HMS Hood model + magazine (from tv ads) - over €1000 to build the model!

The King of Moo

A MAGAZINE is giving readers a chance to build a model of the famous battleship HMS Hood - if they fork out £830.

The Build A Battleship series will run to 140 weekly issues - more than the two years it took to build the real warship.

After a cheap introductory offer, each copy containing a piece of the replica costs £5.99 - and buying the full set will cost model-makers £831.11.


Pressure group Consumer Focus said: "Publishers should be upfront about the number of issues people have to buy, so the total cost is clear."


Hachette Partworks, the firm behind the mag, said: "The weekly parts allow customers to spread the cost of the collection.

"There are no comparable Hood models of this quality available." The real Hood, a Royal Navy battle cruiser, was launched in August 1918.

It was sunk by a German battleship in 1941.

I know you get a magazine as well, but how much info on one ship do you really want? And if you want the model to sail you have to fork out extra for a remote control and receiver. It also costs more here, relatively, than the UK. €8.99 per issue I think.

Anyone else ever been stung by things like these, or have any fond memories?
I remember these series were very popular in the 90s, always came out after Christmas.

I remember as a kid I one that had an ongoing fantasy story, The Ancestral Trail. It came with lots of cool extra stuff like a top trumps-esque card game, a blank map you could glue pieces onto and lots more (I was a very cool kid).

But I remember being four issues from the end, and asking my mother to buy it for me as usual. She was in a bad mood and said she wouldn't get it for me again (she had said so half-seriously before, as it was a bit dear). Only this time for some reason I believed her and didn't ask for the last four issues so I never found out what happened at the end . I don't know why I didn't just pester her again, she would've got it for me.

Anyway, later I found out from a friend that it ended (KIND OF A SPOILER ON THE OFF-CHANCE ANYONE MIGHT STILL READ THE DAMN THING) on a cliffhanger and lead into ANOTHER 26-part series where the hero fought in a futuristic world or in a computer or something, so I wasn't too pushed about missing out. Still...

I remember lots of kids had the Dinosaurs one where you collected the t-rex skeleton, then skin, each week. Did anyone ever complete it?

orourkeda

There must be model geeks pulling the stones off themselves in delight

Saila

love the way it will take longer to build than the real one did!

c_man

The King of Moo wrote: »

I remember lots of kids had the Dinosaurs one where you collected the t-rex skeleton, then skin, each week. Did anyone ever complete it?

I completed the skeleton. Would have been far far cheaper just to buy a bloody dinosaur toy and I didn't become a palaeontologist so it was all for waste

dirtypanties

There was a really cool dinosaur collection one when I was about 8-you got a glow in the dark piece with each issue to make a T-Rex skeleton and then eventually you got 'skin' to put over it and a folder for all the issues...

Fond memories...

I had the entire skeleton but didn't keep collecting to get the skin part.

papajimsmooth

I have 4 binders of those wheres wally magazine series

dirtypanties

Oops-note to self...

READ ENTIRE OP BEFORE REPLYING.

whiskeyman

The King of Moo wrote: »

I know you get a magazine as well

Only worth it if you get a free binder with part 1

ScumLord

I remember a history one where you got paper models every week. It would cover a different part of history every time and had some pretty cool models to make.

Tabnabs

orourkeda wrote: »

There must be model geeks pulling the stones off themselves in delight

:rolleyes:

Model geeks scratchbuild

The King of Moo

dirtypanties wrote: »

There was a really cool dinosaur collection one when I was about 8-you got a glow in the dark piece with each issue to make a T-Rex skeleton and then eventually you got 'skin' to put over it and a folder for all the issues...

Fond memories...

I had the entire skeleton but didn't keep collecting to get the skin part.

papajimsmooth wrote: »

I have 4 binders of those wheres wally magazine series

You'd always get a binder free with the first issue!

I also remember one in the 90s I used to collect about unsolved mysteries and UFO stuff, back at the height of that craze. The X-Factor, I think it was called. I eventually stopped bothering after about 30 issues or so as they'd run out of interesting things to feature. Looking back over them recently I'm amazed at the crazy stuff I believed as a teenager!
The one thing I'll always remember is every four issues they'd have a newsletter that came with it, with reader letters and such.
I'll never forget a completely insane one about a guy who claimed he'd built a robot in his home that had artificial intelligence and the British government were worried about its power and were trying to control his mind.
He included a photo of the robot. I think it was made out of cardboard!

prinz

Those mag series are a rip off and always have been. Never got any of them.

Logical Fallacy

orourkeda wrote: »

There must be model geeks pulling the stones off themselves in delight

Hardly.

That likes expecting Usain Bolt to get excited about a game of hopscotch.

dirtypanties

Oh yeah the unsolved mysteries one!!

There was a science one aswell-can't for the life of me remember the name of it but it was a free binder with part one job too and had loads of useless information about bees and the like...

Haven't thought about this childhood stuff in years-reckon my 'collections' have been thrown out long ago after moving house:(

The King of Moo

dirtypanties wrote: »

Oh yeah the unsolved mysteries one!!

There was a science one aswell-can't for the life of me remember the name of it but it was a free binder with part one job too and had loads of useless information about bees and the like...

Haven't thought about this childhood stuff in years-reckon my 'collections' have been thrown out long ago after moving house:(

Was that one just about bugs by any chance, and just called...BUGS?
My brother had that. Seemed a bit dull except it had parts for a cool glow-in-the-dark spider skeleton which he completed.

But best of all, not only did Issue One come with a free binder, it also came with a free pair of 3D glasses, and every issue had a cool 3D poster of a close-up of some horrible beastie in the middle! It's the only part I ever really looked at.

Logical Fallacy

Wasn't there one called "Quest" or something like that.

It's weird, it probably started my interest in the sciences but i cannot for the life of me remember the name of it.

tricky D

Tabnabs wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Model geeks scratchbuild

With matches!

The_Minister

I got an animal one - it came with a huge binder, and each week you would get new profiles of animals with pictures, facts and figures.

I still have the binder in my closet

ILikeBananas

The King of Moo wrote: »

I remember lots of kids had the Dinosaurs one where you collected the t-rex skeleton, then skin, each week. Did anyone ever complete it?

c_man wrote: »

I completed the skeleton. Would have been far far cheaper just to buy a bloody dinosaur toy and I didn't become a palaeontologist so it was all for waste

dirtypanties wrote: »

There was a really cool dinosaur collection one when I was about 8-you got a glow in the dark piece with each issue to make a T-Rex skeleton and then eventually you got 'skin' to put over it and a folder for all the issues...

Fond memories...

I had the entire skeleton but didn't keep collecting to get the skin part.

Had this as well. Got all of the skeleton and the skin and then stopped buying it. It seemed pretty important at the time although I have no idea where it is now.

dirtypanties

The King of Moo wrote: »

Was that one just about bugs by any chance, and just called...BUGS?
My brother had that. Seemed a bit dull except it had parts for a cool glow-in-the-dark spider skeleton which he completed.

But best of all, not only did Issue One come with a free binder, it also came with a free pair of 3D glasses, and every issue had a cool 3D poster of a close-up of some horrible beastie in the middle! It's the only part I ever really looked at.

YES!!!!:D

dirtypanties

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Wasn't there one called "Quest" or something like that.

It's weird, it probably started my interest in the sciences but i cannot for the life of me remember the name of it.

Came with a giant folder with 1st issue which was blue I believe:)

The King of Moo

World Cup 90 was another great one, combining a sticker album with a monthly magazine. My older brother collected it.
I remember it was the first thing that got me into football (at the time I thought you had to score against your own goalkeeper, and never considered how ridiculous that would be).

I remember the ads too, with, I believe, Brian Clough, and I loved imitating the way he said "WURLD CUP NAANTAY!!" at the end of each ad.

And of course, issue one came with a free binder, a red one with photos from matches, which if memory serves, featured Chris Hughton and Ruud Gullit tussling at Euro 88!

ILikeBananas

The King of Moo wrote: »

World Cup 90 was another great one, combining a sticker album with a monthly magazine.
I remember it was the first thing that got me into football (at the time I thought you had to score against your own goalkeeper, and never considered how ridiculous that would be).

I remember the ads too, with, I believe, Brian Clough, and I loved imitating the way he said "WURLD CUP NAANTAY!!" at the end of each ad.

And of course, issue one came with a free binder, a red one with photos from matches, which if memory serves, featured Chris Hughton and Ruud Gullit tussling at Euro 88!

I loved this. Every issue would have a picture of some superstar from World Cup History like Pele or Paulo Rossi and the story of one of the previous world cups.

The best things were the stickers though. I still remember the gluey/oily smell off them when you peeled the backing off of them.

I also remember that it somehow managed to have Denmark in it even though they hadn't even qualified!

The King of Moo

ILikeBananas wrote: »

I loved this. Every issue would have a picture of some superstar from World Cup History like Pele or Paulo Rossi and the story of one of the previous world cups.

The best things were the stickers though. I still remember the gluey/oily smell off them when you peeled the backing off of them.

I also remember that it somehow managed to have Denmark in it even though they hadn't even qualified!

I remember hearing about that a while back. Apparently it went to press before the last round of qualification matches, and they expected Denmark to get through so they included them, but then Denmark lost or drew their last match and ended up finishing second in the group by one point, and being the worst runner up so they didn't qualify.

Fukuyama

I bought eight or nine issues of one where you were building this little robot. Circa 2002.

Three wheeled thing. Cyber Bug or something...

Anyways, progress began to slow on the parts they were sending out. It went from massive motors and circuit boards to little clip on bits of plastic or something. I realised it was going to take years so I packed it in.

Then I turned one of the powerful motors into some form of deadly weapon

Taytomal

I think the mag with the big blue folder was called 'Focus' - I remember trolling through that for hours - probably still have it in the parents attic somewhere buried under Commando and Battle mini-mags!

Chuck Stone

tricky D wrote: »

With matches!

In jail.

LighterGuy

Just talking with my bro about this
brings back memories... the star trek binder, the dino one where the bones were glow in the dark.

My bro just said something dead true... who is to say that they dont stop printing them too? i mean if after 20 issues and hardly anyone is buying it. They wont release the rest.

The King of Moo

LighterGuy wrote: »

Just talking with my bro about this
brings back memories... the star trek binder, the dino one where the bones were glow in the dark.

My bro just said something dead true... who is to say that they dont stop printing them too? i mean if after 20 issues and hardly anyone is buying it. They wont release the rest.

I've thought about that myself, as they never seem to be too popular here, and they also seem to go on so long that lots of people must give up on them.

Though they do seem to be very popular in Italy for some reason: every newsstand I saw there was full of them.

brianwalshcork

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Wasn't there one called "Quest" or something like that.

It's weird, it probably started my interest in the sciences but i cannot for the life of me remember the name of it.

Yep, I collected quest... It's still at home, I won't let my mother throw it out!

Sticky_Fingers

LighterGuy wrote: »

Just talking with my bro about this
brings back memories... the star trek binder, the dino one where the bones were glow in the dark.

My bro just said something dead true... who is to say that they dont stop printing them too? i mean if after 20 issues and hardly anyone is buying it. They wont release the rest.

They'd have to print the entire series AFAIK, otherwise they'd leave themselves open to a lawsuit from someone who was stupid dedicated enough to actually see these models through.

antodeco

I get the dinosaur one. Collected it until the end. Glow in the dark bones and then the skin. The final ones came with paint/lacquer. I'm sure I have it somewhere

The King of Moo

antodeco wrote: »

I get the dinosaur one. Collected it until the end. Glow in the dark bones and then the skin. The final ones came with paint/lacquer. I'm sure I have it somewhere

I always wondered: could you remove the skin once you'd put it on?
I was much more interested in the idea of glow-in-the-dark bones!

LighterGuy

Sticky_Fingers wrote: »

They'd have to print the entire series AFAIK, otherwise they'd leave themselves open to a lawsuit from someone who was stupid dedicated enough to actually see these models through.

Well its obvious all issues would already be designed. but not printed. I reckon if they suddenly cancelled, they would offer people the choice to buy the remaining through the website.

its a great little con isnt it? :P get people to buy pieces one small bit at a time. While in reality someone said person would of bought what they are maing ten times over or something :pac:

BrokenArrows

dirtypanties wrote: »

There was a really cool dinosaur collection one when I was about 8-you got a glow in the dark piece with each issue to make a T-Rex skeleton and then eventually you got 'skin' to put over it and a folder for all the issues...

Fond memories...

I had the entire skeleton but didn't keep collecting to get the skin part.

Did the same. That glow in the dark trex was awesome.

Nodin

The King of Moo wrote: »

I know you get a magazine as well, but how much info on one ship do you really want? And if you want the model to sail you have to fork out extra for a remote control and receiver. It also costs more here, relatively, than the UK. €8.99 per issue I think.

...........

It's a hard one to call. If they're including the motor, and brass /metal fittings/ with a very high level of detail then thats probably not far over what you'd pay for it as a kit.

Christ help the poor bugger who thinks it'll all stick together nice and neat without work though.

ejmaztec

It would be cheaper to salvage the original HMS Hood and restore it, than it would be to buy the mag every feckin week.

The King of Moo

Nodin wrote: »

It's a hard one to call. If they're including the motor, and brass /metal fittings/ with a very high level of detail then thats probably not far over what you'd pay for it as a kit.

Christ help the poor bugger who thinks it'll all stick together nice and neat without work though.

I just checked the website here, it doesn't mention the motor so I think you have to buy that separately.

It does claim to have "die cast zinc alloy" but it doesn't mention on what parts, and I think the majority of it is wooden.

McChubbin

The King of Moo wrote: »

I remember lots of kids had the Dinosaurs one where you collected the t-rex skeleton, then skin, each week. Did anyone ever complete it?

Yes! I still have my completed T-rex up in the attic somewhere. Good times to be had building up the parts week by week.
The magazines were also pretty interesting.

Nodin

The King of Moo wrote: »

I just checked the website here, it doesn't mention the motor so I think you have to buy that separately.

It does claim to have "die cast zinc alloy" but it doesn't mention on what parts, and I think the majority of it is wooden.

Hmmmmm. It's sailing into dubious territory without a motor, I'd say.

The King of Moo

McChubbin wrote: »

Yes! I still have my completed T-rex up in the attic somewhere. Good times to be had building up the parts week by week.
The magazines were also pretty interesting.

To this day I still don't know why I didn't collect that magazine. Maybe I was afraid it was too expensive after having been scared away from finishing The Ancestral Trail, which I think came out earlier.

I was even more crazy about dinosaurs than your average nine-year old, and my memories of going to see Jurassic Park are still some of my favourite and most vivid. And I seem to have lost my cool Jurassic Park T-Rex toy

imitation

I remember I had two I actually got a substantial amount of, the first was one on geology so you actually got really small rocks, it sounds beyond absolutely desperate, but some of them were actually really cool, stuff like pyrite , a geode , little chips of emerald, ruby etc. Of course some weeks were crap, a lump of rusty iron ore, and the magazine was pretty dry stuff. No doubtless they couldn't do it just because somebody might sue if little Timmy gets a carcinogenic. Kids are soft these days !

Second was one on insects, the subject matter was interesting but the main feature was a skeletal glow in the dark spider you could build. Series like that are a disaster really because if you miss one week your out of luck. The best were those ones with little dinkys or something, it usualy worked out as a cheap toy.

Coriolanus

Did anyone else collect Quest?

Bipolar Joe

I got one where you could build a robot. It was awesome at first then I realised when I'd finished that the robot was actually a piece of sh!t.

phasers

I had spine chiller, it was full of ghost stories and quizzes and fun stuff. Never managed to find the last issue, my parents were driven demented looking for it in every shop :cool:

dirtypanties

The King of Moo wrote: »

To this day I still don't know why I didn't collect that magazine. Maybe I was afraid it was too expensive after having been scared away from finishing The Ancestral Trail, which I think came out earlier.

I was even more crazy about dinosaurs than your average nine-year old, and my memories of going to see Jurassic Park are still some of my favourite and most vivid. And I seem to have lost my cool Jurassic Park T-Rex toy

I was the only girl I knew who was crazy about dinosaurs-I was obsessed-highlight of my young life was going to see Jurassic park-the bits with the velociraptors actually made me afraid to sleep.

Remember the kitchen scene with the 'click click' of the claws?!

Shudder!

The King of Moo

dirtypanties wrote: »

I was the only girl I knew who was crazy about dinosaurs-I was obsessed-highlight of my young life was going to see Jurassic park-the bits with the velociraptors actually made me afraid to sleep.

Remember the kitchen scene with the 'click click' of the claws?!

Shudder!

I loved that scene, it was so tense! When Tim was running to close the door of the freezer and the raptor was slipping on the floor scrambling to get out I had to restrain myself from screaming "HURRY UP AND CLOSE THE DOOR!!" :eek:.
That scene and the T-rex attacking the car were perfectly-pitched horror for kids: terrifying but not traumatising.

I'm glad all my old dinosaur toys are now being enjoyed by my little nephew

Gunmonkey

I got a few of the Dinosaurs! magazine while my brother got Ancestral Trail. The second set of 26 AT issues were focused on technology and computing, with villains based on hard light, fractals, toxic waste and such. Not as good, think they are all still lazing round here somewhere.

I also got Treasures Of The Earth, magazine about rocks and minerals. Still have 2 of the trayes with little gemstones in containers in my room. And I saw it got a reissue about 3 or 4 years ago, saw some copies in Easons.

xsiborg

Nevore wrote: »

Did anyone else collect Quest?

I collected Quest, quite the regular little mind-fúck the stuff it contained, remember the little cartoony drawings down in the corner that used give ideas of what scientists then thought the future would be like?

two i can remember off the top of my head were:

1. that humans skulls in the future would have smaller lower jaws because their diet would consist of supplements rather than actual digestible food, the cartoon then showed a pair of mr. burns type lookalikes each with a dinner plate in front of them and four small pills on the plates.

2. that in the future we wouldn't need to visit the video store for our home entertainment needs, things like movies and tv would be interactive, immersive, and individual as in we could BE a character in whatever movie we were watching and interact with the environment in real-time, think- actually BEING John McClane in "Die Hard" and chasing baddies around an airport, pretty much like a video game, virtual reality really...


another one i collected was "Tree of Knowledge", and i remember being pretty miffed at the time actually because whereas Quest came in nice neat individual envelopes, that the pages you could put in the Quest binder, Tree of Knowledge just came with a binder in Part 2, or part 20, i think in total there were five binders, but the pages came apart so damn easily, and could easily have got lost i thought, as they weren't even cellophane wrapped in the newsagents!

i also remember when i was a bit older fawning over the Encyclopedia of Star Trek series, never did buy it though, always regretted that, but far too pricey at the time because by then i was buying english computer publications that were 90% advertisements in a big thick magazine, 10% articles, and free software on a FLOPPY 3.5 diskette!!

then i discovered the internet around '95, haven't looked back since... till now!

The King of Moo

Gunmonkey wrote: »

I got a few of the Dinosaurs! magazine while my brother got Ancestral Trail. The second set of 26 AT issues were focused on technology and computing, with villains based on hard light, fractals, toxic waste and such. Not as good, think they are all still lazing round here somewhere.

I also got Treasures Of The Earth, magazine about rocks and minerals. Still have 2 of the trayes with little gemstones in containers in my room. And I saw it got a reissue about 3 or 4 years ago, saw some copies in Easons.

I remember being simultaneously disappointed and relieved by that.

Disappointed because it just didn't seem too interesting and was too much of a departure from the first story, and it meant the first story didn't really get a conclusive ending.

Relieved because I didn't mind having missed issues 23-26, as I knew I'd never have bothered with the second story anyway.
I still wish I had got those last map pieces though