Revived Look and Learn magazine

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 11 Mar 2007, 14:02

Does anyone here subscribe to the revived (reprint) Look and Learn magazine? If so, any opinions on it?

I sent for the preview issue and it arrived folded in half in an unprotected envelope and didn't have the glossy paper of the original. They didn't do Pay Pal subscriptions, which in this day and age is far preferable than Direct Debit for a subscription-based service, so I didn't bother with it.

By my reckoning it should be up to at least issue 4 by now. Any comments?

Lew

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 11 Mar 2007, 15:04

Not seen this Lew. But i can remember when look.in first came out i used to take work up there for other artists. thats when i used to talk to alan fennel and colin shelbourne they are both nice guys. But no i have not seen this other Look.in.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 11 Mar 2007, 16:59

john56peter756brit wrote:Not seen this Lew. But i can remember when look.in first came out i used to take work up there for other artists. thats when i used to talk to alan fennel and colin shelbourne they are both nice guys. But no i have not seen this other Look.in.

No this is Look and Learn John. It's subscription-only.

Lew

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 11 Mar 2007, 17:09

It must be my time of the month Lew i get confused.Mind you i had been talking to the people who are doing that mag .My old boss was the one who started the original Look and Learn Leonard Matthews was his name

spence · Post by **spence** » 12 Mar 2007, 17:46

I have 2 sons, age 9 and 6, and I have subscribed and I read it with/to them and, maybe surprisingly, once they got passed the reticence of 'educational comic' they are REALLY interested in it!!! (Plus it also contains the Trigan Empire so I enjoy reading that with them

)

My only critique would be similar to yours Lew, they initially promised similar paper stock to the original etc etc. and the fantastic art in these would look even better on a glossier paper.

For ?2.00 an issue, it's actually really good value - would be great if this type of magazine was re-launched for real ... (not reprints)..

I DO recommend it for anyone with children of a similar age ... for us fogeys, it's a good trip down memory lane but we can likely pick the originals up on ebay for cheaper if that's the kick we're looking for...

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 12 Mar 2007, 19:44

Imagine the artists it would need to recreate it these artist are no longer with us.I have been lucky enough to see the original artwork from years

ago when i worked at martspress the boss was Leonard Matthews and V Voulo and you have to see the artwork to understand how fantastic these guys are.

big bad bri · Post by **big bad bri** » 04 Apr 2007, 19:42

I also got the free preview from the web site also folded in half & unprotected so i decided not to subscribe, they should have sold the first few issues in wh smiths like they do with those dvd mag collections like star trek & james bond cars collection then more people would have known about it.I may of being tempted to place an order with them.
big bad bri

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 05 Apr 2007, 00:10

big bad bri wrote:I also got the free preview from the web site also folded in half & unprotected so i decided not to subscribe, they should have sold the first few issues in wh smiths like they do with those dvd mag collections like star trek & james bond cars collection then more people would have known about it.I may of being tempted to place an order with them.
big bad bri

To be fair to the publishers the cost of getting it into Smiths would have been astronomical. Remember, those other partworks you mention have big publishers backing them who can afford the millions it costs to launch a magazine.

Publishers have to pay retailers thousands simply to get it on the shelves. (Shops aren't content with just a percentage of cover price any more.) The more they pay, the further to the front of the shelves it's displayed. And that's even if Smiths would accept it. (That's one reason there's no modern day equivalent to small publishers like Alan Class or Top Sellers out there today.)

The cover price would certainly be much higher if they'd gone through the retail outlets. More power to the publishers of Best of Look & Learn for sidestepping the greedy "middle men". (But a huge black mark for not accepting PayPal subscriptions. They lost my support because of that, and for not replying to my enquiry asking why a subscription-only mag hasn't got a PayPal facility set up.)

Lew

moose · Post by **moose** » 07 Apr 2007, 22:25

my wife works at smiths' head office. they don't touch much with a barge pole these days, margins are too narrow. if dvds and cds sell at a loss, what hope for comics?

Brendan McGuire · Post by **Brendan McGuire** » 09 Apr 2007, 12:34

I honestly can not fathom the thinking behind modern retailing. As I understand it, judging by things mentioned within these hallowed forums, retailers get a cut of the retail price of any item and then charge the supplier rent for selling said item! On top of which the rent goes up for a more prominent position on the rack! If this does not discourage a small entreprteneur from starting up any business, let alone publishing, I don't know what will. Retailers should be bowing and scraping to get product into their shops, surely? Isn't retailing about the swift movement of stock, especially in the case of what is essentially ephemera? It seems to me, if all the above is correct, that retailers like W. H. Smith have entered a Carollean looking-glass world where they think fewer products means greater profits. I argue from ignorance to some extent, but if that is the situation it teeters on the brink of madness. Diminishing returns anybody?

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 09 Apr 2007, 13:34

Brendan McGuire wrote:I honestly can not fathom the thinking behind modern retailing. As I understand it, judging by things mentioned within these hallowed forums, retailers get a cut of the retail price of any item and then charge the supplier rent for selling said item! On top of which the rent goes up for a more prominent position on the rack! If this does not discourage a small entreprteneur from starting up any business, let alone publishing, I don't know what will.

It gets worse. According to an editor of my acquaintance if a magazine or comic accidentally puts the wrong barcode on the cover, or has a barcode that doesn't scan properly the major retailers "fine" the publisher thousands of pounds for wasting staff time. (Not that the staff get the money of course.) Allegedly the same applies if an advertised free gift isn't exactly as described, or if a retailer feels he has to pull a comic from the shelves if a parent complains about a comic.

Of course, complaining to Smiths that their new shelf designs make mags at the back almost impossible to see (thus wasting customer time looking) doesn't get the same compensation. Nor does complaining when moronic shop assistants put the comics in upside down / back to front, or that girls on the till handle magazines so roughly they look second hand before you've read them. (That's when they can work out how to operate a computerized checkout without calling over Barry from video sales, or when it dawns on them that the barcodes aren't scanning because their scanner is clogged up with dust and grease.)

Ever get the feeling shops just feel inconvenienced by their own stock, and how customers get in the way of chatting to their mates?

Of course, when the majority of people start taking out online subscriptions the retail giants will simply move into Amazon-like business dealings to try and undercut online small businesses. (I'm sure they already are doing this actually. I think Asda and Tesco offer online subs now, unless it was a nightmare I had.)

Anyway, that's my Easter Monday Moan out of the way.

Lew

Peter Gray · Post by **Peter Gray** » 20 Apr 2007, 17:32

http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/index.php

its good this website.....so many freebies.....also you can read childrens newspapers..
now if they ever bring out more on Playhour and Jack and Jill....Mr Men would be cool..though they may not have the rights to those...

Peter Gray · Post by **Peter Gray** » 18 May 2007, 08:53

54 LOOK AND LEARN 1962 TO 1964 ORIGINAL VINTAGE CHILDRENS COLLECTABLE MAGAZINE

54 issues of LOOK AND LEARN issued in 1962,1963,1964 - Numbers:-

2,6,7,8,9,10,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,51,54,81,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,99,100,102,105,106,107,109,110,111,

112,113,114,115,116,117,118,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,SUMMER EXTRA 1963

I won this on ebay for ?41 when postage is added on....thought I'd get more from the orignals then the facsmilie......

Peter Gray · Post by **Peter Gray** » 18 May 2007, 11:45

got this news

Dear Peter, So glad you like the site. Century/Random House are
publishing
"The Bumper Book of Look and Learn" in September. It is a big book (ie
taller and wider than the original annuals) and 256 pages (vs 128 pages
for
the annuals that appeared in the 1960s). I am sure you will like it.
You
can pre-order it on Amazon. (Ignore, however, the Synopsis which is
all
wrong!) Best wishes, Laurence

sounds good......

now we just need the best of Buster...whoopee..whizzer and chips..etc..etc..

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 18 May 2007, 12:33

I can't help wondering if publishers have over-anticipated the market for a revived Look and Learn. If back issues are so cheap to buy (and I sold No.2 for only a fiver recently after putting it up three times on eBay) is the interest there for a book to sell in the profitable thousands?

That said, I for one am looking forward to the September book, as long as the reproduction of the artwork is good.

Lew

Comics UK