Changes afoot at TMW

[Breninasia]

Peter White has announced on the TMW forum (click here) that he has stepped down as the editor of TMW after 23 years at the helm.

[mixxy]

That is a great shame, i would say that man has almost single handedly made this hobby what it is today!
I understand the need to step down, especially after 23 years  , as i have just stepped down as an editor (all be it a smaller audience) after only 10 years!
I wish him good luck, health & happiness for the future, maybe now he can build what he wsnts, when he wants!

[voyager]

"Some changes planned for TMW" and Peter steps down. I may be being pessimistic but it sounds ominous to me......

[stuckontrucks]

2 + 2 = 4 more often than not Andrew

They will be big shoes to fill, assuming that`s the plan.

[v8alan73]

peter did a fantastic job for truck modelling and deserves his retirement   I had a conversation with the bloke from IGP at Accrington last weekend and he has mentioned he wants to take the magazine forward but it turns out that under traplet sales had dropped to around the 600 mark I think I remember sales being as high as 2500/3000 a few years ago I could be wrong.
he says that he intends to get TMW to more outlets and is researching which outlets sell high volumes of truck magazines and will start there. he will be aiming to get a bit more 1-50 and other scales in the magazine as well I know that's not everybodys cup of tea but we need a wider audience to keep the magazine alive the only downside is that there is a possibility the magazine will going to bi-monthly in the near future.

alan

[andrew howard]

"Some changes planned for TMW" and Peter steps down. I may be being pessimistic but it sounds ominous to me......

. I agree voyager.

[Caddyman]

I personally think that TMW will end up as a quarterly supplement in something like Truck & driver or Diecast Modeller?

I really hope it can carry on as it is, but Nobody will match what Peter has done over the past 20 odd years

[mixxy]

Remember what it says on the top of the Magazine
"By truck modellers, for truck modellers" so, the regular contributers need to keep er contributing!!
Keep the artices going and the mag stays surely Yes you need someone interested at the helm, but.......!

[Axorman]

True Mick, but you also need modellers to purchase the magazine, something must be wrong, as Alan says subscribers/buyers have dropped from nearly 3000 to 600, that fact alone tells you why Traplet were willing to drop TMW from its portfolio

Ron

[modeller]

i reckon they have a valid point regarding the outlets. i personally don't like subscribing to any magazine but unless you subscribe to TMW you won't get a copy as the chances of finding a copy in any stores all most impossible. as for how the mag develops without Peter remains to be seen

[v8alan73]

i reckon they have a valid point regarding the outlets. i personally don't like subscribing to any magazine but unless you subscribe to TMW you won't get a copy as the chances of finding a copy in any stores all most impossible. as for how the mag develops without Peter remains to be seen

the guy i spoke to seemed to be very keen to keep the magazine going but he did state that he wants it to cover all scales more evenly and not a majority of 1-24 as it is now. one idea would be to advertise in truck and driver as a lot of drivers are into models then maybes get tmw into truckstops etc. there are also a lot of very good models out there so why don't you give it a go at contributing believe you me if i can write an article anybody can

alan

[Bigrig1]

i reckon they have a valid point regarding the outlets. i personally don't like subscribing to any magazine but unless you subscribe to TMW you won't get a copy as the chances of finding a copy in any stores all most impossible. as for how the mag develops without Peter remains to be seen

I haven't been a subscriber for many years, as used to pick it up in W.H.Smiths, or occasionally, back issues were available off a local market trader in my local town. But I haven't had a copy of TMW for a while now as W.H.Smiths stopped selling it. I do hope it reappears on the shelves soon!

[voyager]

It is in every Smiths I go in in Redditch and Birmingham and was in Leeds and Huddersfield when I lived up there. They will always get it in for you. I have subscribed for several years and £40 for the year isn't a huge sum to pay out, the equivalent of a kit perhaps. However, if it goes to more 1/50th diecast stuff, I can see me stopping buying as I have no interest in that side of it.

[mickwaite]

I also had a long conversation with the new chaps at the show last Sunday. They told me that they were in it for the long haul and were quite adamant that the plan was for the magazine to continue, and they could see the potential or they wouldn't have taken it on. I asked about the readers contributions and it was made quite clear to me that this was an essential part of the partnership and that those contributions were paramount because its a magazine for modellers by modellers.
Now I have contributed to this magazine since issue 3 back in April 1992, and I still intend to contribute for the future. If you don't want to lose it, you have to make the effort and support it like me and many others do, submit the articles, you don't have to be clever with words, because the editor will sort that, so long as there is the relevant information there. Make no mistake, Peter is irreplaceable, absolutely no question, and his legacy is this magazine and it would be a crying shame if the magazine were to fail through apathy and a cant be arsed any more attitude. Sure no body likes change but as they say, you've got to be in it to win it, and if other scales are included, that cant be a bad thing because that will surely increase the circulation and ensure the magazines survival.
These are just my thoughts, and I am sure there are people who will disagree, but come on, if we don't want to lose it, lets put the effort in and ensure it survives. Peter sweated blood keeping this magazine going, its up to us now.

[mixxy]

 
Well said Mick.