Some Questions For The Masses Ref. Figure Magazines And Articles

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Jim Patrick

Jim Patrick

A Fixture
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Messages
2,022
Location
El Paso TX
Was having this discussion with a few friends recently and I was wondering what your thoughts are. Specifically, what makes you inclined to purchase or not purchase a magazine or an article.

Is it the price? Where you feel the articles do nothing for you and you just wasted your money?

Are the photographs not up to standard or is it that the pictures are, and this makes you inclined to make the purchase?

Do you feel the article, while the subject has been painted very well, the description is lacking due to the cost and constraints of printing/ advertising?

What would make you more inclined to make a purchase of a magazine or article?

What exactly is it that YOU are looking for in a article?

There are no right or wrong answers here. This is merely an attempt by myself to see what the rest of you are feeling and think. I believe we all have noticed a sharp decline in magazines in the last several years mostly due to the presence of the internet and sites like this. However, I do not agree that a magazine's spot within this hobby has been bypassed. I still see the need for magazines and articles. I'm just not sure of the way ahead. Please don't take my questions as leading. You are free to post whatever your thoughts are on this just as you are free to not post anything. So, what are your thought on this?

Jim Patrick
 
crf said:
... the internet now meets all my needs in the hobby. Magazines cost too much for the odd useful article.
Click to expand...

So what, if anything, would make you want to purchase a magazine or an article Colin? What is it that "jumps up and grabs" you and makes you say, or can make you say, I want to buy this because.......?

Jim Patrick
 
Actually nothing Jim. I can't think of anything honestly. I used to love show reports in MM but the net is better now. Same for step by step articles and the same for uniform info. For me, the age of the magazine has passed .... with the sole exception of the odd issue of After the Battle. Also I have hundreds of back issues and I have not opened one in 2 years.:(

Colin
 
Hi Jim ,

An interesting thread here , for me I have in the past bought magazines for a single article (busts ..of course) but to be honest after I had read it I didn't bother with the rest ....maybe I should have read it whilst at WH Smiths!!!!

I have magazines stashed all around most now not in production(HM, MI etc) so I suppose space is a big thing for a lot of us ( I still use for reference for particular articles- yes I have cross referenced into an index...... everyone!!!)

The only magazine I get is Figure International as I feel its a really good magazine but that is it ...what attracted me to it firstly ...the colour articles and the presentation, the internet as others will I am sure agree has taken over for most of us (yes even my age group!!!) ...most have their own websites now anyway but I must admit for me there is something tactile about having a magazine and indeed a book colllection ...but like Colin the times I do go into a magazine is not very often ..its esier to open my PC up .

The average magazine now costs about £5 some IMO are not worth that , most are not Figure orientated anyway (we have had his in previous threads on PF) so this has an influence on wether I buy or not ..oh and of course if Carole is with me :whistle: !!!

Be intersting to see others thoughts

Nap
 
Internet for me. Help in real time, you aren't stuck with articles that are of little or no interest and info on new releases before they're even released in some cases.
Having said that I do like to thumb the odd magazine,;)
Carl.(y)
 
I really regret the demise of Historical Miniatures, for me it was the perfect Figure Magazine and in English, great pictures and articles that I still refer to from time to time. Like Kevin I have indexed my magazines otherwise with so many it is impossible to remember what you have. So far I have indexed, Military Modelling, Figurines, Historical Miniatures and Figure International. I have Uniformes and Euro Figuras still to do. I only index the figures and articles that interest me which is mainly everything pre 20th Century and excludes Fantasy which is not a genre of interest.
I subscribe to Figurines but regret the availability of an English language version so you could say I am a fan of the printed word. Historical Miniatures produced a PDF of their last edition but I find reading from a screen is just not the same (Call me old fashioned...just old if you like:().
Having said all this perhaps the way our friend in Greece is going with his series of books is the future?
Keith
 
Internet for me. Getting modelling magazines in Australia is pretty much impossible unless you order from overseas and the shipping cost is mote than the magazine so it dorsnt make sense. I did order the Euro militaire issue of Military Modelling last year it was the first and only modelling mag I have bought, but was a little disappointed in it. I had pretty much seen all the pieces right here on planetFigure. I'd much rather pay my $15 a year planetFigure supporter membership to planetFigure so Gordy can keep uprading the site and keep an invaluable resource running.

I don't think Gordy has posted about the planetFigure supporter membership or not but if you feel that pF is a valuable site and that Gordy and the others do a great job of running the site and keeping the hardware used to hold all of our valuable info current, you can support pF by clicking the account upgrade option which is found by clicking on the little down arrow next to your name up in the top right of the page which takes you to PayPal. I only stumbled across it by accident. Oh and one other bonus...no advertisements makes it a little quicker and less cluttered.

Andrew.
 
Colin, Nap, Carl, Keith, Steve and Andrew, thank you for your responses. I do agree with all of your thoughts. Like I said before. There are no right or wrong answers. These are simply your personal opinions and you are more than entitled to them. I know that many manufactures read this site as well as other sites that are geared towards their magazine's speciality. It was my hope that they would stumble across this and see what their customers think. For me personaly, the magazines that have either gone under and the ones that are teetering on going under have not changed their product based off of the internet. Let's face the truth, the internet HAS changed this hobby where as you used to have to wait a month or two to see a new release or show reports. Hell, how many of us remember buying a companies catalog just so we can see pictures of their figures? I used to have stacks of catalogs from most companies as well as The Red Lancers and The Black Watch. Now you can browse the net and see all of this in minutes v.s.what took hours before.

I see no need for show reports nor upcoming releases in a magazine anymore. If a paticular company WANTS to do this, then I feel it should be online with a link to different sites with show reports or new releases. I know, that will probably stir up some of you that are die hard MM readers but think about it. Why pay for the printing costs of something when chances are you have already seen these on the net elsewhere?

One magazine has it right in my opinion. AFV/AIR modeler. They release a QUALITY product with back issues available via PDF you can download to your computer. In fact, you don't have to download the entire issue, just the articles you want. Have a look at their site, you can see specificaly what I'm talking about http://shop.afvmodeller.com/customer/home.php?cat=263.

Speaking of PDF articles/magazines, what are your thoughts on this. Would you be more likely to purchase something of this nature? If you want to print it out, then you can easily create a book with articles in document protectors or have them on your computer. It's your choice. This would eliminate the costs of a printer and the distribution thereby eliminating the need for advertisers cluttering up your magazine. You can build your own reference library with articles you want. There is no need to waste space on unneeded articles anymore. Of course, these are just my PERSONAL opinions and yours may differ. That's ok with me. I would rather here differing opinions than for us all to agree. That makes for a pretty boring discussion......:)

Jim Patrick

BTW- Thank you Andrew! I didn't know that's how you guys got the star beside your name! Call me late for dinner I guess. I have been away for awhile dealing with this little thing we call "life". :LOL:
 
Jim P,........ your right, you could spend vasts amount of money on various magazines, for one interesting article!... So like many others, I no longer bother... (As that collective money, could go towards another figure).. However, I will still pick up the 'Euro-Militaire', figure edition every year!... If only to depress myself!:LOL:. But there is more than enough information that can be gained from the internet, not least on this site.

Mark
 
I really liked HMM and I collect every issue from number one to the latest. I had a short time Figurine International but it is to much Andrea and Acrylic...For me as a oilpainter it has not much.
Lately I buy Figure Modelling. But it is also to much Acrylic.
Further I mis the showreports and new figures, and some information about uniforms etc.
Call me old fashioned but I really like a magazine in my hands and not on a screen. Pf has all a magazine needs, but it is still a screen.

I really believe that Figurine and Euro Figuras lost the figure world because they only want to print in French or Spanish. How long can you hold that attitude???

I can only hope that Figurine and EuroFiguras gonna have a English translation very soon, because that is how a figure magazine should be.
Maybe HMM back???

Marc
 
Whilst I can get everything I need from here and other internet sources I am old school and miss perusing the magazines in WH SMiths. Here in the DR it is rare to see an english print magazine (usually an OK magazine or Take a Break that one of the tourists has left) But to see a modelling magazine is like finding rocking horse s**t.
 
Jim P. I totally agree, with Marc and Keith!..., on hindsight, I only used to get these publications, when I was starting out! with AFV's, In the 90's and onwards!.. However, since moving over to the figure areana, the options available are massively reduced, and those that are available are pretty much 'Acrylic', based. I like many others, use oils! But there are no publications out there that focus on this medium. Which is a damn shame. Now if a publication did arise in PDF, format, that covered this medium, I would probably subscribe
 
I have stacks and stacks of old magazines. My problem is trying to find a particular article. I spend hours looking for a certain article, because I stop to read several that grab my attention along the way. I tried to create an index once, but couldn't keep the interest up for the time required to complete it.
My wife is a quilter, and one of the magazines she likes is on the net and she can download and print the articles she likes, plus access back issues. They have an index for quick finding of a subject.
I love to look at articles of figures I am going to paint to see what others have done. I love the pages showing the latest figures. I like to look in old issues to see when a certain figure was first produced and who was the manufacturer. I do love my old magazines and will not get rid of them. What would make me buy a magazine today? I look through the magazines that Chuck or other vendors bring to the show and if there are articles on a particular figure that I think I would like to paint, then I will buy it.
I loved Figurines, but stopped buying it because it is in French. I have every issue of HMM published, and tons of MM. I have lots of other older magazines too. I havn't bought a new magazine in about two years. I now find most articles on the net. Thanks to everyone who does SBS articles! I buy books on figure modeling.
Well, that's my two cents on magazines.
Pete
 
Hey Jim, I'm like most everyone else that has posted here. I have almost all of the HMM and other mags that I found myself buying for the sake of not having holes in the collection. Realizing that some did not have an invaluable article (to me anyway), and that they take up space, I've become much more selective in my magazine purchase. I tell myself, is there really any info that I don't already have ? And, don't give in to the eye candy! Like Pete, I go searching for some info in Military Illustrated Past and Present, for example, and end up stopping and reading other articles getting myself side tracked. I'm using the internet more and more and have commenced putting together files of pics for future reference. So, when I work on a project sometimes I'll have my laptop, books, and magazines within reach to refer to. Maybe the next step will be to clear one of the walls in the study and clutter it with photos, diagrams and notes like a special ops mission board.

Joe
 

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