goodguys outa here

thats why i said...am I the only one who see's something wrong with this picture?

i have no problem with people wanting to do that,,i also have no problem with people paying 7000 for a granite kitchen countertop either,or paying 650.00 a month truck payment(not including their insurance) if thats cool with them,,then i am hapy for them,,,,,,i am obvioulsly outta the loop as many a thousands of people are paying that( the entrie fees and membership fees) to the "GOOD GUYs"


if you guys wanna do that,,,do it,,,

 

ok my mistake its $35 a year.big deal and yeah ya can re-up for up to 3 years so if ya want to cover your ass nows the time to roll out the dough,shit I am that will cover me for a total 3 1/2 years.......just a thought,oh yeah my girlfriend and I went to a 3 hour movie and that cost me $50 by the time we got home so WTF

 

That used to frost me too but it does cost a ton to put on an event of that caliber and every time the fairgrounds think that someone putting on an event is making money they want a bigger chunk of it.

Vintiques of Yakima has put on their big run at the Yakima fairgrounds for over 30 years and next to the fair it is the biggest event there every year and every year the faigrounds wants a bigger cut.

I'd a hell of a lot rather pay 50 or 65 bucks to go to an event with 1500 or more cars and a full hall of vendors to check out than go to a one day event in a parking lot or city park and pay 25.00 because the club handed out a hotdog lunch and and built a small block engine as a door prize.

I will admit that I lost interest in playing with hotrods and going to events for several years because I got tired of the gold chain mentality and the "my car is better than your car". bs. This year for the first time since 1971 I didn't go to one event as either a participant or spectator.

Right now I'm getting excited again about putting the truck back together and hope to be able to make it to the run in Tacoma with a whole different look.

 

maybe you guys just dont get it...


with out 'US '(people with the cars)

those 'EVENT' promoters wouldnt have a car show....

they wouldnt have anything,.,,its the people that own the cars that make the car show/event...

maybe they should charge the people who walk in a spectators $55-65 ,,,i am sure they CANNOT go out to dinner and a movie for 65 bucks anymore! So I have NO problem paying $65 to get my truck, me, a friend or loved one, and any number of kids into the show for THREE days to hang out with friends! Shit, the show is way more satisfying and leaves me with memories, where as the dinner Comes out the next day, and the movie gets forgotten about a week later


so i am sure a spectatror gets the same outta that,,,charge the spectator $55-65...

 

Actually Sam, if a spectator got 2 three day passes it would cost them $102 I believe at $17 a day. So I think that US (the people with the cars that make the event) get a pretty good deal.

 

Blah, blah, blah, ...dollar per hour value of GG fun is off the charts. The only issue I have with the GG organization is that asshole Sparky that works for them. That dude is too old and cranky to deal with the general public in person. I guess I really need to write an email and CC a few people there.

 

dude you really need to understand the BIZ end of events & car shows.........no disrespect but damn this is what keeps it so we DO have events to go to.....if you just wanna hang out for the dayat a large event park with the masses and walk in or step up and pay the cash,just so you dont think Im talkin out my ass I drove to Scottsdale early saturday AM from tucson (110 miles)to hang out with our brother Over the Hill Gang chapter that was host club, hung out in the field/swap for the day and went to Elpolackos for the party then drove back to Tucson late that nite so I understand .but take it for what it is ....The best f**kin show in arizona! or most other states...and yeah I paid for 3 days

 

IMO.......the Mag alone is worth the money....

 

It cost a heck of a lot of money to put on an event especially when you take into consideration things like; weather, traveling and hotel costs, transportation and associated costs, fairgrounds or speedway charges, liability insurance, staff pay, (yes I know, local area clubs donate their time working as staff also). Then taking in all the advertising for all the events, costs for an office and office staff and associated costs. Not counting in the magazine because advertising dollars should be covering all those costs.
Plus their are other costs not mentioned. I haven't spoken to Gary in almost 20 years but I do know how much he put into the Goodguys and why he left the NSRA to start the Goodguys. It was for you.
I saw him lose his shirt at the first East Coast event in Winston-Salem, or was that another venue in the Carolinas. No one wanted to trust the man.
I'm no longer a member of either the Goodguys or the NSRA. I no longer go to events, I no longer read magazines, just the ones my son brings home and those I just scan through unless I see something that catches my eye or I see a car built by one of my friends.
Like Brian W said, where else are you going to go for 65 bucks. The cost of getting there is the cost of cruising your rod and that's what we built them for, no?
If it's a trailer queen, you have nothing to complain about, you can surely pay the 65 bucks, no time to cheap out now.

 

Anyone else get a renewal that shows double of what they paid last time for GG membership renewal? If so, did you contact the GG about this? What did they say?
Kirk is an employee, he does not run the oranization. Shows cost plenty to put on, even just the local small ones. Lots of work too, paid employees and volunteers. As with anything , if you don't like something either work to change it or just don't buy it/do it. Regular swap meets (not part of GG) are going up too. No easy answers. Do what is best for you.

 

Ummmmm - dude - TOTALLY different business. Gary never has sold TV's Stereo's and microwaves, unless they have had a garage sale I didn't know about. That company came and ripped off the name, as Gary had not ever service marked it, didn't feel that it would ever get ripped. Then they tried to sue Meadors for using the name!! They got what they deserved...... closed and banko.

 

2 cents worth here..............

I live in Spoakne and a few years ago the NSRA decided that after years of having one of their Nats shows here in the northwest that they didn't make enough to "go all the way up there" for that small of a show (1000-1500 cars). '48 and earlier "ONLY"! Only what they term "StreetRods" and nothing else. No exception! It's a money deal everywhere, right?

To the rescue......Goodguys............they allowed all of us "Low Life Customs" guys like me that drove a '49 and "didn't know shit!" according to NSRA guys. Oh yeah, and those Nostalgia Drag Guys that "waste their time" bringing back to life cars like Nitro dragsters and Gassers from the 50's and 60's.

Well, they (Goodguys)came in here and worked hard to promote our hobby all the way up to 1972 vehicles. There are three and a half days of fun here that just didn't exist with NSRA.

It's ok if you have a rusty traditional.........really.........it's fine! Innovation and ideas are appreciated and admired as well as the guys with all of the billet(yuk!) and money also. Everyone is appreciated. Bring the wife and kids in for three days. Three days anywhere else and it'll be way more than 65 samolians fer sure.

Our Early V8 Ford club rents the same Spokane fairgrounds for four days for a swapmeet and it costs over $25,000 dollars to rent. Yep over 25 grand! It takes a lot of people through the turnstiles to pay for that just so we can all have a great place to see our friends and talk the hobby.

Besides, it gives Kirk! a chance to take pictures of Allison painting a face on my chest at Claude and Sue's!

Everything is expensive, but not everything is as worth it for me like the Puyallup and the Spokane Goodguys.

OK.......I'm done............

 

Now that's some funny shite. Tell me where the nearest show they put on is to me here in Oregon? How many shows a year do they put out? How cool is their mag? Is there a chance my car could have a pic or two in it? Do they have the Fonz? And Al Drake? And what good would having my ads posted free in Minnesota do for me here in Oregon? C'mon, tell me tell me tell me....... i'm dyin' to know.
Goodguys isn't a club. It's an association. Clubs are where people go to watch rising music groups, or nubile young women. If you go to a couple GG shows a year, and register before the end of the year before ya go - the membership fee alone will be paid for in what you save in show reg fees - check it out in the mag and on line at their website. Anyone who wants some cheese with their whine, let me know. The events I attend are a blast, and as said previously - off the charts for fun factor. Nothing out there that I have found is a better bang for the buck. Well worth the money, period. If you aren't having fun at them - something is wrong with you, and you SHOULD stay home. Heck - you will probably spend as much on beer and corndogs from 7-11.

 

Meatball and Brian W have nailed it as far as I am concerned.

 

I agree.
My wife loves going to the Columbus GG's show. Doesn't hurt that it's the biggest of them all. We plan all year to go. We leave at 7am Thursday, and go the scenic route. Get there by noon, and spend til Sunday around 2-3pm cruising, BSing, eating, hanging out with friends etc. We usually leave our house with $800-1000. dollars, and only hope to have 20 bucks left when we get home. And it makes us happy. She enjoys it, I enjoy it. Could I do it for alot less money? Sure. I may have to trim the fat this year, because I've had no job since March. We still went this year(08), and have every intention of going in 09.
I doubt theres anywhere her and I could go, get in and have a great weekend for 60-80 entry fee.
It's a vacation of sorts for us.
Not to mention the gazette 12 times a year too.

 

GoodGuys is the best bang for your buck. Prices are going to go up when you have expenses that have risen like they have the last year. And KIRK has done a fantastic job with the Gazette, it has to be pretty expensive to print with all the glossy paper and first class photos in it. If you go to one or two events a year, you won't regret it and you won't see that many quality cars in one place, period. As a member of the Midwest Deuces, our club works with them putting on the Deuce Doins at Des Moines, Kansas City and Joliet every year. You won't find a better organization and people to work with. They never have an attitude and go out of their way to treat people right. The MSRA is a great organization too, but it is only in Minnesota and operates totally with volunteers so they aren't traveling across the country every other week either. If the so called "Gold Chainers" go to GoodGuys events its because its the best event to be seen at. You can't fault KIRK and the GoodGuys for that. KIRK is always pushing everyone to drive their cars and not be the lawn chair/trailer jockeys. If you want to stay home, stay home and bitch, and miss the fun of driving somewhere, having fun, seeing your friends and a lot of nice cars. Maybe you can save enough $$$, by cutting out your bad habits (cigarettes, bar tab, fast food, etc.) to do an event once a year. Why not?

 

GG events are fun as hell. At least up here in the NW. Although, I've heard the same from events all over the country. The mag is great and the staff (save for one or two I've met through the years) kick ass. It's a business, but I'm certainly going to support a business that is going to support my hobby so it doesn't die out when our hot rod heroes do.

 

The large increase is for the Canadian and over seas members. The new price puts Goodguys at breaking even on those memberships. Do some math and you can se the hundreds of thousands that were being lost.

It definitely sucks to have to make such dramatic increases. Believe me, the decision wasn't made lightly, but there would be no Gazette at all if the company goes out of business from losing money.

A piece of advice... RENEW NOW. Add a few years on at the current low price before January first.

FYI Domestic subs are going up $5 for 2009.

Oh one more COOL THING - the $2 discount coupon that is always on page ten of the Gazette is going up to $5!!!!!!

 

You're in Illinois? Yours went up five bucks.

 

I know it seems like I'm on here 24/7, but I do have to eat and sleep.

 

Without running a profitable business, there is no show.

 

I would be happy to speak about that to the powers that be at GG, but I've never heard any interest from the HAMB side. I think there'd be a lot of whiners that Ryan was selling out, even though it would benefit HAMBers.

 

Not suspicious. He actually quit several years before the drawing. In fact, when he quit it was right before an event, leaving Goodguys high and dry. Not the guy you'd fix a contest for.


Yours is going up $5, not double.

 

Yeah, breaking even is pretty greedy.

 

Thanks for all the positives.

The truth is that Goodguys is very much a family business. We are just a bunch of car guys trying to put on good shows and produce a good magazine every month. If you aren't savvy enough to figure out that it's a business and that the employees have to get a paycheck, then I have no chance of explaining it to you.

Show me another hot rod related magazine with even HALF of the content that the Gazette has at any price! 220-240 full-color pages each month with 300-500 cars, shop tours (sometimes of HAMBers), tech, model cars (by a HAMBer), classifieds, cool stories (by multiple HAMBers), lad speed racing coverage, drag racing...it goes on and on.

You definitely don't have to go to the shows or buy the magazine, but I think you are seriously missing out if you don't. I can honestly say that there is a lot for everyone. If there wasn't, I couldn't work there.

As for the foreign price increase. It's purely smart business. Goodguys loses between $35 and $65 PER FOREIGN MEMBER. With thousands of foreign members that's a HUGE chunk of change per year. Add to that the fact that Goodguys always replaces lost Gazettes for FREE even though it's USPS fault when they don't make it. ONE replacement issue sent to Australia, for instance costs Goodguys about $25. OUCH!

Anyway, sorry for the increase, there was simply no choice.

RECAP: Domestic memberships will be going up $5 starting January 1st, so renew before then. Also the $2 discount coupon on page 10 is increasing to $5.


I won't be near the computer for a few days, so bear with me if there are more questions.

 

Ahhhh lol! I had no idea wtf he was talking about at first. That's funny. On a related note to the electronics chain, they were bought by Comp USA who ended up with their debt which basically helped to sink both businesses. Yea it sucks to be in the retail business and have this useless knowledge

 

ya double the rates and not as many jobs.. I dont think they'll be having much luck

 

Kirk your last post sums up everything very well. I think some people mainly can't get over the business aspect of it and more of them don't get that the vendors and fairgrounds set their own prices independant of Goodguys or whatever event they're at.

 

KIRK!, your signature never rang truer!

 

Okay, I want a turn at whacking on this dead horse.

The one thing that nobody ever seems to mention is that for most of us the cost of registration is the cheapest part of the whole weekend. Gas to get there and back, (especially this past summer), food, hotel, all take a bigger bite than the Goodguys.

We went to Bowling Green this year and let's see what we got for our money.
On Friday we cruised around the grounds, looking at over a thousand cars. Cruised through the drag race pits. Parked, checked out the swap meet. Walked around looking at more cars. Sat in the stands watching drag racing for awhile. Got in the car and cruised around some more. (In fact my avatar is from a photo somebody shot of us cruising around at BG) Parked in a different spot and walked around checking out some more cars. After hours and hours of this we finally went back to the campground and checked out some MORE cars.

On Saturday we cruised around the grounds, parked, walked around looking at the cars. Watched more drag racing. Walked around in the pits. Hooked up with Denise and a bunch of other HAMBers. This kind of stuff went on all day. Drag racing, cars, swap meet, sitting, walking.

Sunday, more of the same for hours and hours! More drag racing, more walking, cruising. Geez, what terrible time!

Anyway, most people have already made all the good points, it's cheaper than one night out on the town, etc., etc., etc. Best "member" magazine by far with the most color, etc., etc., etc. (Have you seen a copy of "Streetscene" lately? )

And name something that HASN'T gotten more expensive in the last year! Goodguys has to cover all the same expenses that you and I do, plus put out the magazine, pay the employees, and put on all those shows.

Oh, and if you think a $5 increase is double, maybe you should be paying a math tutor instead of going to car shows!