Michael's selection getting bigger

Sounds like a very good idea. I might join and help you out. Does it cost anything to join?

Alright. You got the discussion up, Sprue-ce Goose. It's late at night right now, and it's about time for me to turn in for the night, but I'll sign up for the Michaels forum tomorrow, and I'll support you.

Here's to a good result from our campaign, and an increce in model kits in our local Michaels sores across the nation

Just posted a preliminary request for more kits and variety under

More Plastic Model Kit Variety Request

http://forums.michaels.com/community/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=58339&#Post58339

To post on their website will, like FSM , require registering.

Any additional posts to the Michaels forum or on my thread on their forum will help show I'm not the only Plastic Model building customer.

PlasticModelBuilder ↓ Michaels, The Arts & Crafts Store » Forums » General Discussion » Michaels Project Discussions » More Plastic Model Kit Variety Request

O.K., I'm not meaning to rush you or anything. It was just something I was wondering about. I hope it will help in getting some more kits into Michaels (especially 1/72 scale armor, and some brass sheet. I got my first one from the hobby shop today [the trumpeter JagdTiger] and I'm hooked)

I wouldn't mind if they expanded the car selection to include some 30's cars, as well as Monogram's re-release of their Ford F-250 Superduty (I can turn it into a lot of different work trucks with scratchbuilding)

On the aircraft front, I would like to see more bombers (like the B-26, B-17, B-24, and others) as well as more jets.

[ Well, now that I'm thinking about it, mabe I should have saved it for the Michaels forum posting]

Railfan 233

I took a look in the Michaels forums, but I don't see an area where scale models fit in. What category does Michaels consider scale models to be in? Also, have you started a topic on it Sprue-ce Goose?

I haven't had time to compose a post as dinner, Motorweek and Tracks Ahead will be occupying my time till later this evening.

No section for scale models on the forum- presumably due to a majority female customers.

i will be posting in general after signing up for their website as a posting member.

I took a look in the Michaels forums, but I don't see an area where scale models fit in. What category does Michaels consider scale models to be in? Also, have you started a topic on it Sprue-ce Goose?

As soon as I find out, I'll jump in and voice my opinion on what type of models I want in my local Michaels

I  happened to meet a management store tour during lunch hour at my local Michaels.  I  mentioned this FSM forum thread on Michaels model kit selection as well as our interest in seeing a larger selection in that department. in part due to a decrease in LHS and the HL kit selection decrease.

The Midwest Manager I talked to stated he, as a former model builder,  was in favor of expanding the kit selection and was interested in ways to draw more male customers.

After listening to my suggestions regarding what to carry, the gentleman suggested that an effective method for convincing Michaels Corporate would be through  their Message Boards

http://forums.michaels.com/community/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

I will be posting my own wants.

Please visit and post your requests.

Hopefully, corporate will see enough potential business to fulfill our needs.

It sounds like your traffic patterns are better where you are at, Jetmodeler. Where the LHS is for me, it's wall-to-wall traffic on weekends and holidays. During the week, I can't really go to the shop early, because they open at 8, so I'd have a good, long wait.

 (mabe that's the excuse I need to experiment with my new invention:the Brief-case workbench. Or, I could get some of the books on tape from Amazon or from the book store, and listen to those)

~Railfan 233~ My family has an unwritten rule a little different from yours. If we go somewhere with traffic, we get there early to beat some of the traffic. Especially on Saturdays, and Sundays.

~tigerman~ Your almost like me. When I build armor, I usually build Dragon's kits.

I guess my point about Michaels is they don't carry any Dragon or Tamiya armor, which I mostly build. HL has been know to carry them, but I believe that they are harder to come by these days. Michaels just pretty much carries cars. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

jetmodeler

~Railfan 233~ So your LHS has a lot of traffic in front of it too.

Yes, it's a living nightmare. My family has an unwritten rule that says that we will never go anywhere in that area during a holiday or Friday afternoon-Sunday (rarely is that unwritten rule broken)

~Railfan 233~ So your LHS has a lot of traffic in front of it too.

~JMart~ I wish I got 50% off coupons. The only time I get them is on a major holiday.

Funny, I noticed an increase in Revell kits on my last trip. I have one very close to me, and no local LHS. I use the 40-50% coupons to get supplies, brushes, stuff like that. I think I have all teh revell kits they have that i want lol

You must be going to my hobby shop, because the same thing happens to me

 Well, acually, traffic is backed-up for miles around my LHS, because it's located next to the mall, the most crowded (and dangerous) place in the county.

I usually go to my LHS for the bigger selection of paints, but I only go there like once a month because of the traffic is pretty bad every time I go. My LHS is a little less than 20 minutes away without traffic. With traffic its almost 40 minutes.

(Its almost like everyone in town gathers around that one little spot when I go to my LHS.)

With the paints, I'm sort of O.K. with the selection.

I normally just use artist's acryllic paint (from both Michaels and WAL-MART), but, when I need those metalic paints (like aluminum and Silver) or if I need a clear color for a lightbar or something, I really need it, and it's another trip to the hobby shop.

I will start with small-scale armor soon. The things that attracted me to it is

1: the small size of my display case (shrinking steadily with each completed model)

and 2: how little money it costs to get the kit and/or extras (the adverage 1/72 scale armor kit rarely goes over $10, and it's fairly cheep to get thin brass sheet and brass wire. After that, I just need to scratch-build tools and I'm on my way)

Unfortunately, it seems like there's a lot of German armor in 1/72. I'm O.K. with that. It just gives me more tanks to knock out of action

I agree. I wish they would put some small scale armor in there. Its my favorite scale in armor.

Same with paints. I wish they would put some Model Master paints instead of the basic colors of the Testors square bottle paints.

That's where all my NASCAR kits have gone!?

With all honesty, I still love building cars, but due to a (major) lack of space, I'm considering building more 1/72 and 1/76 scale armor, as well as 1/87 scale fire trucks and the like.

(I really hope Michaels will stock up. Nothing's better than toget a $5 kit with a 50% off cupon)

The Michaels near me has nothing in the way of improved inventory for the model builder, save for a slight increase in the NASCAR  stuff, which is of less than zero interest to me.

I see Hobby Lobby has greatly reduced the number of military kits, but kept the overflowing shelves of car model kits, alas.

As I've lamented previously, mail order and I are permanently wed.

Ripcord

Michael's here seems to be downsizing their models to extinction.  When I asked the one of two people that work there, she said an 80 yr old man and myself are the only purchasers.  :[

I've been in the local Michael for various reasons during the last two weeks.

I don't recall seeing any change in the number of kits -excepting my own purchase.

Perhaps the store stock restriction of only Revell kits doesn't have enough appeal?

And Michaels has been giving me 40 pct off coupons with every purchase.

Hobby Lobby kits do appear to sell as blank areas appear on the shelves from time to time when model stock is not replenished.

O.K., now I see.

 I'm fairly happy with my Michaels as-is right now. I do whish, though, that they would at least carry 1/72 scale armor (I've been wanting to get into that part of the hobby for a while) as well as more vehicles that could possibly become emergency vehicles (like the Monogram 1/25 scale Ford F-250 Superduty) or, better yet, stock fire engine kits (other than the Revell snap-tite MACK pumper kit)

I will also admit, I would like to seem more paint, or atleast some way to remind me to get paint in the first place I don't know about metalizer, though.

In my experience. Though I was around 10-13 when I was going there regularly, and far less jaded than I am these days, so maybe I'm remembering it being a bit more grand than it was. 

But...I specifically remember them stocking an entire case full of airbrushes and their various accessories, and I remember them stocking Metalizer when it launched.

So Michaels use to be like Hobby Lobby when it came to scale models?

I can say for a fact that the Michaels locations here in Austin are not expanding.

Just getting back into modeling after many years away, and when I was in the process of gathering supplies, Michaels was the first place I went. Back when I built models as a kid (early-ish 90s), Michaels was the go-to place for the basics. Solid selection of Model Master paints, a whole aisle of kits, airbrush supplies...

When I went into the one here, it took me fifteen minutes to even find the model "section", which consisted of maybe a dozen car kits, six rather sad looking Revell kits, and a little display rack of the square Testors enamels. And that was it.

Fortunately, there are a Hobby Lobby and Hobbytown (which...when did they go like 90% R/C?) for the basics, and a pretty solid LHS across town. Still...online has been my godsend. 

~mfsob~ There is an A.C. Moore the next block down from the Michael's here. The A.C. Moore has some model kits but nothing really interesting.

~Ripcord~ So only the two of you shop in that section of the store.

Michael's here seems to be downsizing their models to extinction.  When I asked the one of two people that work there, she said an 80 yr old man and myself are the only purchasers.  :[

I have a rather interesting situation where I live, a Michael's and a Hobby Lobby almost within a stone's throw of each other. The Michael's has been there for year's and the Hobby Lobby just opened, so I have been watching the modeling section in each go through weird expansions and contractions ... and about 2 miles away is an A.C. Moore, but mine does not stock any modeling stuff.

Hun Hunter

Jetmodeler: Like I said, you get a 50% coupon for the next week with every purchase, at least here. Last I looked the F-14 and F-18 were listed at $15 here, they might have gone up. So $8-9, not bad for a 1/48 to throw in my growing pile.

Thats true. $8-9 is definately not bad for a 1/48 kit. Especially when the newer releases of jet cost around $40 to almost $80.

Jetmodeler: Like I said, you get a 50% coupon for the next week with every purchase, at least here. Last I looked the F-14 and F-18 were listed at $15 here, they might have gone up. So $8-9, not bad for a 1/48 to throw in my growing pile.

SuppressionFire

 

Been getting the girlfriends sisters kids & their friends into the hobby, doing what I can to stoke up the local comic book stores model selection. At first Riley wanted to order from Squadron but I convinced him to get a kit down town instead. Besides what kid wants to wait for a mail order? I have hard enough time with that, his Tamiya Kublewagen we got today is all ready 1/2 assembled & I think I have him hooked!

How old are the kids? (Man, if you are getting your girlfriend's sister's kids and their friends in the hobby, that may keep you realitively safe from a break-up)

Well, If the kit is a good one (or one I've been searching the ends of the Earth for) I will get it via mail-order, but the wait still kills me (I'm waiting for an AMT/Eartl fire engine and a Revell F-15 Eagle to come)

So, you are helping to bring in a few more youngsters. Just give them a subscription to the Fine Scale Modeler, and then they will be set.