Administrators SteveCole Posted February 1, 2017 Author Administrators Share Posted February 1, 2017 Apologies all. I'm trying to find out... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators SteveCole Posted February 1, 2017 Author Administrators Share Posted February 1, 2017 Hi all, There's been a slight issue. Subscription copies only went out yesterday. They started the bagging process on Friday, ready for the Friday evening post. However, inserting the magnifier cards should have been a machine-fed job but it didn't quite go according to plan. So, on Monday and Tuesday we had staff hand inserting the cards, hence the delay. Sorry about this. You 'should' receive your copies tomorrow. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted February 1, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1, 2017 Thanks Steve for the prompt response. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shroomy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Blame it on the Chinese New Year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Post has just been,no BRM. To be honest, a fresnel lens magnifier isn't one of my top must haves. I've several languishing unused and un-needed at the back of my desk draws! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 2, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2017 Post has just been,no BRM. To be honest, a fresnel lens magnifier isn't one of my top must haves. I've several languishing unused and un-needed at the back of my desk draws! Mine has also not arrived in today's post. However we might well have got back the Postie who I was quite convinced used to read my subscription copy of ' Model Railroader' as that often arrived with the bag in disarry (not that that has happened to BRM thus far). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
valleymodeller Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Just saw the issue in Sainsbury's which was tempting but I guess I can wait another day or so for the subs copy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beejack Posted February 3, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2017 My copy was waiting on the door mat when I got home today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted February 3, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2017 got my copy today, took advantage of the free membership to the Hornby collectors club offer last month and this is the first sub copy, it in fact the first BRM mag ive had first impressions, turned the page to see andy Y staring back at me, not a promising start but i suppose it will scare the kids and keep them away from the mag! the eldest has already nicked the magnifier which would have been useful the one thing i am excited about is the NR 950 build, only last month i recieved the PH design kit to convert my Bachmann 150 so thst article will be an absolute god send when i start to build it simons layout looks good but one question, on the picture of the absolute aspects signal, whats the thing on the floor in the foreground in front of the signal? puzzling me that one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Is the magnifier just for subs copies? Picked up this issue in local newsagent yesterday to have a read of Simon's "Norwood Road". Comments above indicate that this issue is bagged. Not in my newsagent. Does this mean the magnifiers have "fallen out" somewhere along the line? No big deal - I was just going to keep it on the kitchen windowsill so I can read the ridiculously small print on food packaging when cooking dinner! Saves trying to find my reading glasses that have a cruel habit of playing "hide and seek" with me! Great issue, btw - I'm no longer a regular reader but 3 or 4 times a year, BRM doesn't disappoint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 simons layout looks good but one question, on the picture of the absolute aspects signal, whats the thing on the floor in the foreground in front of the signal? puzzling me that one Hi Jim, The thing in front of the signal (actually a CR Signals model) is Catchpit lid for the drainage system, although they aren't often that colour because of weathering, but blue is the brand new colour. It's one of my 3D Printed components. Looking at the photo, I need to bed it in a bit more! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 My copy arrived on Friday morning. Lots of good reading (Lime Street! Yay!), but the magnifier was as expected.... This morning, I saw copies in Morrisons and Sainsburys. The mags in Morrisons was an ordinary issue, unbagged, sans magnifier. Sainsburys had bagged mags with magnifiers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two_sugars Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I bought mine from my usual newsagent. . .NO MAGNIFIER. . . . Not really bothered, but just letting you know. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Huw Griffiths Posted February 5, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2017 I bought mine from my usual newsagent. . .NO MAGNIFIER. . . . Not really bothered, but just letting you know. Same here - but one of those magnifiers wouldn't persuade me to abandon my local corner newsagent, for 2 reasons: I make a point of dealing with the small, "local guys" - I'd quite like them to stay in business (which they'd have no chance of doing if everyone were to "cut them out of the loop"). I also happen to have been handed a number of very similar Fresnel magnifiers at various hobby and trade shows over the years - so I'm not likely to get too excited at the prospect of adding yet another of the things to the stash. (The fact that the things are very useful is of no consequence to me - I'm not likely to run out of them any time soon.) Now if the next issue were to include an extra DVD, with a complete set of plans of that obscure prototype I've been thinking of modelling ... Well, actually, my local newsagent wouldn't be affected at all - "principles are principles". Huw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 My copy arrived finally this morning. After a quick flick through it seems a good issue, will look forward to getting chance to give it a proper read as the 3D printing items will be of interest to me. The 950 article is also good. Could take or leave the magnifier really (I often feel the same about the DVD to some extent). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Scottish-Exile Posted February 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 5, 2017 Tesco appear to have decided not to stock BRM - at least in Scotland. Had a long slow drive home on Friday and with the M5/M6 being shagged, took a 'short cut' that added 2 hours to my journey time, by coming off Jct 2 of M5 and heading through Dudley & Wolverhampton to reach the M54. Anyway, stopped at a Tesco Extra on the Birmingham Road, Dudley and got a copy of BRM, with magnifying glass, to read while they freshly cooked my fish n chips. Quite enjoy this mag and buy it every few months. Will probably subscribe when my current Hornby sub expires. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Collier Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 When does a 'free DVD' stop becoming 'free' as you get it every month and it has just become something included with the BRM? Maybe if it was only a couple of times a year but with more content it would feel more like a free gift? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted February 5, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2017 My copy from WHS was unbagged and without magnifier. I don't think free gifts sell magazines. I wouldn't buy one just because it had a gift. Anyway nothing is really free - it all has to be paid for somewhere along the line - like free delivery - don't they pay their postage or couriers? I'd actually prefer to have a cheaper magazine and only the occasional (RRP £7.99) DVD as a real freebie. A fiver a magazine seems be fairly common-place now for a hobby magazine. I now only rarely buy photographic magazines. Amateur Photographer is £2.99 - but comes out weekly, so that would be £12 a month non-subscription, but I do buy it when there is an article or two that appeal. There are rarely photographic articles that would make me part with a fiver. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted February 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 5, 2017 Tesco Port Glasgow have it , bagged with magnifier. Couldn't browse it, didn't buy, but it doesn't seem to be correct Tesco not stocking BRM in Scotland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Oliver Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 I don't really like the DVDs at all and would prefer more printed content. I don't see how the value of £7.99 bears any relation to reality. My local Sainsbury's doesn't stock the magazine, only RM and HM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopardml2341 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 'Free' DVDs, I'm ambivalent about them. But they should at least play smoothly on a bog standard DVD player. Not sure whether it's just my copy, but on this one the layout feature is very 'notchy', anyone else noticed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahame Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 I guess not being a subscriber or regular buyer of BRM I'm possibly the sort of potential customer (model railway enthusiast, magazine purchaser/reader, etc) that they are looking to attract. However a free magnifier just isn't going to do the trick for me and the DVDs aren't high on attraction either. What is, is the content, and the list at the beginning of the thread just didn't do it for me for this issue. There were simply not enough articles that would be of interest to me and sufficient to entice me out to track down a copy to buy. I certainly agree with the earlier suggestion that more printed content rather than DVDs and 'free' gifts would be more attractive. I hope the feedback is of use and that a future issue might be of sufficient interesting content that I'd be happy to purchase a copy. G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 My copy from WHS was unbagged and without magnifier. I don't think free gifts sell magazines. I wouldn't buy one just because it had a gift. Anyway nothing is really free - it all has to be paid for somewhere along the line - like free delivery - don't they pay their postage or couriers? I'd actually prefer to have a cheaper magazine and only the occasional (RRP £7.99) DVD as a real freebie. A fiver a magazine seems be fairly common-place now for a hobby magazine. I now only rarely buy photographic magazines. Amateur Photographer is £2.99 - but comes out weekly, so that would be £12 a month non-subscription, but I do buy it when there is an article or two that appeal. There are rarely photographic articles that would make me part with a fiver. My local WHS had BRM issues bagged, with magnifier. The DVD is sometimes interesting, and its nice to see featured model railways "in the flesh", as it were. However sometimes the presentation is too gimmicky, especially when a presenter is shrunk to model size! Also, while "how to do it" features are useful, they sometimes have the air of a product placement advert. The DVD should perhaps have more layout content. The featured layout is important and layouts that have been missed in previous magazines could also be covered. Of course, this means added production costs and a drain on resources when done on a monthly basis, so a quarterly DVD might be something that has more value. As for magazine prices in general, model railway mags are at the inexpensive end of the monthly hobbyist market. There are an increasing number of computer magazines that are in the £6.50 region and one gouged its readers over Christmas by putting its regular content in a bag with a "free set of stickers" and charged £7.99 for the privilege! Whether mags in general sell is purely dependent on how the reader values them for their content. Another hobby of mine is photography but I rarely buy photographic mags now as content tends to repeat and if you have the previous issues then there's no need for duplicated information. AP is now £2.99 a week? Phew! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 We do get a lot of positive feedback from visitors to shows so although some may feel they're not of value to them they do seem to have a wider appeal. We have also had good sales of magazines on newsstands when we have promotions and since the introduction and an increasing number of subscriptions so we do have to look at those as major indicators rather than the sentiments expressed here. Some of the negative comments don't actually give a lot to go on; why someone is indifferent or negative toward them would give more useful feedback than just the fact that someone doesn't like them. The statement about shrinking presenters down is more of a specific and something I can identify with. I wonder with some things like that whether it is worth the production time in filming and editing; it's technically very clever but is time better devoted to more traditional approaches? On this month's editorial page I ask for people to get in touch with ideas or content; I came back yesterday to an interesting email with some points to consider but, in general, it's fairly rare for people to take time and make a positive action and give specifics which can then be discussed. What do people want to see that doesn't get featured in magazines? It seems people are more inclined to offer opinions, feedback and positive input face to face at shows and we look forward to anyone coming to see us at Doncaster this weekend or at Ally Pally in March. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahame Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Some of the negative comments don't actually give a lot to go on; why someone is indifferent or negative toward them would give more useful feedback than just the fact that someone doesn't like them. I guess one of the 'positive' suggestions made in the recent run of posts is that people would like to see more printed content rather than DVDs or gimmickry gifts. I certainly would. I appreciate that others may have suggested that 'gifts' are welcome but the impression from the recent posts is that those on this forum are not that impressed by them. Perhaps on face-to-face feedback they are just being polite. From my occasional brush with BRM there seems to be less reading content now than there used to be when there were more in-depth lengthy articles. Often there is a picture of a RTR locomotive (on it's own - not on a layout) that takes up a spread across two pages with little supporting text. Nice picture, but often not much more than just an advert for the manufacturer. Maybe keep those in but also add in more content. Obviously being an N gauge modeller I'd like to see more N gauge content - the contents list for the current issue is particularly bereft. And I'd like to see more 'modern' content especially EMU modelling and prototype operations. Also, and I've suggested this on the Model Rail thread, but I'd like to see something on inner city modelling. Too often it is thought that a suburban layout suffices or a bit about modelling industrial rail heads covers it but inner city modelling is more about passenger operations (getting commuters in to work) and the need to model large commercial buildings like banks, municipal, office blocks and retail outlets that are usually located close to the railway rather than factories, farms, mills and mines. And one particular niggle with free gifts (and this is a general comment that probably applies more to other magazine titles) is that when a specific gift is included it is of no use (and probably no value) to those who don't model in the scale it is produced in. One of my bête noires from suggesting more of a particular scale/gauge is the often negative response of why it can't be done rather than taking it on board. Being told that inspiration can be taken from OO layouts for N gauge enthusiasts starts to pall when it is repeated and nothing is actually done - why can't OO enthusiasts take inspiration from a N gauge layout? I appreciate that this is starting to sound like a rant now so I'll give it a rest. G. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.