Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

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CraigMitchell
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Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby CraigMitchell » August 16th, 2016, 2:20 am

So Stan's big announcement is that Magic Magazine is closing ... 25 "legacy" special issues remain.

No announcement on what he intends doing thereafter - but the next Live appears to be in 2018.

Richard now has the magic magazine market all to himself :-) last man standing ...

Jorge Betancourt
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Jorge Betancourt » August 16th, 2016, 9:29 am

Hi Craig, so is there only going to be one more Magic Live and a few more issues of the magazine?

Jorge

P.S. I hope you remember me, I competed in IMX 2012, now I organize one of the biggest conventions in Mexico :D

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CraigMitchell
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby CraigMitchell » August 16th, 2016, 11:51 am

Whilst the magazine will be coming to an end .. I am sure Live will continue long into the future ... With over 1600 people in attendance Stan has created an amazing following at his convention.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Jorge Betancourt » August 16th, 2016, 11:55 am

I haven't had the opportunity to go to Live, but I hope to be there in the next one

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Orlan » August 16th, 2016, 12:00 pm

Richard, please don't turn 66 anytime soon!

Image


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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 16th, 2016, 1:14 pm

Magic Magazine appears to be ceasing publication with the August or September issue.
A new magazine of 25 issues, published on an irregular basis and named Magic Legacy, will be produced over the next 2 years.
Price before Sept.30 is $140 (sold only as a set).
After that date the price will be $250 in the US--more for other countries.
There are no digital versions of the issues.
There will be bonuses sent to subscribers (the one mentioned is a gaffed deck for tricks which will appear in the issues).
The new magazine will conclude by August 2018, coincidentally most likely when the next MAGIC Live convention will take place.

NO gloating, please! Genii would be nothing like it is today if MAGIC magazine hadn't reoriented the content of magazines in our field.
Stan Allen has done a great job with MAGIC and I was very pleased to be part of it from 1991 to 1998.

As Racherbaumer would say, "Onward!"
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

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Bill Marquardt
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Bill Marquardt » August 16th, 2016, 2:44 pm

Sad news, really. I have enjoyed reading MAGIC alongside Genii and appreciate the differences between the two. I do have a question, though. For those of us whose subscriptions to MAGIC extend beyond the "final" issue, what will transpire? Will we receive issues of the new publication until our subsription expires?

I should probably ask Stan that question, but maybe he is reading this.


Added: I checked his web site and the answer to my question is:

"All the issues you are owed of MAGIC will be fulfilled with Legacy issues. If you wish to subscribe to the complete set of Legacy, we will apply the balance of your MAGIC payment to a Legacy subscription (at the current price offered), crediting you $5 for each issue of MAGIC you are owed. (International prices will be adjusted to allow for higher postage costs.)"

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Joe Mckay » August 16th, 2016, 4:13 pm

MAGIC magazine used to be a great magazine. Up until around the year 2000.

But over time - all my favourite writers from there moved over to GENII. So in many ways - GENII has taken the baton of the pre-2000 MAGIC magazine era, run with it and added a bunch of new features as well.

I still miss Michael Close's review column in MAGIC. That column was my favourite thing in the world when I was starting out in magic. There was something so cool about seeing him review a bunch of tricks, books and DVDs each month. He did a great job juggling all that. I used to pick out old issues from my magic pile just to re-read his column. It was a real education for a magic newbie.

Stan Allen did a great job with MAGIC. But I am sure I am not the only one who felt that it peaked a long time ago. That said - Josh Jay had a great run in the Talk About Tricks column. He did a really good job with that one.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby CraigMitchell » August 16th, 2016, 4:45 pm

Make no mistake ... It is a sad day for the magic world to lose a publication like this.

For so many years - Magic and Genii were a lifeline to the outside world of magic. In an era without internet - they were a connection to what took place in 'distant' lands ... And each month I would anxiously await their arrival.

Stan raised the bar and his contribution to the art is significant. You only ever fully appreciate something when it is no longer there.

Thank you, Stan.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Q. Kumber » August 16th, 2016, 5:17 pm

I very much looked forward to Stan's 'Inside Magic' newsletter which preceeded MAGIC.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Andres Reynoso » August 16th, 2016, 7:27 pm

I'm in shock.....
Andres Reynoso

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby observer » August 16th, 2016, 8:22 pm

It's too bad they're closing down. Always a cover to cover read. I will keep getting Genii, MUM, Linking Ring, and Magicol but still I will miss Magic.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby erdnasephile » August 21st, 2016, 7:11 am

http://www.magicmagazine.com/w/legacy/ for those that don't have the link to the announcement.

I guess the pledge never to resell MAGIC "in any form" precludes a bound reprint or ebook of all the issues. I own all the originals (and Stan's decision is good for collectors), but I sure wouldn't have minded a DVD of the entire series so I could search more efficiently (and get these magazines off my sagging shelves.) Perhaps Stan might consider publishing an electronic index of the magazine when it's all done?

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erdnasephile
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby erdnasephile » August 21st, 2016, 7:19 am

I almost forgot: one key part of MAGIC will live on electronically: http://www.michaelclose.com/collections ... /in-review

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Gordon Meyer
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Gordon Meyer » August 21st, 2016, 2:55 pm

erdnasephile wrote:http://www.magicmagazine.com/w/legacy/ for those that don't have the link to the announcement.

I guess the pledge never to resell MAGIC "in any form" precludes a bound reprint or ebook of all the issues.


Hmmm, that's not my reading of the sentence. What I read is that MAGIC won't be sold to someone else, nor will it be "rebooted." I choose to remain hopeful that someday there will an electronic archive available.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Jack Shalom » August 21st, 2016, 5:04 pm

Gordon Meyer wrote:
erdnasephile wrote:http://www.magicmagazine.com/w/legacy/ for those that don't have the link to the announcement.

I guess the pledge never to resell MAGIC "in any form" precludes a bound reprint or ebook of all the issues.


Hmmm, that's not my reading of the sentence. What I read is that MAGIC won't be sold to someone else, nor will it be "rebooted." I choose to remain hopeful that someday there will an electronic archive available.


I would think that would be an expensive proposition for a company going out of business. Not even clear to me that Stan Allen has access to a complete file.

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 21st, 2016, 8:40 pm

Of course Stan has full files of MAGIC magazine!
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

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erdnasephile
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby erdnasephile » August 21st, 2016, 10:11 pm

Gordon Meyer wrote:
erdnasephile wrote:http://www.magicmagazine.com/w/legacy/ for those that don't have the link to the announcement.

I guess the pledge never to resell MAGIC "in any form" precludes a bound reprint or ebook of all the issues.


Hmmm, that's not my reading of the sentence. What I read is that MAGIC won't be sold to someone else, nor will it be "rebooted." I choose to remain hopeful that someday there will an electronic archive available.


You may be right--I sure hope so!

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Jack Shalom » August 21st, 2016, 10:13 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:Of course Stan has full files of MAGIC magazine!

Richard, I mean digital files.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 21st, 2016, 10:16 pm

First, it would be impossible to do a bound reprint. You're talking about at least 45 hardbound volumes (after the first few years, the issue would be to big to fit a single volume in one binding), costing thousands of dollars.

Second, it's an enormous job to turn 25 years of a magazine into something saleable. It would be expensive, and it's unlikely that the sales would justify the price.

I know these things because ... been there, done that! :)

The only real benefit to having an e-version is that it would be searchable.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Joe Mckay » August 21st, 2016, 11:53 pm

It would be great if they found a way of digitalizing all the magic from magic magazine over the years.

It would be too big for a book. But would make for a great ebook. Maybe spread it over 5-10 volumes.

Chris Wasshuber - would love it if you could make this happen! :-)

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby David Mitchell » August 22nd, 2016, 8:11 am

Richard Kaufman wrote:NO gloating, please! Genii would be nothing like it is today if MAGIC magazine hadn't reoriented the content of magazines in our field.
Stan Allen has done a great job with MAGIC and I was very pleased to be part of it from 1991 to 1998.


Gloating? What about mourning. I love Magic, just as much as I love Genii. Now I only get to look forward to getting mail once a month instead of twice.
David Mitchell

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erdnasephile
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby erdnasephile » August 25th, 2016, 5:50 am

Not sure this question is appropriate here, but when trying to sign up for this I realized that the credit card payment page is not secure on either Microsoft Edge, nor Firefox. I have already contacted Stan about this, but I was wondering if I was the only one where this is happening or if ya'll knew an easy work around. Thanks!

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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby Anthony Vinson » August 25th, 2016, 6:21 am

erdnasephile wrote:Not sure this question is appropriate here, but when trying to sign up for this I realized that the credit card payment page is not secure on either Microsoft Edge, nor Firefox. I have already contacted Stan about this, but I was wondering if I was the only one where this is happening or if ya'll knew an easy work around. Thanks!


Good catch; thanks for posting. As for me, I didn't even notice... :oops:

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erdnasephile
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Re: Stan Allen's BIG announcement ... MAGIC Mag is closing

Postby erdnasephile » August 25th, 2016, 11:42 am

Just got an email. This is fixed.

Worked with Firefox for me--stayed secure throughout. Looking forward to the ride.


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