Just4Fun Magazine, How Did We Get Here?

Just4Fun Magazine has been a long journey of over three decades of media work.  

I started my journey in the field of Media way back when I was 19. Sad to say it was the very early 1990s when I was 19, and then Trading Cards were starting to become “The Collectible” of the day. Your traditional trading cards were on the rise, and the transition from BubbleGum Cards to the cards we know today had begun. The American Basketball cards and TCG cards like Magic The Gathering were exploding. 

1992 saw the Non-Sports cards take a giant leap in quality with the Dynamic Marketing release of Jurassic Park and Batman Returns cards to the Australian market. 

Scanlens had handed the reigns over to Stimorol to produce VFL/AFL Cards, who then gave it to Regina in 1992 for a one-off set. But it was in 1994 that Select Australia introduced the first high-quality AFL cards produced here in Australia with Select’s famous set. It was here where AFL cards exploded in popularity alongside the already explosion of American sports cards here in Australia, especially the Basketball cards. 

With this explosion of interest, I started a small publication called ATCC (Australian Trading Card Collectors). This was distributed locally here in Australia. We grew to about 10,000 readers Australia-wide. Being 1992 this was a basic Newsletter-style publication that ran for several years.  

In 1994 I was invited as a guest to appear on 3AW’s Antiques and Collectibles Show with the late Kieth McGowan. Appearing several times on the show as a guest I was asked if I wanted to be a permanent member of the show’s panel. For the next six years, I appeared as a member of The Antiques & Collectibles Show with Kieth McGowan as an expert on modern collectibles. The time of this show was amazing and I learned so much from the excellent panel Keith had built, it was an amazing time. Through my work here I also appeared on two other stations with a modern collectibles show. 

Over time we started to slowly include other collectibles into ATCC, The response we were getting from the readers, collectors shops, and listeners from the radio show, was exciting. With that, we evolved the magazine into a Collectibles Magazine, which became known as The Collectible World (TCW). 

TCW went on to become a very popular magazine appealing to the vast world of collectibles, with our readership doubling. With the growth of TCW, we also appeared in other publications with regular articles in newspapers and magazines like Collectormania, Carter’s Antiques & Collectibles, and others.  

But the collectibles landscape was about to have its biggest change ever. In the 1990’s we were introduced to the Internet. With this new platform to work with, new players coming into the market, namely eBay. With the introduction of eBay, the landscape of collecting changed forever.  

TCW went on for many years, but in the early 2000’s we took TCW out of print as we took a break. In this break, we reimagined the magazine and business format. This was to ensure the magazine evolved with the ever-evolving landscape of the Collectors field. The introduction of the internet would slowly change the way we look at and read magazines forever.  

After a small break, TCW went back to print, but it had a new look and a new way you could read. TCW was not online. You had two options to read, you could subscribe to get a hard copy of the magazine, or you could get a PDF copy of the magazine sent to you. This worked well and TCW went on for the next few years with great success. 

Working with the belief that everything needs a revamp to keep fresh, in 2012 it was time to have another change. The collector’s market had evolved over this time and the demand for magazines that you pay for was diminishing. We needed a change and a big one.  

TCW would stop printing forever with its final issue. We decided the magazine needed a complete overhaul and some big changes. This led to the magazine you know now. 

The big change was the magazine would be FREE. No longer charging to get the magazine. Then we also need to make the magazine broad, to appeal to more readers online. The other two big changes would be the name and the content. With this Just4Fun Magazine was born. 

Just4Fun Magazine would become a FREE Pop-Culture, Toys & Entertainment Magazine. Jusst4Fun would cover all the collectibles markets as it always has, but now includes modern toys, Gaming, Books, the latest Movie News, both cinema and home and so much more. 

2024 saw the biggest change in Just4Fun Magazine since its launch. This year we separated the magazine into two publications, and The Toybox Magazine was born. Just4Fun Magazine will focus on pop culture, Entertainment, and Collectibles, and The Toybox will now focus on Toys, Games, and Gaming. We look forward to seeing how both our magazines evolve on their new paths. 

Our motto here at J4F Promotions is ‘Life Was Meant To Be Fun!” and both our magazines embrace that motto.  

Thank you for coming on this quick journey through how we got to where we are now. We look forward to many years more of exploring the worlds of collectibles, toys, and more with everyone. We will always be a free magazine, a platform where you can always find the latest information from the worlds of collectibles, pop culture, and much more.  

Michael McCoy.

Manager - Just4Fun Promotions