Where we shop , And why

Marcus McBean;

 The Kids Fun Days happen on the first and third Saturdays of every month - Weather Permitting . The hours for that if I am bringing the " Engineer " Is 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. The Museum is open from 10 to 4 .

 We have a lot to talk about .If you can confirm a date I'll make sure I am there . I am still recovering from Open Heart stuff . So for that if it gets to hot I am outta here ! .

 Hmmm. lets see The first Saturday in September .That's a firm committment then . See you at the LEGO tables .By the way it's Tanker Builder .You know , the big Salt Water type . Just ask for DOC or Gary . 

Deans Hobby Stop in Owosso, Michigan. If money permits, a road trip to J-Bar Hobbies in Tecumseh or Model Cave in Ypsilanti. Both awesome places!

I've heard there's a Riders and a Hobbytown in Grand Rapids but I haven't gotten over there yet. 

Online; ScaleHobbyist. Decent prices, quick delivery. I also go with eBay a lot; no bad experiences...... yet. 

The hobby market has changed dramatically from when I first started building models in the early 80s. Leaving the hobby for many years and coming back into it recently, the difference was stark.

The target demographic is now adults rather than children. Adults, generally, want "better" stuff than kids, thus the growth sector of the industry is higher end, more complex, and more expensive models.

Old entry level kits still abound, but I doubt that many new entry level kits are being developed. Just look at old Airfix vs new Airfix. Night and day.

Hobby shops face a smaller pool of customers (fewer kids) combined with competition from online sellers. That is a tough, tough market.

I think that in order to have a big enough pool of potential customers to draw from you would need to be in a fairly large urban area, and/or have a serious online presence. 

Sadly, I think we will see the trend continue. Small shops (especially in smaller cities) will close leaving a few large stores in big cities, and online will dominate. Probably similar to what happened to the wonderful old hardware stores we had growing up. 

There were 3 hobby shops in my area, two of them closed within the last 2 years. Lucklily, the third one os 5 min by bike from me. I only buy paints and brushes from them. The kit supply is plentifull but they are sooooo darn expensive that it doesn't make any sense to buy it from them.

I buy kits online.

Tank Builder,

I put it on my calendar for the first Saturday in September.  Already have plans for the third Saturday this month.  What is a good time?

Archangel Shooter

I would occasionally drive to the other side of Tucson to Hobby Town USA

Please kind sir  if you could give me an address for said Hobbytown I would apperetiate it.

Other than a hobby lobby in Seirra vista the only hobby store I could find is the Ace hardware store on Kolb and 22 nd st. their sellection is ok but I thirst for more.

silentbob33

There's not much in the way of an LHS in southwest Michigan. There's a small hobby shop just a few miles away from work, but it's mostly railroad with a very small kit selection and dwindling paint supplies. The owner is closing up at this location and says he's going to move, but hasn't found a place yet. There's a Michael's in town, but their inventory is pathetic. I'll make my way to a Hobby Lobby every other month or so for generic paints or tools and maybe I'll pick up a kit with a 40% off coupon. My sister lives about an hour and a half north of us in Grand Rapids where there's Rider's Hobby Shop. They have models, RC, railroads, games, decent paints and supplies. I try to stop in whenever we visit (we'll be spending next week with her; I already have my shopping list made up). I also shop online at Squadron and Sprue Brothers, and occasionally at Amazon and EBay. I do the majority of my kit shopping at the vendor area at IPMS shows. They used to have them in Kalamazoo which was really convenient but they haven't hosted a contest in a few years. For the past couple of years I'll spend the weekend with my dad and drive to the show in the Detroit area.

 

I stop at Riders every trip to Grand Rapids. Usually twice a month or so. Great store. 

Marcus Mc Bean !

 Dear sir . If you live in the area , why don't you come to the New Braunfels RailRoad Museum on either the first or third Saturday of any month and ask for Doc . We'll get to meet . I will usually be at the LEGO tables .T.B.

I would occasionally drive to the other side of Tucson to Hobby Town USA for paints or a bottle of super glue. As for kits, I use Squadron, Sprue Brothers etc. I also go to International stores for figure kits.

There's not much in the way of an LHS in southwest Michigan. There's a small hobby shop just a few miles away from work, but it's mostly railroad with a very small kit selection and dwindling paint supplies. The owner is closing up at this location and says he's going to move, but hasn't found a place yet. There's a Michael's in town, but their inventory is pathetic. I'll make my way to a Hobby Lobby every other month or so for generic paints or tools and maybe I'll pick up a kit with a 40% off coupon. My sister lives about an hour and a half north of us in Grand Rapids where there's Rider's Hobby Shop. They have models, RC, railroads, games, decent paints and supplies. I try to stop in whenever we visit (we'll be spending next week with her; I already have my shopping list made up). I also shop online at Squadron and Sprue Brothers, and occasionally at Amazon and EBay. I do the majority of my kit shopping at the vendor area at IPMS shows. They used to have them in Kalamazoo which was really convenient but they haven't hosted a contest in a few years. For the past couple of years I'll spend the weekend with my dad and drive to the show in the Detroit area.

From Hollywood to San Pedro, oh yeah, much closer than a visit to the OC. DJ's is on 6th Street. He can be a bit pricey, but walking into that shop is like a time machine, there are so many old kits there. I think he buys up a lot of collections. But they also have quite a selection of books and militaria there as well. It worth at least one visit. 

stikpusher

 

 

laskdjn

 

 

stikpusher

L.A. is a pretty big place. But at least where I live south of the Orange Curtain we have two superb hobby shops, plus a couple other good ones not too far from L.A. Then i know of a couple in the Harbor area, and another  out Ontario way, plus another up in the valley. It's not like it was 20 or more years ago, where they were literally everywhere. But we're still better off than many areas. And we still have the periodic kit collector shows and swap meets every few onthe for other sources. 

 

 

 

 

 

Share the wealth.  I only know of Burbank house of hobbies, Brookhurst, Apelan, Pegasus, and Evett's.  Only Burbank and Brookhurst carry Vallejo paint.

 

 

 

 

Yes, Brookhurst Hobbies and Military Hobbies in Orange are my two prime shops. They have most everything I ever want or need. Brookhurst also carries the new Mission Models paints in case you want to try those. So far I find them far better than Vallejo. 

There is also Prestige Hobbies in Anaheim at Hobby City. In the Harbor area there is JD Hobbies in San Pedro, who is more of an old kit specialist, and Pacific Hobbies in Harbor City, but that is more an R/C shop that also carries models. Another shop like that, but a bit better, is Robs RC Hobbies in Westminster (within walking distance for me!) I see you know of Pegasus.

Apelan and Evetts I have not heard of.

There are the kit collectors shows about every 6 months or so in Buena Park, (used to be at a union hall, but they just changed venues) and the Brewer Brothers Swap Meet at Old World in Huntington Beach about every four months or so. IPMS OC will be having Orangecon in Fullerton at then end of next month, with a good vendor room.

What area of LA are you in? Like I said, a big city. 

 

 

I'm up near Hollywood.  I went to the last Buena Park collector show, got a nice Hasegawa F/A-18A.  I'll have to check out the ones down I the harbor as they're closer to me. 

Ebay. Better selection and price then any online store including Spruebrothers. I happened to pass what i thought was a closed Hobbytown to happily find out iit was very much still open. I will get all my paints and glues there.

Marcus McBean

 

Unless the little shops adjust to today's e-commerce they will be a thing of the past.  The one thing you never see anymore like I did as a kid was advertisment  on the TV of the lastest model or an ad in the paper. Maybe they are on the kids show on cable but I never seen any while watching Saturday cartoons with my son.  I never thought of getting back into the hobby until seeing a FSM magazine at the gocery store.

 

I don't know. The two main shops near me are heavily involved with local IPMS & AMPS chapters. They also  sell online. Brookhurst did shipping to me at an APO address while I was overseas. Support our troops is a very hollow phrase in my experience and reality. The only online shop that did that was Squadron. For that support, both shops have my loyalty as a customer until they go out of business or I die. Newspapers are dying faster that local hobby shops, and tv ads are for snack and toilet breaks if you're watching broadcast TV. Internet and word of mouth seems to be the key to survival for local shops. They have regular customers who moved out of state who still make periodic visits to get their hobby shop fix.

Regarding LA/Southern California shops:

Pegasus Hobbies in Montclair is one of the biggest (maybe the biggest?) hobby shops in SoCal. They have an excellent selection of models and supplies. In addition to the standard Revell/Tamiya type of stuff, they also carry fairly large selections of Eduard, Airfix, lots of obscure eastern European brands. I do most of my shopping there.

Tony's Hobbies in Baldwin Park is also good. Not as big as Pegasus, but still good. 

Ebay because of selection and price.

I run over to Hill Country Hobbies when I need of some supplies.  Gary gives all military veterans additional 10% discount on their purchase.  Nice little shop but a pain to get to as I live in th north central area of San Antonio and Dibbles's is even harder to get too.

Unless the little shops adjust to today's e-commerce they will be a thing of the past.  The one thing you never see anymore like I did as a kid was advertisment  on the TV of the lastest model or an ad in the paper. Maybe they are on the kids show on cable but I never seen any while watching Saturday cartoons with my son.  I never thought of getting back into the hobby until seeing a FSM magazine at the gocery store.

laskdjn

 

 

stikpusher

L.A. is a pretty big place. But at least where I live south of the Orange Curtain we have two superb hobby shops, plus a couple other good ones not too far from L.A. Then i know of a couple in the Harbor area, and another  out Ontario way, plus another up in the valley. It's not like it was 20 or more years ago, where they were literally everywhere. But we're still better off than many areas. And we still have the periodic kit collector shows and swap meets every few onthe for other sources. 

 

 

 

 

 

Share the wealth.  I only know of Burbank house of hobbies, Brookhurst, Apelan, Pegasus, and Evett's.  Only Burbank and Brookhurst carry Vallejo paint.

 

Yes, Brookhurst Hobbies and Military Hobbies in Orange are my two prime shops. They have most everything I ever want or need. Brookhurst also carries the new Mission Models paints in case you want to try those. So far I find them far better than Vallejo. 

There is also Prestige Hobbies in Anaheim at Hobby City. In the Harbor area there is JD Hobbies in San Pedro, who is more of an old kit specialist, and Pacific Hobbies in Harbor City, but that is more an R/C shop that also carries models. Another shop like that, but a bit better, is Robs RC Hobbies in Westminster (within walking distance for me!) I see you know of Pegasus.

Apelan and Evetts I have not heard of.

There are the kit collectors shows about every 6 months or so in Buena Park, (used to be at a union hall, but they just changed venues) and the Brewer Brothers Swap Meet at Old World in Huntington Beach about every four months or so. IPMS OC will be having Orangecon in Fullerton at then end of next month, with a good vendor room.

What area of LA are you in? Like I said, a big city. 

armornut

Hey Wood, check out Scalehobbyist.com, they have a large selection of kits, usually get new releases in a timely fashion. Shipping isn't bad and I have NEVER had a problem with getting the product I ordered. My issue was with the Post Office in Illinois my stuff would pass through, always seemed to sit ther for a week. Again NOT Scalehobbyist fault.

 

Hobbylinc.com is also a nice site with a very large selection at a nice price point. Plus the rewards program they have is great ( 1 point for every dollar spent )

I've been shopping at Colpars here in the Denver metro area for about 40 years.  Most of my collection comes from them.  I sometimes think that I am just a store room for them.  As mentioned before, Colpar is a great hobby store.  They have every thing!  They have much more than most hobby shops I have seen, so I like the instant gratification one can get.  They do have two stores in the city that can transfered from store to store.  Sometimes they have things that I don't find on line.

Hey Wood, check out Scalehobbyist.com, they have a large selection of kits, usually get new releases in a timely fashion. Shipping isn't bad and I have NEVER had a problem with getting the product I ordered. My issue was with the Post Office in Illinois my stuff would pass through, always seemed to sit ther for a week. Again NOT Scalehobbyist fault.

There are no hobby shop in the town I live in. I can travel 50 miles to a larger city that only has two. Their choices are very limited. I use The Squadron Shop, and oddly enough, Amazon. They have a fairly broad selection including Friuelmodel tracks if you build armor kits. Most of the time you can find popular kits on Amazon for a competetive price. The friulmodel tracks are another story however. They tend to run $60 and over plus a shipping cost.

stikpusher

L.A. is a pretty big place. But at least where I live south of the Orange Curtain we have two superb hobby shops, plus a couple other good ones not too far from L.A. Then i know of a couple in the Harbor area, and another  out Ontario way, plus another up in the valley. It's not like it was 20 or more years ago, where they were literally everywhere. But we're still better off than many areas. And we still have the periodic kit collector shows and swap meets every few onthe for other sources. 

 

 

Share the wealth.  I only know of Burbank house of hobbies, Brookhurst, Apelan, Pegasus, and Evett's.  Only Burbank and Brookhurst carry Vallejo paint.

stikpusher

L.A. is a pretty big place. But at least where I live south of the Orange Curtain we have two superb hobby shops, plus a couple other good ones not too far from L.A. Then i know of a couple in the Harbor area, and another  out Ontario way, plus another up in the valley. It's not like it was 20 or more years ago, where they were literally everywhere. But we're still better off than many areas. And we still have the periodic kit collector shows and swap meets every few onthe for other sources. 

Stik - 

Is the hobby shop still open in Orange, CA. just off Orange Ave.? If I recall it is at the foot of Anaheim Hills. I apologize, for the life of me I can't remember the name of that shop. It was a pretty good size HS. Also, there was a nice one off Euclid Ave. & Cherry Ave. in Fullerton, CA.

laskdjn

 

 

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Not much LHS in my area except one that always has the same old stuff. rarely anything new. So I will shop online for my kits such as Squadron, Sprue Brothers, Hobbylinc, eBay (sometimes), and other online shops.

I do know Performance Hobbies in Webster, NY has a fantastic little shop. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go there this year due to the fact they were closed on Sunday. I was in the area for a family BBQ there. 

 

 

 

 

 

You know it's funny.  I live in Los Angeles, and there are maybe a handful of local hobby shops, which kinda surprised me in such a large city.  It looks like online is it.

 

 

L.A. is a pretty big place. But at least where I live south of the Orange Curtain we have two superb hobby shops, plus a couple other good ones not too far from L.A. Then i know of a couple in the Harbor area, and another  out Ontario way, plus another up in the valley. It's not like it was 20 or more years ago, where they were literally everywhere. But we're still better off than many areas. And we still have the periodic kit collector shows and swap meets every few onthe for other sources. 

I'd love to have a local store to shop at but Hobbytown closed a few years ago and all I have is a train store that also has kits but never any new ones and a decent selection of paints and supplies. I go there in the hope I'll spot something new but it doesn't happen. Almost everything is now online.

GMorrison

 

 

kenjitak

The next time any of you are in the Denver area, checkout the Colpar/Hobbytown stores. They are among the best in the country. I used to travel quite a bit for work and tried to go to local hobby shops around the country whenever I could and found great shops, however, most of them have folded. Colpar's two locations have the best selection I've seen and great prices. They host a wide range of activities and support local contests and shows. It's hard to ask for more. Ken

 

 

 

 

When I was a model railroader I depended on LHS much more than now.

 

Like you I found shops on business trips, one reson being they had rolling stock in the local now fallen flag liveries.

 

Every time we went on a trip to a new town, the first thing I would do was grab a phone book and start getting the scoop of all the hobbyshops in town, then map out my list of where I wanted to go.  That is getting harder to do now, even with Google and GPS.  Not many stores left.  

KnightTemplar5150

 

 

scottrc

 

Hobbyland was my home away from home for many years.  As the Tribune article implies, I pratically lived there in the summer.  

 

 

 

 

That's awesome that you were shopping with Pat back when the store was still in the mall! I can remember ping-ponging between Hobbyland and the toy store across the hall on the weekends when my folks would make the drive into town from Belt. After the shop moved to Central, I managed to make it in every Saturday. Even after leaving for college, the military, and jobs out of state, I could call them on the phone to place orders and I could tell Steve just which shelf to find what I was asking about. Weird to think about, but I've let Pat call me "Timmy" since the fourth grade, around four decades ago. Never bothered correcting her in all those years...

 

I know, she always called me by my brother's name.  I also remember "Toyworld" being across from Hobbyland in the mall, then it moved up towards the end of the mall across from the Fox theatre, then I think to 5th street where it did not survive for long.  It was much smaller, not much for models, but had an awesome display of Matchbox cars.

Steve, Conrad, Debra, Glenn, Bob, Pat all became family to us back in the 70's and 80's.   

End of an era.

kenjitak

The next time any of you are in the Denver area, checkout the Colpar/Hobbytown stores. They are among the best in the country. I used to travel quite a bit for work and tried to go to local hobby shops around the country whenever I could and found great shops, however, most of them have folded. Colpar's two locations have the best selection I've seen and great prices. They host a wide range of activities and support local contests and shows. It's hard to ask for more. Ken

 

When I was a model railroader I depended on LHS much more than now.

Like you I found shops on business trips, one reson being they had rolling stock in the local now fallen flag liveries.