Those magazines where you collect things/build something, over weeks

[asv]

I have somewhere a complete Story Teller 2 set, including the tapes in the special case.

There seems to be loads of these things around, the Ronnie Barker one being the latest but also, building Spanish galleons etc over weeks and weeks.  I remember a couple of former work colleagues having to ring up to get the rest of the parts to build their radio controlled car that they started collecting.

Does anyone actually buy these to completion?  Dont they all just last a few weeks then buyers have to bulk-buy the remaing components to complete the thing (perhaps this is always the intention behind the magazines??)?  Has anyone actually built up the entire Friends collection on DVD from the magazine series I saw advertised in the New Year?

Edit for spelling

[Go With The Flow]

It would be a massive rip-off if they did, as although the first issue is decent value, from issue 2 they're always about £8. I presume you have to suscribe to the magazine to get any benefit from it, as if you miss one issue you'd be screwed.

[Marvin]

The 'build-a-car' type ones are ridiculous. There was one launched last year to build a Ford Focus WRC radio controlled car, which worked out at being £600, when you can buy exactly the same kit for £80 if you, you know, just go and buy it in a box.

[Goldentony]

My brother started buying one that gave you parts to build a working robot (sort of anyway, it was a remote controlled robot shaped car, not ana ctual working all singing all dancing planet eating mechagodzilla type of thing) and after about 16 weeks he completely gave up because it was costing a fucking enormous amount, like 5 quid an issue or something, and he hadn't even made it half way through the issues.

My Uncle said he subscribed to the Carry On.... one aswell and he had a bit of shit over not getting sent things in the middle of it all, i don't know howe it got on.

The only one i wanted to start buying was when they started doing videos of The Prisoner.

[Fielding]

I started collecting one of these when I was a youngster. It was way back in the 90s I think one of the first collector magazines that I can remember seeing. The magazine was about combat aircraft and each week you got plastic injection moulded parts ("Airfix kit bits" to you skivvies) to build a 1:72 scale RAF Tornado.

Never did finish it, although I used the spare missiles and fuel tanks ("bombs" to you skivvies) on another 1:72 Tornado kit that I brought outright - upfront - 100% cash - no deposit - no monthly instalments - for a price equivalent to about 3 issues of the magazine.

They always do end up costing more than just buying all the bits separately and they take up shedloads of space in the already overcrowded magazine display racks of British Newsagents. I'm sure I remember walking into 'Smiths once and seeing dozens of copies of 'Bungalow monthly' each with an aerator concrete block ("Breeze Block" to you skivvies) taped to the front.

[Melody Lee]

I used to get 'Dinosaurs!' magazine, where you built up a glow in the dark T-Rex skeleton and then had the two halves of it's skin to paint and put on top. I got the whole lot eventually, my mum buying it for me.
The model really didn't fit together properly, plus there wasn't a single type of model paint that actually went on the weird plastic skin properly.

I got a few bits of a human body one, with a model of a body with organs and bones and stuff with it. That didn't even begin to go together, so I gave up. It was way too expensive anyway.

Speaking of magazine series' (minus the collectables), I do remember really enjoying 'X Factor' magazine, which was a paranormal type thing.
It had a section at the back called 'Bizarre' that always had some freaky story or few. One featured a fella who died after farting excessively in his near air-tight bedroom while severely ill. Apparently quite true, he'd been living on cabbage soup for weeks.
Lots of other stuff about satanic murders, alien abductions and ghosts.

-

[hansen mork]

I used to collect "treasures of the earth" (oddly enough its currently being rehashed). After the first few editions i had to get them in on order from the newsagents. They just kept coming and coming and by the end i was buying it out of routine. When i stopped i think i must have been one of the only ones they were producing it for.
I wouldn't be shocked if this new relaunch of it has come a week after they finally stopped making the old ones.

[Deadman97]

Presenting the complete Agatha Christie collection from Deagostini publications, as collected over three years by my girlfriend at a cost of at least £400:

[buttgammon]

And a lava lamp, some of those Thomson, Sweet and Maxwell law books...

[duckorange]

I've got a complete 120-issue collection of Warplane magazine, which came with a free A3 sized poster of the Killing Machine of the Week. After they'd done the Tornado, the Harrier and all the interesting ones, all I had to look forward to was a huge poster of the Ecuadorean Air Force's twin-seat trainer. And still I ploughed on to the bitter end.

Anyone want to buy 120 copies of an out-of-date Warplane partwork?

My brother collected a science one called Insight, that lasted something like three years. It peaked somewhat at issue eight, which was all about breast reduction surgery and fed our spotty teenage imaginations for YEARS.

Last year, having not learned at all, I got the first three of the Dad's Army DVD partwork, before common sense finally caught up with me and I realised I could just record them off the TV...

[SetToStun]

I started doing the Robot Wars one with my son but we gave up after about twelve weeks when all we had was a motor, a body, a couple of cogs and a few assorted bits and pieces because we realised we must have missed a week and were missing the gears for one of the wheels, rendering the whole operation pointless. It would, indeed, have cost hundreds to see it through anyway, so probably for the best, I suppose. It was a crap robot, too.

[idunnosomename]

I used to get 'Dinosaurs!' magazine, where you built up a glow in the dark T-Rex skeleton and then had the two halves of it's skin to paint and put on top. I got the whole lot eventually, my mum buying it for me.
The model really didn't fit together properly, plus there wasn't a single type of model paint that actually went on the weird plastic skin properly.

-

The magazine was quite good though and although the skeleton was obviously to get kids to keep buying it it had a bit more value like that and the skeleton itself didnt take that long to finish

I think then they moved on to trading cards but the magazine ran out of dinosaurs so it started to bring in loads of mammal megafauna and stuff, now that's just not on.

[duckorange]

trading cards

While we're here, I've now gone 29 years without completing my Panini Football 78 album.

Does anybody have a spare of Bristol City's Gerry Gow?

[Neil]

My brother started buying one that gave you parts to build a working robot (sort of anyway, it was a remote controlled robot shaped car, not ana ctual working all singing all dancing planet eating mechagodzilla type of thing) and after about 16 weeks he completely gave up because it was costing a fucking enormous amount, like 5 quid an issue or something, and he hadn't even made it half way through the issues.

Yeha I think I got the first two issues of that about 4 or 5 years ago?  I found (and threw out) the base of it recently.  It seemed ace, cause they said you could hook it up to a computer and, err, I dunno, do whatever you do with a cheap robot connected to a computer.  They were crafty too, with the first issue (only £1.00 or something I'm sure) you get a massive big bit of it, basically the whole base, and some of the wheels you attach on to it.  And then with every subsequent issue you presumably get a single screw, and pay a fiver for the pleasure (which would be a fine night out, but is a frustratingly slow way to build a robot).

[Howj Begg]

complete Storytellers!

[rudi]

My daddy did the whole The Rock Years which was ace - gave me my first listens to all sorts of bands (well - I say all sorts - it was hardly esoteria, but I were only a nipper, yknow).

[emo_bliss]

Heehee, I remember these. I used to collect them a lot. Even though I tended in some cases to get bored after the first few issues, I adored Dinosaurs! (which coincided quite well with the release of the first Jurassic Park), BUGS!, How My Body Works, Tree Of Knowledge, Magical Music Box, The Ancestral Trail, The Great Artists, X Factor, and a few of the PC-related partworks which came out around 1997/1998. Since I collected these things when I was in primary school, being reminded of them brings up a load of really lovely childhood memories, and so you can imagine what an achingly nostalgic treat it was to spend tonight reminiscing through the wonders of eBay:




















And one which I probably shouldn't have been reading at the age of eleven (although we've all got to learn about this stuff at some point, I guess):



Speaking of Murder In Mind - does anyone remember there being a video? I know there was an X Factor video (I have it upstairs), but I also seem to remember seeing a Murder In Mind video on the shelves one week. Sadly, I've had no luck finding it on the internet, and, even though I distinctly remember the presence of an age rating on the box, there's no sign of anything on the BBFC website.

[GetTheeBehindMeStan]

Bloody hell, Bugs! Stan Jr has a complete set of those. The legs all gradually broke off the spider that you had to make up, though.

Somewhere in the attic I've got a complete set of "International Encyclopedia of Stamps". Now that is really sad.

[MojoJojo]

My brother started buying one that gave you parts to build a working robot (sort of anyway, it was a remote controlled robot shaped car, not ana ctual working all singing all dancing planet eating mechagodzilla type of thing) and after about 16 weeks he completely gave up because it was costing a fucking enormous amount, like 5 quid an issue or something, and he hadn't even made it half way through the issues.

Yeha I think I got the first two issues of that about 4 or 5 years ago?  I found (and threw out) the base of it recently.  It seemed ace, cause they said you could hook it up to a computer and, err, I dunno, do whatever you do with a cheap robot connected to a computer.  They were crafty too, with the first issue (only £1.00 or something I'm sure) you get a massive big bit of it, basically the whole base, and some of the wheels you attach on to it.  And then with every subsequent issue you presumably get a single screw, and pay a fiver for the pleasure (which would be a fine night out, but is a frustratingly slow way to build a robot).

Heh, my mate's dad collected almost all of those, and we had a go at finishing it off. It started off with a basic controller board that just had a preset program in,  and then you had to upgrade it to get all the superwhizzy program from your computer stuff. Except - the bits for the upgrade were wrong, and you ended up with a robot that did nothing. You had to send out a letter, and £5 for P&P, to get the right bits. The moneygrabbing shits.

[waste of chops]

We used to get Input (type-in listings for computers) and Quest (facts and stuff). Are Marshall Cavendish still going or have they been ursurped by the likes of DeAgostini?

My girlfriend started buying one which had an opera DVD every issue, as she wanted to get into opera and apparently the DVDs are normally ridiculously expensive. However she got about 4 issues in and then they discontinued it in our region (Devon) due to poor sales figures. They wouldn't even let her subscribe though which seemed a bit weird. It started up again about a year later for some reason; not sure if they were expecting us country folk to get all cultured in the intervening months or something.

[petula dusty]

My Mum used to collect these and if you're quick you can buy the whole lot for a tenner on ebay.ie.




Of course she didn't leave them lying around the house I used to have to sneak into her bedroom to look at them.

[Panbaams]

(picture)

Speaking of Murder In Mind - does anyone remember there being a video? I know there was an X Factor video (I have it upstairs), but I also seem to remember seeing a Murder In Mind video on the shelves one week. Sadly, I've had no luck finding it on the internet, and, even though I distinctly remember the presence of an age rating on the box, there's no sign of anything on the BBFC website.

I vaguely remember a video of a Yorkshire Ripper documentary that came with one of these things but I can't remember if it was Murder in Mind â€" would that be the one you're thinking of, or was the video about the Wests, as in your picture? Unless I'm thinking of a rival series of mass murderer partworks, of course ...

[shite on a bike]

Ahh happy memories, I loved that magazine although I think I ended up snapping one of the plastic T-Rex bones by accident. Got treasures of the earth for a couple of issues but then decided it was a waste of time.

I seem to remember there being a Clint Eastwood collection going on not too long ago, anyone pick that up? I would of thought that would be decent value; I've never seen a full collection kicking about anywhere else.

[Russ]

I work as a manager for a newsagents.

If you do want missing copies of a partwork, then please go to your local newsagent, and ask them to ring their wholesaler.

They'll probably be more than glad to take your money, and the wholesalers will often as not be able to order one directly from the publishers, and despite it going through three people, will mean you still only have to pay the cover price instead of an increased price plus postage direct to the publisher.

Out of every £5.99 you spend a week on these partworks, approximately £1.50-£2.00 goes to the newsagent, so they're a fucking godsend for profits.

Some of the shit that comes out though is awful. At the minute you can build two separate collections called Treasures Of The Earth, and Secrets of the Stones, which means you paying hundreds of pounds over 2 years for lumps of rock and minerals.

The only ones worth getting are the ones with the free DVDs, as it means you can stagger your £200+ outlay over two years, and still get a decent collection out of it.

Also, if at all possible, the partwork will be extended if there are enough subscribers. This usually happens with the kids ones, like Horrible Science and Tracy Beaker.

[emo_bliss]

(picture)

Speaking of Murder In Mind - does anyone remember there being a video? I know there was an X Factor video (I have it upstairs), but I also seem to remember seeing a Murder In Mind video on the shelves one week. Sadly, I've had no luck finding it on the internet, and, even though I distinctly remember the presence of an age rating on the box, there's no sign of anything on the BBFC website.

I vaguely remember a video of a Yorkshire Ripper documentary that came with one of these things but I can't remember if it was Murder in Mind â€" would that be the one you're thinking of, or was the video about the Wests, as in your picture? Unless I'm thinking of a rival series of mass murderer partworks, of course ...

Thank you so much! The Yorkshire Ripper - that has to have been it, because...look at this...



It's on eBay!!! I think I'm going to buy this thing. My parents don't like giving out their credit card details online, though. Ack, bollocks, I'm going to have to find some way to get this.

[Panbaams]

Yes, that's the one I remember buying, many moons ago. And getting rid of, slightly fewer moons ago.

[clareQuilty]

There are like loads of documentaries on Petey. There was a good 'Victims Reunited' one a few months back on ITV. Probably up for torrent somewhere.

The Fred & Rose West one looks interesting. Any other True Crime fans reccomend a good book on those two?

[Duckula]

Man I bought all the issues of the Dinosaur magazine, I remember being disappointed that they went on to give away trading cards instead of a new dinosaur.

[Wilbur]

Eeeerm I have almost the full collection with binders if you are interested PM me.

W

[buttgammon]

Somewhere in the attic I've got a complete set of "International Encyclopedia of Stamps". Now that is really sad.

I wouldn't know about that. Honest!

Oh, alright. I collected stamps for about three days when I was about six years old and I think I may still have some old first day covers with 'Magyar Posta' stamped on and a box of mounts. But I was never really that interested. Panini sticker albums were always more my thing.