Letters, Lloyd and conspiracies
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- Techno Teaboy
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:14 pm
Letters, Lloyd and conspiracies
Firstly, I'd just like to say that I've only just found this forum, and it's brought back all sorts of happy memories of getting all excited about computer games that took ten minutes to load and were for the most part completely shit.
When Zzap! was given a semi-facelift and filled with jokes that even I, as an eleven-year-old found rather tiresomely childish, Lloyd Mangram disappeared and was replaced with a ludicrous cartoon dominatrix.
When Commodore Force launched, the magazine claimed that Lloyd was back. I did not believe this, partly because the writing style was completely different to old Lloyd, and also because for the first few issues he was not credited in the front of the magazine. After I had written various indignant letters to the magazine his name did start appearing in the credits.
Am I barking up the wrong tree, or were we being lied to?
When Zzap! was given a semi-facelift and filled with jokes that even I, as an eleven-year-old found rather tiresomely childish, Lloyd Mangram disappeared and was replaced with a ludicrous cartoon dominatrix.
When Commodore Force launched, the magazine claimed that Lloyd was back. I did not believe this, partly because the writing style was completely different to old Lloyd, and also because for the first few issues he was not credited in the front of the magazine. After I had written various indignant letters to the magazine his name did start appearing in the credits.
Am I barking up the wrong tree, or were we being lied to?
- Professor Brian Strain
- King of Zzap Towers
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- Location: Skegness, UK
- Contact:
- Ian Osborne
- Staffer
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:46 pm
I'll let you into a secret. There never was a Lloyd Mangram - that's why he always had a bag over his head in photos. In the early days he was Roger Kean's alter ego, but several writers filled his non-existent shoes over the years. He was got rid of when Lucy Hickman took over the mag and filled it with innuendo, sending sales through the floor. This trend was reversed when Steve Shields became editor, and Lloyd was brought back, with Ms Whiplash marginalised and eventually killed off. If memory serves, LM returned before Zzap! became Commodore Force, though.
On the subject of tiresomely childish jokes, is your nickname supposed to be funny?
On the subject of tiresomely childish jokes, is your nickname supposed to be funny?
- Lloyd Mangram
- King of Ludlow
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How badly did the sales fall? It's not suprising though, with a shrinking market and the mag turning into rubbish for a while.Ian Osborne wrote:He was got rid of when Lucy Hickman took over the mag and filled it with innuendo, sending sales through the floor.
A "dead dog" as the marketing term goes. A shrinking share of a shrinking market!
Nope, He definitely only returned in the first issue of C= Force. I remember the return being mentioned in the last issue of "Zzap"Ian Osborne wrote: If memory serves, LM returned before Zzap! became Commodore Force, though.
Here's the proof!
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/display ... azine=zzap
Also check out the Pilgrimage to Ludlow, this also has evidence that Lloyd did exist!
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/ludlow/index.html
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/ludlow/index.html
Where`s my screwdriver, need to replace another 6581 Sniff
- Ian Osborne
- Staffer
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:46 pm
I can't remember exactly, but it was a pretty dramatic fall. Letters of complaint about the constant innuendo were coming in at a rate of one a day. Closing Zzap! and relaunching as Commodore Force was a direct result of this, and for a while, it worked - sales went up, until another change of editorial policy caused it to be filled with nostalgia, retrospectives and articles ripped off from previous issues.Iain wrote:How badly did the sales fall? It's not suprising though, with a shrinking market and the mag turning into rubbish for a while.
A "dead dog" as the marketing term goes. A shrinking share of a shrinking market!
I stand corrected.Iain wrote:Nope, He definitely only returned in the first issue of C= Force. I remember the return being mentioned in the last issue of "Zzap"
Here's the proof!
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/display ... azine=zzap
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- Techno Teaboy
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:14 pm
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- Techno Teaboy
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 5:06 pm
You can buy a Lloyd Mangram action figure. I don't know why he has a chain saw. I guess he needs it to cut his way through the mountain of letters.
- Ian Osborne
- Staffer
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- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:46 pm
If you ask one of the moderators, they can change your nickname for you.RohypnolSlag wrote:I came up with it once while I was drunk, and now it's stuck.Ian Osborne wrote: On the subject of tiresomely childish jokes, is your nickname supposed to be funny?
Cheers for the info Ian, I always enjoyed reading your articles and reviews.
Cheers for the kind thoughts about my work
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- Techno Teaboy
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:14 pm
Oh no, I don't mean it's stuck on here. I mean that that is now the name that I use on all internet forums and so on. It is childish, but it still makes me laugh.Ian Osborne wrote:If you ask one of the moderators, they can change your nickname for you.RohypnolSlag wrote:I came up with it once while I was drunk, and now it's stuck.Ian Osborne wrote: On the subject of tiresomely childish jokes, is your nickname supposed to be funny?
Cheers for the info Ian, I always enjoyed reading your articles and reviews.
Cheers for the kind thoughts about my work
Remember, you're never alone with Rohypnol.
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- Ken's Fishy Friend
- Posts: 32
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Heh, I kinda guessed he wasn't real. But I remember when someone wrote in demanding why the tapes wouldn't work and would only produce this crackling sound. Lloyd was so flabbergasted Steve had to reply for him and explain you did not put the tapes in a stereo. It was very funny to read, them Red Herrings. *^_^* \m/
- Ian Osborne
- Staffer
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- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:46 pm
I remember it well - I wrote the reply as Lloyd for that one, with Steve adding his comments afterwards at the editing stage.Folkie Faery wrote:Heh, I kinda guessed he wasn't real. But I remember when someone wrote in demanding why the tapes wouldn't work and would only produce this crackling sound. Lloyd was so flabbergasted Steve had to reply for him and explain you did not put the tapes in a stereo. It was very funny to read, them Red Herrings. *^_^* \m/
We once had a megatape returned to us as it contained hymns instead of games. We thought it was a fake at first, and that the reader had recorded the hymns himself, but when we compared the tape with a 'proper' megatape from that issue, they were different lengths. Perhaps it was a genuine reproduction error after all...