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Star Wars Insider - R.I.P.

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Have been eagerly anticipating the new look STAR WARS INSIDER to see what changes TITAN were going to make to the magazine. Would we see a return to form for the magazine we loved in 1995-2000? Would TITAN be doing a magazine along the excellent lines of John Freeman’s Editorship of the stand alone British magazine from 1995-1997? Would we get great features, interviews, rare photos galore again?

In a word: no.

Sorry to say, but I thought that, apart from one photo I’ve never seen before (a great pic of Darth Vader watching injured Rebel prisoners taken away in the Rebel Blockade Runner), and the 1975 storyboards, TITAN’s first new issues was DREADFUL!! My heart sank when I read it from cover to last page in about ten minutes… Absolutely dreadful. We all thought that the last few years of the magazine weren’t as good as when Scott Chernoff and the other guys were writing it, but this new look is WORSE!!

I’ve worked in contract publishing for many years, and I’ve seen the quality of magazines deteriorate into bite sizes, short attention span featurettes. Sadly, STAR WARS has joined that trend.

Printed on cheap paper, with the same old photos being regurgitated, with kids magazine layouts, bare bone features, tons of product placement, if this is the re-invention of STAR WARS then I won’t be renewing my subscription after the anniversary celebrations are over…

All the potential for STAR WARS, the ANNIVERSARY, everything. Even the PREQUELS aren’t getting much of a look in and there are still lots of areas in that aspect of the Saga to be covered.

This is a big disappointment. Can the 100 page anniversary issue coming in two months be an improvement? God, lets hope so. Otherwise, I may just be readig the J.W.Rinzler book for the next three years until the cartoon and live action TV series…

What does everyone else out there think??

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Yup. I used to buy almost every issue between 1995 and 2000. Then i started noticing a quality drop and i would only buy an occassional issue...the last one i bought was the Raiders of the Lost Ark 20th anniversary special in 2001. That tells you something.

The mag used to be run by the fan club, and that was it rocked between 1995 and 2000. The columns were in-depth and informative, and they were intelligent and entertaining. Back then, without the internet, it was also a good source of news and its jawa trader catalog always made me drool, and of course with the exclusive prequel production reports were great, and then there was stuff like Anthony Daniels' Wonder Column. Its now become basically a big Lucasfilm advertisement magazine, which is a worst case scenario--being a mag financed by the very product it is promoting, it somehow rose above the whole promotional trap for all those years but lately its only been consisting of video game previews, a few cool pictures, advertisements and little blurbs taken from the official site. It could improve i suppose, sometimes publishers need an issue or two to find their groove, but personally it would take a lot to sway me back, and they can only re-interview the same cast and crew members so many times.
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I'm suprised that they could even have a monthly published magazine about Star Wars. I mean, there were only 6 movies made, and a few tv shows. The magazine would have to focus heavily on Books I think to keep fresh material coming. Quite the difference from Star Trek, they got tons of shows, each of them having a number of seasons.
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Yeah...I cancelled my subscription when the catalogue had more pages than the articles.

Most of it was EU stuff I didn't care about, or talking about how many toilets a Star Destroyer had...enough was enough.

I saved a lot of money not buying Star Wars stuff for the last 3 or 4 years, Insider included. Inside what? Everything was old news by the time the magazined arrived anyway.
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Lately Star Wars in general, and this 30th anniversary in particular, is getting a distinctly tacky, QVC-type smell. If they're not careful Star Wars going to fully turn into a really marginalized thing, like frickin Hummel figurines or something.
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The magazine has changed publishers like 5 times since I started subscribing about 12 years ago. Regardless of who the publisher is, being force-fed SE propaganda every time I open a new issue annoys me to no end. But, I guess that's the way things are going to be for old-school SW fans from now on- the OT is nothing but a mere footnote in history.

On the bright side, at least they're not bundling the magazine subscription with the Hyperspace membership anymore.

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ever since dan madsen left that magazine- that magazine is good for the bathroom, when I am finished.
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Really in the age of internet almost any Magazine is pointless. Especially ones like Insider. By the time the mag makes it to your door you have already heard it. Same is true for video game mags.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Star Wars Insider somehow reached having a 200th edition. A fluff PR piece at the official site:-

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-insider-200-cover-retrospective
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
‘How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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Huh? I thought Insider was stopped years ago. Wow. I still occasionally buy old used issues in comic shops and would love to get the run through the early 2000’s. I was subscribed in 1998-1999 as a kid and it was great until I couldn’t convince my parents to continue it of course…

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

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I had one of those subscriptions that lasted the entire production timeline of the prequels it was a 10 year subscription. It ended in 2005. I still have the revenge of the sith watch, the patch and stickers and welcome letter somewhere. The Bantha Tracks iron on was cool.

I also once had a subscription to Topps Star Wars Galaxy magazine. But when it became the Star Wars galaxy collector it just wasn’t the same and i stopped collecting it. The original magazine came with posters and cards.

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Oh man, I remember Star Wars Galaxy magazine! I never had a subscription but I did manage to pick up a couple of issues off magazine racks as a kid. I remember I’d carefully tear open the plastic sleeve across the top so I could store the mag and all the goodies back in the sleeve for safe keeping.