Like combining a celebrity-splashed soap with a cliff-hanger episode of a tawdry reality show, fashion magazine newsstand stats are always juicy and often surprising. Reported this morning by Women’s Wear Daily via the Audit Bureau of Circulations, 2012’s numbers so far are eye-opening, indeed. The latest cover model hits and flops include a few sharp twists and a couple of underdogs. But we’ll get to that in a moment. First, in the general trends department, according to this latest batch of sales numbers, things don’t look so great for magazines on the whole. For example, Vogue, Lucky, and Allure (all Condé Nast titles) experienced “double digit” drops in total newsstand sales in the first half of this year. Further, article author Erik Maza reported, “Across the industry, magazines saw total single-copy sales decline 9.6 percent.” The news wasn’t all bad, however, especially for those aiming to appeal to a more mature audience. The item also asserted that these new figures prove that, “Women at or approaching their 40s still do sell.” To wit, Jennifer Aniston’s March InStyle cover was its best seller so far this year. For the full story, click here. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the following delicious HITS and FLOPS:     Vogue: HIT: March cover girl Adele attracted sales well above average. FLOP: June’s Olympics cover featuring athletes Ryan Lochte, Serena Williams, and Hope Solo was the worst seller so far this year.     Marie Claire: HIT: Zooey Deschanel’s cover was a “blockbuster,” according to the WWD rundown. FLOP: Christina Aguilera failed to draw greater than the second-worst sales of the year so far.     Glamour: HIT: Lauren Conrad’s swimsuit issue cover pushed sales to 18% above the mag’s six-month average. FLOP: Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian’s January cover was second worst in the six-month sample.     Cosmopolitan: HIT: January cover girl Scarlett Johansson netted the top-selling issue so far this year. FLOP: Pop star Pink’s cover was, apparently, a “dud”.     (Photo credits, from top: 1. TopNews.in, 2. GetTheBigPicture.net, 3. CollegeFashion.net, 4. MoviesAndTVHistoryGuy.com)