Best hobby shops (that are left)

Kings Hobby on North Lamar, Austin, Texas.

Well Irish I'm an architect and the good old San Antonio hobbies was bulldozed a while ago for a mall next door to my current project.

My long time favorite Franciscan, out in the Ingleside in SF, just closed.

So did Riverside Hobbies last year where John Eaton and I used to meet and then go for lunch.

The only one left is the one in the basement of Ace Hardware in Berkeley.

The owner has a stash about 5-7 times as big as what's on the shelf. Tell them you r looking for that 1/32 revell Tony and they just might have it.

My guy there is Robbie

In Sacramento, CA a must stop is RC Country. It's a huge store, one half devoted to RC and the other to kits, supplies, and publications. Lots of interesting stuff for any modeler.

I try to check out hobby shops when on holidays too. Hobby Bunker in Boston is fantastic. Wheels and Wings in Toronto is excellent. Hornet hobbies in Toronto is also very good.  

Avenel Hobbies in Colonia NJ,about 20 minutes from my house.Yhey truly have everything,a great variety of kits of all kindsLots of AM,painting and weathering supplies.Run by modelers.Gotta stop in if your in NJ

woodbridge.patch.com/.../avenel-hobbies

Hobbyland in Columbus, Ohio - two convenient locations, Graceland Shopping Center @ 206 Graceland Blvd and East at 6919 E Broad St

If you're ever in the Louisville area, check out Scale Reproductions at 3073 Breckenridge Lane.  Good selection of kits and supplies as well as trains and RC.

Don

FSM member FlyItLikeYouStoleIt recommended Scale Model Supplies in St. Paul, MN to me and it is awesome.  They have a HUGE supply of model kits and modeling supplies.  As well as a VERY large model RR section.

It's a wonderful place that I can't wait to get back to when I'm in the area.  Address is: 458 Lexington Pkwy., St. Paul, MN

This would make a great sticky to help people visiting different areas

In Eastern IA:

Major Art & Hobby - Davenport IA

Box-Kar Hobbies - Cedar Rapids

In the L.A. area, south of the Orange Curtain, there is Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, and Military Hobbies in Orange. Both are well stocked, staffed by knowledgable folks, will order most anything you desire that they can get, and really take care of their customer base.

G&G Hobby shop. Near Downtown Houston (Rice Village). Good selection of just about everything.

Sadly, Larry's hobby's shut down last fall (North Houston). I hear their rent got doubled.

I made it to Brookhurst hobby as well as another store near Cal Poly in LA - had a big airplane on the building - great selection and a little bit for everyone - when I was in Sacramento (I don't recall the name) there was this store that was really small but it had a ton of great stuff that was crammed in every nook and cranny - loved that they had rare sci-fi stuff, a great bargain bin and a old kit section that were flea market specials.  I miss that kind of place you can go in and discover the rare find, can't get that kind of excitement and satisfaction on eBay or an online hobby shop

Great topic Irish.

The Hobby Hut in Grand Junction, Co. They have been in business for well over 40 yrs. and they are still going strong. It's a smallish shop and although they have RC and model RR sections the vast majority of the store is dedicated to plastic models. Great selection of models, AM, paint and supplies. It's a 2 hr drive for me here in Moab, Ut. but that doesn't deter me from making several trips a year. The folks there are awesome and very knowledgeable.

For me it's crm hobbys ,5101 eichelberger in south saint Louis.kinda small but jam packed.and I believe they have a website

The best shop in the metro Philadelphia area is AAA Hobbies in magnolia N.J. Great selection of kits, paints and tools. They will also order anything they don't have for you.

BnB Hobbies, Spokane Washington, they seem to have whatever I'm looking for, shelves never change but for some reason the odd kit manages to show up there. Wite Elefant is another store that has a reasonable selection AND fantastic prices. Our local Hobbytown isn't to bad I usually buy paint and other supplies there. IMHO the best hobby shop is the one where you walk in and the propieter knows you by name, long gone is that store but we're kinda lucky here to have what we got.

Central Connecticut there really isn't much left. Amato's in New Britain is ok.  Pretty decent selection but not much for aftermarket.  Time Machine in Manchester again has nice selection but not much for aftermarket and staff doesn't have a clue.  I did find an old Hasegawa YF-16CCV kit there

I enjoy going to Dean's Hobby Stop in Owosso Michigan (www.deanshobbystop.com/home.php) Not a full line hobby shop but a good selection  of vintage  (and newer) kits. To quote  their web page "We always have at least 10,000 plastic model kits in stock, sometimes many more". The only 'trouble ' I have with Dean's is I intend to buy only one or teo kits but by the time I leave...

stikpusher

In the L.A. area, south of the Orange Curtain, there is Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, and Military Hobbies in Orange. Both are well stocked, staffed by knowledgable folks, will order most anything you desire that they can get, and really take care of their customer base.

In Northridge (San Fernando Valley), there is Smith Brothers Hobbies.

Here in the Phoenix area, there is Hobby Depot in Tempe and Andy's Hobby Headquarters in Glendale. In fact, I'm going to Hobby Depot tomorrow.

It sounds like there's some left but the neighborhood store that you could walk to and see actual models on display are pretty much gone. I remember just south of Detroit in the day, there were several around and one I frequented would display one of your models if you did a good job, kind of a neighborhood competition. Now I have to drive a half hour….I wish Hobby Lobby would expand their model section.

Yup, I've been to King's, nice selection of paints and models. They also have a pretty nice discount table or two. I bought the next model I'm going to work on from there--a German SP Arty by Bronco. If my flight wasn't canceled by snow on Monday, I would have paid them a visit this week! I was looking forward to it. :-(