The ‘other’ mag is stopping publication

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I gave up on FSM when they started to slide into the old mindset of "We cover all modeling, both aircraft and armor".

 I've been subscribing to FSM since the '80s and I have written letter them asking for a wider range of modeled subjects. Of course their reply is "we can't publish what we dont' have" (meaning that they publish what authors send them).    To me Fine Scale Modeler should encompass all model subjects:  Military armor, aircraft, and ships, civil aircraft and ships, trucks automobiles, SciFi  subjects, etc.  They can all fit the "fine scale" criteria.  Maybe now they will have more automotive articles.  One can hope.

[iBorg]

I will miss SAe. My collection is almost the full run from about issue 4 or 5 to now with maybe ten issues missing. I will miss the habit of going to the bookstore and buying it. I always went there hoping they'd sell enough copies to keep it so maybe people would discover the hobby. I think that in many ways SAe's demise was the result of a perfect storm. The consolidation of US based brands led to a loss in advertising. Alternative shopping channels another. For example, I remember getting SAE and finding the classifieds to look for Grail kits as well as Hobby Heaven's two page ads to see what rarity I could find. The hostile feedback for including either slot cars or diecast into a model car magazine helped drive away those potential advertisers. The loss of sales and potential advertisers for shows and aftermarket vendors from Covid 19 I'm also sure hurt the magazine's advertising base. Online alternatives to a print magazine to showing what's new being yet another such as Round 2's Youtube ads.

The final straw may have been the issue that was printed but not sold at hobby shops and bookstores due to them being closed.  The lost June issue's cover dealt with Hollywood vehicles. Combine that with an issue delivered to stores as we were moving into the lock down phase resulted in two magazine issues with minimal sales. When you lose that much revenue for what is a small circulation magazine, the results may be fatal.

Magazines make money one of three ways, the most common is ad revenue is great enough to pay most costs and subscriber and newsstand sales are your profit. Less common is the subscriber base pays production costs and advertisers and newsstand sells are the profit. The third model is that newsstand sells pay production costs and profit came from subscribers and advertising. I do not know any magazine that currently makes enough from newsstand sells to pay the bills. The last one I know that tried that was Hot Rod Deluxe. That is why their subscription rate was so much higher than Hot Rod. Today, advertisers dictate page count (a ratio of ad pages per editorial pages) as well as editorial content. If the newer model companies were advertisers, they'd be featured in the reviews and project pages. Of course they can't advertise yet as they're not that profitable because they're not that well known. 

[Jimmy Wilson]

I called them today to find out my options (this was before I received the email) and they told me about the FSM offer. I had already subscribed to it, so I guess it was ok. I asked what other magazines were being cancelled and she told me, a beading one, and Garden Railroads. I asked if it might go just digital, and she told me no. They blamed the pandemic and "changing tastes". That makes the fourth magazine I subscribed to go out of publication. Hot Rod Deluxe, Car Craft, Street Rodder Deluxe bit the dust earlier this year.

[randyc]

I like my print issue of SA.  Liked it better years ago.  I liked MCM, but... 

I love this forum.  I like how it works and is formatted.  The moderators let us go and they also listen.  

I probably see and learn more from here, but Tim Boyd.  In SA.  All in all, he is the best part of SA now. To me.   With that said, there are several contributors here that were in SAE back in the day.  Our own Gramps 46 had some excellent articles in SAE.  So don't discount what we're getting for free here because it's free.  There are others as well, Tom Geiger seems to be a heavy hitter in the industry and hobby.  Dave Van, Cruz, George Bojaciuk, others I can't think of right now.  

I appreciate them sharing with us here.  As well as everyone that takes a moment to post something.  

Let's do all we can to keep this forum going and not having to fold into some FB group.  They don't work well for me.  Well ok, FB doesn't work well for me.  

So long old friend.  We'll miss you.  Mostly. 

[lordairgtar]

I was saddened to hear this. I knew about SAE when it first came out and bought every one starting in California and after my move to Milwaukee in 1984. Gary Schmidt was so wonderful and genuine to me. I told him about my house burning down in Santa Barbara and losing everything, and he gave me every issue from #2 on forward all the way to 1984. He only had one copy of #1 and he kept that. I could always stop by the offices whenever I was around. I don't think the FSM mag will include more than a page or two about model cars, most of that mag is devoted towards the war monger set.

[unclescott58]

I'm sad. The world is no longer setup in a way that caters to my interests anymore. I've gotten old. It's damned depressing. I guess I'm only going to have Collectible Automobile coming to my mailbox in the near future. 

 

[Classicgas]

9 hours ago, slusher said:

I enjoyed the kit reviews. Sounds like you did also...

Yes overall. I like i mentioned wrote 3 orv4 of them. Not a eady job. Especially when JH was editor.

[randyc]

7 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

I'm sad. The world is no longer setup in a way that caters to my interests anymore. I've gotten old. It's damned depressing. I guess I'm only going to have Collectible Automobile coming to my mailbox in the near future. 

 

What a perfect thought, even though it's cynical and sad.  I feel the same way - the world just doesn't suit me.  ?

[Painted Black]

Sounds very much like ya'll are just givin' up. Heck, if you want a magazine so much, why don't a bunch of ya'll get together and produce one?? The world may not suit folks anymore, but its all we have, so deal with it, geeez. I'm now off my high horse and down on the ground

[Rob Hall]

Too much whining.  The world changes, has since the beginning of time. You have be able to adapt to a changing world, can’t expect the world to change to ‘suit you’, that’s narcissistic... 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Rob Hall

[slusher]

21 hours ago, CabDriver said:

I just got an email to that effect about my print subscription - they’ll be sending me FSM instead.

Isn’t FSM mostly about armor and ships?

[randyc]

1 minute ago, Rob Hall said:

Too much whining.  The world changes, has since the beginning of time. You have be able to adapt to a changing world, can’t expect the world to change to ‘suit you’, that’s narcissistic... 

But I can complain about it or feel that way.  I don't have to LIKE the world.    I can grieve or bemoan or celebrate the end of SA.  I don't expect anything to change to suit me.  Doesn't mean I have to like it.  

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, slusher said:

Isn’t FSM mostly about armor and ships?

And aviation...I've read a few issues in the past, the do have some (limited) automotive content.  I'd expect after this they may increase their automotive content?  I wonder if some of the SA writers/editors will be joining FSM? 

[slusher]

I am going to miss Scale Auto and I was a subscriber since 2005. Something I enjoyed.  Life goes on..

[slusher]

2 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

And aviation...I've read a few issues in the past, the do have some (limited) automotive content.  I'd expect after this they may increase their automotive content?  I wonder if some of the SA writers/editors will be joining FSM? 

I hope so if they do I will subscribe..

[thatz4u]

won't renew with SA again....ever

[Gramps46]

I was an early contributor to SAE under the tutelage of Wayne Moyer and Bill Coulter.  Those were really fun days with Kodachrome film photos and only written mags and books for reference., no internet.  But I drifted away after it was sold to Kalmbach who installed a RC Airplane editor.

As has been stated times change and this is not a surprise.  I had my SAE experience and treasure the memories.

[CabDriver]

17 minutes ago, thatz4u said:

won't renew with SA again....ever

Why would you renew a subscription to a magazine that doesn’t exist?

 

[slusher]

39 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Too much whining.  The world changes, has since the beginning of time. You have be able to adapt to a changing world, can’t expect the world to change to ‘suit you’, that’s narcissistic... 

That’s why I said life goes on. I have kind of be expecting it as thin as it had become..

[Classicgas]

9 hours ago, lordairgtar said:

most of that mag is devoted towards the war monger set.

Seriously? Being interested in military technology makes you a war monger? Nice slap in the face to those of us who have served our country and those who died to give you the right to spout that. But i do agree that most likely auto coverage wont increase much.

[crazyjim]

My last SA issue from my subscription arrived last week.  I'm going to miss the mag.  Maybe Gregg can resurrect MCM and make a killing on the model car magazine scene.  heaven knows it's been a looooooong time since the last MCM issue.

[Rob Hall]

4 minutes ago, crazyjim said:

My last SA issue from my subscription arrived last week.  I'm going to miss the mag.  Maybe Gregg can resurrect MCM and make a killing on the model car magazine scene.  heaven knows it's been a looooooong time since the last MCM issue.

And the odds of that happening?   Maybe 10 million to 1?   Just being realistic, I don't see MCM being published on a regular basis ever again...

[tbill]

As much as like to have a magazine in hand, who really needs it? As was mentioned before, this very place has more content than any magazine could ever offer ( although just as difficult to find as searching thru piles of magazines at times). Things change, and we slowly change with them. Remember the joys of figuring out how to surf the web? We all got thru that, things will be fine ......?

[Rob Hall]

4 minutes ago, tbill said:

As much as like to have a magazine in hand, who really needs it? As was mentioned before, this very place has more content than any magazine could ever offer ( although just as difficult to find as searching thru piles of magazines at times). Things change, and we slowly change with them. Remember the joys of figuring out how to surf the web? We all got thru that, things will be fine ......?

True enough...magazines always lag behind on news also, because of the long lead times in publishing.  For breaking news on new releases, FB pages/groups and forums are always out ahead of magazines. 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Rob Hall

[StevenGuthmiller]

I keep thinking that with printed materials going away, why have none of these magazines taken the obvious leap into the 21st century and tried an online publication?

I keep hearing about the prohibitive costs and difficulties with publishers.

I know nothing about magazine publishing, but wouldn't it be a much easier endeavor to publish an online mag?

Just seems like a natural next step to me.

 

There are a lot of us out here who do not subscribe to magazines, (I don't need all of that extra fill for my garbage can) but there is every possibility that I would subscribe to an online publication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited July 16, 2020 by StevenGuthmiller