ORIGINAL: Stickbuilder
The reason that the American Rags have all become Catalogs for the ARF sellers, is due to the publishing, printing and mailing costs.
This has happened to almost all the hobby magazines. For example, the photography mags are just the same; they are 90% advertising with a few light-weight "articles" slipped to give the appearance of substance. I'll have to check on the subscription cost for FSM shipped to Japan. If it's only $60 that's well worth the price for 12 issues.