Whats the deal with RC Magazines?

[Nitroaddict]

I used to be an avid reader of RC Nitro and RC Car Action, but lately it seems that they are being bought out by advertisers. RCCA in particular. When was the last time you ever saw a negative review in these publications? I want genuine honest reviews, not product endorsments. Just curious to see if i was the only one who noticed this.

Also - It seems as though both these magazines are gearing more and more to the beginner. What about us veterans? I already know how a carb works. I want to know more technical things - things that someone who has been in this hobby for years doesn't already know.

Recently I have been looking more at RC Car, and Xtreme RC cars - they seem to have a little bit more detail in them - but still have the same 'dont say anything bad about a product' mentality.

Seems the only place i can get good info these days is from sites like this one. Some of it may be biased, but at lease i get opposing view points.

sorry for the rant.

_____________________________

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

I agree with you overall, however, XTreme R.C. is by far the most opinionated (to me is a good thing) and calls it the way it is. Seriously, if you review the products yourself, you will see that they are right on the money. That is one mag that I do still endorse and I subscribe to 4 of 'em

 

[Candyman]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I am in the middle of crunching a few numbers right now. But I did just get done with a count of one large, recent edition of one particular magazine. This issue had over 300 pages. Approximately 200 (close to 66%) of these pages were dedicated to what I call "non-content". That is advertisements and hobby shop ads. Yes, I know that advertisements keep these mags in business. But how much of a pain in the ass is it to get a huge magazine, then have to flip like 50 pages in before you actually get to the good stuff? I am also going to do the same for 2 other recent issues of other mags to compare. I just haven't taken the time to count them up yet....

 

[Ajeauxdn]

I agree that many of the RC magazines out there are almost nothing but advertisements and, then there is like one or 2 reviews. Recently I picked up a copy of a new RC magazine, called RC driver. This magazine does have sme basic info on, tunning and things of this nature, but its not full to the brim of advertisements, and there where some good reviews that pointed out the weak points and good points of some newer models that are currectly out.

 

[HumboldtBlazer]

I think its hard to review something in a bad way as it might make them liable for some damages, it sucks we live in the world of lawyers and sue happy people.

 

[Nitroaddict]

glad to know I'm not alone. one thing cnadyman about ur comment. descretionary page value is a term used in advertising - it is what a page is worth. IE - a page in RCCA is worth 1000.00 - it costs 20,000 to publish the mag, so u need 200 pages of ads to break even. this is just a made up example, but u get the idea. if production costs go up, then u need 220 pages to break even, and so on. another way is to raise DPV is to increase demand, so u can increase cost. charge 2000.00 per page. this is so easy for these magazines because most are all owned by air age, simply raising the rates would force advertisers to use smaller ads. this works in a proportional scale though. most advertisers will go smaller, but spend more. this will create less ad pages, but more DPV revenue per page. therefor generating more money for the magazine and decreasing ad space. i dont know why they havnt done this yet, even more so, since they own most of the competetion.

 

[nitromaniac]

Originally posted by Nitroaddict
Also - It seems as though both these magazines are gearing more and more to the beginner. What about us veterans? _____________________________

This is a great point NA!
I am really reaching here so I will say that IMHO its the veteran who already has all the gear and the sponsors and all the cool stuff they get for free, but its the beginner that spends the money and gets hooked on RC, seems like a great marketing tecnique to target the beginner with the money rather than the veteran with the already learned experience! its all about the numbers baby! welcome to America! How much money do you have?

 

[robriguez]

This is THE reason i dont subscribe to any of the RC mags out there. I picked up a few here and there once in a while and was totally dissapointed in spending $5-$10 on one issue and have it be nothing but adverts really. Now I stick solely to online and word of mouth at the lhs.

 

[Nitroaddict]

NM - what the hell was that post about?

 

[Candyman]

Originally posted by Ajeauxdn
I agree that many of the RC magazines out there are almost nothing but advertisements and, then there is like one or 2 reviews. Recently I picked up a copy of a new RC magazine, called RC driver. This magazine does have sme basic info on, tunning and things of this nature, but its not full to the brim of advertisements, and there where some good reviews that pointed out the weak points and good points of some newer models that are currectly out.

I have a subscription to RC Driver and so far I think it's a good magazine. All will have their share of ads and fluff. I like Driver's different approach to some of the reviews. Typically, an RCCA review will be like 3 pages dealing with the kit content and setup. And then a paragraph of performance. Driver starts their reviews typically with performance evaluations. And usually on different terrains (ie. reviewing buggy performance on the track, grass and asphalt). Then they give a simple rundown of chassis and drivetrain etc. Granted, Xtreme RC's reviews are awesome in comparison because they give all sorts of performance data.
It would be neat if it were more like Consumer Reports who doesn't advertize thus doesn't need to cowtow to any particular companies. Just the straight poop. If a product sucks, they say so. I guess that's why the info here is better. We tell it like it is....

 

[nitromaniac]

Originally posted by Nitroaddict
NM - what the hell was that post about?

Sorry, I grabbed the qoute and didnt fill in the rest, had to go back and edit,, god that must have looked stupid as hell, sorry biotch!

 

[Team 17]

I recieve RC driver, car action, nitro & xtreme. Out of the four I enjoy Driver and xtreme. Rc Driver for the way they go in to depth of the basics and help u get a better understanding of both nitro and electric. Xtrme for the way they breakdown the cars and point out the pros and cons. As for Car action and Nitro they both have way too much ads.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

I still think Xtrem RC is the one to beat.

Driver, being the new kid on the block, doesn't have the advertising base YET. But they will soon enough, just like everyone else.

NA, while you do point out the heavy ads and cost, you left out profit and SG&A expense. How many people do they have to pay how much just to make the mag fly??? I'm certain its quit a bit! I'm not trying to justify all the ads, but the R.C. industry isnt lavish and someone has to pickup the tab. In the end, its us.

 

[Nitroaddict]

chris - i agree with xtremerc - i was just recently introduced to this mag, and like it so far, but have only read one copy. time will tell.

as for the sg&a - a magazine will always base DPV on total net, not gross, so all that has been taken into account.

 

[DarthRacer]

You must remember the 2 rules of RCCA before you read any of their mags:

1) They must provide a positive review of EVERY product to keep the ad revenue up so they can fill up all those pages!

2) The T-Maxx must win EVERY Monster-Truck shoot-out. (see above)


I actually have a subscription to RC Nitro, but it lags behind the online sites in content.

 

[SuperMaxx97]

i hate it in how some of the mags they go over the same things alot. like carborators every mag has the same damn thing. like they are trying to copy each other. i dont really buy any of them anymore. i just stand in the magazine isle of the store and read it and then when i am done i put it back. dont cost me money and i get too see what is in it!

bryan

 

[nitro dave]

the thing i like about xtreme rc is they cover some different stuff. I saw a great article about bumb steer in one, and one about how spring setups affect handling with matt francis. They did an article on rebuilding a carb which was cool. All in all, the best I think, although I did like the first issue of RC Driver, they had a great article on airbrush stuff, we will see with that one.

 

[Nitroaddict]

Originally posted by nitro dave
They did an article on rebuilding a carb which was cool.

that is the issue i have. i just rebuilt my carb on my RZ(VO1B) and used that article as a guide. it helped.

 

[Team 17]

Originally posted by Nitroaddict
chris - i agree with xtremerc - i was just recently introduced to this mag, and like it so far, but have only read one copy. time will tell.

NA- When I gave u the info on the Reflex and GT-4, it was from their website. U'll definitly will like that mag.

 

[Diver6127]

Well, it's not just with the R/C mags either. Example: I started subscribing to Sport Truck almost 3 years ago because it catered to the seasoned truck owner who knew a little more than the average joe, now it's going to crap with the "new owner" getting into the scene with the pseudo suv's that the kids are buying today. I'm just glad that they're keeping it to a minimum .... ok, back to the topic.

Just as with the regular 1:1 car/truck mags, the R/C mags are realizing that mroe and more people are getting into the hobby and are catering more to them. Personally, I think word of mouth, via forum's like rcnt, is the best way to go for both the newbie and the seasoned veteran. The New mags are in it for the money and will always give "good reviews" to everything.