I'm thinking of getting a subscription, it got lots of tech articles, good reading and gobs of pictures? if its crap what magazine do you all recommend? looking for more than a few pictures and advertisements, something thats actually useful I've got my uncles old collection of rod & custom from the 60's/70's and it don't seem to bad
To my taste,R&C runs hot and cold depending on who the editor is, and how much rope the bean counters will give him this month. Personally,I don't subscribe to magazines that are widely available on the news stands. Every month,I buy only what I like.
I'll second Unkl Ian's comments. Lately, I think it's the best it has been since Ganahl (sp?) was at the helm. I have been getting it off the newsstand lately, and considering a sub. I also need a sub to Rodder's Digest. I have subscribed to Custom Rodder for a long time, but I think this will be the last year for that. It's really gone downhill as far as my interests go. (Sorry, RF, nothing personal, but if the current content is selling plenty of books, you are doing your job. This is just a matter of preferences.)
Unkl Ian has a point, BUT, for the cost of 3 issues you could have 12 issues delivered to your mailbox (2 weeks before the newsstands to boot). I got my Rod and Custom subscription a little over a year ago and about 6 months ago they started doing articles on Bon Jovi and it seemed that every issue was thinner than the last and had alot more ads. I know the ads pay their bills, but I lost interest in the magazine because I started counting how many pages DIDN'T have ads on them and it was pretty low. Not to mention the ad pages in the back seemed to be creeping further and further toward the middle of the magazine. I didn't renew because it seemed to be turning into tacky stuff.
I just picked up a "Ol' Skool Rodz' mag and its pretty good. It's a anti billet rod mag though. Hell, a car in it even had rust on it.
well the problem is the local magazine racks that I see have things like streetrodder, truck'n and that sort nothing like the old rod & custom I got on hand, thats why I was thinking subscription, I haven't checked out the bookstores so there may be hope yet for previewing some magazines there if they don't come sealed in them old sandwich bags to prevent admiring the contents
Rod & Custom has been great the last 6 months. Lots of useful articles and some good traditional rods as well.
I've had my subscription for about a year now and have been pleased with the content and tech articles.
If you are going to buy two issues (or more) of any magazine it would have been cheaper to subscribe. I just sent in my renewal for 2 years of HOTROD for $18 and they provided a postage paid envelope! R & C is similar price to subscribe.
At the risk of outing my new work mates I know that the entire staff of R&C are all HAMBers. The other guys are hardcore lurkers but they TOTALLY know what's going on here and in the world of traditional rods. The whole staff lives and breathes traditional rods & kustoms and it really shows when you get to know them. Riz is just getting some ink with his own personal Roadster Pickup that he built totally by himself and it won't be long before my '28 Tudor is added to the mix. Lots more traditional stuff to come. And as an insider note- if you want to make the "bean counters" happy and show your support the numbers they look at the hardest are the newstand sales numbers. Your support there will strengthen whatever magazine it is that you like.
I've been getting it for a while now, it's gotten much better in the last year or two. I think it's worth subscribing.
[ QUOTE ] ...And as an insider note- if you want to make the "bean counters" happy and show your support the numbers they look at the hardest are the newstand sales numbers. Your support there will strengthen whatever magazine it is that you like. [/ QUOTE ] Is that a turn around in "beancounting" philosophy? Not doubting what you say, at all, but last time I heard about marketing counts it was subs that counted the most? Of course, every graduating business class of bean counting that comes out of colleges probably has a new beancounting text book to go by...
The number at the stands is the one that counts and is the number they pick apart when one cover doesn't sell as well as another. So much happens with junk subscriptions and give away prices that the number that matters is the one that pays the retail price. Yes it's great to have a really strong subscription base as well, but that news stand number is the brass ring.
just don't subscribe at a car show or swap meet. i did, the dude lied to me about the price and screwed up my form. i got like 2 back issues after "6-8 weeks" and then nothing at all. called them and they said my subscription ran out! it was only like 4 or 5 months after i subscribed! i called, got it straightened out. i'm pretty happy with it lately, this last issue seemed a little thicker.
I have subscribed to R&C for the bulk of the last 10 years I guess, it seems to be pretty good at the moment (apart from the fact I haven't seen an issue since I renewed my sub, went on line and it looks like they screwed up my address ?? they are fixing and I'm hanging out for the mag specially as they are ment to be doing an Olds engine build !!!!). But I like the mag and for the cost of a sub (cheap) you are saving $$ big time even if you only like a couple of the issues.
As much as I like Rod N Custom, Im a bit dissapointed right now. for some reason I did not get last months issue, and finally got this months. Magazines are tough to deal with since you dont know who to contact and if the issues will ever be addressed. I only wish they did more "old skewl rods" or "backyard builder rods"...thier low buck tech articles are great too. R/C is a good magazine, I have had a subscription for many years now.
OK,so all those guys log on or lurk here,maybe one of'em could tell me what happened to the RocketOlds buildup? last installment they had looked like they were just throwing money at it,maybe they should've read the Doc Fromhader buildup in Custom Rodder,huh?
Yorgatron, The Rocket Olds buildup turned into a major nightmare. I was just leaving R&C when that thing went down, and I swore it would be the death of me. Egge really came through with a donor motor and rebuild parts, but the shop doing the machine work totally dropped the ball. Suddenly calls didn't get returned, nobody knew where the heads were, etc. etc. I'm sure you've all experienced this once or twice with your own projects over the years, it just usually doesn't happen to magazine motors. In this case it did. As far as I know the parts are still sitting at the shop, they just let the thing die despite repeated protests. It was one of the more unfortunate events to happen in my time with R&C... the biggest bummer is for Riz, who was supposed to get the engine when it was complete. If I was him I'd kick their door down and demand my pile of parts.
Okay guys here's my intro and my reply to yorgatron. This is RIZ from R&C and I've been lookin over yer shoulders for years now. Figured it was about time to join in, since I know a good number of ya already. The Olds fiasco is due to the machine shop droppin' the ball and not wanting to pick it back up. Outa my hands for the time being. If things work out fine, if not, I ain't gonna have a stroke over it. As far as R&C goes, size, content, etc. We're kept at an ad ratio of 55% that means 55% of the mag is ads, and 45% is editorial -- set in stone (Street Rodder is at 57%). The more ads we have the more pages we can add - simple as that. Content, well that's another story. We fight for traditional/homebuilt content and tech, but it ain't our company. We've just got to continue to bow to our employer and still try to do some of what we want anyway. It's not always easy and it doesn't always work. Anyway hello to all, and I'm done with the excuses.
I have owned and read EVERY R&C issue. By far, the best issues are from '68 to '74. 2nd best are the 'Ganahl years', '88 - '94. All other years are only good for pictures & period references IMO. So, it sounds like you have the best of R&C. For current mags, I recommend Rodder's Digest &/or R&C; they're the best out there now. Others are 'newstand-worthy', which means that 11 of 12 issues aren't worth buying.
welcome riz i was wondering what the deal was with that engine. i had come to a few conclusions myself, but i was wrong on all of them. i subscribe to r+c. its been one of my favorites since i can remember. there was an issue a long time ago, well not that long. but it had a black tbird on the front, with a black 32 i think. those cars always stick in my head. i like the idea of young guns. as far as im concerned, thats one of the major points of the mag. id try to put mine in, but it says you have to show proof of registration, i think. the only thing i dont like, is when i subscribed, i was getting three calls a day from people trying to sell me magazine stuff. i know thats what it came from, but i also know its not the fault of the guys at r+c, probably something from a higher level. trey
Jeezzz look, he registered 2 friggin years ago too! Welcome to the HAMBored RIZ I, for one, think you're doing a great job! I even liked that article on the hairdo band's cars...
Welcome Riz- hope outing you didn't force your hand- I know you have a ton of friends here- now they can get to know you better. And Jeem, I didn't make a big announcement- those used to get me in trouble around here. Seems if you announce the sky is blue you will only raise responses from the 42 people that want to debate the fact and tell you that you are an idiot for thinking it's blue. I've decided it's not worth trying to protect every word I speak because no matter what it will be confused and reversed into something I never said. I humbly join the R&C staff and get to work with some really great guys (for your answer Ken- it's been great and my next satop is the Nationals in Louisville).
Thanks to all for the welcome, I appreciate it. Now, quit bustin our balls and gimme somethin' to work with. Send me some "real" ideas, stories, and photos. If you and the gang are wrenchin' on something you think would make a legitimate story, snap some pictures, jot down some notes and get 'em to me. If the photo quality is good enough I'll really try and use 'em. Thanks again.
The Jalopy Journal
