No kits at Wally World?

It happened at mine about a year ago I hate it I used to buy kits every time i went in

Depending on which one I go to, I still see a couple at Wally World from time to time. But lately they've been fewer and more far between...

I've never seen any models at the Walmart near me. And it's odd too as they sell Testor's paints, a few types of glue.

I've got no idea what determines if they sell them or not. I know the one back home where I grew up usually have a couple- but they tend to be car models. And the ones that no one seems to particularly care for. I think the only A/C model I'd ever seen was the F-106 Delta Dart by Revell. But that's about it.

Whatever happened to the days when yo could go to K-mart and have scads of kits available?

My opinion is kids these days don't like them or have never been introduced to models in my walmart they were in thentoy department. Kids play video games and computers, they don't even go outside anymore I went with one step brothers family to a county fair one of the kids started crying cause he got dirty. I remember as a kid playing army in the woods and swamp all day long comming home and my grandmother (she raised me) hose me down with a garden hose before letting me in the house lol. then after dinner down to the cellar and build models till bedtime. Did't even have cable till I was like 18-19 years old. just my two cents.

 

John

jtrace214 wrote:

My opinion is kids these days don't like them or have never been introduced to models in my walmart they were in thentoy department. Kids play video games and computers, they don't even go outside anymore I went with one step brothers family to a county fair one of the kids started crying cause he got dirty. I remember as a kid playing army in the woods and swamp all day long comming home and my grandmother (she raised me) hose me down with a garden hose before letting me in the house lol. then after dinner down to the cellar and build models till bedtime. Did't even have cable till I was like 18-19 years old. just my two cents.   John

Ahhh, those were the days....

Wal-Mart is sales driven...or so we're led to believe. I've had discussions with area WM managers who expressed their frustrations over the merchandise mix corporate has selected for them to carry. As vast as their distribution system is, it still has issues getting the right merchandise into the right store. Stores that sell out of each and every model product they stocked couldn't get restocked easily. Instead these items were going to stores that couldn't sell these items because of the demographic it served.  When you rely on the information from those stores who cannot sell a certain SKU, to determine what SKUs you stock overall, you fail to service the customer. A little in house management and infrastructure organization would enhance their ability to deliver what people want at the store they want to purchase it from. Who's suffering, those who don't have access to a LHS and depended on WM for their modest modeling needs. There are still those who don't shop online, which is a large portion of the market.

I'm actually happy about it. The less money people spend at Walmart, the better we'll all be. I really don't shop there if I can help it.

Try Michael's or A.C. Moore's. Better companies, and with a weekly 40% off coupon, you can pick up a kit for like $8.00--and then get a "50%-off next Saturday" coupon for next week's "steal".

I went through my inventory of local stores that might sell models but came up empty. Without a drive of 45 mins or so I'm left with nothing. I bought kits from Walmart when I was a kid and later but hadn't for some time. I had not even considered that there might not be any and it was a shock. I guess I'll have to make that drive if I want to get some beginner kits for my boy.

Heck, the local harware store even carrries a limited  supply of Testors paints!

WalMart across the nation seems to be dropping models. As Gerry says, its what the computer says is selling - thats what they stock.

I tend to think there are fewer modelers than before and the younger crowd could care less about something like that. No sound, no graphics, no online interaction.

Its a shame, if you ask me.

the doog wrote:

I'm actually happy about it. The less money people spend at Walmart, the better we'll all be. I really don't shop there if I can help it.

Amen to that. I avoid them like the plague. Where I can (both physically and financially) I try to hit the smaller shops, but we've got a Michaels and Hobby Lobby which can be addicting.

Unfortunately, my wife likes Wally World. Hey, we live in a democracy, right? To each his own!

the doog wrote:

I'm actually happy about it. The less money people spend at Walmart, the better we'll all be. I really don't shop there if I can help it. Try Michael's or A.C. Moore's. Better companies, and with a weekly 40% off coupon, you can pick up a kit for like $8.00--and then get a "50%-off next Saturday" coupon for next week's "steal".

Amen to that brother.  I hate wal-mart.  It drives small mom and pop shops out of buisness.  It doesnt pay it's employees enough, doesnt give them overtime.  Its a blight on our naton.  Watch and mark my words, one day it will become a monopoly, the only massive store around, it will buy all the other ones, then tripple the price on us.

I only bought one kit from Michaels, their selectoin is... sub par to say the least, and my LHS has extremly high prices (30$ for a 12$ kubelwagen I believe it was last time I checked)

Where do you get those coupons?

It's funny our new Mega Walmart Center is toted as one of the largest in the nation (lucky us...not) and they stock ZERO modeling supplies.

Fortunately locally here in Marion we have Chuck's Depot (you get the chance drop in and see him...VERY well supplied) and just down the road in SIU country is a Hobby Lobby stuffed full of the best kits and supplies, which seems to tell me modelling may be alive and well in that university town.

smeagol the vile wrote:

Where do you get those coupons?

The local newspaper should have 'em, smeagol!

You know-that thing in the mini-markets that looks like a printed page about 1/2 inch thick, usually? You open it up and it has newws in it; cartoons, ads, pictures and coupons too sometimes, ya know? Usually the best coupons are in the Sunday paper.

LOL! Sorry--just bustin' your young chops--it's a "generational thang"! (your generation doesn't read newspapers much, apparently?)

I dont, atleast.  Instead of spending my time on the train reading the news paper I'd rather read (currently) A Biography of Hirohito

mucker wrote:

the doog wrote: Amen to that. I avoid them like the plague. Where I can (both physically and financially) I try to hit the smaller shops, but we've got a Michaels and Hobby Lobby which can be addicting. Unfortunately, my wife likes Wally World. Hey, we live in a democracy, right? To each his own!

We shop WM for two items generally...cat food and cat litter...rarely do we purchase other stuff especially food. Ever wonder why their ground beef can last so much longer than the stuff found at other grocery stores...RADIATION! They really know how to kill things...meat, bacteria, mom & pop shops....local economy...they rarely pay the state and local sales taxes they collect...yet the little guy down the street will go to jail if his business didn't pay up. 

The state actuially GIVES walmart money to open up in towns.  Yet, small buisnesses cant get a lick of help.

I think we have to accept the fact that we are not in a mainstream hobby.  We are in a cult-hobby.

~Dave

Only in America.  Japan has a MASSIVE market for models.  Hense companies like Bandai and Tamiya putting out so many kits, and so many good ones.  Toys R US in Japan (or the equivelant) have mass stocks of kits

Hmmm.  I just noticed that over the past year.  NO Wal Mart I've been to in the past 6 months has any.  They used to, but now no more.  And the GMs at all three I go to has said people are asking for them, but corporate says it doesn't sell, therefore not available.

That is the problem with today's kids.  No chance to let their imagination go.  No chance of building their creativity.  I'm not kidding when I brag about building most of my toys when I was a kid.  I always thought it was a curse, but now as an adult I see it developed a sense of creativity in me that you won't get from any school.

Unfortunately I still need to find a couple plastic models to look over closely to see which would be best for the scratch build I'm planning.

      In my area wally world stores they have not had models for probably two years. If they did have any they were same as years past. If You have a Hobby lobby nearby you can look there. People are complaining that kids don't get into building them well they should stand around and listen to the conversations that parents have with there kids. I usually hear they are too expensive(true) and you don't want to Waste your money on something you have to put together.

      I just love to hear all the WalMart bashers too. I hate the store and all that, I must be the only one that Will admit that I like the store. Granted it used to be Much better when Mr Walton was alive but this is what we got. Everybody complains that it kills the little guy well it just tells me that they have no idea how Walmart got started and where it has come from. He used to be the little guy but Mr Walton was a very good business man and now we see how it has progressed.

 

 

 

The last kits my local Wal-Mart carried was the reissued Revell-Monogram aircraft series (Ford Tri-motor, new tooled Spirit of St. Louis, Kitty Hawk) and some AMT car kits. I picked up the IH Bronco and Ford Mustang Mach III concept car for $4 a pop in the clearance aisle about a year ago. Other than the Speed Racer Mach 5 and Mach 6 car kits at Target, I don't think I've seen a model in either store in about a year.

Badger wrote:

Hmmm.  I just noticed that over the past year.  NO Wal Mart I've been to in the past 6 months has any.  They used to, but now no more.  And the GMs at all three I go to has said people are asking for them, but corporate says it doesn't sell, therefore not available. That is the problem with today's kids.  No chance to let their imagination go.  No chance of building their creativity.  I'm not kidding when I brag about building most of my toys when I was a kid.  I always thought it was a curse, but now as an adult I see it developed a sense of creativity in me that you won't get from any school. Unfortunately I still need to find a couple plastic models to look over closely to see which would be best for the scratch build I'm planning.

 

I agree with you completly, all I have to say in addition, is thank god for Lego.  Atleast there still thriving and giving kids that creative outlet. (I still have ALL of mine)

I have a young relative who loves Star Wars and LEGO, and so I bought him a Revell Snap-Tite Annakin Skywalker Starfighter.  With all his LEGO experience he had no trouble with the kit instructions and he put it together in less than an hour.  I think he also cherishes the model because it looks more like the real thing than LEGO or the toys out there.  With dissapearing hobby stores and WalMart's lack of kits, it is up to us scale modelers to promote the hobby.

~Dave

smeagol the vile wrote:

Badger wrote: Hmmm.  I just noticed that over the past year.  NO Wal Mart I've been to in the past 6 months has any.  They used to, but now no more.  And the GMs at all three I go to has said people are asking for them, but corporate says it doesn't sell, therefore not available. That is the problem with today's kids.  No chance to let their imagination go.  No chance of building their creativity.  I'm not kidding when I brag about building most of my toys when I was a kid.  I always thought it was a curse, but now as an adult I see it developed a sense of creativity in me that you won't get from any school. Unfortunately I still need to find a couple plastic models to look over closely to see which would be best for the scratch build I'm planning.   I agree with you completly, all I have to say in addition, is thank god for Lego.  Atleast there still thriving and giving kids that creative outlet. (I still have ALL of mine)

I'm gonna venture another point of view, if I may. I think it's not so much that todays toys limit the childs imagination. I honestly think it has more to do with immediate gratification. And I've learned this with my 6 year old nephew and his toys. If something takes more than 15 minutes to put together, then he loses interest. I think in todays world with high speed internet, faster computers/electronics, fast food, etc., I think todays children in general do not have the same level of patience as they used to. And perhaps that's why plastic modeling is a lot less popular with todays youth.

   Just my $.02. I came up with that after putting my nephews new lego set together after he had left to do something else more interesting....

Ahhh, that can be a problem.  Thats why, for legos atleast, Im a proponent of the GYHUGIC (so a real word) tubs of random pieces you can get. No instructions or anything, just lets the kid have fun with it.  But then, I had a structured childhood, had play time, nap time, tv time, that kind of thing, every day, so I always had time to sit down and play uninterupted without running off to do sometin else.

I've had the legos too as a kid. And sure- following the instructions and building whatever is nice. But it wasn't until you added those pieces to a much larger collection that you can actually try and build stuff off of your own imagination! That was the real fun there.

 

   I had the space legos growing up, so it was all about whatever new spaceship I came up with that week. I did alotta daydreaming as a kid....

My $.02 worth. Wally World apparently made the corporate decision to do away with models and accessories about 2 years ago. I would guess the reason was a perception that model kits and model building were dying and therefore not profitable. I'm not going to bash WM except to say that when Sam Walton was alive the stores were generally much better all around. I do agree that our society's need for instant gratification may also be a problem as far as reduced sales and fewer kids getting into the hobby. Instant gratification also seems to be leading to a lot of other problems in our society. I noticed an increase in impatience and a greater level of hostility when things don't go as expected. You can see on our streets with an increase in road rage, in our political sytem with more hostility, anger and decreased civility. That last part may be a bit off topic but I feel it all kind of ties together. As a model builder I've learned patience, attention to detail etc. All skills that have served me well over the last 62 years. Just my two cents worth. Rick Martin

I suppose that the majority of people who get into the hobby in the future will be those who see a model and wish they could build one like that.  Or people who have a friend who is a modeler and decides to give it a try.

Perhaps less people get into modeling than they used to, but then again how many of us growing up had friends who modeled and now only we model and they don't anymore.  Decades ago so many young people built models but we are the cadre that still builds while most are doing other things.  Maybe less people will get into modeling but maybe the types of people who start building for the first time these days are the types who will keep building for years and years.

Dave