Hi Kenny, I love the whole fanzine / semi-professional magazine scene - though I mainly came to it via the music scene. Though they were more often very cheaply produced, and the writers were not always the best, they were produced with such love and passion for their subject matter which was refreshing compared to a lot of the professional magazines and critics. Loved seeing all of these - it's a shame to think how many of these sort of amateur mags / ephemera were probably never retained by their readers.
Hi Peter Yes you're right, a lot of this stuff were probably discarded many moons ago. That's why I'm glad I found them because they deserved a showing. The fanzines are particularly great because they cover issues that interested pro authors and fans from that era. A lot different to the fan scene these days to be sure. I have a collection of a more academic publication called Foundation that had reviews and letters by and for professionals and it seems so soulless compared to the zines. Bye for now Kenny.
An interesting break from the norm, Kenny. As an E C Tubb fan, The Science Fiction Collector No 7 would have been of special interest to me - very much in the vein of *The Tall Adventurer: The Works of E C Tubb* - a complete annotated guide to every book, short story and SF magazine listing compiled by Philip Harbottle and Sean Wallace. An invaluable resource to me.
Yes, those Science Fiction Collectors are very useful indeed if you're into one author or publisher. With regard to your EC Tubb guide, it's great to have more than one for cross reference. Wish I could find the two that I'm missing. I find these vintage niche items quite interesting because the letters and such from professional SF writers gives you a good feel for the 70s scene.
Kenny, great video, so nice to see all these fine old zines. The SF Collector was published by Grant Thiesen out in Neche, North Dakota. It was one of the zines that gave attention to collectable SF paperbacks in the 70s 80s. At the time most of these books were unknown to collectors and fans so seeing them was a revelation. I kneel Richard Geis and even interviewed him. He did a ton of great zines, a very interesting guy. Those were the days. I subscribed to many of the zines back then and devoured them all. After a while i even began publishing my own as Gryphon Books. Cheers!
Hi Gary. Glad you liked it because I immediately thought of you when I posted it. I figured that a vintage student and expert like yourself would likely appreciate it. Must admit the SF Collector was a great favourite of mine back in the day. An invaluable resource for Ace editions and other more minor publishers. Richard Geis is a name that I well remember from the 70s. I thought the Con booklets were quite interesting but the fanzines are more important from an historical perspective - almost snapshots of the issues that interested pro authors and fans of 50 years ago. Anyway glad I unearthed them because I thought they deserved an airing.
Lovely stuff, Kenny! 😍 I've kept ahold of the convention souvenir books of all the cons I've attended since the early '90s when I was in my early twenties: Albacon, SF Worldcons in Glasgow, Fantasycons etc. They're a great memento of the events - and, yet, the vast majority of fans I talk to don't bother to hold on to them...
Hi Paul. I'm still trying to live down my Albacon gaffe 😂😂. I think it's important to hang on to this stuff if only for their historical importance. They were of their time and, particularly the fanzine letters, provided a glimpse into what mattered to authors and fans of that era. I came across them by accident when looking for something else and thought they deserved an airing. Love 'em.
Nice one, Kenny- yes, it's me, Steve Andrews, subscribing and commenting via my other channel. I discarded my fanzines a long time ago-inlcuding ones I was involved in creating- but good to see some of the classic ones, especially 'Alien Critic'. Most booktubers and viewers under 40 will never have seen any. Wish I'd kept more of my ephermera of this kind...
Hi Stephen. Ah, the Walking Bookseller . . .very appropriate. You probably do more walking in your videos than I manage in real time. I just came across these old fanzines and Con booklets and couldn't resist putting them out there. They capture the essence of what was the SF reality during the 70s. The letters from various authors serve the same purpose as a photo - a kind of snapshot of those relevant experiences that mattered to the exponents of the genre. To me they can be, if well done, of great historical importance.
Hi Kenny, I love the whole fanzine / semi-professional magazine scene - though I mainly came to it via the music scene. Though they were more often very cheaply produced, and the writers were not always the best, they were produced with such love and passion for their subject matter which was refreshing compared to a lot of the professional magazines and critics. Loved seeing all of these - it's a shame to think how many of these sort of amateur mags / ephemera were probably never retained by their readers.
Hi Peter Yes you're right, a lot of this stuff were probably discarded many moons ago. That's why I'm glad I found them because they deserved a showing. The fanzines are particularly great because they cover issues that interested pro authors and fans from that era. A lot different to the fan scene these days to be sure.
I have a collection of a more academic publication called Foundation that had reviews and letters by and for professionals and it seems so soulless compared to the zines.
Bye for now Kenny.
An interesting break from the norm, Kenny. As an E C Tubb fan, The Science Fiction Collector No 7 would have been of special interest to me - very much in the vein of *The Tall Adventurer: The Works of E C Tubb* - a complete annotated guide to every book, short story and SF magazine listing compiled by Philip Harbottle and Sean Wallace. An invaluable resource to me.
Yes, those Science Fiction Collectors are very useful indeed if you're into one author or publisher. With regard to your EC Tubb guide, it's great to have more than one for cross reference. Wish I could find the two that I'm missing.
I find these vintage niche items quite interesting because the letters and such from professional SF writers gives you a good feel for the 70s scene.
Am just new to your channel but am enjoying all your content. I collect many things and you cover a lot of my addictions😅
Welcome aboard, glad you like the channel and I hope I can feed your addictions 😂
Kenny, great video, so nice to see all these fine old zines. The SF Collector was published by Grant Thiesen out in Neche, North Dakota. It was one of the zines that gave attention to collectable SF paperbacks in the 70s 80s. At the time most of these books were unknown to collectors and fans so seeing them was a revelation. I kneel Richard Geis and even interviewed him. He did a ton of great zines, a very interesting guy. Those were the days. I subscribed to many of the zines back then and devoured them all. After a while i even began publishing my own as Gryphon Books. Cheers!
Hi Gary. Glad you liked it because I immediately thought of you when I posted it. I figured that a vintage student and expert like yourself would likely appreciate it. Must admit the SF Collector was a great favourite of mine back in the day. An invaluable resource for Ace editions and other more minor publishers. Richard Geis is a name that I well remember from the 70s.
I thought the Con booklets were quite interesting but the fanzines are more important from an historical perspective - almost snapshots of the issues that interested pro authors and fans of 50 years ago.
Anyway glad I unearthed them because I thought they deserved an airing.
Lovely stuff, Kenny! 😍 I've kept ahold of the convention souvenir books of all the cons I've attended since the early '90s when I was in my early twenties: Albacon, SF Worldcons in Glasgow, Fantasycons etc. They're a great memento of the events - and, yet, the vast majority of fans I talk to don't bother to hold on to them...
Hi Paul. I'm still trying to live down my Albacon gaffe 😂😂. I think it's important to hang on to this stuff if only for their historical importance. They were of their time and, particularly the fanzine letters, provided a glimpse into what mattered to authors and fans of that era. I came across them by accident when looking for something else and thought they deserved an airing. Love 'em.
your smile is so rewarding
Put on a happy face I always say
Nice one, Kenny- yes, it's me, Steve Andrews, subscribing and commenting via my other channel. I discarded my fanzines a long time ago-inlcuding ones I was involved in creating- but good to see some of the classic ones, especially 'Alien Critic'. Most booktubers and viewers under 40 will never have seen any. Wish I'd kept more of my ephermera of this kind...
Hi Stephen. Ah, the Walking Bookseller . . .very appropriate. You probably do more walking in your videos than I manage in real time. I just came across these old fanzines and Con booklets and couldn't resist putting them out there. They capture the essence of what was the SF reality during the 70s. The letters from various authors serve the same purpose as a photo - a kind of snapshot of those relevant experiences that mattered to the exponents of the genre. To me they can be, if well done, of great historical importance.