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Rant/Call to arms

G

Guest

Guest
Morning all,
I don't know if any of you buy any 4x4 mags - personally I have been
buying Total Off Road. I have have found it interesting because it
isn't make specific, there are some interesting vehicle build ups and
it covers a broad range of subjects, however it has changed for the
worse recently.
They have dropped the overlanding section, this has been moved over to
the sister mag Planet 4x4 aimed at the lifestyle 4x4 market (pickups,
double cabs, etc.
They have dropped the Workshop Tales section where a guy has been
building up a racer model.
They have dropped the practical/educational articles on rebuilding a
diff, fitting a suspension lift, etc which were always interesting
reading.
They also seem to be regularly featuring Frogs Island and other 4x4
shops adverts, sorry I mean features, where they hand over 3-4 pages on
the 'ulitmate 80 series', etc listing all the great work XXX company
has done which is usually a case of bolting on X, Y, and Z.
Anyway, in the latest issue (October 2007) the Editor Alan Kidd is
inviting readers to write in with suggestions for changes to the mag.
I think that this mag most closely matches the broad interests of the
club (are there others that I am missing?), so if any of you are
interested, please do write in to Alan ([Email address removed]) with
your suggestions.
Personally I'm writing in to request:
- Reinstate the Overlanding sections.
- Reinstate workshop sections.
- Reduce the number of 4x4 shop adverts/features.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Morning all,
I don't know if any of you buy any 4x4 mags - personally I have been
buying Total Off Road. I have have found it interesting because it
isn't make specific, there are some interesting vehicle build ups and
it covers a broad range of subjects, however it has changed for the
worse recently.
They have dropped the overlanding section, this has been moved over to
the sister mag Planet 4x4 aimed at the lifestyle 4x4 market (pickups,
double cabs, etc.
They have dropped the Workshop Tales section where a guy has been
building up a racer model.
They have dropped the practical/educational articles on rebuilding a
diff, fitting a suspension lift, etc which were always interesting
reading.
They also seem to be regularly featuring Frogs Island and other 4x4
shops adverts, sorry I mean features, where they hand over 3-4 pages on
the 'ulitmate 80 series', etc listing all the great work XXX company
has done which is usually a case of bolting on X, Y, and Z.
Anyway, in the latest issue (October 2007) the Editor Alan Kidd is
inviting readers to write in with suggestions for changes to the mag.
I think that this mag most closely matches the broad interests of the
club (are there others that I am missing?), so if any of you are
interested, please do write in to Alan ([Email address removed]) with
your suggestions.
Personally I'm writing in to request:
- Reinstate the Overlanding sections.
- Reinstate workshop sections.
- Reduce the number of 4x4 shop adverts/features.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Hi Julian,
Total Off-Road is the only mag I buy, and just like you I liked the fact
that it wasn't just about RR & LR's (can't bring myself to use the full
names)
OK I've just sent off my rant, still a good mag though.
TTFN
Chas
London UK '94 1HDT 80 Auto, 109000 miles, Safari snorkel, Custom Winch
bumper + winch, and Rear bumper with spare wheel carrier
+ Ray Dadd Rocksliders
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julian Voelcker" <[Email address removed]>
To: <[Email address removed]>
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 11:00 AM
Subject: [ELCO] Rant/Call to arms
personally I have been buying Total Off Road. > Personally I'm writing in
to request:
 
PS - if you do write in, mention the ELCO list - the more we can do to
encourage more LC coverage the better.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
PS - if you do write in, mention the ELCO list - the more we can do to
encourage more LC coverage the better.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Oh bugger, I forgot, but I did mention I am a Landcruiser owner.
Chas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julian Voelcker" <[Email address removed]>
To: <[Email address removed]>
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 11:35 AM
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Rant/Call to arms
 
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I subscribed to TOR for the first two years of its life. After that
time it had gone downhill so badly that I haven't had one since.
Regards,
Clive Marks
Home: +44 1293 514600
Mobile: +44 7821 491897
Crawley, West Sussex, UK.
 
I'm with Clive.
It's descended into gutter 4x4'ism
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]] On
Behalf Of Clive Marks
Sent: 24 September 2007 11:11
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Rant/Call to arms
I subscribed to TOR for the first two years of its life. After that time it
had gone downhill so badly that I haven't had one since.
 
Hi Peter/Clive,
What bits do you miss? Perhaps now is the time to tell them why you
stopped.
Do you subscribe to any other mags?
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Hi Peter/Clive,
What bits do you miss? Perhaps now is the time to tell them why you
stopped.
Do you subscribe to any other mags?
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Julian
upmarket depending on your viewpoint).
Difficult to describe what was essentialy a subjective issue for me but when
I first bought it (three years ago?) it was a "gritty" magazine that felt as
though it was written by off-roaders for off-roaders. It contained "real"
articles about trialling, green-laning etc, also real maintenance and
modification features. It was aimed at the "D-I-Y" off-roader working on a
tight budget, not the "cheque-book" 4x4 driver buying new Range Rovers, or
spending big bucks on a land rover and then chucking more bucks at (for
example) Frogs Island for them to bolt on 10's of thousands of pounds of
goodies. It contained very few adverts that weren't useful to the DIY'er. It
had articles about people that bought cheap suzukis and rebuilt them
themselves into quality trials machines.
It then suddenly morphed into an LRM clone with pages of flashy and useless
ads and reviews of the latest Isuzu or whatever double cab pick-up. The
workshop stuff vanished and was replaced with - "come to Frogs Island, pay
us lots of money and we'll give you the worlds best off-roader...." - type
crap.
Multi-page "useless" adverts appeared.
Proper UK based off-road articles disappeared to be replaced by, no doubt
interesting to some but not me, stories about trips across the Utah deserts,
or Namibia or other exotic and only vaguely interesting places.
In short it became a coffe-table magazine as opposed to a useful information
source.
I did speak to their PR (I think) person when I cancelled my sub over a year
ago and I asked why the changes; the answer was that they were responding to
market research about what their readers wanted to see..... So there we are!
Pete
 
On 9/24/07, Peter Browning <[Email address removed]> wrote:
Hello Pete
I stopped reading paper mags years ago when it became hard to tell
features from adverts. I still find it amazing that the tiny UK market
can support three or four LR mags, all chasing the same customer and
advertiser. For all make publications it's never been easy and AFAIK
none of them ever lasted for too long. TOR seems to show a rather
logical progression - from samizdat to coffee table mug to pulp. If
it were a web based publication, at least it would be spared the third
phase.
But if the readers want to see it that way, it's because you guys are
the readers they fear - you know too much!!!
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80 (auto)
 
I find it particularly frustrating when you see the mags in Europe.
I occasionally get sent copies of some of the French 4x4 mags (thanks
Lio, John, etc), they are far more interesting than the likes of TOR,
focussing a lot more on what the owners themselves have done leading to
a lot more innnovation.
Yes they do occasionally have features on a customer prepared truck
from Dream Team, Paris 4x4 and other 4x4 shops, but these are the
standard 4x4 loaded with bling that come out of UK 4x4 shops - there is
a lot more thought and a lot more home grown bumpers, bash plates,
exhausts, etc.
The French mags also tend to focus a lot more on Rallye Raid style
trips into North Africa, although they still cover green laning stuff.
If I could find an on line subscription form I would happily subscribe
to the French Toyota Land Cruiser Magazine.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
I find it particularly frustrating when you see the mags in Europe.
I occasionally get sent copies of some of the French 4x4 mags (thanks
Lio, John, etc), they are far more interesting than the likes of TOR,
focussing a lot more on what the owners themselves have done leading to
a lot more innnovation.
Yes they do occasionally have features on a customer prepared truck
from Dream Team, Paris 4x4 and other 4x4 shops, but these are the
standard 4x4 loaded with bling that come out of UK 4x4 shops - there is
a lot more thought and a lot more home grown bumpers, bash plates,
exhausts, etc.
The French mags also tend to focus a lot more on Rallye Raid style
trips into North Africa, although they still cover green laning stuff.
If I could find an on line subscription form I would happily subscribe
to the French Toyota Land Cruiser Magazine.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
07971 540 362
Skype: julianvoelcker
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
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