New RC Boat Mag - not too sure about this one...

[Stinger9D9]

Hove you heard about this new RC boat magazine coming out?

http://www.rcboatmag.com/

It hasn't hit the newsstands yet, but I was reading the description and it looked promising until...

Until the Product Reviews...

Do you see what I saw - they review the MaxAmps water cooled hardcase lipo kit. Are you freaking kidding me? This magazine (by the same company as RC Driver) looks to be going after the Traxxas crowd who unfortunately fall for junk like this that gives the whole FE boating hobby a bad name.

Any magazine that people look to for advice on boats shouldn't even give the time of day to such a, well, DUMB idea as water cooled lipo packs.

Unless the review is laughing off such a silly idea (that Lipos should ever get hot enough to need water cooling when used properly), you should run far away from this rag and not look back.

You could say this may be a one off review by a contributor, but the story had to get by the editorial staff to make it into the magazine, so that tells you how clueless they must be. It makes me question the validity of any other story they send to print.

Just my .02

[electric]

I am not disagreeing with what you are saying, but whatever it takes to convince them to start a new magazine up I am for. I miss the old subscription, even though it was pretty thin at times. Still, it was fun to get something in print to look at now and then. I bought one just to get them to print another one..etc...

[jamespl]

I think with any magazine be it cars, boats or whatever have to show the interest from all sides like reviews and stuff. Just cos the feature that it doesn't mean all stuff in it is junk.

[Fluid]

The OP apparently does not run a business. Magazines have to make money to stay in business - period. The reason RC Boat Modeler folded was lack of enough advertising - the parent company subsidized it for years before throwing in the towel. This new mag has to make money to survive, and that means it needs advertisers. Reviewing advertisers' products keeps them paying the bills. Accept it or not, the largest part of the RC boating hobby is RTRs like the Traxxas, Hobby King, Aquacraft and ProBoat. Buyers of those products want to customize their boats, and MaxAmps products are one way to do so. You might think that water-cooled LiPos are silly, but apparently hundreds of others disagree.

This new magazine is published by a group of writers who quit AirAge (RC Boat Modeler, Model Airplane News, Car Action) about ten years ago and set up shop in competition with Car Action. I'm all for good competition, and if this boating magazine is a success then we the consumers win. No magazine can make everyone happy - either the scale guys are pissing and moaning, or the racers don't think they have enough coverage, or the beginners complain that there are no RTR reviews. Get over it. Magazines like this can promote the hobby, and that is a good thing for everyone.




.

[electric]

As luck would have it, I just got the magazine in the mail today. They have quite a few nice articles on the new pro-boats(Impulse, Black Jack 29(red one),some gas boats, atomik , traxxas, sailing, Graupner, electric power conversion for Aquacraft top speed3, Warehouse hobbies, Central rc hobbies mystic, fine design,kyosho...there is quite a bit of coverage, ads and stuff to read. Really a great mag. Oh, they have a huge pullout poster picture of the Geico and on the other side the entire proboat line.

[TheShaughnessy]

it just says they review the water cooled lipos, NOT the hottest thing too hit the boating industry MAX AMPS LIPO COOLERS. Guaranteed to create more power.
Calm down and get the full story. A local hobby shop with an indoor clay track has 95 racers this weekend. The FE Nationals are less then two weeks away. 36 racers.

What that says to me is the magazine isn't going to be hurting things, it is EXPOSURE. Exposure is a good thing. As the FE racing grows products will get better and that is good for the end user. No need to go into further detail .

[rcboatmanwithkids2880]

Hi Guy's ,

Let's not forget that a publishing entity needs to be financially viable to keep producing magazines that are of interest to an individual , I personally love printed form of media as it provides a great pictorial timeline of technology . It is up to the consumer to decide what is the best product available to them , to suit there needs . This new magazine looks great , just hope a representative from this publishing group finds a distributor for the land of Oz , as I certainly want to buy them ....

Brad
Oz

[Stinger9D9]

Not saying I don't want a boating magazine, but one that gives the time of day to water cooled lipo packs (and doesn't laugh them off) is no asset to the hobby.

Some of the posters are basically saying that the magazines need to placate the advertisers to survive, that may be so, but too much of that, and the magazine just winds up turning into a glorified catalog for the highest bidder. Journalistic integrity (like telling people honestly where their hard earned dollars are best spent) takes a back seat and ultimately hurts the hobby when people wind up buying crap after relying on "reviews", getting frustrated and giving up.

If all you want are glossy photos of the model you just bought, it might be nice though.

This forum in particular is a far better resource, it's always up to date, it's free and it's not influenced by advertisers. Particularly dodgy ones like the manufacturer of those packs.

[Basstronics]

I like the idea but the fact is the various forums provide a good enough tool for most peoples.

The other problem is how many hobby shops are going to stock this mag? YOu think wal mart or other retailers are going to put this in their magazine racks? I doubt it.

So how did you guys hear about this mag? Im sure it wasnt at the LHS...

[Stinger9D9]

So how did you guys hear about this mag? Im sure it wasnt at the LHS...

Ha ha...yeah, come to think of it, I heard about it on a forum!

[Basstronics]

Same here obviously.

While I would like to have such a magazine I dont see a true need for it. At least in my eyes.

[rcboatmanwithkids2880]

Hi Gyy's ,

It would be nice to see it succeed on its own merits , by the way Stinger stated , it survives on it's own " Journalistic Integrity " . While providing great shots of one the worlds most exciting hobbies " F/E R/C Boating " ...


Brad
Oz