‘Tiger Beat’ is getting a shiny new reboot and we cannot wait

When my mom talks about her adolescent years, there’s usually a mention of Tiger Beat magazine somewhere in all that waxing nostalgic about going to a Monkees concert and meeting Davy Jones and using orange juice cans to get that Farrah flip. In her memory, Tiger Beat is a magical publication, what Photoplay was to silver screen fans of the ’20s and ’30s and what the Delia’s catalog was to board-shorts-obsessive, crushed-velvet-cargo-skirt-devotee me growing up in the late ’90s. It was the mag you checked your mailbox for like a maniac for days and when it finally arrived you screamed until your parents told you it was time to use your to. “use your indoor voice, for God sakes, Kit, it’s just a catalog.”

After several mergers, Photoplay is now Us Weekly (true story), and after years of hibernation, Delia’s is coming back (like, TOMORROW) as an online-only store. But Tiger Beat actually never went anywhere or changed anything. It’s been hanging with us since 1965. Maybe it doesn’t have the same hype in this decade as it did in decades past, but this really is the magazine version of The Little Engine that Could. It has continued to chug along, for 50 years, giving its readers teen idol scoop they need to get through the day.

Now, as the mag turns the big 5-0, it looks like Tiger Beat is going to take a spin in the makeover chair and come out looking better than ever. As The New York Times reports, a group of 17 investors recently raised $2 million to revamp the magazine. Investors like TV host Nick Canon, basketball star Kevin Durant, Steve Tisch (who produced films like Risky Business and Forrest Gump and is the current Chairman and Executive Vice-President of the New York Giants), and the publication The Daily Mail plan to turn the magazine, that as of late hasn’t gotten quite the love it deserves, into a media empire that, unlike so many empires that focus on 20-30-something millennials, is going to cater to the born-after-1997 centennials.

“I knew when I was a teenager how much impact it had,” Tisch told The New York Times. “I’m certainly excited about not only restoring the power of Tiger Beat, but really introducing it to a whole new generation and hopefully many generations going forward.”

So what is this new and improved Tiger Beat going to look like? The first issue under new ownership hits newsstands in September and will still feature the mag’s signature and beloved collage cover (TSwift and Ariana Grande’s heads are prominently featured), a feature on Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie 2 that promises “never-before-heard secrets, behind-the-scenes stories, LOLS and more, ” and the band Five Seconds of Summer sharing “girl secrets.”

We’re excited for the tweens and teens that are going to get to experience the wonder and glory of Tiger Beat — the very same mag that captured their parents and grandparents’ hearts. The Tiger Beat revolution is here and we are totally ready for it.

We gave the dudes of ‘Parks and Rec’ the Tiger Beat treatment

Be still, our ’90’s hearts — Delia’s is officially coming back!

[Images via Facebook and Wikipedia]