When I awoke for work today I was greeted by the sad news via Twitter and Facebook that Wizard and Toyfare will be no more. After confirming from multiple sites and various followers on twitter the rumors were confirmed. Some people attribute the end to declining sales and lack of interest from fans. Others have said that the internet was part of the reason it died. I have been reader since issue one and I actually have a ton of old Wizard and Toyfare mags in storage and I must admit that the Wizard went from pure comic magazine to the bastard child of Entertainment Weekly for the nerd set and never full retained the luster that made it standout. I was never totally sold on the change but most of the content was still passable for bathroom reading so I continued to support it much like I did with Toyfare.
I must disagree with the assessment that the web killed Wizard/Toyfare mostly because if that were the case then gems like Maxim,FHM and Fangoria would have ceased production years ago. I think that what caused the demise of the magazines was the decline in comic and toy purchases. Comics have slowly been making the leap to the digital format and the toy collecting is not what it used to be. These two factors definitely played a role in the demise of both publications. The parent company for both publications has gone on record stating that a new digital magazine is in the works but I feel the damage has been done. R.I.P Wizard & Toyfare and thanks for the memories.
Do you agree with my theory or do you have your own? Share your thought in the comments section or on the Facebook fan page?
So sad………….I still remember my first Wizard flip through I was in Junior High and we were cutting class in Barnes and Noble (don’t judge me LOL!)