10 WAYS MINITRUCKIN MAGAZINE COULD BE BETTER

"Fullsizin" HAHAAA

thats my my new term for being full.

"Hey you want the last slice of pizza bro?" "Nah, I'm fullsizin"

Originally posted by theinternetkid



Truck'n sucks, Sport Truck is okay but sometimes I question the stuff they put in there. Street trucks is pretty good but I like the way mini truckn does their mag. Most new "mini's" are mid sizes anyway.

I'll give you the fact that most minis now are mid-sized trucks.

Those build up issues are already in the works as far as I know......That was the point of the SSM/MT Mag build up threads. They stated that they would feature a truck in the MT Lifestyle portion of the mag.

Forced ad updating is not going to happen. Thats like saying that you wont let a person walk on your sidewalk unless they have new shoes. The style of an add is up to the companies descression. It costs money to have it redone. Also, other magazines have differnt adds for the same companies, perhaps because of target audiences, or magazine input costs of add styles.

Owner pics, Im kinda on the fence on. I buy the magazine for the trucks, not to look at everyone elses mug. I actually dont like looking through the magazine and seeing 40 pictures of people I dont know, or have never met. I'd rather utalize that space for vehicles that I buy the mag for.

For Chicks, I'll buy porn....simple as that.

Over seas features are really cool, they have some really nice rides over there. But keep in mind guys that these are expensive trips, you cant take 10 a year, and every trip to a show, or cruise-in overseas, can be 1 less show that an editor attends of yours.

I'll keep going but Im sure your all tired of my BS.

-Brad

Originally posted by Rusty320



"Fullsizin" HAHAAA

thats my my new term for being full.

"Hey you want the last slice of pizza bro?" "Nah, I'm fullsizin"

HAHAH .. I been minitruckin Since i was 14!!! But now i am just Fullsizin!!!

ideas 1-4 sounds like winners of ideas for sure except change ride height shots to rolling ride height shots... this will tell us who the real bad boys are..... meaning that theyre truck actually runs and isnt just a hunk of pretty parts!!!!

8 and 10 are alse great ideas. more angles is more intresting to me ( even though sometimes the one side never being shown is to cover something). i feel like if its going to be featured it should be nice at any angle....ive seen a truck get cover of trucking magazine that only had two wheels that made it in time for the shoot and you could clearly see through to the other side that it was stock wheels. thats kinda skanky... if bitch is gunna be bad... bitch better be bad all the way around or put it in underconstruction!

Edited: 11/11/2008 6:21:17 PM by BabyYouWish

I can get down with most the ideas presented but I agree, nothing can be done about the ads/etc. (just cut them out if they bother you THAT MUCH).

However, I will disagree with the chicks thing.

Girl on the cover, awesome, no problems at all, keep them coming.However, what a waste of 2 pages in the latest issue. Don't get me wrong Kayla Collins is hot as hell... but who gives a shit how she stays in shape?

If she was in "the scene" and they were talking about her favorite shows to go to, or her favorite truck - FANTASTIC! But I don't care about her daily routine.

If I wanted to spank it, I would pick up the Playboy with her naked...

^^^werd, stupid girls....I'm goin' to the treehouse.

all great ideas, and as always we appreciate the input

Just in case you never noticed we do run pics of the owner quite frequently when we have them available. Also we run tons of Japanese and Australia trucks, more then every other magazine combined. Some people have actually voiced their opinion that it's too much we've kicked around the flashback type stories, and did a few in the 20 yr anniversary issues, but then we get the new kids (majority of the readers) that don't really dig on it but yeah, like it was said, very hard to please everyone, but we feel we do THE BEST out there at covering OUR scene, and we will continue to bust arse to put out the best minitruck coverage each and every single month!!!

Keep the suggestions coming and thanks for all the support guys!!!

Edited: 11/11/2008 7:00:54 PM by smcprez

I've been reading Minitruckin since the mid 80's. I wasn't into comics (save CarToons magazine) so MiniTruckin was my monthy bible as a teen!

Everyone has read a copy that they LOVE, most likely because there is a feature truck that is a similar year to yours or there is show coverage in that issue with your truck in it... or you went to that particular show Etc,Etc.

Then there are issues that you feel kinda sucked.For what ever reason, you think it could have been more of "This" less of "that" .Well I'm sure all the guys at the MiniTruckin hide-out would agree that pleasing every reader is next to impossible.And I am hoping that they also agree that constructive criticism is a good thing if done right.

This month I recieved my copy of MiniTruckin with a nifty lil cover that said "LAST ISSUE".Well at first glance I thought.. "last issue?" but then soon realized it was to clue me in to the fact my Subscription had run out. Well, for the first time wondered if it was worth it? (Well ofcourse it is stupid!)But I figured I'd throw out some ideas for the guys and also maybe motivate others to give up some ideas for new issues to come?! word? WORD!



So here it is...

10 THINGS MINITRUCKIN MAGAZINE COULD DO, TO MAKE IT BETTER!

1. FLASHBACK COVERS- have a page in the magazine that is a cover from a decade ago, Not a picture of the cover, the whole page like you are holding a mag from 1992, on the reverse side use half of the page to do a mini feature of a ride from the issue...note somthing from the issue or what ever? (shows, fads, old "lifestyle" pics) There are tons of back issues? and if you're 17 or 18 years old, you have never seen them!(this is where we are from)

2. RIDE HEIGHT SHOTS- some may disagree and I understand that its about laying license plate... but a small picture of the truck's FBSS is cool! I think this is big part of what we do (fabricate suspensions) so "Show it off, working"

3. OWNER PICS- again, some may dissagree (like boats in a truck magazine) but one of the cool things about TAILGATE magazine is, it somtimes has a pic of the dude that built the ride (and his wifey too?) Yes, it is all about the truck, although we also preach comunity and lifestyle, so a picture of the dude at the shoot in his ride with his big sh*t eating grin on his face would be cool too because it motivates us and also lets us see what the expression of success looks like.

4. BEFORE AND AFTERS- (in the mags defense, I have seen it, but more is good) Ask the owner if he/she has a "Day 1" picture to throw at the top of the Low down section?Sometimes it was a twisted chunk of metal that they started with? Which leads me to my 5th idea...

5. THE BUILD-UP ISSUE- here is a cool concept, We all love a good "build thread" on our favorite forums. And most of us take a million photos along the way to "cover truckism", so find a feature truck that the owner (or shop) took a lot of pics from the start.And then take the reader on the journey with an interview from the builders perspective. And do it all in one issue! 3 month follow alongs suck in my opinion.(THEN, mirror the pages here, as a thread so we all can talk amongst our selfs lol.)

6. VINTAGE FEATURE- now that it is nearing 2009, 60's 70's and 80's trucks are considered vintage (Oldschool). Being a vintage Datsun owner, I know there are literally hundreds of guys out there with older mini's. (you only need 12 a year right?) Find one per month and "one page it" in every issue, completed or unfinished!Most of us rock primer anyway... "old school is coming back"And it is how we started, sorta.

7. MORE OVER-SEAS FEATURES- this last issue had a Toyota from Japan in it. I have seen over seas features like this in the past, but not enough. This idea should be carried on every issue. Japan, Australia and other places actually seem to have a bigger scene? (believe it or not) There are some siiiick trucks over there, plus they have models of trucks we never got in the States! Use the overseas affiliate mags to swap features for every month!

8. FORCED AD UPDATING- I understand that production of the magazine is a few months ahead at all times AND I understand that its kinda unprofessional to charge someone ad space then demand that they "step up there game" BUT DOOOOOOD?... there has to be a limit to how many times a company can run the same pages with out changing there corny ad. companies like Auto-loc, airfagit.com and some others have seemingly had the same ad forever? I say an updated ad every 3 issues.(and to those companies.... thanks for paying the bills with your ads)

9. CHICKS MAN! - I have noticed that we are slowly moving back to girls on the cover.This is how it was back it the day! (*flashback cover plug)Trust us, our wifes and girlfriends are already pissed at our stack of mags we refuse to throw away and that we spend all the money and time to build these trucks.so... you wont hurt anything if you drape some hot girl on the trucks in one shot, BUT make sure there a good pictures of the truck without the stripper. hahaaaa.

10. WORK THE ANGLES!?- I know the art director likes things a certain way, but jeez. How many times can you show the same side of the ride? How about a forward shot or from the ground pointed at the exaust or ??? look, I know shooting a automobile is an art in itself, and you guys do a kick ass job without fail,but lets use the "BEST OF THE BEST" (Jan/09) issue as an example.

Monte's Nissan is rrrreally nice! (one of the few Nissans that have even graced the cover)But there are 8 or 9 pictures of the left side of the truck? I counted 12 pages that this truck got coverage (including the cover) and they are all the same side? I'll take into consideration that it appears to be a backdropped (or indoor) photo shoot but...Unless the truck is smashed up on one side... it seems we could work a new angle...bring a ladder or use two trucks for 12 pages.





Well thats my 2cents... If there was offense taken ...mybad.If you guys have any other ideas or comments feel free to ad your opinion to mine!

(TO: Mike, Galen, Shawn, Brandon, Justin, Dan, Josh, Phil, Joe, Jennie, John, Ernie, Max, Bobby, Steve, Ed, Monica and everyone else at Minitruckin Magazine.... THANK YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO!!!)

~Rusty

*I like these ideas!!

I must say, I do enjoy threads that bring the readers ideas and views on how the magazine should read and look. After all it is your magazine. Constructive critisism is something I've always been open for and much appreciate the words.

10: WORK THE ANGLES (response)But, In my defense (Art Director), It is not the Art Director who says take pictures at this angle or from this side or that side. I mean, I can't be at every photo shoot in the world to lend a hand at what i think is best nor can Mike or Galen. It is all on the photographers plate and I must mention we have ALOT of freelance photographers out there with MANY different styles. So these people are all on their own. (but you do bring up a good point) As I starred at these photos for days and it didn't even click in my head about it was the same side.

Anyways... Here's a little Art Director 101, as I was mentioning all the freelancers used in MT. My job is to make their photos look as good as I can and compose them as good as I can in the amount of time i'm given which is again roughly 2 weeks for the whole mag. I'm given roughly 15 photos per. and If they are all from the same side..thats what is used.

You make very good points and I will pass it along to the staff if they havn't already seen this thread yet.

But we do our best month to month whether you know whos doing it or not. Keep you eyes out for some changes next month, a couple of your sugguestions my be already be in the works. But overall, good stuff/suggestions.

Thanks(everyone else at MT)

P.S. you can stop thanking Ernie, he doens't work here anymore hahaha!!!

(TO: Mike, Galen, Shawn, Brandon, Justin, Dan, Josh, Phil, Joe, Jennie, John, Ernie, Max, Bobby, Steve, Ed, Monica and everyone else at Minitruckin Magazine.... THANK YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO!!!)

Find the hidden things. I'd not only like to see a shot of the truck but also a shot of what stood out to you on that truck. And if the truck sucks, but it has one innovative or original idea... show us.