By Lauren Bishop / Enquirer staff writer
A few magazine publishers recently had a revelation: Men like to shop, too.
Or, more likely, they took notice of the success of Lucky. That's the shopping magazine that was originally derided for its pages of photos of products and lack of actual articles, but then became one of the most popular women's magazines on the market.
Three shopping magazines are currently aimed at male shoppers. A fourth, Vitals, debuts this fall. We enlisted two men in the magazines' target demographic - 25-year-old Rob Thornton of Walnut Hills, an account executive at an Internet security company, and 42-year-old Lon Callis, a banquet and conference center manager from Clifton - to give us their takes on what's available now.
Best
Summer issue (www.beststuff.com)
Price: $2.99 newsstand
Contents: Big-screen TVs, digital cameras, PCs, toys of summer, cool boats, new Lexus convertible
Pages: 96
Cheapest item featured: Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash system, $24.99.
Priciest item featured: Sea Ray 320 Sundancer boat, $186,000.
What sets it apart: Almost complete lack of photos of actual people using or posing with any of the products.
Thornton: Very cool. Being a "gadget guy," I enjoyed hearing about some cool products coming down the pike. A good mix of product reviews, everything from grills to cameras to cars.
Callis: This seemed like a big catalog of stuff rather than an actual magazine, kinda like Consumer Reports crossed with Sharper Image. I don't see how this magazine could be interesting every month.
Cargo
July/August issue (www.cargomag.com)
Price: $3.50 newsstand/$9.97 for 10 issues
Contents: Laptops, digital cameras, travel gear, "extreme" antiperspirants, micro-cars, hostess gifts, fall clothing.
Pages: 162
Cheapest item featured: Natural fiber brush for barbecuing, 69 cents.
Priciest item featured: Porsche 911 Turbo, $120,000.
What sets it apart: Includes stickers you can use to mark stuff you want to buy, and perforated cards that display capsule reviews of products.
Thornton: My pick for best overall. Great mix of articles and reviews on everything from clothing trends to digital cameras to music. Especially liked the removable business card-sized reviews on the products. .
Callis: The fashions seemed a little more my speed. The housewares looked like things I would actually buy for myself or as a gift. Just seemed cleaner and more mature.
Sync
July/July issue (www.syncmag.com)
Price: $2.99 newsstand/$19.97 for 10 issues
Contents: Cameras; portable DVD players; robots; car, music and movie reviews; product reviews by real guys; interviews with the Beastie Boys, Slash and Vin Diesel
Pages: 124
Cheapest item featured: Digiglove video game glove, $14.
Priciest item featured: Acura RL, $45,000-$50,000.
What sets it apart: Articles longer than a few paragraphs.
Thornton: Not a huge fan. Hard to tell what the magazine is about. Has a very Cosmopolitan feel, hard to tell it's targeted for guys.
Callis: Too funky for me. I had trouble just figuring out what the articles were about because the titles were so vague. I'm not sure if this is a fashion, tech, people or sports magazine and I don't think the publishers know either.
TEMPO HEADLINES
Health-conscious consumers are going for nuts
• Nutty nutrition
• Nut Calories
• Nut Allergies
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'Side Show' reunites students for side project
PEOPLE
Love: Drug rehab, no more drinking
Bob Newhart gets a Chicago statue
Anna Nicole Smith comes to Alley's defense
Timberlake obtains restraining order
Goldberg explains ' View' cancellation
Birthdays
ENTERTAINMENT
New shopping magazines hope to get lucky
Smokey Robinson on to gospel
Poor ratings kill Seacrest TV talk show
Spidey's cool skills can prove addicting
Top 10s
PLANNING AHEAD
Get to it: A guide to help make your day
TV Best Bets
The early word
