“Print is forever… With magazines, its there. It’s permanence. It’s always there.” Gregg Hutchings

Those who read my blog know that I don’t use adjectives such as extraordinaire, or incredible, or outstanding and such.  But after my conversation with Gregg Hutchings, editor and publisher of Model Cars magazines, I felt the urge and the need to use such adjectives.  The one-man band has been at it for more than two decades, with the last 15 years dedicated to Model Cars magazine.

To quote his bio, “My name is Gregg Hutchings, and I grew up in Kailua, Hawai’i, on the windward side of the island of Oahu. I graduated from Kalaheo High School in 1979 majoring in hot rods and girls, and went into the automotive industry as a mechanic. Around 1984, I hurt my back working at a Porsche/VW/Audi dealership, and had three back surgeries during the 1985-1987 time frame. To help pass the time, I got into building model cars, a hobby I grew to be a part of locally.”

Hurting his back was just the beginning of his journey with pain and surgeries.  He was rear-ended twice in car accidents which only enhanced the pain and introduced more surgeries, that as you will read in my conversation with Gregg, forces him to work on the magazine laying on his back.  The pain is so severe at sometimes, he can’t sit down to work. “Because I fall a lot. My head gets knocked up from the falls,” Gregg tells me, “my back will just seize up and I lose all feeling and everything. And it’s not a good way and it’s not a fun way to live life.”

With at least six surgeries so far, and a host of screws and pins in his back, Gregg refuses to give up and is so happy to announce that this coming October the magazine will celebrate its 25 anniversary. 
The first issue of Model Cars was published in October 1999.

So please join me as you read this incredible story of an extra-ordinary man, wishing him a very happy anniversary and all the best for his health.

But first the sound bites from the conversation with Gregg Hutchings, editor and publisher, Model Cars magazine:

On getting published in the magazine: People must have “done something good to get in print, because anybody can get on the web. But to get in print is something else.”

On whether the magazine is a hobby or a business: “It pays my bills, it pays my monthly bills. And I’m able to travel to shows all over the country whenever I can because my wife and I actually caregivers for her mom. So that’s my full-time job.”

On the usage of digital and online: “We’re getting a lot of our content from online. So it’s a lot of accumulating what we see online and finding new people that want to be in print and are tired of their internet fame, because it is so fleeting.”

On his pain and physical health: “I can’t sit up. My whole desk is elevated. I can stand up and work. Or I actually lay down here. This is where I do a lot of work too, just laying down.”

On the audience reaction to him: “It’s like, here’s this guy from Hawaii that’s done something he loves to do. And people all across the country and the world just love to talk to him.”

On the plans for the 25^th anniversary celebration: “I’d love to have a social media blitz going. Just to say, it has been 25 years. It’s the only magazine out there that’s lasted this long. I want to get more new people. Because one thing with COVID, I had 247 dealers, which gave me a lot. It did really well for my bottom line. After COVID, I’m down to 146. Now, I’m down to 129.”

On working on model cars: “I can’t work on cars anymore. I can’t build cars. I was an incredible mechanic. But with this hobby, it’s just every day I can work on cars.”

On what keeps him up at night: “Pain. Besides pain, it is the next project, I think, it’s always the next thing. It’s what do people want to see? Because they trust me.”

And now for the lightly edited conversation with the incredible Gregg Hutchings, editor and publisher, Model Cars magazine:

Samir Husni: My first question Gregg, you are approaching the 25th anniversary of Model Cars, and you’ve been the owner for the last 10 years. What’s the attraction to a print publication, a specialized print publication in this digital age?

Gregg Hutchings: Somebody gave me that word: eternity. It’s permanent. Because digital, you have to know where you’re looking. With magazines, it’s there. It’s permanence. It’s always there.

That’s what everybody likes, because everybody can put their self in or on a website or whatnot. But to get yourself into a magazine, to be in print, that means something to all these people. It’s self-acknowledgement.  They’ve done something good to get in print, because anybody can get on the web. But to get in print is something else. Print is forever.

You can go ahead, and if you did a mistake, you are not going to reprint the magazine. I always call my mistakes, I spell them M-I-S and then steak, like eat a steak. That’s how I spell my mistakes. I said, oops, I made a mistake. No backspace in the magazine. No control alt V or what.

Samir Husni: Give me your elevator pitch for Model Cars, for people who don’t know the magazine. You’re based in Hawaii, but the magazine is distributed in the entire country and internationally.

Gregg Hutchings: It’s the hobbyist magazine. It’s the magazine for the model car hobbyists. I got into it as therapy. A lot of the people I talked to have had health issues and whatnot, and that’s why they get into the hobby or got back into the hobby mostly. It’s always been that way. I think that’s why it’s not corporate, it’s down grassroots, that’s the word. It’s the grassroots magazine.

And the fact that I was able to do something really smart when I had Plastic Fanatic magazine, when I bought it, I think the circulation was about 2,500 or 3,000 and it was okay. But then I come up with this idea to sell directly to the hobby shops. That’s the core, that’s the key, billing the hobby shops directly. That’s why I’ve lasted 25 years, because I don’t have to worry about advertisers or circulation or doing renewals. Every issue I send out invoices and it pays for the printing.

Samir Husni: You mentioned, besides being therapy and hobby, that it’s your life, it’s your business. You’re not doing this for charity work or anything. You said that through this distribution system, it pays the bill for the printing. How about for the publisher, for the editor-in-chief?

Gregg Hutchings: It pays my bills, it pays my monthly bills. And I’m able to travel to shows all over the country whenever I can because my wife and I actually caregivers for her mom. So that’s my full-time job.

She’s 92 years old and she’s got major health issues. We are caregivers for her. I watch her during the day and my wife watches her at night, which is when I get to do my work that I need to.

Samir Husni: Describe for me, what’s a day in the life of Gregg? I mean, when you are putting this magazine together.

Gregg Hutchings: One thing I do like about what you did mention about the digital part is we’re getting a lot of our content from online. So it’s a lot of accumulating what we see online and finding new people that want to be in print and are tired of their internet fame, because it is so fleeting. Once they get in print, it’s forever.

Finding the people, making sure they’re a good fit, because like you said before, in your book, you got to keep that lighthouse going of what you’re actually about. And that’s what I think has kept me different from everybody else is I love this hobby. I love the people.

My best friends are model car builders, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was a mechanic for many years. I ran one of the biggest firms here for 10 years, all while doing the magazine too.

But the people with the hobby are just fantastic. I think that’s what makes these niche magazines so great, because it’s not a huge corporation. It’s a bunch of guys I can call up any time of day, say, hey, how are you doing? What are you building? What are you doing? Or if I need help, they’ll come and help me here. I couldn’t ask for something better. I really couldn’t. It makes good money because I can live here comfortably. It pays all the bills, but I have to chase the money. That’s the only thing I don’t like. I have to chase the money. That’s the hard part.

Because I can’t sit up. My whole desk is elevated. I can stand up and work. Or I actually lay down here. This is where I do a lot of work too, just laying down. And I always said, if I was 100%, I’d probably have this magazine at 20,000 circulation.

But it’s just hard to chase it. Right now, I’m at 5,500. And when I was with Source Interlink and Ingram we were at about 7,500 with a 63% sell-through. That’s unheard of.  The Atlanta group recently approached me to be back on the newsstands. A lot of people are asking for it. But because I’m so behind all the time, I’m about two months behind schedule. It’s just really hard to get back up to speed and being able to have a solid publication schedule. Still trying to do six issues a year. I started at six, went to nine.

Then when I got hurt in 2016, I went back to six. But when we’re doing nine issues a year, it was doing really good.

Samir Husni: You’re the publisher and the editor-in-chief.

Gregg Hutchings: Yeah, everything. Accounting, taxes, subscription, renewal.

Samir Husni: Which hat do you like more? The publisher or the editor-in-chief?

Gregg Hutchings: That’s a tough one. I kind of like the incognito guy, if that makes sense. Because if I go to shows and stuff, sometimes I won’t wear my shirts or my uniform, and people don’t know me.

I’ll just walk up behind them and talk to them, and they find out who I am. It’s like they met their idol or something. And it’s an incredible feeling. It really is. It’s like, here’s this guy from Hawaii that’s done something he loves to do. And people all across the country and the world just love to talk to him.

It’s not egotistical. That’s one thing about Hawaii. We don’t really have egos and all that stuff.

A couple of quick stories. When I go to shows, nine times out of 10, the person’s wife is the one that comes up to me and thanks me. Because it’s made such a difference in the husband’s life for doing the model cars. That’s what I like. I just think it’s unreal to be able to touch that many people. I know it sounds corny.

Samir Husni: No, it is your passion, love, and work all in one and one in all. So tell me, when Larry Bell retired and said, okay, here’s the magazine, in 2015, can you describe that moment? Can you describe your feeling?

Gregg Hutchings: Well, back up to 1999 when I went to the mainland and got hooked up with Golden Bell Press. I was co-owner with Larry Bell from the start of 1999.

And then about a year or two later in 2001, I was in a serious rear-ended accident in Denver. The back of the Honda Civic I was in, the bumper hit my seat. The back bumper hit the back of my seat.

I was the passenger. So I was extricated from that. And I came back to Hawaii and then Larry said, instead of being co-owner, he just paid me a straight salary.

So that way I didn’t have to worry about, I had strict income, I didn’t have to worry about percentages or whatnot. So he took over complete ownership and I was paid a salary or 1099.  I’m on heavy medications too. You became more like a freelance. You became on a set salary.

I became the editor instead of just the co-publisher. But he always considered me the publisher because I did everything still. It was just the financial part of it was it was safer for me because I had to go.

I went, I had three surgeries before that. Then after the accident, I had two more. And then it worked out great. We went up to nine issues a year. And then in 2015, he wanted to retire. And so he just gave me everything.

At that time, I had started another magazine called Slot Cars Magazine. And that one was doing really good. But the problem with that is when he gave me that magazine, he didn’t give me. The needed paperwork for the periodical mailing.

It’s terrifying. My wife, Kelly, and I went through the whole schooling process of that. But when he gave me Model Cars Magazine, he didn’t give me all the original paperwork.

So, I didn’t have the original requesters, all the copies of everything they had and whatnot. So, I could not get my periodical permit.

The post office really tried to help me out. They came to the house. They did the audits and everything. But I didn’t have the original paperwork. So, that was… I just gave up. And then in 2016, December, I was hit again.

I was rear-ended. My wife hates it because I drive by the rearview mirror. She’s like, what are you looking at? I said, I’m just watching, just watching. If I get hit again, I’ve got so much rods and screws in my back, it would be… This time, my next surgery is going to go through the front, break two ribs, fuse the front of it, flip me over, take out all six levels of rods and screws and go all the way up.

So, it’s not going to be fun.

Samir Husni: I wish you the best.

So, tell me, what are the plans for the 25th anniversary?

Gregg Hutchings: I don’t know. I’d love to have a social media blitz going. Just to say, it has been 25 years. It’s the only magazine out there that’s lasted this long. I want to get more new people. Because one thing with COVID, I had 247 dealers, which gave me a lot. It did really well for my bottom line. After COVID, I’m down to 146. Now, I’m down to 129.

So, I lost a lot of shops, a lot of hobby shops. I want to find more. Either go back to Barnes & Noble or find other ways to find other retail shops. Because that’s what does it for me. They pay the bill within 30 days. And it is about chasing the money.

I mean, the advertising revenue is not that high. I think I’m at 6.5%. But with my printing schedule,  I don’t have the reputation of being timely. Most of these people know me. And they know that,  he’ll be down for a week if something happens. Because I fall a lot. My head gets knocked up from the falls. My back will just seize up and I lose all feeling and everything. And it’s not a good way and it’s not a fun way to live life.

Samir Husni: Yeah, it’s not. So tell me, if I come uninvited to your house, not that I’ve been to Hawaii before, but let’s say I come to see you one evening, what do I catch Gregg doing? Reading a book, watching TV, or laying on the floor?

Gregg Hutchings: Probably the last one. Laying on the floor. I’ve got what I call the squirrel syndrome. I’ll see something shiny and I’ll just jump right on it and I’ll forget about what I was working on. And I’ll have so many projects going on.

I guess with the specialized part of the hobby, I’m always building something. I’m always working on something. I added the projects I am working on now on a spreadsheet. I’ve got 157 projects like that started. And it’s always something going.

I can’t work on cars anymore. I can’t build cars. I was an incredible mechanic. But with this hobby, it’s just every day I can work on cars. And then I got into computers.  I just met so many unreal people with the magazine. I’m just such a small little guy that has been able to do such unreal things.

Samir Husni: And what keeps Greg up at night these days?

Gregg Hutchings: Pain. Besides pain, it is the next project, I think, it’s always the next thing. It’s what do people want to see? Because they trust me.

Samir Husni: Is there anything you would like to add or I failed to ask you?

Gregg Hutchings: One thing I’ve always said is I don’t do reviews on something I haven’t had in my hands. So if a company sends something a PR piece, I’ll say, no, no, no, you got to send me the actual thing. Because people trust that.

Because they know that if I’ve looked at it, if I read it, if I wrote about it, so it’s either thumbs up, thumbs down, or like we say, a shocker or a no shocker. But I love the business side of it.

I really do. Because it’s got the potential to be really well. I used to tell Kelly, if I hit 20,000, that’s a million bucks a year for one guy.

That’s pretty good. So I mean, it can be done. And it’s just physically being able to do it.

It’s just, I wish I could. But I’m not going to give up. That’s the one thing people ask me with the pain and stuff.

How do you keep on doing it? I don’t know. I’ve got too much junk to pass on to my wife that I’ve got to keep on looking forward. And it’s just, I love the magazine industry too much.

Samir Husni:  Thank you.