Play the game — Where is Bayport? There are clues throughout the series but they often contradict each other.
Marginalia — Ed Zuckerman
Ed Zuckerman noticed that the Hardy Boys published in 1976 were not the same as the ones he grew up with. Investigating this, he learned of the revised texts and Leslie McFarlane. He corresponded with the first ghostwriter of the series and got this copy of The Secret of the Caves signed after he had marked passages to use in an article he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine.
Ghostwriting in the Mega-Books era
With all of its secrets, more is known about the Stratemeyer Syndicate than is known about the book packager that followed them, Mega-Books, after Simon & Schuster bought the Syndicate.