Samsonite Promotional Briefcase Tomorrow Never Dies

At the time of the premiere of the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, a promotional Samsonite attaché briefcase was given out (probably by EON Productions) to VIPs and partners. The Samsonite cases contained promotional products from sponsors, an invitation to the World Premiere after party, and various stills, production notes and related material.

The Tomorrow Never Dies Samsonite suitcase is now a collectible and from time to time can be found at specialist memorabilia auctions or on eBay (currently one available) and one is auctioned at Prop Store Entertainment Memoraibilia Live Auction on 30 Sept/1Oct 2019.

Other similar cases were offered in 2016 at a Ewbanks auction, a 2001 Christie's auction, another 2001 Christie's auction and a 2012 Bonham's auction.

The case contains items from some of the main sponsor partners of the film, brands that are also seen in the film: Smirnoff Vodka (Bond drinks the vodka in Hotel Kempinski), Heineken beer, BMW (the 750iL that Bond drives), Ericsson (the phone that doubles as a remote control for the BMW), Heineken (long time partner of the Bond films), Avis (the rental company used as a cover by Q), Wilkinson (produced several promotional tie-ins with Bond), L'Oreal and VISA (partners of the film). Samsonite itself also was a partner, and provided Samsonite Xylem suitcases for the next films The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

It is not certain how many of these briefcases exist, some say around 60 in total. It does look like some cases have slightly different contents.

The case itself is a Samsonite Focus De Luxe, black hardshell with gold number lock, sand and brown leather interior and gold levers to open the case, and a brown leather handle. A small selection of these cases can currently only be found on the German eBay.

The standard equipment that seems to be available in each case:

• a miniature bottle of Smirnoff vodka (5cl) and a shot glass
• two bottles of L'Oréal Corolle LaqueResist nail varnish (black and gold)
• a dark blue Paul's Model Art model of a BMW 7 Series car
• a calculator shaped as an Ericsson GF 788 mobile phone (color of the phone varies: burgundy red, blue, green or grey)
• an Avis metal key ring in a red box with "For your eyes only..." text
• a Wilkinson Sword protector razor in Tomorrow Never Dies 007 packaging
• a Visa credit card tool (Visa Credit Card Companion) with concealed knife, bottle/can opener, tweezers, toothpick, magnifying glass and compass
• a can of Heineken beer (although sometimes this can is not present)

Items that might not be in every case:

• an Ericsson promotional pack signed and inscribed in silver felt pen on the cover "Hello 007, Grow Up, Desmond Llewellyn, Q"
• the large space above the Ericsson and Heineken can is the biggest mystery: some say it contained an Omega Leather Wallet in box OR an Omega miniature radio in a box (the box should have a red ribbon), but often only an Omega or Avis flyer remains in that spot.
• an invitation to a party following the world charity première of Tomorrow Never Dies, Tuesday 9th December, 1997
• various stills, production notes and related material

Samsonite in other Bond films
Samsonite went on to provide Xylem suitcases that were actually seen in the films The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).