rorsday

Dear FNHIR You're a day early! Or possibly 2. Don't think subscriptions copies will be landing until Saturday or Monday, and it's in the shops a week today. I think it's a good issue, but I would say that! Nice twist in the model pages, something a bit different to the normal new releases, etc. As for the rest, you'll have to wait and see! Regards R Day

Pudding those are super brochures. I definitely don't have the MF 165 and MF 133, not sure about the MF 260 and Landini. R Day

Marky, That's a nice MF 260 leaflet from Belgium I believe? There's a set of them like this for the 245, 275, etc. I have them in my collection. Amazing how each European country produced its own literature back then....and quite a challenge collecting them all now. Drop me a line and I'll send you those pics of the collection. Regards R Day

Marky, Have taken some shots of the collection. Drop me a line and I'll send them. R Day

Marky, Drop me an e-mail at classictractor@btinternet.com and I'll take a couple of pics of the collection and e-mail them to you. R Day

Marky, Not sure, it's been a while since I saw the brochure. I used to trade a lot with a collector in Sweden who sent me some cracking kit from the MF 35/65 era up to the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago so the supply dried up. Most of their literature was illustrated with different pictures to the UK leaflets and although some of it wasn't that comprehensive the picture quality was often good. I've also got quite a lot of French and Dutch MF literature, although I don't recall anything on the MF 1200. Could definitely do with some more German MF literature but where do you stop? I collect everything, any age, any brand, although I have a soft spot for British marques, particularly MF and Ford. It kind of gets expensive after a while, especially now that ebay has opened up the entire world. Got some good MF/Challenger export brochures last week from a friend who works for AGCO. It is all modern stuff, but really interesting as it shows the old MF 200 Series from Turkey, plus some Brazilian models. It's amazing what keeps turning up. Regards R Day

Marky This is a superb brochure. I bought mine on eBay along with another batch of MF 200 Series, etc literature in German. Suspect it was from the same source where you bought yours as he had several of each. A very nice brochure. I also have a swedish one but it's not as nice. R Day

Marky, This is nice, very nice. I have it in my own collection, but it's certainly a rare piece that turns up once in a blue moon. R Day

Dear Powerrabbit, Hear, hear. It is all about maintaining your integrity and character. In the past, there have been some editors who have resented any form of competition from other titles, with rival titles being regarded as the 'enemy'. I beg to differ on this because I have always believed that competition in any market is good. Without it, people become complacent because they know they've got the market wrapped up and don't actually have to try that hard. In other words they coast. The harder editors and writers strive to be the best in their particular field, the better the magazine becomes and that is passed on to the readers who, at the end of the day, are the ones that really matter. I know that sounds a bit corny but it's true. It's a bit like being a runner: if you've got a rival breathing down your neck you run a bit faster to stay in front. I'm not saying CT is out in front because T&M is the market leader, but just making the point that fierce competition is good for the readers, if not the editors who might be caught up in the battle to see 'Who's best'. There has been a dramatic change in the tractor magazine market since 2002. If you compare today's mags with those of 2001 and 2002 the difference is absolutely amazing in terms of size of issue and quality of content. Having more competition in the market has done that. R Day

BBLQ092, Thanks for your support, which is most appreciated. I think it's important for all magazines to provide their own unique material and retain their own flavour, thus avoiding duplication. Having said that, there is always going to be some cross-over of show and news coverage. To those who say that all three magazines, or five if you include Vintage Tractor and Old Tractor, cover the same news, show, auction topics I would say this: If England won the world cup, would the Daily Mail ignore the story just because they knew the Sun and Mirror were also going to cover it! Of course not, that's why some 'tractor' stories appear across all mags. The main difference is how you report and present the various topics and the quality of the journalism. Regards R Day

BBLQ092, Exactly, everyone has their own favourite magazines, depending on their own personal interests. For example, I know Classic Tractor, the magazine I edit, is unlikely to appeal to anyone who is interested in the older vintage machines from the 1940s and 1950s, or for that matter anyone who has a passion for rural life, an area that is nicely covered by 'Tractor', because we never include these topics in the magazine. We could, I suppose, pitch ourselves more at the T&M/Tractor market, but then that would create a scenario whereby 3 magazines were competing directly with one another and offering more or less the same stories. Our focus on post-1965 machines works well and is successful so I see no reason for changing it. Variety is the spice of life and I accept that you can't always be all things to all men, however hard you try! R Day

Powerabbit: is your real name Peter Love by any chance?

Tractorman810 (& everyone) Thanks for the kind comments, most appreciated. Regret that I didn't make it down to Toytrac's new venue. Would have liked to have gone but was concerned that coming so soon after Spalding there wouldn't be that many new releases to cover. I don't particularly like running back-to-back model show reports if I can avoid it. Plus, I'm a family man now and am trying to cut down on some of my weekend activities. Seem to work too many weekends as it is. Regards Rory Classic Tractor

Tractorman810 Glad you like it! Rory

F-P & FNHIR, Thanks for your comments. F-P: It's not as easy as you think finding a digital image that will enlarge to 2 x A4 size for the purposes of a centre spread. Very, very few people possess the kit neccessary to produce an image that will stand being blown up to this size and still look sharp. Sure, you can blow anything up in size, but whether or not it still looks good when you've done it is another matter. After 3+ years of using centre spread pictures that tended to be OK, but not brilliant, I gave up and haven't regretted it because I think most people would rather see stories in the centre spread. Regards Rory

Dear FNHIR, The centre spreads were a feature of Classic Tractor for some years, however, problems sourcing suitable images (this was at the time when early digital cameras were still vying with slides), and some less than impressive printing results, persuaded me to switch to using the centre pages for features. Finding an image with enough sharpness and 'clout' to run across two pages, and still look good, was always a big problem. We had some decent results, but also some absolute shockers that were very fuzzy and to be honest quite embarassing. Therefore, I don't anticipate we shall return to a stand-along centre spread. Hope this answers your question. Regards Rory, Classic Tractor

Deerepower, fair comments I suppose. I don't fall into the 'chopping 'em up' category, nor display my model tractors with implements on the back, so your comments don't really apply to me. Everyone has their own opinion, though. There have indeed many many cock-ups over the years, starting 'in the good old days' with the decision to badge the MF 590 as an MF 595 when it looks nothing like the MF 595. Then, as you say, there was the MF 3680 horror show and a few others besides (including the yellow County 1884 with Super Q roof which never existed). I guess they are consistent! R Day

Deerepower Do you not think your comments 'Britains Tractors is dead and buried' were a little over the top considering their popularity with children and MOST collectors (still their main market), plus the fact that they have made some superb models just recently? Surely you cannot deny that the models mentioned in the previous posting (CNH high-hp, NH T7000 and even, for that matter, the JD 4020) have been very good? To suggest that Britains have had it is just ridiculous. Still, you are entitled to your opinion and I am sure they will continue to thrive without your support. R Day

Deerepower Don't you think that's a bit harsh? Many of Britains latest releases have been superb - look at the high-hp CNH products, the JD 8030T Series, the JD 7930, the JCB Fastrac, the NH T7000 Series combines and foragers, need I go on? These are all great models. What's the alternative? Siku with their steering pegs stuck up through the roof and basic detail? Universal Hobbies produce some excellent miniatures but, as we've said before, they are COLLECTORS models for adults only. Britains are always going to be a compromise between the two although some of the quality issues that have been raised on this forum are fair enough and not acceptable from any manufacturer. I'm not sure this anti-Britains vibe is too helpful. As far as I'm concerned they still produce some good models at affordable prices and long may it continue. R Day

IH684Lcabman, I am sure it will be at Spalding as Tim Bolton usually has a stand there. He won't miss the opportunity to sell it to the people who matter. I have a copy here and to be honest it is very good. Some of the pics are a bit big (they could probably have got away with 24 pages instead of 32) but for the money - ?10 for 6 issues - it is amazing value. For a first effort I would say it is very good. Regards Rory

Dear Nashmach Sorry to hear you just missed out on an appearance in the mag! Glad you got the keyring. As such, this month's special Irish edition (really the same as the UK copies but just with a keyring and different cover) is a one-off. It is a special promotion we are doing to try and win back some readers that we lost when one of the distributors changed in Ireland. However, by sheer luck it has coincided with the Irish Tractor Challenege, so you get Challenge + keyring in the same issue. Hope this explains things. Regards Rory SPN, you're right about Oliver Walston, he would make a great candidate for a 'Reflections' piece.

Dear SPN and Andy 5050, Once again many thanks for the kind comments. Glad you liked the Cooley article. It cost a small fortune to put together (flights, hotels, B&B, etc for two of us) but I think it was worth it. Probably should have used some more working shots, but went for people pictures instead, mainly because it was easy taking pictures inside on the Sunday because of the weather. End of the County articles? What gave you that idea? I am happy to report that John Hull's 'Memory Lane' series is set to run for at least another 18 months, with more great archive pictures on the way. Regards Rory

SPN, Yeah, fraid old Marky shot himself in the foot when he outbid me on those rare MF brochures.... Reference the Fendt Black Beauty, Ricky from Nth Ireland bought it from me and should have it today after sending me a cheque in double quick time. I've re-invested the proceeds, plus a little more, in a Britains/Ertl JD 8630 Plow City, Siku JD 7530, Britains JD 9880i combine and Britains JD 840i sprayer. Ordered them from G&M yesterday so hopefully will have them this week. As you can tell I like my Deeres. Regards Rory

You old shark, shafting me like that on eBay. I can see Classic Tractor's MF coverage taking a hit after this. A ban on everything red and grey for six months as punishment for your naughty behaviour to the impoverished editor who can only manage bids of 8 notes each for the Belgian MF brochures.

Marky, Is that you bidding against me on the Belgian MF tractor brochures on the ebay.co.uk site you old rascal slangboonaberry....? Rory