Transworld Done?!?

[FS-OverKOOK]

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The way they talked about "Duets" made this sound likely. They produced some of the most iconic videos in skating. Modus and Sight Unseen will always be two of my favorites.

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How the tables have turned Tranworld dominated the 90s with there glossy mags and epic videos.. Thrasher was so low budget the mag had faded photos and we're super thin with terrible videos .. They basically took over from selling sweatshirts becoming trendy in the early 00s..Nobody was wearing those in the 90s besides guys who wore shorts and knee high socks with vans or airwalks.. Even how popular DLX is now boggles my mind they only had the outcast pro's back then.. To say Real has a better team than Chocolate and alot others is crazy

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Real had Gonz in the late 90's and Cardiel. They didn't only have "outcast" pros.

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Drake Jones, Kieth Hufnagel, REAL never slacked on pros.

Stranger, Agah, Coco

[MaryhillVibe]

^^^^^43 was dope. Still have some mags and even bought some prints. Too bad it didn't go anywhere.

Allen ying, what a guy

[Willie]

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Sounds like the whole genre is in rather dire straits, which isn't surprising, magazine sales aren't what they used to be.

That said, there probably is a bit of skulldugery with ad sales, confederations of NorCal hardgoods manufacturers and a certain other publication that created an uncompetitive environment that doomed TWS.

[close]

Thrasher wishes they had weight like that. You been listening to Phelps preaching at Potrero?
TWS died of non-skate acquisition.

I don't think Thrasher killed TWS but it can't have helped that TWS wasn't going to be getting significant ad buys from Anti Hero, Krooked, Real, Thunder, Spitfire, Venture, Indy, Santa Cruz, Creature, Krux, OJ's, etc.

In the past that was offset by SoCal brands like Powell and Navy recruitment shit but when times got lean, TWS didn't have the built in buffer that Thrasher does.

[WarmUpZone]

I heard a rumor that Rupert Murdoch media empire bought up TEN (who owns TWS), and a quick internet search confirmed it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonysilber/2019/02/01/american-media-acquires-14-adventure-sports-media-brands-from-ten-publishing/#775b1763bae0

Obviously Transworld was struggling and it felt like its days were numbered, so it is hard to imagine it surviving this.

Which is such a bummer. Aside from their legacy, which is huge, Jamie Owens had turned it around from one of the worst mags out about a decade ago to the best right now (I don't see any of the non-US mags, however).

I just think kids these days don't want to look at anything not on a screen and the Thrasher won the website game, and the branding game, and there you have it.

[Gary Coleman]

Transworld and Thrasher were always complimentary in my opinion because Thrasher was a Bay Area brand through and trough while Transworld represented the San Diego / Southern California scene much better. If true, I'm very sorry to see them go. Fun park too

[GollyIamGully]

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I will miss the mag but I can imagine any kid below 20 who has grown up with internet and is used to a daily overdose of clips is not going to buy a skateboard magazine with pictures from 3 months ago. 

They might fire most of the staff, then work with freelance staff only and keep the magazine running with maybe 2 people. Common in media these days.

Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

I had this and every transworld from 98-2006 or so and I fucking recycled them. I “quit” after my 3rd ACL and didn’t want to think about skating on some bitter break up shit. Then I started again years later and this was a big fuck up. I kept 3 or 4. I have Jamie Thomas and Heath covers, I forget what else.

I did that same thing with a bunch of Big Brothers, and a rad collection of decks.

[coyote2425]

TWS is lucky to still be around. They easily could've been axed back when they were owned by Bonnier.

[BaronOBeefDip]

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I will miss the mag but I can imagine any kid below 20 who has grown up with internet and is used to a daily overdose of clips is not going to buy a skateboard magazine with pictures from 3 months ago. 

They might fire most of the staff, then work with freelance staff only and keep the magazine running with maybe 2 people. Common in media these days.

Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

where can i find some scans of that sturt interview

I still have this issue! This was my first skate mag. I'd be down to do it sometime.

[Bagelskate]

That sucks. Noticed my local magazine place stopped carrying them recently.

I sell the free thrasher shirt on eBay for more than a subscription costs. Thanks thrasher!

[Burt Ward]

Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

I don't think I've ever seen a cover that made me want to buy a skate mag less.

[gaseous clay]

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Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

I don't think I've ever seen a cover that made me want to buy a skate mag less.

I'd buy it for the DHS interview alone - although I expect it was disappointing.

[REGS]

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Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

I don't think I've ever seen a cover that made me want to buy a skate mag less.

[close]

I'd buy it for the DHS interview alone - although I expect it was disappointing.

Nah it's pretty good and it's actually online here if you wanna read it

https://skateboarding.transworld.net/features/daniel-harold-sturt/

[KoRnholio8]

Print was king because there was no real alternative. If you circle back to the old issues, you can still be captivated by nostalgia.

However, if you take a critical look to what was actually printed in the mags, there was not much substance. Good photography, hype interviews and some cool stories from the road. Nowadays, stuff like that gets it's minute of shine via social media and it then forgotten.

Skateboarding is not a complex topic, there is little to be written about it month after month, so I see no future for any mag, Thrasher included. However, it will probably survive for long still, but become more advertorial as time progresses.

One thing that mags were and that would still be valuable today is moderators - there was a certain threshold to being featured, whereas everyone is now "self published". I guess print will live on as vinyl does in the music scene - a subculture that puts value in the physical media (however, most skateboarders are some of the cheapest mofos around).

[whale]

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Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

I don't think I've ever seen a cover that made me want to buy a skate mag less.

[close]

I'd buy it for the DHS interview alone - although I expect it was disappointing.

[close]

Nah it's pretty good and it's actually online here if you wanna read it

https://skateboarding.transworld.net/features/daniel-harold-sturt/

No photos?

[BaronOBeefDip]

Can't scan it at the moment, but thought I'd take some photos of it for now.

[gaseous clay]

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Over the years they have done really cool things. Just gonna leave this here.

[close]

I don't think I've ever seen a cover that made me want to buy a skate mag less.

[close]

I'd buy it for the DHS interview alone - although I expect it was disappointing.

[close]

Nah it's pretty good and it's actually online here if you wanna read it

https://skateboarding.transworld.net/features/daniel-harold-sturt/

Thanks! BaronOBeefDip also. Thanks for the help.

[Cool Ceith]

Print was king because there was no real alternative. If you circle back to the old issues, you can still be captivated by nostalgia.

However, if you take a critical look to what was actually printed in the mags, there was not much substance. Good photography, hype interviews and some cool stories from the road. Nowadays, stuff like that gets it's minute of shine via social media and it then forgotten.

Skateboarding is not a complex topic, there is little to be written about it month after month, so I see no future for any mag, Thrasher included. However, it will probably survive for long still, but become more advertorial as time progresses.

One thing that mags were and that would still be valuable today is moderators - there was a certain threshold to being featured, whereas everyone is now "self published". I guess print will live on as vinyl does in the music scene - a subculture that puts value in the physical media (however, most skateboarders are some of the cheapest mofos around).

Wow that insight was right on the money. Personally I've been struggling to cope with the role print currently plays in skateboarding—seems impossible to monetize anymore—you really helped put it in perspective.

[roba]

as long as free skate mag is around i'm good

[MR102889]

TWS did not go out of business, but a lot of people did get let go.

[pussyslayer7]

That Hugo cover was hot fire though

Dick Rizzo did same thing on switch at the same spot and nobody mention

[heckler]

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That Hugo cover was hot fire though

[close]

Dick Rizzo did same thing on switch at the same spot and nobody mention

No, he didn't.

[cloudy]

if you're to believe this thomas barker guy, it would seem that no one was fired. instead, they quit upon learning that transworld got bought by american media.

thought this guy was perhaps a yokel, but he appears to have to some connections to the industry. his tweets also picked up some likes from other people in the industry, so maybe there's something to this.

[Allen.]

Announcing a departure is one way to look at it.

[Rocuronium]

I've only gotten my hands on one single issue in a long time, and I really think it's a great mag. It's not glossy anymore and is a lot shorter, but they really went in on beautiful high-res printing and really high-quality skate photography later and it's sort of a thing of beauty

[streetsoup]

This just in from Jenkem..

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2019/02/04/whats-going-transworld/

[Kill_Yourself_Now]

If a skateboarding mag is owned by a creepy pornographer who accumulated a media empire of shit he didn't care about (other than the porn stuff) it was totally cool.  If a skateboard mag is owned by a media conglomerate that runs a bunch of mags that put out garbage news that's often false but never retracts or apologies for being dishonest, that's cool.  A skateboard mag gets bought out by some conglomerate that may have not posted the 100,000,000th fucking Trump story even though every other media outlet was reporting on it 24/7 as has been the case for years, holy shit, this is serious news and it should be the end of TWS!

I fucking HATE politics, but man, the President really does live rent-free in so many people's heads these days, it kind of makes me wonder how many people are going to lose their sanity once the 2020 elections come around.  Boycott TWS because they've been phoning it in for the past half decade, I would get it, but this isn't any different than your favorite brands being part of some bullshit corpo garbage umbrella with something people could find a loose disagreement with.  Pretty weak that people would want to see it buried for a lame reason than something that's actually viable.  It's like saying that you're not gonna support your local shop because the landlord they lease from once voted for some guy you didn't like or supported something you disagreed with.  Man, people got weak over time for handling anything like adults.

[thisisnotepic]

If a skateboarding mag is owned by a creepy pornographer who accumulated a media empire of shit he didn't care about (other than the porn stuff) it was totally cool.  If a skateboard mag is owned by a media conglomerate that runs a bunch of mags that put out garbage news that's often false but never retracts or apologies for being dishonest, that's cool.  A skateboard mag gets bought out by some conglomerate that may have not posted the 100,000,000th fucking Trump story even though every other media outlet was reporting on it 24/7 as has been the case for years, holy shit, this is serious news and it should be the end of TWS!

I fucking HATE politics, but man, the President really does live rent-free in so many people's heads these days, it kind of makes me wonder how many people are going to lose their sanity once the 2020 elections come around.  Boycott TWS because they've been phoning it in for the past half decade, I would get it, but this isn't any different than your favorite brands being part of some bullshit corpo garbage umbrella with something people could find a loose disagreement with.  Pretty weak that people would want to see it buried for a lame reason than something that's actually viable.  It's like saying that you're not gonna support your local shop because the landlord they lease from once voted for some guy you didn't like or supported something you disagreed with.  Man, people got weak over time for handling anything like adults.

Or people are striving to be less complacent with where their support goes now. I wouldn't say that's a problem. Regardless, Transworld is dead as can be. I won't be supporting any new incarnation. Which will be easy because I haven't bought a Transworld in probably a decade.

Skate print media is pretty much dead, with the only interesting path I could see happening is more indie skate zines. That's something I'd be interested in. Unfortunately it's not quite like the Punk, HC, Metal scene where anyone can slap some xerox'd shit together. It'd have to be put out for the love it by people with connections to get legit information, photos, and pro features (at least for a zine that appeals to the skate community at large as opposed to pockets of local scenes). This avenue is pretty inexpensive, and shouldn't struggle to gain support from people who still care about the physical media. I guess as this idea develops I'm realizing that all I'm doing here is just suggesting someone make a new magazine which is pretty dumb, but uh, I dunno man. Small-scale skate zine that isn't wack? Someone could do it.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

For the love of GOD, save Joe Pease.

[Kill_Yourself_Now]

Or people are striving to be less complacent with where their support goes now. I wouldn't say that's a problem.

That's a bit of a pipe dream in the modern world.  Anyone can and WILL be outraged if they look beyond the surface on pretty much everything they currently support if you are seeking such a reason.  I just find the whole political thing pretty fucking stupid for a reason not to support it.  Personally, I'm not buying TWS because they literally have phoned in everything for the past half decade, I just don't support lazy publications that turn every issue into a nearly-text-free photo issue as TWS has where after 5 minutes, I toss it into the recycle bin.

Skate print media is pretty much dead, with the only interesting path I could see happening is more indie skate zines. That's something I'd be interested in. Unfortunately it's not quite like the Punk, HC, Metal scene where anyone can slap some xerox'd shit together. It'd have to be put out for the love it by people with connections to get legit information, photos, and pro features (at least for a zine that appeals to the skate community at large as opposed to pockets of local scenes). This avenue is pretty inexpensive, and shouldn't struggle to gain support from people who still care about the physical media. I guess as this idea develops I'm realizing that all I'm doing here is just suggesting someone make a new magazine which is pretty dumb, but uh, I dunno man. Small-scale skate zine that isn't wack? Someone could do it.

Everything has its return.  One day, I'm sure there will be more indie shit once people get a bit burned out on the social media overload, which would be a nice thing.  The state of current skateboard media can't sustain itself forever be it online or print, something's gonna give eventually, and I just hope it goes a bit more grassroots rather than ending up with Thrasher being bought by some mega-media conglomerate and getting even kookier than it has been the last few years.  But, at least, I can spend an hour reading it, whereas you could fit all the TWS articles and interviews from each issue on a cocktail napkin and still have room left over.

[DCLOVE]

For the love of GOD, save Joe Pease.

I wish he got more shine on his skate career. His part in let’s live was way ahead of its time and one of my favorites . I’m gonna go watch now.

Edit: upon rewatch maybe not ahead of its time but definitely just has that pleasantly smooth classic style. And he made that Shove em 5050 on a rail look so easy and good . Beautiful . I’ve been enjoying his insta posts lately .