espo Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 9 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said: Fully understand, however I might suggest the following purely as possibilities. Most program changes for our company, especially web changes, are not typically done on the fly. There is the process of deciding then agreeing what the web/document should contain, then there is typically a date chosen for "go live" transition of the edits etc. Not saying that it cannot be done on the fly, just not something that is typically done that way in the business world. They may have a weekly cadence for example. Or, they could just indeed not give a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH, but I would suspect that while they are willing to give refunds they would rather just have people still like them, and convert to FSM. Hard to do that if you continue to upset your customers. Thank you for the information. Should this be the case the ad should stop running fairly quickly I would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoopdog Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 My wife received a renewal for SA gift subscription yesterday in the mail, luckily I had already told her the mag was being discontinued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 On 7/21/2020 at 2:29 AM, Bugatti Fan said: Pity about SA finishing in October. I guess the circulation was dwindling to the point of being unviable, like many other niche magazines. FSM is a general modelling magazine and will probably absorb some of the articles to SA that have already been submitted if they have too many when the last issue goes to press. Model Car Builder is still going (I think). Noel....sources tell me that Scale Auto's circulation numbers and ad revenue were trending nicely up recently; not surprising given the improvements under the current Editor, and other sources tell me that model kit sales are booming right now because of all the "stay at home" orders here in the States and globally. However, the pandemic and shutdowns have created an impossible climate for all types of businesses, and apparently SA/Kalmbach got caught up in that too and had to make some very difficult decisions about several of their magazine titles. It may be semantics to some here, but it wasn't the hobby or the magazine itself that caused the magazine closure, it was the lingering and continued impacts of the pandemic and shutdowns on this and many other business enterprises. More comments on this from me in the other thread about SA closing if you want to search it out....TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Thanks for your insight. I did feel that scale auto was improving. Was impressed with all the pages added for the eaglemoss ads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Well, aren't I lucky!!!??!!! I just received - in today's mail - an enevleope marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED." Inside was a subscription renewal for Scale Auto Magazine!! Ironically, it pointed out that the August 2020 issue would be my last if I didn't immediately renew. LOL. But I got the last laugh, huh? The August 2020 issue really is my LAST . . . and I didn't even have to renew my subscription!!! Bwaa haa haa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Like it or not, there are some times where we just have to go with the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 For some reason I would get a bad feeling every time I would get an offer in my email to subscribe to FSM. I guess my feelings was right.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugatti Fan Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) Tim, thanks for the feedback about the real reason why Scale Auto is closing despite the hobby and the magazine being on the up. When things pan out, and eventually they will, who knows it the magazine will be reinstated or not. I have seen a couple of UK car modelling magazines absorbed into more general model magazines, and unfortunately the auto articles gradually diminishing within those publications that have to cater for a diverse number of modelling interests. Oddly enough the mags they were absorbed into have now also gone. I guess Model Car Builder is still going but appears to be subscription only to the US and Canada land MCM has never been sold in shops in the UK as far as I know. Over here in the UK we will now have to rely on Airfix Scale Modelword, Tamiya International and of course Find Scale Modeler for any civilian vehicle related articles. Edited July 23, 2020 by Bugatti Fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 12 hours ago, tim boyd said: Noel....sources tell me that Scale Auto's circulation numbers and ad revenue were trending nicely up recently; not surprising given the improvements under the current Editor, and other sources tell me that model kit sales are booming right now because of all the "stay at home" orders here in the States and globally. However, the pandemic and shutdowns have created an impossible climate for all types of businesses, and apparently SA/Kalmbach got caught up in that too and had to make some very difficult decisions about several of their magazine titles. It may be semantics to some here, but it wasn't the hobby or the magazine itself that caused the magazine closure, it was the lingering and continued impacts of the pandemic and shutdowns on this and many other business enterprises. More comments on this from me in the other thread about SA closing if you want to search it out....TIM Hi Sir! I read with interest your latest comments quoted above. In Canada, the Covid situation hastened, in my view, the failure of two major magazines distributors. Someone new stepped up to the task of distributing american mags, but got in a "fight" about revenue sharing with the newstand owners.... Their usual share of the cover price would have been unilaterally reduced by that new distributor. They then decided to "sit him hout" to force a new revenue sharing, that they recently obtained, to their satisfaction. Starting with september 20 issues, all titles should be back on shelves. after a 4 month hiatus. Further, I learned yesterday that two distributors in Europe (One in France, the other unknown to me) also went belly-up in the Covid crisis. Therefore, all those distribution channels having been impacted, it is easy to imagine that the operating margins of publishers, already thin, have been further impacted. They printed and delivered issues that, sadly, never made it to large territories. I guess outside of John Bolton and some other "tell all" book authors, these days, the print media is not exactly making millionnaires... Ragards, CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) I wonder if Kalmbach will keep publishing "Damaged" magazine. It's a tie-in with AK-Interactive, the huge Spanish seller of modeling paints, books and accessories. I bought a couple of issues, then quit because it did too many subjects that didn't interest me. AK publishes its own extensive line of model magazines, with occasional cars but mostly aircraft and armor. But weathering is weathering and the techniques are often useful, no matter what we're building. This is the Spring 2020 issue of "Damaged." Edited July 23, 2020 by Mike999 goof2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 I just wonder if they're going to continue publishing SA Magazine subscription renewal reminders and coupons! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelbuilder Mark Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 On 7/22/2020 at 8:17 PM, Danno said: Well, aren't I lucky!!!??!!! I just received - in today's mail - an enevleope marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED." Inside was a subscription renewal for Scale Auto Magazine!! Ironically, it pointed out that the August 2020 issue would be my last if I didn't immediately renew. LOL. But I got the last laugh, huh? The August 2020 issue really is my LAST . . . and I didn't even have to renew my subscription!!! Bwaa haa haa! Well now Danno, you still have the chance to also pick up the last Contest Annual. ? They are still planning on publishing that, and Oct. issue. I had had forgotten they were involved with this Mag, I do like it as well. On 7/23/2020 at 7:03 AM, Mike999 said: I wonder if Kalmbach will keep publishing "Damaged" magazine. It's a tie-in with AK-Interactive, the huge Spanish seller of modeling paints, books and accessories. I bought a couple of issues, then quit because it did too many subjects that didn't interest me. AK publishes its own extensive line of model magazines, with occasional cars but mostly aircraft and armor. But weathering is weathering and the techniques are often useful, no matter what we're building. This is the Spring 2020 issue of "Damaged." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCostello Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Got my renewal notice today, and it went straight into the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 19 minutes ago, RichCostello said: Got my renewal notice today, and it went straight into the trash. I look to get one mine runs out in September! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 3 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said: Well now Danno, you still have the chance to also pick up the last Contest Annual. ? They are still planning on publishing that, and Oct. issue. I had had forgotten they were involved with this Mag, I do like it as well. I did order the contest cars 2020 and 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTony8 Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 I got my SAE renewal yesterday, chuckled about it for a moment, and then round filed it. I'll only take up FSM if the amount of auto model content in it equals what was published in SAE. Not likely to happen, I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 56 minutes ago, ZTony8 said: I got my SAE renewal yesterday, chuckled about it for a moment, and then round filed it. I'll only take up FSM if the amount of auto model content in it equals what was published in SAE. Not likely to happen, I know. I feel the same way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Ya know.. it’s a done deal so let’s quit pouting! Some 20 plus years ago the sky was falling.. Hallmark was trying to sell Revel/Monogram and everyone thought Tomy was going to scrap all the AMT/MPC/etc tooling for scrap value.. I wrote a piece for my club newsletter that IF we were a viable market, smaller and nimbler companies would emerge who would be able to work in the market. And what happened? All new companies that are thriving doing just that! History will repeat itself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merkur XR4Ti Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 I am very sad to be losing SA. I looked forward to the issues and still reference them to this day when building a project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugatti Fan Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Magazine subscription requests normally get churned out by computer, so guys don't read too much into it or think that there are any perceived motives. This side of SA closing down has probably just yet got to be sorted out. I am sure that Kalmbach having been around for many years is a perfectly reputable company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjacobs Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 As a retired employee of a large regional newspaper and in the executive end of the circulation part of it, I just wanted to say it's interesting listening to all the discussions surrounding the folding of SAE into FSM. We were family owned for decades, then bought out by a publicly held company in '98 when profit margins were still large and by early 2006 I saw the writing on the wall after being in some very high profile meetings and decided to retire after 38 years with them. After a sale to an "investment firm" that same year, they (the newspaper) went through bankruptcy in 2009. All I can say here is there is usually a lot of behind the scenes discussions that nobody will ever know if my past is of any use. Like most of you, I've been hard at it building models since I think 5 when my parents gave me a snap tite funny car. I've also always liked magazines, newspapers, and any reading material I could put in my hands since I had a paper route; remember those! Yes, I read my beloved newspaper each day, in print mind you, but obviously love the effects of the internet age and all it brings to helpfulness in building my beloved car models. I always thought of ponying up the dollars to create another automotive-type model magazine, but thought: why would I when you have great stuff like Model Cars Mag. I will cut all this boring talk short as I get pretty passionate about print vs. digital, but do enjoy the banter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 8 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said: Magazine subscription requests normally get churned out by computer, so guys don't read too much into it or think that there are any perceived motives. This side of SA closing down has probably just yet got to be sorted out. I am sure that Kalmbach having been around for many years is a perfectly reputable company. I called on the phone the day before they shut and they took my money with a smile.......wrong no matter who or what 'computer'.......this from a retired Sr Computer System Analyst......thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBorg Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Quote Tim, thanks for the feedback about the real reason why Scale Auto is closing despite the hobby and the magazine being on the up. When things pan out, and eventually they will, who knows it the magazine will be reinstated or not. Wow, SAe could become the Rod and Custom in 1/25 scale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 (edited) Logically the people answering the phone are not going to have any knowledge of the shuttering of scale auto and the other discontinue magazines. When the formal announcement is being those people are being notified on the status of their jobs. Its sad that SA is gone . Hopefully somebody will start a new magazine. However I dont see that happening is till the fallout subsides from the virus. What good is it to print a magazine if the stores aren't open to sell them. Edited July 29, 2020 by bobthehobbyguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Don Koolkat Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 On 7/15/2020 at 9:18 AM, sfhess said: It's time to look into "print-on-demand" publications like Model Car Builder and several others that are available. Like Kustom and Hot Rod Models magazine - print and digital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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