A Crowded Field to Get More So

There’s a new men’s magazine being passed around New York publishing circles. Its sepia-toned cover heralds stories about brothers (“the eternal dynamic”), underwear (“a brief glimpse”) and how to deal with a female boss.

Another men’s mag? Yes. Matter for Men exists for the moment in the form of this 76-page prototype issue designed to hook would-be advertisers. But it will premiere Aug. 15 with a circulation guarantee of 650,000 copies, only 100,000 of which are expected to be sold on newsstands.

This so-called rate base--650,000 is huge for a start-up--reflects an unusual alliance between the diversified company publishing the magazine, Quadrant Management Inc., and a leading direct-mail marketer in which it has a controlling interest, Hanover Direct Inc.

More than half a million copies of Matter for Men will go out to men who have made multiple purchases from Hanover’s portfolio of catalogues, which includes the clothiers International Male and Tweeds. In addition, Matter will offer Hanover’s telemarketing services to advertisers.

“My readers are hyperactive, direct-response enthusiasts,” said Lawrence W. Rose, who conceived of the magazine several years ago and is now Matter’s publisher and editorial director. The 35-year-old Rose, who previously worked in sales at Vanity Fair and GQ, said he sees a can’t-miss tie between the toll-free shopping habits of his target audience and an editorial vision that will accent, in his words, “those qualities appropriate for a man.”

Rose said he expects the magazine to reach a significant number of gay men: “Gay inclusive will only make the magazine cooler.” The prototype considers the etiquette of inviting a gay couple to dinner.

Matter is “another entry in a crowded field,” said Arthur Cooper, who knows a few things about men’s magazines, having recently accepted two National Magazine Awards as the editor in chief of GQ. Cooper said a new magazine cannot be judged fairly based on a prototype, but that he saw nothing new in Matter. “I think the ground has been covered,” he said.

Then again, Cooper was impressed on learning of the 650,000-copy rate base. The plan at Matter is to turn the 550,000 freebie recipients into paying subscribers over time. Meanwhile, Matter’s initial guaranteed circulation would put it behind Men’s Health’s audited circulation of 1.2 million, but within climbing distance of Esquire’s 756,000 and GQ’s 658,000.

The editor of Matter is Scott Baldinger, a former features editor at Harper’s Bazaar.

*

Owning a Piece of the King: They would become the Betamaxes of their day, those 33-r.p.m. singles released in the early 1960s. The public rejected the format and continued to buy the doughnut-holed 45-r.p.m. records.

However, if you do have a 33-r.p.m. copy of Elvis Presley’s “Good Luck Charm” (1962), consider yourself richer by $4,000 to $5,000. If you also have the picture sleeve, you’ve doubled your money.

These are among the revelations in “The Official Price Guide to Elvis Presley Records and Memorabilia,” a 432-page bible compiled by collector Jerry Osborne and published in a $14 paperback by House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Ballantine Publishing Group.

Osborne, a former disc jockey who got to know Presley when they both were living in Memphis, Tenn., lists a wide spectrum of stuff. Dozens of Presley albums are worth no more than $10, window cards and lobby photos printed in connection with his films reach into $100 territory, and a 1957 Presley doll (with all clothes in the original box) goes for $1,500 to $2,000.

*

Double Exposure: Those who complain that the line between editorial and advertising has become blurred in glossy magazines will draw no comfort from the May issue of Town & Country. On the cover, Isabella Rossellini sports a $1,990 jacket by Chanel; on the back cover is the same Chanel jacket, worn by a model showing a lot more flesh.

“It was a total accident,” said editor in chief Pamela Fiori. “I’m sure Chanel is thrilled, as well they should be, but it doesn’t make me happy.”

According to Fiori, the Rossellini cover (“Fabulous Summer Fashion”) had been scheduled for June until the intended May cover was dropped--too late to shoot a new Rossellini or to bump the ad.

* Paul D. Colford’s column is published Fridays.