Do you find Rod & Custom Magazine Lacking ??

I've seen more that a few reader surveys created by enthusiast magazines over the years and the conclusion has always been that a majority of the readers buy/subscribe to these books as much as for the ads as for the editorial content.

Readership for most enthusiast books turns over every four to five years. Quite frankly, based on these numbers, we would recycle a five year old ad in R&C, CAR CRAFT and HOT ROD knowing that probably fewer than 10% of the current readership would remember that it had appeared before.

When it comes to magazines vs. the HAMB, I take most of the postings here with a grain of salt. The fact that when a HAMBer's car appears in one of the enthusiast books, there are plenty of posts here announcing the event and plenty of "atta boys" tells me magazines aren't dead yet.

FYI, there is an ad/edit ration that has to be maintained in order to qualify for special US Postal subscription rates. Can't remember what it is (was).

 

I've been getting it off and on since the 60's. It's still fine and the price is right. But I DO miss R&C Models!!! Gary

 

Looks like its printed on asswipe. R&C has become a "flip through" for me. Flip through, if theres nothing interesting, put it back on the shelf.

 

They still publish magazines??? Magazines are soooo 20th Century....

 

I've subscribed for years, and the past several years have been the best thus far for me. It does seem thinner, but I am sure that is a case of Rob and Aaron doing the best they can with the resources they have and the constraints they are given. That said, I do go through them alot more quickly lately as well unfortunately. The annual was top notch worthy of TRJ, Hop Up status, IMO.

Maybe they should send someone to the Pileup since it's the last year and all instead of another LSR article...

And I completely agree on that comic strip Dynamat ad... it sucked ass the minute the agency sent out the pdf. And rather than talking shit with no offer of a solution, my company could do far better!

 

All I want to say is that it breaks my heart. I got hooked reading a buddies R&C hidden inside my math book in school. I was hurt when it shut down the first time and rejoiced when it came back. THE BEST magazine in my lifetime but my life is close to over.... I have absolutely no connection to the magazine on the rare occasion that I leaf through it while waiting for my mom prescription in the drug store. I really miss it.

 

My short answer to the question is, yes. For all the reasons already listed, and I too remember it from back in the glory days. It was a great mag...unfortunately its time is passing. R&C, and for that matter most magazines, need to get with the program and move into the digital age...or get forever left behind.

Imagine for a moment that you could get R&C every month via downoad to your computer, ipad, iphone, ect. Think of the convience of being able to access the magazine anytime you wanted to, anywhere you wanted. Think of being able to easily save all the tech stuff that you wanted to keep, without having your wife bitch about all those ragged old magazines taking up shelf space. Your entire 20 year collection would be contained on a hard drive, instantally accessible. In addition there could be streaming video of the tech stuff and car features.

They are kind of moving in this direction already, albeit late. Look at the editorial in the current issue. Unless I miss my guess, the editor is fishing for feed back to support a digital move. Digital...bring it on.

 

"RnC" is a far cry from what it once was.......i am letting my subscription run out and will not renew

 

"Les Noise" Is Scott Whitaker of Dynamic Control, whose fertile mind brought us Dynamat,

Read more: http://www.streetrodderweb.com/features/0704sr_1932_ford_highboy_coupe/photo_02.html#ixzz1VrqmvQqi

 

fuck all that. give me a magazine. If I could get Rod & Custom only on a download I wouldn't bother.

Think of the convience of being able to access the magazine anytime you wanted to, anywhere you wanted.

sorry , I do not have an electronic gadget with me 24/7.

 

After getting the November 2011 issue in August 2011, I won't be renewing. This last issue didn't seem to have much to it. I agree, too much advertising. But I know that's what pays the bills. Just my 2 cents.

 

Rod and Custom is sinking. Just look at the number of "I will not renew post". The magazine is killing itself. Too few features and how to articles. Look at the issues from the 70-80s. I don't understand why the publisher fails to invest money in its future to make it a viable product. It has the right theme and audience.

 

I liked R&C for the tech articles. Thank -You HAMB for filling the void.

 

Starting back in 1968 I would finish my newspaper route & go to the drugstore and buy the newest R & C issue when it came out for 50 cents + a candy bar for 5 cents + a glass bottle of Dr. Pepper or Nesbitts Orange made with cane sugar (not corn fructose) for 10 cents. I would enjoy myself + I still have the magazines!!! - just my 2 cents today.

 

I have been subscribing since 1996, I have a three year sub now that I got at a Goodguys show vendor booth and I payed something like .68 cents per issue. Hell for less than 75 cents what do you expect? Yes it only takes two hours to read the whole thing but that two hours at a movie theater would cost $10.00. I feel I get much more enjoyment for my .68 cents than the $10.

 

The HAMB, (message boards in general) is more akin to hanging out with your buddies. Throwin' people under the bus, learning here and there, neat stories, neat snap shots, farting, etc... The magazines are what they've always been. Pick up that coveted 1957 (pick a year) issue of Hot Rod, you'll find plenty of the same formula they have now. Online stuff is fleeting, print is a captured moment, warts and all.

Print and digital are two separate entities. Apples and oranges with a common bond (hot rods). I want both in my life.




...and that's all I'm going to say on this matter....until the next magazine thread pops up....

 

I thoroughly enjoy the articles on the pioneers of rodding and racing. Even though I like the articles on specific rods or customs, the pioneer / history articles captivate me more than anything else in the magazine.

- EM

 

As a younger man who still gets the thrill of going to the convienience store to see what new mags are there. its sad to see the magazine's qulity dwindling even tho I am quite older then I used to be

 

its hard to compare the mag to what we have on here .... instantly
I do like all car magazines but i have been getting more info here about things i like ezier to store too

but i don't need the money for beer and magazines collections will be worth something some day ...right

 

I only buy the issues with Jimmy Smiths artwork in them.........oh and that Norwell cat.

 

like someone else said, that "welding" series is just a BIG ad for Miller. I have been very disapointed with it but I guess i'll keep my subcription just in case.

 

Just in the past year or two it's gone way down hill. Rodder's Journal is my favorite, and R & C used to be my second but I won't even buy it anymore... Traditional Rod & Kulture I'll pick up once in a while.

 

Being in the publishing industry, I gotta say it's a small miracle these guys are still around. And I don't expect they'll last much longer. The quality of their "product" in terms of editorial content, timeliness, packaging, delivery, and every other aspect, has gone to crap. Primarily because they've chosen to stick with an obsolete business model that's not profitable in the digital age. Instead of fighting the move to digital media, they should have created a foward thinking web-based presence some time ago, instead of offering the crap they have now.

 

I can't believe you guys are complaining... at $12 or less for a year's sub (I think the last time I renewed it was down to $8 or something...) what the hell do you expect?! I enjoy it, when I get it in the mail, yea it's no TRJ but cripes... what a buncha whiners! Get your ass out to the garage and quit griping, girls...

 

Oh ... So that explains the 1000's of car magazines in the bed of your daily driver pickup ... I always thought you were just hauling them to the Recycling Center


Sent from my iPhone using TJJ

 

thunderbirdesq X2, good flathead article Nov. issue!

 

I stopped all of my magazine sub's back around 2002-2003 when the quality IMO was going down. I have a used bookstore 2 blocks away and you can go there and read what you want for free. I could go there, read the 20 articles in the mag's that I was interested in ( a whole years worth), and have a coffee at the same time. No need for a subscription.

I get the tech articles here, and that is what interests me.

 

Price is not the issue. It's mainly the content. They don't provide much to start with, and what they do have is either common knowledge, ad-based projects, or stuff that's covered in more detail by more knowledgeable folks on places like the HAMB (for free). The reason they practically give the thing away is because that's the only way to get the circulation numbers up, which is critical factor for advertising sales. LIke I said, it's an obsolete model that's not going to be around much longer.

 

Bingo, I take them to the library when I have to poo.