So they got the latest issue out in time - just: Saturday morning - for Railex at Aylesbury, having missed it by a week last year despite big paid-for ads and a puff in the editorial pages. (Still a fortnight late but that's almost good for Wild Swan).
Yet: Jas Millham's piece on Moving Sand At Yaxbury has a ruddy great bit missing! The page follow-on doesn't work: could be anything from a paragraph to an entire two-page spread gone.
Bunch of amateurs, and not in a good way. Sigh...
Tony Clarke
This was noted by Jas, since he pointed it out to me with just a tinge of annoyance in his voice :-) The Wild Swan stand wasn't too far from his layout at Railex, so I'm sure they would have got the benefit of his feelings :-)
Jim.
"Tony Clarke" wrote
Far from perfect I know, but still a far better model railway magazine than any of the other efforts. If I could only afford to buy one, MRJ would be it.
John.
Tony Clarke said the following on 31/05/2006 19:32:
Did you not enjoy any of the other articles then either? You forgot to mention those :-)
I'm not sure "bunch" describes Wild Swan. It is little more than a one or two-man operation. It isn't fair to compare it to the likes of Peco Publications or the EMAP group, and it certainly doesn't have the same resources. The issue of publication dates slipping so that paid-for adverts for exhibitions become useless is an old problem, discussed to death in other places. From my own POV, I don't start looking for it on my doorstep on the date - it's a pleasant surprise to get home from work and find it there one day.
Admittedly, chopping an article off in it's prime is a basic error, and I'm surprised Mr Shackleton hasn't been beaten up on P4_talk yet!
If people are so concerned about publishing dates then Railway Modeller is the go, they to my knowledge haven't missed a date for decades.
Doesn't help MRJ with their advertising base though, its certainly not going to get exhibition adverts & therefore the income.
"Kevin Martin" wrote
Oh yes they have - the current issue was a week EARLY!
John.
"Paul Boyd" wrote
That's because he's a really nice bloke - so I'm told.
John.
It's just a text box gone awry. I blame MS Word, myself (though they probably don't use it).
The first column is part of the main article and continues at the top of the next page. The other two columns are a text box, but they're in reverse order! Read column 3 followed by column 2...
They are at least doing something - far better than being armchair critics like me...
Tim
Its actually irrelevant what day they come out to me. For the RM, they only supply it to the hobby trade via expensive airmail to Australia and at the surcharge the retailers have to sell it its about 7.5 quid a go. Or you wait a couple of months for the newsagents to catch up, then its about 4.5 quid. Guess which option I take?
For the MRJ, a different story again. Generally speaking the hobby trade here don't get supplied because MRJ don't supply direct OS, except for my local hobby shop which does have an account - they slipped through the system in the early days of Wild Swan apparently. These tend to get sent out in batches, sometimes 1, 2 or even 3 issues in a short space of time, then nothing for 4 months is quite common. They often don't arrive in order either. So you see, again I don't care at all what the publish date actually is. Since my local hobby shop goes to that much trouble (and pays up front with no Sale or Return) I give him my support by buying MRJ from him.
Thinking about it, does it really matter if MRJ is late (apart from exhibition ads) most of the rest is virtually timeless.
"Kevin Martin" wrote
My philosophy entirely.
MRJ has a long-standing reputation for late publication therefore those choosing to advertise in its pages must be aware of this fact. If they then choose to place time-critical advertising then it's their own fault.
John.
Kevin Martin said the following on 01/06/2006 13:07:
Nope - which is pretty much what I said earlier as well! I much prefer the pleasant surprise of any magazine just appearing on my doorstep, rather than worrying about whenever it's due.
I'd have thought everyone knows that MRJ doesn't have a good record on publication dates and would act accordingly. Equally, AFAIK, they have refunded paid adverts which were time-expired.
It reads fine if you read column 3, then column 2, then column 1, then turn over.
Still, one column transposition error (cols 1 and 3 swapped) in 160-odd issues isn't a bad record. MRJ has much better copy editing than any other magazine I regularly read (and that includes one I was editing for a few years).
- Nigel
But that date is 19xx, and they haven't got much beyond it either? :-)
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