I don't know much about antiques, but I know brass when I see it

Krause Publications recently canceled one of the few magazines I still subscribed to, "Comics Buyer's Guide," and it did so with such abruptness that the last issue was #1699, depriving readers of a celebratory milestone 1700 issue and any kind of print farewell, for that matter. "CBG" had been a shell of itself for years, but I still enjoyed getting it each month.

The news that my subscription would be transferred to "Antiques Trader" didn't ease my disappointment. I never read an issue of "Antiques Trader." In fact, as of Friday, I had never received an issue of "Antiques Trader."

(Take special note of that last sentence, folks.)

Friday I received an envelope in the mail from "Antiques Trader." It was way too small to be an issue of the magazine, so I knew what it was going to be: A plea for money. Sure enough, I tore it open (I wish at least they used some faux parchment envelope and paper for that antique-y kind of look, but, alas, everything was plain) and saw a letter telling me, "Time is Running Out!" and that my subscription "will expire very soon!"

A few sentences of hype followed, along with a P.S. that I could "save time and trees" by renewing online. But, hey. the mag was thoughtful enough to include a "convenient" invoice at the top of the letter so I could go ahead and renew in the provided extra envelope.

I realize that much of this is automated and that once you're in the system, you're in the system, but I repeat...

I had not received an issue of "Antiques Trader!"

There are two easy ways to ensure my non-renewal of a magazine subscription: Publishing a magazine I don't want is one of them. Another? Send me a renewal notice for a magazine of which I haven't even seen a copy!

(Postscript: the next day, I got my first issue of "Antiques Trader" in the mail, which actually made me even angrier because then I knew I couldn't build this post around a declaration of "I still haven't received an issue of Antiques Trader!")