The other day I was bored and reached into the box of old mags … pulled out the May/June 1999 issue of Vintage Rails. So old, it read like new! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Do that with your electrons!
John
Can’t go back that far…not even with paper, since I never saved it. But, I just checked Zinio and can still read my old copies of MR, GR and Classic Trains. Everything I’ve paid for is still accessible.
they lost me when they called a dudes ‘partner’ his ‘husband’…
Cale Nelson said:
they lost me when they called a dudes ‘partner’ his ‘husband’…
Not here
Let’s face it. You get a lot more bang for you buck out of LSC that GR magazine but our hobby isn’t exactly about being thrifty. I enjoy both very much and realize that they are both businesses that need money to stay alive. That is why I support them both. Bob let it be known last winter that LSC needed financial help, somewhat of a fund drive, but that’s ok. I’d rather be given the opportunity to contribute to the cause than for it to disappear. GR is no different. It has a rather limited circulation base and I doubt if the ads generate a ton of money to help subsidize the magazine. My wife complains about some of the big, glossy magazines that she receives, even at a measly subscription rate of $6 per year for 12 issues. (The postage has to cost more than $6 per year.) It’s the page after page of full page advertising that pays for the magazine, with the subject matter being hard to find in all of it. The advertising revenues are bases on circulation numbers. That’s why they can afford to almost give the magazine away. Magazines like GR don’t operate with such a strong advertising cash flow. That’s why they rely so heavily on subscription rates.
I look back at the very first black and white 16 page issue of GR from Jan-Feb 1984, published by Marc Horovitz of Sidestreet Bannerworks. Back then the subscription rate was $12/year. I don’t think that today’s rates, being slightly over twice that 31 years later, is a bad deal. And if you look through those issues there wasn’t a whole lot in there, especially in the types of products available. We have come a long ways. I enjoy receiving the magazine in the mail. Even though some of the articles have been presented before but are seen now with a different twist to them, I just enjoy reading and viewing pictures of different aspects of the hobby in the magazine type of format.
To Kevin’s point about the two types of media supporting each other (not competing with each other) I have to agree. They both promote our hobby in their own kind of way. After I discovered LSC I thought it was cool to see Kevin posting . I kinda thought of him as a celebrity after reading and enjoying so many of his articles in GR over the years. Then to find him on LSC I thought it was really cool. Now I find myself looking for his works in both places. As for me I plan on supporting both GR magazine and LSC for a very long time. I wish them both success in these trying economic times.
…grinning…
I have been a subscriber of this mag for about a decade. I may not need to read every article, and yes there may not be many pages as in the past. I pass my issues on to people who may be seriously looking into the hobby. The last two years I have kept abreast as to what this has done. I have discovered that for every two magazines I give away, I create one new hobbyist. This is a superb return. I am not a dealer, wholesaler, or eBay seller.
I am a writer and I want to promote and introduce as many people as I can to this great hobby. The idea of giving away a magazine also shows that you are interested and care how others are introduced to the hobby. Don’t like your current issue of Garden Railways magazine…leave it in your doctor’s office or any large waiting room.
Regards, Dennis.
OUTSTANDING Mr. Brown!
Especially your last sentence .
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