One of the nice things about subscribing to TRJ other than it's the best damn mag out there is the annual poster. Untill this year that is. It always came in a nice tube and looked good when put up on the shop wall. Tubes must have gotten too expensive as now it is mailed flat and has 4 FUGLY FOLD LINES in it. There is no way that those will press out and look good. I excepted a lot more from a cl*** outfit like TRJ.!!!! Rant Over BB
Bob- I think I read in an editorial in TRJ that they couldn't see spending the extra postage for the tube, but if you wanted one without the creases you could order the poster from them and they would send it in a tube.
Bob, Bob, Bob...get ahold of yourself! Now let Little Bob go and read the editorial in the last TRJ wherein Steeve describes the cir***stances that drove him to do this. It is the cost of the mailing tube that has made him decide to do something he really detests but has no other choice. If you want the poster with no fold lines, you can order one from TRJ for, I believe, $12.95 and they will send it to you in the mailing tube. I know, I know - this ****s, but what can you do? See you at the GNRS, Mr. Grinch!
That's the tough thing about giving away freebies... People begin to expect them. I'm not saying your wrong Bob, but look at it from their viewpoint. Shipping costs have gone up, packaging costs have gone WAYYYY up, they have more subscribers, etc... Something was gonna have to give eventually. You and I both know that no one is getting rich at TRJ. ****an is always looking for ways to add to the bottom line just like any business man should, but ultimately he doesn't do any of this for money. He does it for love... I'm confident in that. Keep in mind that I am terribly biased. ****an is my pal... and I'm on of TRJ's biggest fans.
Shock... but I really don't give a hoot about that "freebie" stuff. I'd just as soon pay less for my subscription if the TRJ would stop sending me all the promos for hats and Ts and posters and any other bangles / promo items the subscribers probably end up paying for. I have one TRJ poster on the garage wall, after all these years. The rest I just toss. Gary
There will come a time when TRJ will email you their annual poster as a file and you will transfer it to a flash drive, etc. and be able to print it out (poster size) at your local Kinkos, etc. The flash drive files will become collectible. Also, the US Postal Service is going broke so rates will continue to go up. Remember the old days when Sear used to mail you a catalog. No more. Telephone books will also become obsolete.
I've alway looked forward to recieving those posters. I've mounted, triple matted three of them for my family room. Hirohata Merc, the Black 3 Window Deuce and the Orange Roadster. I have about $600 -$650 into the work. Bummer
I heard the 'news' as well, I haven't seen mine yet. But Bob's right, folds never seem to cease! I don't hang them all anyways, I've got other art I'd rather use my limited space for but it's the thought that counts! This got me thinking though. I agree, being a person of the web I get emails, see stuff on the HAMB or their website, or hear about their products word of mouth, I don't necessarily need the paper mail. HOWEVER, having those things laying around my house have spawned a lot of new TRJ subscribers and fans, not even all of them necessarily big time car people, just people who recognize a quality publication with cool pics! Keep the mail coming Chasity! Just not the folded posters to Bob K!
Give me a chance to pay a few extra $ rather that send out something that will end up stapled to the wall in the garage.
I agree with this, but I would gladly pay for a digital hi-res copy that I could get printed locally. RJ would have virtually no expense and still could charge a modest fee and everyone would be happy. I can't agree with a shoddy copy regardless of the reason. It goes against everything that RJ stands for. Adjusting to the changing world is a constant. As much as I hate to, I also agree with Ryan, and after watching a photo shoot in person these guys are dedicated to quality. This last issue is spectacular.
LOL...I get so tired of all the promos/TRJ **** they send that there are times I feel like cancelling my subscription...cuz I'll never buy that stuff, then there are those other times (like every issue) that I get so bored and tired of looking at another '32 Ford I swear I'll never renew... Yeah, I realize I'm in the minority around here...but my money is just as good as the next guy's... I think TRJ is missing too many "other" great cars (kustoms) out there... R-
I missed the editorial too. However, TRJ has alway been about quailty and they should stick to it. Keep the quality of their product or don't do it. I think it should include the posters too. Maybe it would have been best to not mail a poster this year. How about mailing a token for the poster at the normal time and giving out posters at shows, in tubes, in exchange for the token where the gals are selling the subscrjiptions?
There's a simple solution; No more e-mails for TRJ products, "free" annual posters, and heck just dump the ad pages too! Oh, and you'll need to pay about $300 a year for your four annual issues. See it's easy. "... you don't know what 'ya got til it's gone.."
Ya mean you don't READ the mag???? The editorial is the first part I read.....and the explaination was reasonable. All the TRJ posters I have are hung in my 4 yo son's room anyway....
I WAS a magazine junkie. Ryan and I have discussed this but I don't even buy TRJ anymore. If even the great magazines like TRJ can lose someone like me I honestly don't see a future in print (and I went to school for advertising/journalism)
it's an a-la-carte world... and should be... it's wasteful to pay for things you don't need and costly to supply things that don't get used. we will see more of this in the future.
I like print... that smell of fresh ink on paper is just wonderful (or is it the thinners?)! Everything from books, to lithographs and seriographs, to magazines... the way they are bound, the wonderful colors on high quality papers and inks. I've saved all my Journals from day one, and others. But I toss most magazines or tear pages for the tech files. If it was all on the web I think I'd quit reading and only look at the photos. Gary PS Does anyone bottle that old memeograph ink smell?
I was the same way, but I even auctioned off some of my TRJs here a year or two ago. If I had the money I spent on magazines in the 80s and 90s I would have another hotrod in the garage. I still read most every issue, at the newstand. It is pretty rare a magazine is good enough that I buy it these days.
you beat me too it, why doesn't someone suggest this? then they could be printed and framed if wanted on high quality paper, no lines and no postage
I buy an American Rose Society calender for my wife every year. Instead of contracting with a printer to produce a bunch of calendars, and selling and shipping off that inventory, this year ARS hired lulu.com to do a 'print on demand' thing whereby lulu relieves the ARS of the risk of deciding how many to print, and the h***le of S & H. Instead, they provide a link to lulu and lulu prints as needed and handles the shipping, etc. Slick. Everybody wins. Maybe TRJ and its subscribers would benefit from such an arrangement. FWIW, PITW, YMMV.
Mine came today, as expected. I'm gonna lay it flat on a table in the daily garage and place a piece of poster board over and under with few books or something on top. I'll look at it in two or three months and see what has transpired. I like the posters but I don't frame them so they are just future sale items. Like some though, I don't toss them out. I'm too tight for that foolishness...hah! It's cruel and sometimes uncaring world in which few of our priorities are exactly the same.... Charlie
Ironically, my TRJ posters and about a dozen other bike industry posters have spent their life rolled up in a tube in my shop
I have to comment here. This is unbelievable, you guys are complaining about TRJ? TRJ has been bounced around here as one of the very best mags available. It is impossible to produce a mag that will satisfy everyone. Load it up with customs and the hotrod guys complain, load it up with rod content and the custom guys complain. Load it with builds from high ends shops, the backyard builders complain. Load it with back yard builds, then everyone complains about the lack of build talent. It is a never ending balancing act. I believe TRJ does a good job balancing it all, sure some issue lean a little far to the left or right,and some just completely miss the mark. But they always react positively and the next issue will be a success. As far as the poster goes, IT IS MEANT AS A COMPLIMENTARY POSTER. I don't expect free anything. I think it is rather absurd that folks are complaining that something that is a gift was not the quality they thought it should be. The editor apologized ahead of time, wrote a very compelling argument why it was happening. He also went on to state that if someone wants an unfolded copy, you can get one, just open up your wallet for the shipping. Absolutely absurd and uncalled for!!!!
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