The reading type, that is. I’ve a stack about a metric meter high of old mags, including many MMIR issues, and back issues from last century. I’ve not opened many if any in the last decade, and as I’m about to move house, I’m wondering whether I dump them or sell / give away. Is there any demand for these old things?

Thanks,

I know what you mean. I have some old magazines that were great when I was starting to take the hobby more seriously, so they have a certain sentimental value. But I too haven't opened them in number of years.

I think there are some old hobby magazines on eBay and collectors are willing to pay to get them. On the other hand, perhaps the magazines could inspire some local kids to start with modeling?

Mario

BTW, do you perhaps have MMiR #59? I'm very interested in an article that was supposed to be published there.

Bottom line: No.

A few years ago (about 7), I was moving and decided I had way too many old model magazines. I tried selling, then giving away about 15 years worth of Finescale Modeller, Tamiya Model Mag, and others and no one wanted them. I even tried giving them to the local library and they said they only wanted current issues. I ended up relegating most to the recycle bin.

I've seen a few hobby shops do well selling them. I don't know if they buy and then sell them outright or sell them on consignment. Colpar's in Aurora (one of my favorite shops) seems to do a pretty brisk business with old FSM's, Model Railroaders and a few others. I usually make it there about once per month and I know they're moving them. Several I decided not to get one month were gone the next month when I changed my mind.
I wish I had known this a few years ago when I dumped Modal Railroaders in the trash that went back to the mid 70's.

When I worked in a LHS after retiring a few years ago, we used to offer “trade credit” for some of the mainstream “silck pubs” like AFV modeler or some of the Italian and Spanish pubs. FSM and SM were too common, but we’d even take those for pennies on the dollar (literally— we’d offer maybe 5-10 cents for them depending on age). We’d offer them as a freebie for purchases over a certain amount. But we still had plenty left when the owner died and the shop closed. We gave a bunch away to the local Goodwill and Boys and Girls Club. Others we boxed, and sold at the last IPMS show we attended for dirt cheap— like $5 or $10 for a hundred. Even then we couldn’t give them all away. I learned a great lesson from all this. Only save magazines or articles from magazines you think you might find useful later on. I keep a couple of three ring binders with articles that are important to me, the rest I recycle. Having a stack of a couple hundred magazines lying around really doesn’t do anyone much good if you can’t access what’s important in them. I also stopped my subscriptions, preferring to buy a few a year that interest me from Barnes and Noble or online shops. That way I don’t have stacks hanging around anymore.
VR, Russ

Many people think that outdated items are worthless, and to many, that is true.

But people in COVID days still like FREE! And many people are struggling in these difficult times so perhaps attitudes have changed and free issues or even the chance to make several dollars might be worth it.

The notion that these old modeling magazines are worthless dates back to old comic books because used comic books have been flipped through, read, shriveled, and tattered with grubby hands. Comic book shops want new, shrinkwrapped, and pristine to resell so some customers buy three of each issue: One to read, one to trade/sell ASAP, and one to collect for the future. But model magazines aren't comic books and thus rarer.

As a modeler once told me, no library wants them because they're not "Academic." There's no "Scholar's knowledge" (STEM knowledge) in modeling magazines and they depict War Machines which libraries don't want to promote.

I say donate them to charity instead of dumping them. Even resold for cents to $1 each, they might find some useful purpose again, and that way you let the Charity decide on what to do with them. If you have a used bookstore, you can try to sell them for a lump sum, even if for a few dollars or bookstore credit. But what store is open during COVID-19?

Ok, that’s easy, I’ll donate to a local interest group or shop.

Sorry, Mario, no such luck on issue 59. Many others...

Interesting thread. I had the same issue with Motorcycle magazines. There were guys advertising they would buy them in the magazine, but when I contacted them they didn't want to know. I tried selling them through the magazine, one guy kept phoning up and asking if I had specific issues. I said yes, but I'm not splitting a set, you buy them all or not at all. He kept phoning back with the same question, somehow I managed not to be rude to him. In the end they all went to salvage. Shortly after that I realized I'd dumped two issues in which my bike had featured along with the rest!

I stopped subscribing/buying magazines 10 years ago.
I have dumped most of them.

Yep, this is the problem with subscriptions, they tend to build and sit unused as time goes on. That’s why I stopped subscribing. As I said above, I went through all my personal mags, cut out the articles I wanted to save, and chucked them into three ring binders for future reference. I still have some “high end” mags I’ve kept, but very few. I once knew an older lady who kept every magazine and newspaper she’d subscribed to for thirty years. By the time she passed, she had a two-foot passageway between the kitchen and living room that was about eye level on either side. So I don’t keep many mags on hand to avoid being that person. I try to limit my library as well, and have promised my wife that for every new book, I’ll discard two old ones. I’ve had quite a bit of luck selling old books at hobby shows, more so than magazines.
VR, Russ

Kylie, I might be interested. I will PM you.