 65 episodes and lending its name to a comic series, a pair of video games and you guessed it, a toy line. To coincide with the animated series, Hasbro released a line of dozen figures based on characters appearing in the show including: James Bond Jr., I.Q., Gordo Leiter, Buddy Mitchell, Dr. Derange, Dr. No, Odd Job, Jaws, and Captain Walker D. Plank. There were also several versions of Jr. equipped to engage his foes under varying circumstances including Scuba Gear James Bond Jr., Flight Gear James Bond Jr. and Ninja James Bond Jr. Interestingly, not only is the term Jr. used to identify a namesake's son -- not nephew -- but James Bond was an only child. These and other inconsistencies with the motion-pictures are usually cited as the reason for a lack of a family bond. JAMES BOND JR. ACTION FIGURE MOMC 007