Topgear Ben Collins/Stig Book Sales Appeal

[Revolver]

After the revelation (after years of the suspicion) that Ben Collins is the stig, he may have to appeal to people to buy his book! .

Ok, if your a fan of Top Gear, or if you've just heard the news, & for those who may not know, it has been revealed awhile ago that Ben Collins is the popular Top Gear Mystery Racing driver called "The Stig" (The white one). This was brought about by Collins wanting to write a book on his career, & involment on the show. Now while it is widely speculated that he was the main driver to play "The Stig", but not the only one, (due to personal & other racing commitments) Collins Decided to blow his cover by publishing his book.

I think this (apart from being a tell-all show boat to say " look at me, im the stig, oh & here is the rest of my driving career") is a major mistake for Collins. Why? Because he has just killed the one thing he had going for him. Yes I know that Clarky, Hampster, & Captain slow have capitalised on the success of the shows popualrity by publishing books of their own, however, I reckon Collins could have too, kept his job, his legendary status, & made money as writing books as "The stig".

I mean seriously, what (if your a TG follower) sounds more appealing?

"The man in the white suit" by Ben Collins

or

"The inside line" by The Stig (Yes, THAT Stig)


If he really wanted to cash in on the stig character, he could have brought out a few books himself as "The Stig" on differing topics, like "the stigs guide to racing", or something like that.... Or commenting on the shows achievements, successes, & myths... Could have been funny from the man who never talked.. Sure, the BBC own the rights to the stig, & would have wanted a slice of the pie, but I think there was more money & status to be made out of 7 books as the stig, rather than one or two as "Ben Collins" - The man who was the stig. He could have then quit the show after making said monies, then wrote a book as him being the stig, & said that "I have resigned from the show a year ago" to keep the mystery of who is the stig going. Instead now he has alot of hardcore fans angeredat the fact that he went ahead & blew the characters appeal away.

So just like the bloke who revealed himself to be the black stig, Collins is out of a job, & while there are people who will buy his book regardless of him revealing himself, I think he could of had a bigger slice of the pie as "TS". Collins did mention that part of the reason why he published a book, was due to the fact that the other presenters had cashed in on the show.

I wonder if they will "kill" the white stig off. Same as there was a black stig way back in the day, but after he went ahead & revealed himself to be the stig, he too was axed from the show. The storey being when TG got him to drag race a jet fighter on a aircraft carrier in the stripped out NOS fed 2 door Jaguar they had built to race every supercar at the time. However he couldnt stop the car in time & went *splash* into the drink....

Some say he survived & needs to drink bleach to live, hence why his suit is white...

[chevypower]

That's why he was an idiot for doing what he did, and not trying to negotiate with the BBC on releasing books as The Stig. Either way though, I wouldn't buy his book. I never watched Top Gear for The Stig.

[RedHotGT]

Fair enough he wanted to write a book.... but I don't understand what it is all about??
(pardon my ignorance)...

If it is infact a book about his experience as 'the stig' what will it say??

"Today I drove an Aston Martin around the TG track, tomorrow its a Jag??"

Wouldn't it be similar to the experiences that the camera crew and behind the scenes TG people have?? They are there for the most part, but they don't have their face on screen??

I don't really get it... but I suppose that's a life lesson...

You roll the dice... sometimes you get the right result... sometimes you don't...

My father has a book for sale at the moment, which is published by a reputable publisher, it's for sale from most major book sellers, and it is about something that a lot of Australian's are interested in... and sales are going well... though he is a virtual unknown in this genre of books... It's about Wine and the first families of winemakers in Australia...

So long as you have a target market - there will always be readers...

But i fail to see who Ben Collin's target is??

[FNQracing]

Where's the option for "Collins is a plonker... I won't buy it."????

[Tribal]

Are we still really caring about this?

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by Tribal

Are we still really caring about this?

Not so much as "caring". Just wanting to know what he should of done & what you will do.

Sorry FFO, I forgot that one. & It wouldnt let me edit it.....

[bungarra]

Even when there was just rumour and suspicion of Ben Collins being the Stig, I think if he had of sold books under the Stig moniker he waould have sold more. Look at the T-shirts, coffee mugs etc, who would you buy, the one of the Stig or the one with Ben Collins face on it?

Which Stig will come up next? I am betting on Blue.

[Josh_XC]

Its going to be another white stig, the latest holiday special of Top Gear where they go to bethlahem to see the baby "Stig" showed a small white suited stig.

Honestly they should just keep Tiff from Fifth gear as they did there latest episode.

[Paxton]

None of the above.

I'd never heard of Ben Collins before he was the Stig, and I couldn't care less about him now. I won't be buying the book.

Edit: loftie: Presuming it is this, I gave that to my Dad for Christmas.

[My poor XF]

Originally Posted by Paxton

None of the above.

I'd never heard of Ben Collins before he was the Stig, and I couldn't care less about him now. I won't be buying the book.

Edit: loftie: Presuming it is this, I gave that to my Dad for Christmas.

Agreed sums up my thoughts exactly. Care factor = 0

[290GTP]

Its not a bad read actually (& no, i didnt buy the book either), he gives a bit of insight as to why he didnt want to be The Stig anymore.

[waggaclint]

I just finished reading the book and i thought it was a really good read myself....

[Feathers]

BBC/Clarkson/Wilman own the rights to the Stig character, and I doubt they would have allowed him to write a book as The Stig.

I think he's really shot himself in the foot with this.
He's not going to get paid any more to race because he was the Stig, and now he's lost that steady stream of income too.

He knew when he signed the contract that he could not reveal his identity.
Bottom line is he was hired to play a character. He didn't own the character.
That's why we bought "I am The Stig" t-shirts, and not "I am Ben Collins" ones.

[Bucknaked]

I can't believe people are still having a sook about Collins. Time to grow up people.

[Riksta]

I was given the book for Christmas, and while I don't really agree with what he did, I will still be reading it as I am interested in reading about the experiences.

[F6T]

I wouldn't buy it. It just doesn't sit right with me, what he did. It would have been a hard thing to resist and keep secret, even more so the bigger the ego and the need to have it stroked. The problem is however, that most will turn their back on him rather than praise him, pat him on the back and elevate him to some legend status. It leaves a sour taste in my mouths more than anything. And personally, I would do nothing to stroke his ego..including buying his book.

[flappist]

I have a couple of Clarkson's books. He is quite funny.

I have as much interest in reading Ben Collins book as I do in reading the autobiography of Plucka Duck or Mr Squiggle.......

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by flappist

Plucka Duck Russell Gilbert

Fixed

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Fixed

You bastard.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

You bastard.

I don't actually know for sure, i just noticed one year that Russell Gilbert does nothing but intervene (albeit hilariously). Except in Plucka Duck.

HMMM I WONDER

[MO]

Well I was given the book for xmas so will read and post later.

[Revolver]

Flapper, your a funny bugger.

I reckon plucka's would be good. Not to mention Mr Squigle. I mean all day drawing with a good lookin bird next to me, doesn't sound to bad.....

[Revolver]

EDIT! Double post. Bloody iPhone again....

[FgNewbie]

I'll wait for the movie with Bill Collins presenting it.

[Ben73]

Damn I voted for the wrong thing in the poll. I meant to vote for 1, but I voted for 2.


I am not interested in Ben Collins, I may have brought it if "the Stig" wrote a book.

[Crazy Dazz]

Don’t knock the book til you’ve read it.
I received the book for Christmas, along with a 30cm Stig (filled with “body wash.”)
Have only just started, but it seems a relatively interesting read about his career as a battling racing driver. It seems very honest, as is mostly recounting his various crashes and struggles to get a regular drive.
If the book takes off, he will make a ***** load more money than he was paid as The Stig.
If the book had simply been about his time as the Stig (eg inside gossip about Top Gear) I would have felt he’d done the wrong thing, but it’s not.
Yes, he has used his status as The Stig to get people to buy his book. Good luck to him.
He COULDN’T have published anything as The Stig.

People should also remember that he did NOT out himself as The Stig. Hamster did that by crashing his car. The Stig was an eye-witness and had to give the police a statement which became public record. Journos got hold of those statements and the cat was well and truly out of the bag.