Goodbye Railroad Model Craftsman magzine and Carstens Publications

[Komata]

This has just appeared on Facebook:

It is with regret that Carstens Publicatons, Inc. will be closing permanently at close of business on Friday, August 22, 2014. Carstens Publications, Inc. has been a leading publisher of leading hobby magazines for over 50 years. Unfortunately the current economic climate has placed us in this position. Discussion is continuing with several parties who expressed desire to take on the continuance of the magazines. At this point there is still hope that all three titles will remain in existence. But I can offer no guarantees. We thank you for your patronage over the years, and wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
--Henry R. Carstens, President
Carstens Publications, Inc.

The link:

https://www.facebook.com/modelcraftsman/posts/10154498427550265?fref=nf

So all that is left now is Model Railroader magzine.

Sad really...

[Bealman]

I was never a great fan of MRC but I do have a few issues around somewhere. Yeah, it's always sad to see long-running concerns close down.

[Chatty]

Even Model Railroader has been on something of a diet for a while.  Very thin volume these days.

I guess it is a lack of advertising that would be hurting all hard copy magazines.

Model Railroad Hobbyist appears to be using a different funding model.  Probably, it is cheaper to produce, although its editorial content appears to be suffering a bit as well.

I have always wondered how the British market sustains so many model railway magazine titles.

Kind regards

Geoff

[oreamnos]

[edit]

I have always wondered how the British market sustains so many model railway magazine titles.

Kind regards

Geoff

Quite honestly I think it's because I think the UK market has, per capita, a much, much higher relative percentage of its population interested in trains and railways than here in the US.  Also - while I haven't subscribed to Model Railroader in maybe 10 years now - even back then the content wasn't really on par with the UK RM, or even MR.

I admittedly don't keep tabs anymore on the US market since I switched to UK outline about 10 years ago, but I belong to a local club here in the Los Angeles area and my sense from my fellow modellers (who model US outline) is that the US market is currently not nearly as vibrant as the one in the UK.  My gut feeling is the US market hit its golden age between 1995-2005.  There use to be fairly regular traveling model railway exhibitions back then in all major cities here.  Today - not much.  My club only gets to exhibit when some third party is putting on a railway themed historic exhibition or event and it wants a large layout as entertainment for its guests.  Either that or when a retirement home for OAPs wants to give its tenants a "trip down memory lane."

I'd love to know how much is spent on model railways per capita in the US vs the UK,  but - even allowing for the higher prices in the UK - I'd bet more money is spent per person in the UK.  Since I'm not in the trade, I wonder if without internet sales a dedicated US model railway shop (i.e., one that doesn't cater to other hobbies as well) would even be able to survive now.  There's actually a US shop owner on this board, Mike Fifer, and I'd be curious to hear what he might have to say about that.

Matt

[Bealman]

Interesting theory, Matt, and one that sounds reasonable to me.... wonder what other forum members think?

[grumbeast]

Don't forget there's more than MR and MRC in NOrth America, there are also two n scale magazines (N Scale and N scale railroading) and I'm sure there are many other publications that are scale specific

Graham

[DesertHound]

Even Model Railroader has been on something of a diet for a while.  Very thin volume these days.

I guess it is a lack of advertising that would be hurting all hard copy magazines.

Model Railroad Hobbyist appears to be using a different funding model.  Probably, it is cheaper to produce, although its editorial content appears to be suffering a bit as well.

I have always wondered how the British market sustains so many model railway magazine titles.

Kind regards

Geoff

Interesting point Geoff. You got me thinking there. I would imagine that with the rise of the internet retail model (think Hattons, Model Railway Direct - or something like that) and the decline of traditional model shops, there is less demand for magazine advertising.

The result of internet retailing is that it leads to a concentration of sales in a few outlets (just look at Amazon) with a corresponding reduction in other outlets (in this case local model shops). Large online sellers don't need to advertise as much as local model shops in magazines - they can just get their name high enough on the google list and that's all they need to do. You don't see Amazon advertising that much, simply because they don't need to, they've already cornered the market and people just flock there because they know it's cheap. I think the same is happening in pretty much every retail segment.

It could mean the end if the magazines (or should we say we'll be reduced to a choice of one) within the next 5-10 years.

Dan

[EtchedPixels]

I expect we'll see some UK ones fall in time, or move online. UK model railways are perhaps partially immune to it given the age profile but basically when you plot paper magazine/newspaper sales against age it's very clear where it is all going. Paper magazines are going the way of VHS (*)

Alan
(*) for younger members VHS was a way to record TV programs and then watch half of it before the machine spewed tape everywhere. Biro's are hexagonal so you can rewind the tapes by hand.

[DesertHound]

I expect we'll see some UK ones fall in time, or move online. UK model railways are perhaps partially immune to it given the age profile but basically when you plot paper magazine/newspaper sales against age it's very clear where it is all going. Paper magazines are going the way of VHS (*)

Alan
(*) for younger members VHS was a way to record TV programs and then watch half of it before the machine spewed tape everywhere. Biro's are hexagonal so you can rewind the tapes by hand.

Alan, for the younger members you could say "Paper magazines are going the way of DVDs!"

Not wishing to take this thread off topic but we were having a good discussion the other night about the effects of the internet on journalism and news content. Everybody wants to read their news for free these days online and we're currently at a halfway house between newspapers charging for online content and it being free. the thing is, for good journalism, you have to pay for it. If all news were free then who would pay for it to be written? Given, sites which the masses flock to will draw in advertisers such as Tesco, Ford, blah blah blah, but where's the funding going to come from for niche magazines - I just can't see niche businesses paying enough to advertise on niche websites.

I could, on the other hand, be completely wrong 

[Sprintex]

(*) for younger members VHS was a way to record TV programs and then watch half of it before the machine spewed tape everywhere. Biro's are hexagonal so you can rewind the tapes by hand.

You can't use a biro to rewind a video tape, only a music cassette

Video tapes you have to press the little square flap-release button on the end that also releases the trailing spool ratchet, then you wind the tape using an appropriately sized finger (oo-er!) inserted into the other spool


Paul

[zwilnik]

One disadvantage the US has in respect to printed product is that it's a vast area to distribute over. Whereas in the UK you can distribute a magazine overnight with a small fleet of trucks, it takes days to do the same in the US (and more trucks) unless you're using airfreight for everything.

[EtchedPixels]

(*) for younger members VHS was a way to record TV programs and then watch half of it before the machine spewed tape everywhere. Biro's are hexagonal so you can rewind the tapes by hand.

You can't use a biro to rewind a video tape, only a music cassette

It was a long time ago   

[Sprintex]

(*) for younger members VHS was a way to record TV programs and then watch half of it before the machine spewed tape everywhere. Biro's are hexagonal so you can rewind the tapes by hand.

You can't use a biro to rewind a video tape, only a music cassette

It was a long time ago   

Not when you still own and use lots of cassettes and VHS tapes like we do

DVD or CD is about as far 'advanced' as our house goes, don't do the download thing and as for Blu-ray, what the hell is that all about?


Paul

[EtchedPixels]

Alan, for the younger members you could say "Paper magazines are going the way of DVDs!"

DVD - you can't fit a DVD in your tablet or smartphone, DVD is also on the way out

I do think you can still fund a niche product. It might be a magazine though. The forum has its own advantages/disadvantages. Non paper publications are much cheaper than paper (especially as the Royal Mail keeps upping prices). And of course the NGS is producing on paper and doing quite well.

Alan

[grumbeast]

I agree you can fund a niche magazine.  I feel that in the states, people are willing to pay more for what they want.  I used to ( and should get my back issues) of Railroad Explorer Magazine which just has content from the North Eastern States and Eastern Canada, published 3 times a year and was very high quality.. Mind you is was costly ( no ads) at about $11 CDN per issue.  Best magazine I ever bought

People just have to be willing to pay for what they want.