Is the news OGR DEC/JAN in your Hobby shop or Barnes & noble ?

Barns and Nobles no longer have OGR.

Dick

I find my copy by walking out to the mailbox; much closer than a hobby shop.

OGR is no longer sold in book stores like Barnes and Noble, or on newsstands. Also, fewer and fewer hobby shops carry it. Printed magazines are on the way out.

The DEC/JAN issue of OGR has been available to digital subscribers for a couple of weeks.

@John H posted:

I find my copy by walking out to the mailbox; much closer than a hobby shop.

I agree! Just get a subscription   

-Greg

I used to use picking up the magazine as a good excuse to visit the LHS.  Usually picked up a magazine plus something else.  Had to bite the bullet and get a digital subscription,  it just isnt the same.  I'll say it first to myself, ok boomer.

I wonder if the print magazine were available in hobby shops a month earlier than digitally if it might drive traffic to our local dealers.

@rplst8 posted:

I wonder if the print magazine were available in hobby shops a month earlier than digitally if it might drive traffic to our local dealers.

Only if the "hobbyshop regulars that never buy anything" move out of the way of the magazine rack. So a paying customer can grab a copy.

@necrails posted:

I used to use picking up the magazine as a good excuse to visit the LHS.  Usually picked up a magazine plus something else.  Had to bite the bullet and get a digital subscription,  it just isnt the same.  I'll say it first to myself, ok boomer.

I also enjoy driving to the hobby store to buy my issue .... an excuse to visit with those people and find something else to buy. (Mostly a HO/N store)

I have two digital newspaper subscriptions, but still enjoy an actual magazine in my hands in an easy chair with a beverage,

@RickO posted:

Only if the "hobbyshop regulars that never buy anything" move out of the way of the magazine rack. So a paying customer can grab a copy.

Rick, how does this apply to this thread?

Apparently from your perspective, it appears that magazine sales are being hindered primarily by people visiting stores who have nothing better to do than stand in front the rack that holds them.  I take it you believe that the decline and fall of LHS's is due exclusively to "people who never buy anything" but enjoy visiting and clogging up the store, keeping real customers from browsing and buying, and taking valuable time away from the operators.

I think not.  Overwhelmingly it's due to people who don't even come.  Too easy to surf online and let the merchandise come to you, even if the associated shipping and handling cost eats you for lunch.

Can we move this instead to a thread that bemoans LHS closings?  There's enough moaning hear already on the retirement of paper.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

I think not.  Overwhelmingly it's due to people who don't even come.  Too easy to surf online and let the merchandise come to you, even if the associated shipping and handling cost eats you for lunch.

Mike, have you checked the price of gas lately?   The shipping isn't so bad when you consider the driving costs and time.

"Too easy to surf online and let the merchandise come to you..."

Another step toward Digital Utopia, indeed. With any luck, within 20 years, people won't ever have to see anyone in person ever again.  This will eliminate the need for vaccines of any kind.

@rplst8 posted:

I wonder if the print magazine were available in hobby shops a month earlier than digitally if it might drive traffic to our local dealers.

That is not possible to do. It would not change anything, anyway.

Whether we like it or not, the world is changing to digital and online delivery.

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Apparently from your perspective, it appears that magazine sales are being hindered primarily by people visiting stores who have nothing better to do than stand in front the rack that holds them.

A bit tongue in cheek/ sarcasm, (note the) but based on personal experience

Of course,  as Rich eluded to. Technology is hindering magazine sales. No unlike DVDs Cassette tapes, corded phones, etc

Mike

Anywhoo. John H already gave the O.P. the best answer. Simply subscribe to the paper magazine. I received my Dec/Jan issue in plenty of time. 2 weeks ago.

No need to be so defensive Mike, no malicious intent here.

Interestingly, the local Barnes and Noble carries O Scale Trains, which IMO appeals to a much narrower market than OGR.  It also carries the other usual train mags.  If they sell enough copies of OST to justify the rack space, it seems like OGR would sell, too.

OTOH, the store isn't nearly as crowded as it used to be...

Well, the world may indeed be going digital (for better or worse), but I'm glad that a good number of people--and especially those in our demographic ranks--still enjoy print. Thanks for subscribing to and supporting OGR, regardless of whether you receive it in print or digital form.

If OGRR JUST did digital I'd have a lot more room to store trains.

I knew the Digital issue was out ,  But I like the Printed issue .   

Is the Digital version in Pdf Format ? 

How would I retrieve it/ get it if  I paid for the digital version ?

Thanks

Bill in Wawautosa

My train store carries OGR, there's another one that I go to once in a blue moon that also carries it(though they market more HO & N), plus there is only one store in town(technically the town over from me) that does indeed carry OGR Magazine. This store has always carried a wide variety of magazine titles that you may not expect anyone to carry. They do carry other train oriented magazines which some I have picked up over the years. The train variety is naturally what you would expect, all sorts of scale publications, real trains including special runs on historical ones, layout designs, and some others that I've never seen at any place that has carried any train magazines.

This store is not your standard store. The original owners had a good number of years serving up folks with coffee, some rolls/bagels, refrigerated good like milk, soda, ice cream including selling it by the scoop. There are a number of other things there, but I'm sure any town has a place like this(or maybe a few that cover all they do).

This store was the place I had picked up my first issues of OGR Magazine before becoming a subscriber. I do pop in there from time to time a few times a month as it is convenient for me to do so when I am out and about. I happen to pick up a recent publication on some real trains that I haven't gotten my eyes into just like the new issue of OGR.

While I get both print and digital, I much prefer the paper issue. I consider the digital OGR a backup, in case the PO makes off with my printed copy. I doubt I would subscribe if I could not have the printed copy in my hands.

FYI: The latest issue of OGR arrived today. Yippee!!!

Jeff

Just picked up my copy of the DEC21/JAN22 issue at the Strasburg Train Stop (next to the Choo Choo Barn).

Nicholas Smith is my LHS but has not carried OGR for a few years now, or they order a low quantity and sell out quickly.

Hennings Trains carries OGR in store as of last Christmas; I haven't been there since last holiday season.

@mowingman posted:

While I get both print and digital, I much prefer the paper issue. I consider the digital OGR a backup, in case the PO makes off with my printed copy. I doubt I would subscribe if I could not have the printed copy in my hands.

FYI: The latest issue of OGR arrived today. Yippee!!!

Jeff

Same here.  It’s sort of like the Sears or JCPenney Christmas catalogs.  There’s something about flipping through the colorful, glossy pages.  Since those catalogs have vanished, I haven’t shopped at either of them, and one barely exists anymore.

@WRGMILW posted:

I knew the Digital issue was out ,  But I like the Printed issue .   

Is the Digital version in Pdf Format ?

How would I retrieve it/ get it if  I paid for the digital version ?

Thanks

Bill in Wawautosa

At the completion of your Digital Subscription purchase, you’ll get a link to your own private reading room in the OGR Digital Library. Literally every issue that OGR has published - more than 300 of them dating from 1969 - are all available there.

It is in the PDF format which you can read online or download for offline reading.

I for one am glad that the print copy still comes to the house. I have zero interest in a digital copy. Old school, oh well.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Mike, have you checked the price of gas lately?   The shipping isn't so bad when you consider the driving costs and time.

Depends on the type of vehicle you drive. Doesnt it?

@Prr7688 posted:

Just picked up my copy of the DEC21/JAN22 issue at the Strasburg Train Stop (next to the Choo Choo Barn).

Nicholas Smith is my LHS but has not carried OGR for a few years now, or they order a low quantity and sell out quickly.

Hennings Trains carries OGR in store as of last Christmas; I haven't been there since last holiday season.

Yeah! I too have to make that trek!

@prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Depends on the type of vehicle you drive. Doesnt it?

Well, I'm one of the 98% of car owners in the US that drive gasoline powered cars.

Of course, printing out a digital magazine on your home printer likely costs you more than the print version alone would cost when you consider paper and printer ink expenses (not to mention overall quality of the printing). Still, there's something for everybody--at least at the present time--and it's strictly a matter of personal choice.

Let's be optimistic and say it costs 10 cents a sheet to print on a color printer.  Truthfully, it's more like at least 15 for inkjet and maybe 10-12 for a color laser.  The last OGR mag, Run 321, was 101 pages.  That's at least $10 to print it in color on any printer, and probably realistically more like $15.