A very interesting thread...so here's my tuppence worth...
Way back when, when I started this hobby...I had no idea who Games Workshop was, or White Dwarf magazine for that matter.
I work in a Supermarket and on passing the magazine rack one night, a magazine called '
Battle Games In Middle Earth' caught my eye, mainly because of the plastic goblins attached that sparked my love of the Lord of the Rings and my inner child.
I thought this was a new thing, and only available through the magazine. I painted the Goblins and then bought issue 2. I had only really just flicked through the pages, as I thought the painted goblins that they showed inside the mag were...well [word deleted] honestly.
But then I saw the link to Games Workshop and I ended up searching on the internet which led me to a LOTR gaming site.
It was from this site that a whole new world opened up to me and I learn't about what was actually out there.
Point I am trying to make is...I learned about this hobby via an (wait for it)...
ADVERTISEMENT via a magazine.
The business created for GW via BGIME must have been (and I know was) phenominal !
So have they learned from this....