Magazines provide a snapshot of time in words and pictures

Collecting magazines became a hobby of mine only in recent years, but even before I entered my teens, something fascinated me about magazines and the way they grab a moment in time and capture it within their pages.

Non-fiction books seldom give the same feeling, since they are nearly always written after the event and report on the past with the benefit of hindsight. They also miss out on what is often the most enjoyable aspect of being a magazine collector and reading through old magazines - those old adverts and lists of prices of items that have now either disappeared or become very desireable.

I became a magazine editor and loved the process of putting together an issue, then seeing it published and displayed on the shelf of my local W.H. Smith. Every issue was a one-off with a life of its own.

And then there are the covers. The cover of a magazine is an art form in itself and will have been designed to attract an audience rather like a flower attracting bees. It needs to stand out from other magazines on the shelf but not be garish (apart from when the very aim is to shock!). Putting together a magazine cover can be the work of one person on their own or a whole team of highly talented designers, graphic artists, editors and photographers. The cover can make or break an issue and most covers will have taken many hours to put together. Like most works of art, some will appeal to us more than others, but each is unique.

But are they really collectible?

Although people often end up with a collection of magazines because of a hobby - motoring, fishing, train-spotting or whatever - magazines are collectible in their own right. With the advent of the internet and e-readers, and the spiralling costs of print and distribution - not to mention the wastage of pulped, unsold issues - the traditional magazine is likely to slowly but surely die out, giving way to technological solutions a lot cleverer than ink on paper. Future generations will look back at today's magazines with the same incredulity as youngsters today when told about vinyl records played with a needle!

I found very few web sites dedicated to magazine collecting and magazine collectors, so I decided to start this one. I hope you find it interesting and enjoyable and that you will perhaps come across a magazine that will inspire you to start your own collection.

GLAMOUR & EROTIC COMICS CATEGORIES ADDED TO OUR SHOP

Because of their relative popularity at this time, I have now added sections on Glamour and Erotic Comics, alongside the Adult category. In Glamour I am focussing on the well produced FHM Special Editions and supplements (those in the mid 2000s were especially lavish), along with the well known Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues and the MAXIM specials.

Adult or erotic comics are an interesting and I think potentially very collectible genre, although of course it doesn't fit the usual magazine profile. The artwork gives these varied publications a uniqueness that appeals to me far more than the typical Adult pornography magazines, which I don't major in. That said, I do have some first edition mens magazines available and we have an Auctions category that shows live listings of Men's Magazines such as PlayBoy, Mayfair and Penthouse currently available on eBay, with the essential details listed clearly and conveniently on our pages.
 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MAGAZINE 

SELLING OLD BACK-ISSUE MAGAZINES

CONDITION GUIDANCE RATINGS 

FIRST EDITION PLAYBOY SELLS FOR OVER $5000

COLLECTING MAGAZINES AS A HOBBY OR BUSINESS