New: eBook Compilation of the first 10 issues!

This new eBook compiles together the first ten (10) issues of Protoculture Addicts. It covers the early days of the magazine from its creation in Fall 1987 to the end of 1990. That's the period when the magazine was the “Official Robotech fanzine.”

It offers 362 pages for only $12.99 US (nearly half the combined cover price!) or $9.99 US if ordered from Protoculture's web site. All those issues have not been available in print for years! They are now made available in a single volume to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the magazine.

This volume contains short fanfics and comics, Robotech trivia, Uh?! (a series of funny articles that chronicles oddities in the Robotech TV series), optional RPG rules (Robotech, Mekton, Teenagers From Outer Space), plenty of news & reviews and cover several aspects of Robotech (The Zentraedi Way, What's Protoculture, Lyrics, comics, novels, etc.) but also of anime (Introduction to Japanimation, Project A-ko, OsamuTezuka, Iczer-One, Laputa, Megazone 23, Akira, Dangaio, Gunbuster, etc.). It also includes several interviews (Carl Macek, Kevin Siembieda, Jack McKinney, Toren Smith, Robert Napton & David Riddick, Jerry Beck, Tom Mason & Chris Ulm).

Going through those articles, news & reviews will allow you to retrace not only the beginnings of Protoculture Addicts but also the history of anime & manga in North America. It is a reading that is both amazing and amusing!

Purchased separately, all those issues would cost $23.25 (or $33.25 with shipping)! Purchase it now from Drive Thru RPG at the regular eBook price ($12.99 US) or from here (or anywhere else on Protoculture's webpage) with an exclusive discount (only $9.99 US). Click on the icon to purchase:

Happy New Year!

PA wishes to all readers the best for 2008.

Index

As promised in Protoculture Addicts #94 we have added to the web page a content index for the magazine.

It is something that we wanted to do for a long time but it requires lots of data compilation and we were not sure of the way to present it, so it took some time to implement. However, we have started gathering the data and have decided to go with the simplest presentation.

The index is only available through the Top Menu: PA Magazine: Index: Protoculture Addicts: by Subjects:

Anime Stories / Spotlights (#1-50)

Anime World

Fan Fics / Comics

Interviews / Anecdotes With

Japanese Music

Role-Playing Games


More indexes (Anime Stories for #51+, Convention reports, Live-Action, Reviews, etc.) will be added whenever it is possible.

Such an index can be quite useful to find stuff in your collection of back issues without spending hours flipping through it. And, if you don't have lots of back issues yet (but you should consider ordering those back issues because even in old magazines there is a treasure trove of information!), it can help you determine which issues can offer subjects that would particularly interest you.

Happy Holidays!

PA wishes to you all Happy Holidays!

PA #94 has shipped

Protoculture Addicts #94 has now been shipped or mailed to all distributors (last week), subscribers and stores (earlier this week) so, in most cases, it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores before the end of the month.

All the orders received between 2007/11/9 and 2007/12/17 also shipped at the same time.

Please keep in mind that regular subscriptions are sent by surface mail (unless you have a first class or air mail subscription), so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within a week in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in the USA (within a week for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6 weeks overseas (1 to 2 weeks for Air Mail subscribers). Please don't email us to inquire about the status of your order until this shipping period has passed. Check this blog entry for details.

Finally, you can let us know if you see PA#94 in your local store, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

PA#94 available for order

Protoculture Addicts #94 is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #94 on the web page (click the links for details).

The magazine will ship in a couple of weeks and should be in stores by the end of the month.

PA at NYAF!

Anime News Network and Protoculture Addicts staff will attend the New York Anime Festival that will be held in New York City's Jacob Javits Center on December 7-9.

Protoculture Addicts will be hosting a panel in the Manga Panel Room Saturday at 16:00.

For information on the 8 panels to be hosted by Anime News Network please check this link.

See you there!

Order status

All the new orders received since 2007/11/9 will ship along with PA#94 around December 14-17.

PA#94 at the printer

Protoculture Addicts #94 is now at the printer and should ship around December 14-17.

New orders shipped 2007/11/9

All the orders received between 11/1/07 and 11/8/07 shipped today.

New orders shipped 2007/11/2

All the orders received between 10/26/07 and 10/31/07 shipped today.

New orders shipped 2007/10/26

All the orders received between 10/19/07 and 10/25/07 shipped yesterday.

And, please, don't forget to give us some feedback on #93 either via e-mail or in the forum! It would be greatly appreciated.

New orders shipped 10/19/07

All the orders received between 10/12/07 and 10/18/07 shipped today.

PA#93 shipped

Protoculture Addicts #93 has now been shipped or mailed to all distributors (two weeks ago), subscribers and stores (last week) so it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores pretty soon. All the orders received between late August and last week were also shipped at the same time. There was again a snafu with Canada Post, but it was quickly caught and fixed.

Keep in mind that regular subscriptions are sent by surface mail (save if you have a first class or air mail subscription), so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within 1 to 2 weeks in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in USA (within a week for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6 weeks overseas (1 to 2 weeks for Air Mail subscribers). Please don't email us to inquire about the status of your order until this shipping period has passed. Check this blog entry for details.

Finally, you can let us know if you see PA#93 in your local store, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

Orders

Because we were quite busy with the production of issue #93, all the orders received in the last month or so will ship along with PA #93 next week.

We apologize for the inconvenience of this delay and thank you for your patience, understanding and support.

Subscription Problem

We had lots of problems with the subscription mailing for issue #92. Many envelopes apparently got lost and Canada Post screwed up big time by mailing some copies without any postage! However, most of the problems have been solved as we resent all the envelopes that came back to us.

But if you still have not received your subscription copies for issue #92 you should contact us.

PA#93

Protoculture Addicts #93 is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #93 on the web page (click the links for details).

The magazine will ship early next week and should be in stores by the middle of October.

ANN, Protoculture Addicts Panels at Montreal Otakuthon

Anime News Network will have a panel at Otakuthon this weekend in Montreal, Canada. The panel will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and will be followed by the Protoculture Addicts panel at 11:00 a.m. (both in room H-401). In addition, the 10:00 a.m. panel will also double as an anime industry panel by providing information about the intricacies and current state of the North American anime industry. The ANN panel will be hosted by ANN Editor in Chief Christopher Macdonald, while the PA panel will be hosted by Protoculture Addicts Editor in Chief Claude J. Pelletier. (Source: ANN).

Also, Protoculture will have a booth in the Special Guest section (2nd floor mezzanine, on the left side of the Java U Café) where we will be selling back issues and various other anime & manga goodies. We'll be there both saturday and sunday from 10:00 to 18:00. Check Otakuthon website for details on the convention.

Come see us either at the panels or at the booth.

Sci-Fi Anime

Sci-Fi Anime, one of the rare anime-related specialized stores in the Montreal area (along with Marché Clandestin and Mangaya) has just moved to a new location:

2186 Ste-Catherine W
Montreal, Qc H3H 1H7
(514) 482-7844

Otakuthon 2007

I would like to remind you that Otakuthon, the only anime convention in Montreal, will be held at Concordia university on August 4 & 5. Check their website for details and, if you live in the Montreal area, come meet us there!

PA #92 is all shipped

Protoculture Addicts #92 has now been shipped or mailed to all subscribers, distributors and stores so it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores (if it is not already there, it should arrive pretty soon). The shipping was delayed by a string of holidays, long week-ends and technical problems at the printer, but copies for distributors shipped two weeks ago and subscription copies were mailed last week. Also all orders (back issues, single copies of #92, books) received since June 2nd were shipped by First Class mail on Friday (7/20/07).

I've seen #92 at the Multimag near metro Concordia in downtown Montreal, which means that it is definitely in stores in Canada -- and it should also be the case very soon in the U.S. Look for it in most comic book stores and in a selection of bookstores (like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., for the USA and Chapters, Indigo, etc., for Canada).

Remember: regular subscription are sent by surface mail (save if you have a first class or air mail subsciption), so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within 1 to 2 weeks in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in USA (within a week for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6 weeks overseas (1 to 2 weeks for Air Mail subscribers). Please don't email us to inquire about the status of your order until this shipping period has passed. Check this blog entry for details.

Finally, you can let us know if you see PA#92 in your local store, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum!

Enjoy!

The Best Way To Sample The New Full Color Format!

Protoculture Addicts #88 was the first issue of the magazine to be released with the new 100-page, full color format.

It is now available as a downloadable eBook from Drive Thru RPG, and that makes PA #88 the perfect issue to sample the new Protoculture Addicts format!

If you are new to Protoculture Addicts, maybe you cannot find the magazine in a local store to browse through it in order to see by yourself what it is all about and you are hesitant to order it by mail without knowing what you will be getting.

If you are in this situation, your dilemma is over. You can now download a complete version of PA #88 as a PDF file for just a fraction of the cover price!

In a store you would pay this issue $5.95 ($6.95 if you mail-order) while you can get the eBook at Drive Thru RPG for only $4.99 US. Even better, if you order here (or from the Protoculture online catalog) you will pay only $3.99 US !

And if you are already familiar with the magazine, this is also a good occasion to acquire PA #88 at a better price and enjoy the great portability that eBooks offer if you have a laptop, a PDA, an iPod, or any other portable devices that can read PDF files.

Three New eBooks

There is now a total of 38 eBook titles available for Protoculture Addicts on Drive Thru RPG! The latest additions are issues #65, 66 and 88.

Click the images to order them with a special discount ($2.99 US for old b&w issues and $3.99 US for the new full color format):

      

New: Annual PA Compilation for 2005

Protoculture Addicts 2005 is a new eBook that compiles together all Protoculture Addicts issues released in 2005: from #82 to #87. It offers 458 pages of great anime articles and reviews for only $14.99 US (that's half the regular cover price) !

In a store, all those issues would cost you $29.70 (or $35.60 with shipping) and if you would purchase it on Drive Thru RPG at the regular eBook price you would pay $19.99 US! However, if you order from here, on Protoculture's webpage, you will get an exclusive discount. Click on the icon to purchase:

More Protoculture Addicts eBooks Available

There is now a total of 34 issues of Protoculture Addicts available in eBook format from Drive Thru RPG! The latest additions are issues #85, 86 and 87. Click the images to order them with the new special discount at $2.99 US each (instead of $3.99):

      

Special Discount for eBooks

You can now get Protoculture Addicts eBooks at a special discount if you order from the Protoculture web page.

If ordered from the Protoculture online catalog the Protoculture Addicts Xtra #1 eBook is now only $0.99 US (instead of $1.99) and the magazine back issues are $2.99 US (instead of $3.99).

This is the perfect occasion to sample the magazine if you are new to Protoculture Addicts and are curious about the kind of content it offers. Of course, the back issues don't reflect the current look of the magazine since none of the issues with the new & improved color format are available yet. However, #88, the first 100-page full color issue, should be available soon.

If you are already familiar with the magazine, this new discount is also a good occasion to acquire the eBooks at a better price. eBooks are PDF files that offer great portability if you have a laptop, a PDA or an iPod.

PA#92

Protoculture Addicts #92 is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #92 on the web page (click the links for details) as well as performed several other small updates.

Fantasia 2007

Fantasia, North America's Premier Genre Film Festival, has announced today its 2007 programming. The 11th edition of the festival will be held July 5-23 in three theatres (Hall, J.A. DeSeve and D.B. Clarke) of Montreal's Concordia University. It will offer 120 features films, 10 documentaries and 22 programs of short features (totalling 250 local and international shorts). There will also be more than fifty guests. The Program Book will be on sale friday June 29th at the cost of $5. Tickets will be available for $7.50 or $65 for a booklet of 10 tickets.

The programming will include over sixty feature films from Asia (plus twenty-two short films): 27 from Japan (including 3 anime), 17 from Korea (including one animation), 10 from Hong Kong and 8 from other Asian countries (Thailand, China, Taiwan).

Again this year the festival offers only three Japanese animation features: Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society, Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash In The Land Of Snow, and Tekkon Kinkreet (dir. Michael Arias, animated by Studio 4' C).

For more details on the programming check this blog entry.

Have a nice festival!

PA#92 at the printer

Protoculture Addicts #92 went to the printer at the end of last week. It will be shipping between July 3rd & July 10th and should be in stores (and subscribers should start receiving their copy) by mid-July.

Check the blog or the web page for more details soon.

ANN's Poll about PA

For those who might have missed it, Anime News Network ran a poll asking their readers “Do You Read PA?”

Unfortunately, the poll is now closed, but you can see the results here.

The Poll has also generated some discussion on the forum.

Let us also remind you that you can discuss anything regarding the magazine on the Protoculture Addicts forum : what you think about the content of the latest issue, what you like or dislike about the magazine, what’s your favorite section of the magazine, your suggestions of articles, in which stores you've seen the magazine, how long it took to your subscription copy to reach you, etc.

Orders shipped

For those who are wondering, all the U.S. & International orders received between 2007/5/17 and 2007/06/01 shipped on Saturday (June 2nd) [if you have questions about the expected delivery time, please check this post]. New orders will most likely ship with PA#92 at the end of the month (for now, we are busy finishing the last details on next issue).

Increase of International Shipping Cost

Unfortunately, due to a recent increase of the postage prices in both Canada and USA, we must reprice our International shipping cost. This increase affects only the International / Overseas orders and only the new (and heavier) color format of the magazine (PA#88+). It does not affect the subscription rate.

The international shipping cost for a single issue of the magazine goes up from $3.00 US to $6.00 US, bringing the total cost of an issue to $11.95 US. However, because of the disappearance of the surface rate (save for the bulk surface rate used for the surface mail subscriptions), orders will now be sent by air mail.

The shipping cost for US and Canadian orders & subscriptions remains the same.

Update

The catalog, subscription and upcoming issues pages have been updated.

PA#91 is out!

Now that all the copies of Protoculture Addicts #91 have shipped or been mailed to subscribers, distributors and stores (big distributors copies went out early last week, subscriptions went out earlier this week and small distributors, recent orders, comp list copies were mailed today), the magazine should appear on your doorsteps or in stores pretty soon. Get ready!

As usual it should be available in most comic book stores and in a selection of bookstores (like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., for the USA and Chapters, Indigo, etc., for Canada). Regular subscription are sent by surface mail, so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within 1 to 2 weeks in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in USA (within a week for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6 weeks overseas.

Finally, you can let us know if you see PA#91 in your local store, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum!

Enjoy!

New Montreal Manga Store!

The anime store Marché Clandestin has spawned a manga store.

The Marché Clandestin MANGAYA is conveniently located just above the Marché Clandestin: 325 Ontario Est, Suite 101, Montreal, Qc, H2X 1H7 (Ph: (514) 510-6507; Web: www.mcanime.com/mangaya/). It is open Monday to Saturday, from noon to 7 pm. It is near the Berri-UQAM métro station.

As far as I know it is the first store in Montreal to specialize only in manga - both in French and in English (and eventually in Japanese too!). It covers all genres: shojo, shonen, yaoi, yuri, seinen, etc., and even carries novels. They have a special: buy 10 manga and get one free (of a value up to $12.95 Can).

It has just opened so the place is small and they don't have a large selection yet, but they already have a nice choice of manga and many titles that you would never see in your regular book store. It is REALLY worth checking out.

Orders Shipped

All back issue orders received in April were shipped today. We are sorry for the delay in shipping those orders. We were busy finishing the latest issue of the magazine.

Also, PA#91 shipped to all major distributors and retailers earlier this week. Depending on the store, the magazine should hit the shelves in one to three weeks.

Copies for smaller distributors and retailers as well as subscriptions and recent orders will ship next week.

If you want to upgrade your subscription and want it effective with #91 please do so before May 7th.

Change of Address

The relocation and downsizing of our postal office has unfortunately forced us to change our postal address. Here is our new address in Canada (the parts that changed are in red):

Protoculture
P.O. Box 143, Station B
Montreal, Qc
Canada, H3B 3J5

For the convenience of our U.S. customers, we have also added a postal address in the U.S.A.:

Protoculture
P.O. Box 507
Champlain, NY 12919-0507
USA

Please update those information in your files.

First Class (Air Mail) Subscription

Regular subscriptions for the USA and overseas are sent by surface mail (which can take from 2 to 6 weeks for delivery). However, for those who think that surface mail is too slow, we had already added an Air Mail option for the International Subscription (see “New Overseas Subscription Option”) and we are now adding a similar option for the U.S. Subscription.

Now, for $40 US you can get a U.S. First Class Subscription. With this option, U.S. subscriptions should be delivered within a week (check the subscription page to order).

An upgrade program is also available to allow regular subscribers (Surface Mail) to switch to a First Class (Air Mail) subscription:

• U.S. upgrade cost $2 U.S. per remaining issue of the subscription
• International upgrade cost $6 U.S. per remaining issue of the subscription

Please email us to set up the upgrade (give us your name and address, so we can determine how many issues are left to your subscription and we will email back to you with the cost and how to make the payment).

PA#91

Protoculture Addicts #91 is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #91 on the web page (click the links for details) as well as performed several other small updates.

Order Inquiries

Lately, we’ve been receiving LOTS of emails from people wondering when they would get their order (sometimes only two weeks after ordering). I know it is frustrating to wait for something when we are now so used to getting stuff instantly on the internet. Unfortunately, since teleportation has not been invented yet, we still have to send your orders by snail-mail and it takes time. Now, please consider that the magazine is put together by a quite small staff of volunteers and that processing & mailing orders is quite time-consuming.

Of course, we WILL always answer all order inquiries as quickly as possible—but please first check the information on our web page (like here on PA’s blog, or our updated ordering & shipping policy) before emailing us !

Here is some information to remember:

• We never send any confirmations for orders (if you ordered via PayPal, your receipt is your confirmation) or change of address.

• Orders are generally not processed immediately. We are doing our best to process and ship order every couple of weeks, but most of the time it can take more than that (but generally not more than a month, sometimes two).

• Expected delivery time (about one week for Canada, one to two weeks for the USA and three to four weeks for overseas -- this is NOT in any way a promise or a warranty, but simply an estimate) are calculated from the time the order is shipped and NOT from the time the order is made.

In order to save cost and improve delivery time, International and U.S. orders are mailed directly at the U.S. Postal Service (First Class / Air Mail). We try to do those mailings as often as possible, but they are very time-consuming for us (we have to drive over the US border, which take one hour and half each way) so there might by delays when we are busy.

Many variables can influence postal delivery (destination's location, peak period, holidays, weather, etc.) and it is very difficult to predict delivery time with accuracy. To know when the last batch of orders was shipped just check the “Order Status” entries in the blog. However, if your order is past the end of the standard delivery time (4 weeks after shipping for the USA, 6 weeks for overseas) and you still have not received anything, then you should contact us: your order might be lost (be aware however that it takes 75 days for a parcel to be officially considered lost by the postal service). If you do feel the need to send us an order inquiry, please include as much information as possible: full Name, Address and, if possible, date of the order. Without those information we cannot locate your order in our database.

And, please, send us an order inquiry BEFORE filing a dispute or claim with PayPal. Doing so will cause your payment to be frozen by PayPal and will only cause further delay for your order.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

[updated 2008/07/22, 2008/08/06, 2010/02/25, 2011/03/08]

PA#90 Shipping Completed

Protoculture Addicts #90 shipping to subscribers, distributors and stores is now completed.

The magazine should be available in comic book stores and in a selection of bookstores (like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., for the USA and Chapters, Indigo, etc., for Canada). Let us know if you see PA#90 in your local store!

Subscription are sent by regular surface mail. Subscribers should expect to receive their copies within 1 to 2 weeks in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in USA and 3 to 6 weeks overseas. Let us know how long it took for your copy to arrive!

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check you local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

Finally, you can let us know what you think of the latest issue by e-mail or in the forum!

Enjoy!

PA at the NY Comic Con

Several members of PA's editorial team will attend the New York Comic Con on February 23-25!

If you are in the area come and look for us. We will be roaming the dealers' room as well as attending most of the anime-related panels!

You will also be able to find us at the Anime News Network panel Sunday at 4 pm.

PA#90 is about to ship!

There was some small production delays (it always takes longer than planned, but the reorganization is starting to work and things gets done faster and faster), but Protoculture Addicts #90 is now printed and about to ship!

The orders for all the big distributors (those who need to re-distribute their copies to sub-distributors or large chain stores) will be shipped this week. Smaller distributors, stores and subscriptions will be shipped next week.

The new look of the magazine is starting to have an effect since the orders have increased substancially. We are also continuing to expend the distribution of the magazine into the book market. Keep you eyes opened and let us know when and where you see the magazine appear in your local store!

For more information on the contents of this issue check http://www.protoculture.ca/PA/PA90.htm