I was stuck in the airport yesterday and I purchased a copy of TransWorld Surf in the gift shop to read on the plane. The first clue should have been that it was wrapped in plastic cause if anybody had the oportunity to crack this thing open before paying for it there is no way they would buy it. I failed to notice in my haste that it was their annual gear guide issue. I opened it on the plane and there were about 4 pages of worthwhile content and the entire rest of the magazine was absolute garbage. I have never seen anything like it. I feel like such a sucker for buying this rag. They should have payed me $5 to page thru this thing, not the other way around. I can say one thing though, I will never buy another copy of TransWorld Surf again. They fooled me once and it will never happen again.
Yeah…i know what you mean. Last summer while in France…i bought either “surfer” or “surfing” mag cant remember now…what a pos!! There was an article about some cool teenage groms and their more seasoned mentors going on a surf trip to some island…blah blah blah…we all know how it went down…what got me most is the description of how they were throwing rocks and sticks at a large lizzard…making it bleed before kiling it. Now im not an extreme environmentalist or any such (i like diesel…not hybrid)…But the glorification of slowly killing an animal really got to me. Found the nearest bin and threw away 7 euros worth of advertisments and bad writing.
Live action comic books with big pictures and little words. This is one genre where the advertisements are nominally more interesting than the articles.
The two “major” surf mags have become little more than advertising screeds, IMHO. I rarely even bother to thumb through them at the newstand anymore. Haven’t subscribed to or bought individual copies of either for years.
“Surfer’s Journal” leaves them both in the dust.
Like most-all lifestyle magazines they just keep regurgitating the same old stuff. There for the kids, anyway. Mike
I get Transworld Surf for free! They give it away to keep subscriptions up! I bought a wetsuit from Beckersurf.com, ( by the way, the best way to buy a wetsuit ) and I got a complimentry subscription. Looked it over and saw it was written for 10 to 12 year olds.
At the end of the subscription, they sent a renewal form. Since I haven’t been 10 years old in quite a while, I declined. The mag keeps coming. I’ve got to think that it’s only to boost their readership for their advertisers.
I was stuck in the bathroom in Hawaii with ONLY the Transworld gear guide, I agree, about 4 pages of actual surfing.
I actually really liked Transworld, it was more open minded about all types of surfing, but has gone the way of the rest of print.
I’m old and can’t bust airs and will never get to INDO, but my idea of surfing is the likes of the power surfer, using rails and fins for surfing the wave its self, not to say a big air is easy, but the wave is where the ride starts and ends.
Bad behavior does not need to glorified, when Black Flys ran their fish hooks through the face of some Rad Guy Ad, a gazillion mothers and fathers cancelled subsciptions, will surfing ever be not seen as counter sub-culture of low intellect Spicolli’s ?
No doubt. I remember Bruce Irons ad with a needle in his arm and blood dripping all over a surfboard. Complete morons came up with that one.
Like most-all lifestyle magazines they just keep regurgitating the same old stuff. There for the kids, anyway
I haven't subscribed to either 'Er or 'Ing for years and years. 5-10 minutes in a bookstore covers the bases with them. Eventually spent less time on them and more on TSJ and Surfer's Path. The money may be in south Orange County but the magazine surf soul (and such a thing does still exist) has spread well beyond those confines.
Found out a couple of years ago that my local library subscribes to both major magazines. I couldn't find them, figured they were behind the counters to keep kids from destroying them. Found out much later they were in the "young adult" section, along with teen fan rags and the venerable Mad magazine. And the surf mags were frequently unmolested, as their target audience probably doesn't spend much time in the library.
Nels
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I was stuck in the bathroom in Hawaii with ONLY the Transworld gear guide, I agree, about 4 pages of actual surfing.
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Wayull - you had the opportunity to put it to proper use. Though using it that way, the glossy paper might be kinda painful, crumpled up and all.
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I actually really liked Transworld, it was more open minded about all types of surfing, but has gone the way of the rest of print.
I'm old and can't bust airs and will never get to INDO, but my idea of surfing is the likes of the power surfer, using rails and fins for surfing the wave its self, not to say a big air is easy, but the wave is where the ride starts and ends.
Bad behavior does not need to glorified, when Black Flys ran their fish hooks through the face of some Rad Guy Ad, a gazillion mothers and fathers cancelled subsciptions, will surfing ever be not seen as counter sub-culture of low intellect Spicolli's ?
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Well said. To make a blanket pronouncement, the surf industry is its own worst enemy. They seem to be glorifying a very few contest clowns who are off in a world of their own and ignoring 'the rest of us' who actually buy stuff in good amounts for nearly retail.
Kind of chasing their own tails. "These guys are in the ads, because they're cool, because they are in the ads."
How many people do you know who will only admit they surf around other surfers? And are embarassed by it elsewhere....
doc...
True- all filler and no killer! Pretty much the same for Surfer and Surfing now too. Although Nick Carrol articles are always worth reading and I like Brad Melekian’s writing too. I got a subscription to Surfer and Surfing in some combo deal for $17. At that price they are worth it just for the photos. They still have great shots from lots of the top talent photogs so I enjoy flipping through them. The journal is awesome and I wish it was monthly!
Howzit solosurfer, I think that picture was of Bruce stiching up a big gash and I don't remember a needle in his arm or at least not an injecting type of needle but a stiching needle. Aloha,Kokua
Airport pic flicks to kill time, not worth more than a quick page turn.
I have gotten Surfer and Surfing for over 25 years and this particular issue of TransWorld was way worse than anything I have seen either of the other two put out. TransWorld should be embarrassed.
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''... their target audience probably doesn't spend much time in the library.''
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Sadly, it's a GROWING audience! Listening to almost any sub-teen, through twenty something surfing conversation, will confirm. There are exceptions, so there is hope. EXAMPLE: There was a young fellow (17 yo) attending the recent workshop, that impressed me with well considered questions. Actually wish I'd had more time for one on one interaction with him.
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...in the bathroom in Hawaii with ONLY the Transworld gear guide...
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The perfect venue for expression of its ''highest and best use.''
No. It was an ad for D.C. that was finally pulled. I wish I had kept all this sort of stuff from my old shop. It would make good stuff for a mini documentary on how ridiculous the surf/skate industry can be at times. It pictured Bruce with a needle in his arm and blood dripping down on surfboards with a caption. Something about being addicted or along those lines. I used to have the picture. It was like that old Tee shirt company called Bounty Hunter which showed all sorts of Satanic worship things like a 5 year old holding a head with the caption…" I did it for Satan. " None of the garbage has anything to do with surfing or skating or ever did and even the so called Youth culture that embraced it as " core " was only a subculture within the larger culture of normal folk who surfed or skated. The companies obviously tried to create a larger culture of brain dead youth as the ones following that junk. Hence my main issue with it.
BTW: I only find Surfer’s Journal to be only slightly better by lack of ads. It too is still just a boy’s club which prints only it’s side of things and from those folks that are part of the world they personally believe exist. It’s written content is only slightly different than say Surfer of 1986, though it is worth a read sometimes, where the others never are. I have loads of back issues of magazines I am about to sell off on Ebay. To me…the many and various blogs on the internet blow away all the magazines.
The mags are responsible for the degeneration of the line up. EVERY place can be surfed by taking turns, (except the headliner places…Malibu ,Trestles, Rincon, Velzyland, ect.maybe) there are always enough waves to go around. These mags have fostered the idea of competition and greediness in the water to all the kids coming up. They buy it hook line and sinker and don’t even know it doesn’t have to be that way. The idea of grabbing as many as you can get would NOT be tolerated in other avenues of life. There have always been a few DICKS in the water, but now…is everyone???
Interesting opinions, although I must say all I'm looking for is eye candy most of the time. I'm a guy and I surf, so either girls or waves, I don't care. The writing is a waste of reading generally.
The most current media generated surfing visually available to watch is the asp live events on the internet. There's critisism of that form of surfing by some here, even though there really is no other alternative. I don't watch it to listen to the guys bullshit, I just want to see good quality progressive modern shortboard surfing.
And it's about as current as you can get, it's live.
I watch surfers journal on tv when I can, but it's all now old and outdated and full of the same crap as magazines. Some of the waves are beautiful to watch though, and I treat it just like flicking through mags, only moving.
Howzit solosurfer, That just sounds like somthing a real sicko would come up with and it would really give surfing a black eye. I know for a fact that bruce is not into shooting drugs and I can't believe he would let any company have him do an ad that would depict him as a person who uses needles in their arms. I guess if a company is paying you big money they think they can tell you what to do for a photo op, I would have told the company to kiss my okole and not ever do another ad for them. Aloha,Kokua