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Post by jeoffreythecat on May 3, 2024 13:32:02 GMT -8
Rather than conjecture as to why no mention on the website, I went straight to the source. There must have been rumors around the offices about this but the announcement was a complete surprise for the staff. Hello John, thank you for the note. No one who works on any of the affected titles knew anything about it until yesterday. From a customer experience perspective, nothing will change. The magazines and website content will continue as before. The new company uses the same customer service platform we do as well. There is at least one story on Trains.com Newswire that was put up mid-morning yesterday. I’m sure there will be something more in the near future as we, ourselves, are getting to know the new owners. Thank you for your continued support and best wishes on your endeavors. Sincerely, David Popp I'm surprised you got a response, maybe it's a dose of humility for the staff to be going through this. If they just come down from their high horses they could recover from this and possibly improve. There's story on many a forum about how modelers have been ignored via email, photography submissions, and other correspondance. |
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Post by jeoffreythecat on May 3, 2024 13:33:44 GMT -8
I've never had any difficulty getting responses from Kalmbach staff. Cody Grivno responded quickly when I asked for info about Arrowhead models. Now one could debate the quality of the responses....
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Post by richardthomasatal on May 4, 2024 5:00:10 GMT -8
I've never had any difficulty getting responses from Kalmbach staff. Cody Grivno responded quickly when I asked for info about Arrowhead models. Now one could debate the quality of the responses.... David Popp, Kent Johnson and Cody Grivno never responded to a single message and acted like they were pompous when I had in person encounters. Some of the other staff were ok, the late Neil B was really a true gentleman. After those types of impressions I can honestly say good riddance if they all get laid off. But I hope they quickly land somewhere else to support themselves and their family perhaps with a renewed dose of humility. As for their presence in the hobby, I wouldn't miss them. |
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Post by NS4122 on May 4, 2024 15:11:03 GMT -8
Based on how you come off on this forum, I can totally see why they wouldn't respond... David Popp, Kent Johnson and Cody Grivno never responded to a single message and acted like they were pompous when I had in person encounters. Some of the other staff were ok, the late Neil B was really a true gentleman. After those types of impressions I can honestly say good riddance if they all get laid off. But I hope they quickly land somewhere else to support themselves and their family perhaps with a renewed dose of humility. As for their presence in the hobby, I wouldn't miss them. |
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Post by lvrr325 on May 4, 2024 19:08:54 GMT -8
According to an MSN.com article, 67 of 120 employees are affected.
MR has been getting slimmer, and slimmer, and slimmer, I used to look at them in the grocery store but the chain discontinued carrying magazines except for the soap opera stuff that was in racks by the registers a few years ago. So when I had the chance to pick up some 2022-2023 back issues free at shows I grabbed some. They're as small as they were in the 60s, page wise, below 100. I think circulation is down too in part because of places like this chain dropping magazines. I have looked in other stores that still have magazines and no train magazines.
I mean it has to be bad when the publisher sells it's first publication title after 90 years.
The only thing I'm not clear on is does the entire train section go? There's a ton of books and things, my guys just got a batch in, some of them old titles with revisions and updates, others are just collections of MR how-to articles. I kind of assume that went with the magazines because it would be tough to publish new titles without the source material.
Probably lucky it's continuing at all. It wasn't all that many years ago that the big publishing company that owned most of the car magazines just pulled the plug on almost all of them. Car Craft, Rod & Custom, some of the make-specific mags, Hot Rod Deluxe that published vintage stuff from their archives, etc. all gone. regular Hot Rod was I think the only one they kept.
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Post by Baikal on May 4, 2024 19:38:47 GMT -8
The large Menards and other anti-prototype modeling ads didn't help. They probably drove more subscribers away than they generated income.
MR decided to aim for the beginner market (vs RMC) but hasn't done a good job at it. Scattershot "how-to" articles and most of the recent project layouts haven't been very interesting. Led to a death spiral. I still subscribe to MR out of nostalgia, pity and the hope that they'll turn things around. Subscription's not that expensive considering how much everything else in the hobby costs. And I think the hobby would be better with more than one mainstream magazine.
OTOH, when White River publications took over RMC from Carstens the very next issue was improved, and today it seems to strike a good balance between beginner and more advanced articles. When did the RMC change-of-ownership happen? |
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Post by grahamline on May 4, 2024 19:48:47 GMT -8
White River bought RMC etc in 2014.
I am also curious about Kalmbach's books and annuals. The books by Tony Koester, Jeff Wilson, and others seem to get produced in an initial run and only rarely seem to go into additional printings. I haven't been much aware of more expensive hardbacks from Kalmbach in recent years. The annuals as well require some in-house support work and organization that seems to be farmed out across the existing staff, much in the way that White River produces a variety of magazines with in-house graphic arts support.
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Post by Baikal on May 4, 2024 19:52:00 GMT -8
White River bought RMC etc in 2014. I am also curious about Kalmbach's books and annuals. The books by Tony Koester, Jeff Wilson, and others seem to get produced in an initial run and only rarely seem to go into additional printings. I haven't been much aware of more expensive hardbacks from Kalmbach in recent years. The annuals as well require some in-house support work and organization that seems to be farmed out across the existing staff, much in the way that White River produces a variety of magazines with in-house graphic arts support.
I do like Kalmbach's Model Railroading Planning annuals. A good value, in my opinion.
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Post by The Ferro Kid on May 4, 2024 19:52:25 GMT -8
Wow! Hard to believe it's been 10 years already!
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Post by cpr4200 on May 4, 2024 20:10:17 GMT -8
According to an MSN.com article, 67 of 120 employees are affected. What other business does kalmbach have? Discover mag? Anything else? I thought they had a dollhouse mag called Nutshell News.
Carstens constantly cut corners, reduced trim size, cheapened paper. At least they went all-color after years of having one color signature in each issue, and the rest B&W. It was nice to see WR beef up RMC and Railfan the way they did.
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Post by hudsonyard on May 4, 2024 21:25:19 GMT -8
At one point at the end of carstens RMC was being printed on cheap, thin paper. Same consistency as one of those catalogs for homegoods trinkets you get in the mail or a cheap porno rag, pick your poison.
It's been much better under white river, even though I think its flatlined a bit in the last couple years. One thing I do appreciate about Otto is he will go trawling through various social media looking for potential article content, guys who would have not seen the national press are getting articles and layouts published because of this.
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Post by 12bridge on May 5, 2024 7:10:57 GMT -8
I agree, Kalmbach is toast. The NMRA has resorted to scamming the government for membership fees and seeking internet clout with a new hire that can't seem to focus, and Walthers is investing less in tooling than I have ever seen to pad the pockets of Stacey Walthers and further boost her ego. As for Kalmbach, I wonder how many staff will remain. There's only 1 or 2 I even care for. Many have always had pompous attitudes. I'd dispute that Walthers one. They may not be rolling out new rolling stock, but Cornerstone has seen a lot of new tooling in the last few years. And most guys fail to remember that a substantial portion of items in this hobby move through Walthers to hobby shops. This hobby would be in a sad state if it were not for Cornerstone as well. We would have layouts built with tons of German buildings. |
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Post by cpr4200 on May 5, 2024 8:16:32 GMT -8
^^^ Yes. For many years about the only HO structures available were Euro designs from Faller and kibri.
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Post by edwardsutorik on May 5, 2024 8:23:05 GMT -8
MR decided to aim for the beginner market (vs RMC) but hasn't done a good job at it. I haven't read MR in a long time. Once upon a time, Kalmbach published "Model Trains". It aimed for the beginner market. They shut it down in 1963, I believe. "Model Railroader" was the serious magazine, usually featuring photos of and articles about items I could only dream of approaching (detailing a Tenshodo Big Boy, modeling a steel mill on a 4x8 table, scratchbuilding a 2-6-0). If MR was turned into the beginner magazine, that left nothing for the advanced model railroader. Including inspiration. Seems kinda backwards. Ed |
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Post by edwardsutorik on May 5, 2024 8:30:53 GMT -8
^^^ Yes. For many years about the only HO structures available were Euro designs from Faller and kibri. Except for some from Revell, Atlas, Alexander, Model Hobbies (?), Suydam. Ed |
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Post by cpr4200 on May 5, 2024 8:42:19 GMT -8
Plastic, I meant. Revell and Atlas (and Plasticville!) had limited offerings.
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Post by bn7023 on May 6, 2024 5:22:01 GMT -8
After May 1st, I stopped receiving promotional emails from Kalmbach. What about you?
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Post by lvrr325 on May 6, 2024 18:50:40 GMT -8
^^^ Yes. For many years about the only HO structures available were Euro designs from Faller and kibri. Except for some from Revell, Atlas, Alexander, Model Hobbies (?), Suydam. Ed Suydam took over Ayres' line of cardstock kits with quite a variety of all American prototype buildings. I almost bought a brick powerhouse kit over the weekend but looking through I realized I'd likely sooner find an old built up one than build one myself. There actually were a number of lines of US prototype structures, beyond your Plasticville, but many were small manufacturers and the kits often required cutting parts to fit. Campbell models for instance. Pola's line of kits was first imported in the 1960s and common in the 1970s - many were created from drawings in MR and RMC. One even represented the home of RMC in the Ramsey Journal building. It's not that there weren't American structures, it's just that people tended to use a lot of the same ones. |
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Post by Colin 't Hart on May 7, 2024 0:11:00 GMT -8
According to an MSN.com article, 67 of 120 employees are affected. Kalmbach had 120 employees?! That's insane. |
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Post by cpr4200 on May 7, 2024 3:12:13 GMT -8
I'd like to know what the remaining 53 are doing, since the only Kalmbach title not mentioned in the Firecrown material is Discover. The Kalmbach Media website has not changed since the announcement and still shows all the titles.
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Post by edwardsutorik on May 7, 2024 6:03:59 GMT -8
According to an MSN.com article, 67 of 120 employees are affected. Kalmbach had 120 employees?! That's insane. According to this Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmbach_Mediait's 275. And that's without the printing division, gone since 1973. Ed |
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Post by wagnersteve on May 7, 2024 7:02:10 GMT -8
May 7, 2024, about 11 a.m., EDT
Gentlemen, I really am surprised that Kalmbach has had so many employees in recent years. I strongly suspect that if the numbers you've cited are correct, they must include quite a few part-timers. Many authors of items published by Kalmbach Media recently are quite young indeed, and some have apparently limited memory of our hobbies' past and/or little experience with writing and/or editing standard English prose. The firm's magazines used to be practically free of any errors; that hasn't been true for a long time now. The same is true with both periodicals and books published by other firms, including even ones affiliated with universities.
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Post by grahamline on May 7, 2024 17:09:04 GMT -8
May 7, 2024, about 11 a.m., EDT Gentlemen, I really am surprised that Kalmbach has had so many employees in recent years. I strongly suspect that if the numbers you've cited are correct, they must include quite a few part-timers. Many authors of items published by Kalmbach Media recently are quite young indeed, and some have apparently limited memory of our hobbies' past and/or little experience with writing and/or editing standard English prose. The firm's magazines used to be practically free of any errors; that hasn't been true for a long time now. The same is true with both periodicals and books published by other firms, including even ones affiliated with universities. Real copy editors start at $60 an hour, will actually work for $80+, and I've seen trade ads offering $20. Rosemary Entringer had the entire MR staff cowed at one time, but that was many many years ago. Spellcheck, in particular, is very uninformed about model railroading. |
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Post by cpr4200 on May 7, 2024 18:23:13 GMT -8
Discover Magazine is apparently the sole remaining kalmbach publication, with a circulation of about five million. With numbers like that, it's apparent that the hobby mags were a drain on the company.
~ Walt
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Post by The Ferro Kid on May 7, 2024 19:10:58 GMT -8
I have many fond memories of Model Railroader and Trains, having read my Dad's copies starting in the 1950s and having had my own subscriptions from high school on. But their heyday passed a long time ago. It's too bad this change didn't occur decades ago, assuming the type of improvement Railroad Model Craftsman has seen in the past 10 years.
Remember when the Kalmbach magazines came in a light yellow, heavy paper envelope with blue or red logo? Then they changed to plastic bags, which was great too. Then they changed to no packaging, on the rationale that with the new USPS sorting techniques, there would be no damage. Yeah, decades later I'm still laughing at that one. I complained, and they simply did not care.
Kalmbach long ago became too self-satisfied and entitled. And I'm talking about OWNERSHIP, not individual employees or editors over the years. Publishers of all kinds have always thought they are entitled to their raw materials for free, or next to it.
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Post by gevohogger on May 8, 2024 3:45:58 GMT -8
Remember when the Kalmbach magazines came in a light yellow, heavy paper envelope with blue or red logo? Then they changed to plastic bags, which was great too. Then they changed to no packaging, on the rationale that with the new USPS sorting techniques, there would be no damage. Apparently there is a significant savings in mailing the magazines without any packaging. Besides the obvious cost of the packaging itself.... The postage rate itself is a lot less. |
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Post by edwardsutorik on May 8, 2024 5:19:33 GMT -8
I have many fond memories of Model Railroader and Trains, having read my Dad's copies starting in the 1950s and having had my own subscriptions from high school on. But their heyday passed a long time ago. It's too bad this change didn't occur decades ago, assuming the type of improvement Railroad Model Craftsman has seen in the past 10 years. Remember when the Kalmbach magazines came in a light yellow, heavy paper envelope with blue or red logo? Then they changed to plastic bags, which was great too. Then they changed to no packaging, on the rationale that with the new USPS sorting techniques, there would be no damage. Yeah, decades later I'm still laughing at that one. I complained, and they simply did not care. Kalmbach long ago became too self-satisfied and entitled. And I'm talking about OWNERSHIP, not individual employees or editors over the years. Publishers of all kinds have always thought they are entitled to their raw materials for free, or next to it. A. C. died in 1981. Wonder how that fits in with the above comments. Ed |
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Post by bn7023 on May 8, 2024 10:58:53 GMT -8
On May 6, all postings to the forums of Trains.com stopped, and on May 8, all posts of Kalmbach forums became inaccessible.
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Post by gevohogger on May 8, 2024 11:12:47 GMT -8
On May 6, all postings to the forums of Trains.com stopped, and on May 8, all posts of Kalmbach forums became inaccessible. Oh, no! I feel a terrible disturbance in the Force! |
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Post by riogrande on May 9, 2024 3:22:53 GMT -8
On May 6, all postings to the forums of Trains.com stopped, and on May 8, all posts of Kalmbach forums became inaccessible. It's been on and off past year or two when the site is unreachable, or barely reachable. Past few days I mostly can't reach the site. Sometimes I get in but then can't get a thread to show up. Just spins and I get a504 Gateway Time-out. It's almost as if the site is being DOSd (denial of service). |
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