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Wal-Mart Selling Plastic Models Again?

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  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Wal-Mart Selling Plastic Models Again?
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Friday, July 22, 2011 1:31 PM

I was just doing a Google search for kit reviews and noticed the Wal-Mart website is advertising

Revell kits on-line.

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=revell&ic=48_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=0

with a free shipping to local store offer with notice on some Star Wars kits  are sold in stores..

I have not yet seen kits making a return to Chicago area Wal-Marts.

I'm curious if Wal-Mart is testing the waters to see if a sufficient market exists to re-introduce kits at store level.

Since Wal-Maert carries kits in their stock system, has anyone seeing a return of model kits to  Wal-Mart stores in their area?

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Charleston, SC
Posted by kg4kpg on Friday, July 22, 2011 2:05 PM

I had seen before they were selling on-line but didn't know they shipped to the store for free.  Too bad they wont stock the store shelves again, always good for a Revell kit or bottle of paint or two.

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Ohio
Posted by B-17 Guy on Friday, July 22, 2011 2:26 PM

Kmart has a small selection of kits, I got the revell F-80 kit there.

If you have a discrount drugmart near you, they have a suprisingly large selection of revell kit, aircraft, ships and cars.

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Monster Island-but vacationing in So. Fla
Posted by carsanab on Friday, July 22, 2011 2:58 PM

B-17 Guy

Kmart has a small selection of kits, I got the revell F-80 kit there.

If you have a discrount drugmart near you, they have a suprisingly large selection of revell kit, aircraft, ships and cars.

well its about time again......I rememeber as a kid going to Kmart and drooling over the Monogram white box kits, planes and cars...in fact bought most of my first kits there.......they also had the testors paints and glue...

 Photobucket

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Friday, July 22, 2011 4:42 PM

kg4kpg

 Too bad they wont stock the store shelves again, always good for a Revell kit or bottle of paint or two.

Oddly,
the website states that the Star Wars kits , such as the X-Wing, are available in the stores and not on-line ...

http://www.walmart.com/browse/Toys/Star-Wars/_/N-2p4fZ1z0mfe6?

 

It would be nice if WalMart resumed store sales if only because there are more stores than HL........

but  no discount coupons.

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
Posted by shoot&scoot on Friday, July 22, 2011 8:49 PM

Not here they're not.

                                                                                                   Pat.

  • Member since
    June 2011
  • From: Detroit
Posted by garylee on Friday, July 22, 2011 9:48 PM

No kits in Detroit area Walmarts, either.

Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten. Bwahahaha

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Monday, July 25, 2011 12:06 PM

I dont recall Walmart ever having much in the model department. 

"Back in the day" Kmart had a better selection than most hobby shops (at least in my neck of the woods). Cars on one isle. All other types on another isle (or two).

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Monday, July 25, 2011 2:06 PM

Revell plastic kits have made a very small comeback in one of one local K-Mart in the Chicago area.

Unfortunately, the number of kits is very small and are displayed in an area roughly 2 foot wide by 4 foot high. 

The display also looks like an afterthought, as it is stuffed into the corner of the toy department that is furthest from isle traffic.

 

  • Member since
    February 2011
  • From: Bent River, IA
Posted by Reasoned on Monday, July 25, 2011 2:54 PM

Not at our Wally World..... yet.

Science is the pursiut of knowledge, faith is the pursuit of wisdom.  Peace be with you.

On the Tarmac: 1/48 Revell P-38

In the Hanger: A bunch of kits

  • Member since
    August 2008
Posted by tankerbuilder on Monday, July 25, 2011 4:38 PM

Having been employed by them I would say don,t hold your breath for a return of models to WAL- MART. There is NOTHING like that planned here in TEXAS .I have heard that we in NEW BRAUNFELS will be seeing a new K -MART I don,t expect much.I have always wondered why TOYS are US hasn,t done the deed  . They did when they started years ago. The bare fact is , unless there is a sound marketing push that will include models ,don,t expect to see it even in WALGREENS  (who , in CA. Used to sell a nice selection ) I just go the LHS (HILL COUNTRY HOBBIES in SAN ANTONIO and KING,S in AUSTIN ) yup 45 miles in either direction but whattya gonna do ??  TANKERBUILDER

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Monday, July 25, 2011 4:59 PM

tankerbuilder

Having been employed by them I would say don,t hold your breath for a return of models to WAL- MART.

And that's the odd-ball thing about the Wal_mart website.

So far, no store sells kits, yet the website states the Star Wars kits are only available in stores.

Seems Wal-Mart is behaving like my local bureaucrats with one department issuing statements counteracting another department. Bang Head

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Monday, July 25, 2011 7:38 PM

Our local Walmart stopped carrying them about 3/4 years ago, but they do get in a small stock of the standard 1/48 kits at X-mas time. Just a self contained, cardboard mid-isle display. 50-60 kits, maybe.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Monday, July 25, 2011 8:29 PM

fermis

Our local Walmart stopped carrying them about 3/4 years ago, but they do get in a small stock of the standard 1/48 kits at X-mas time. Just a self contained, cardboard mid-isle display. 50-60 kits, maybe.

Ah, maybe that's it.

The Wal-Mart website was never updated after Christmas ended.

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 1:13 AM

tankerbuilder

Having been employed by them I would say don,t hold your breath for a return of models to WAL- MART. There is NOTHING like that planned here in TEXAS .I have heard that we in NEW BRAUNFELS will be seeing a new K -MART I don,t expect much.I have always wondered why TOYS are US hasn,t done the deed  . They did when they started years ago. The bare fact is , unless there is a sound marketing push that will include models ,don,t expect to see it even in WALGREENS  (who , in CA. Used to sell a nice selection ) I just go the LHS (HILL COUNTRY HOBBIES in SAN ANTONIO and KING,S in AUSTIN ) yup 45 miles in either direction but whattya gonna do ??  TANKERBUILDER

At one time Toys R Us (at least my local one) had a darn good selection. They had all of the Halcyon Aliens models. Unfortunately I didnt pick any of them up.

 

 

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • From: South Carolina
Posted by jetmodeler on Thursday, July 28, 2011 11:02 AM

fermis

Our local Walmart stopped carrying them about 3/4 years ago...

Samething happened here. Only when they were gone they were gone for good. Never even made an x-mas comeback.

 

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Tornado Alley
Posted by Echo139er on Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:54 PM

I was doing a search for a model kit online and Sears came up.  I clicked and the link and lo and behold Sears sells kits online.  Who knew....

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Thursday, July 28, 2011 7:51 PM

joeviz

I was doing a search for a model kit online and Sears came up.  I clicked and the link and lo and behold Sears sells kits online.  Who knew....

I am surprised, but probably shouldn't as K-Mart sells model kits in store and owns Sears.

I am surprised that K-Mart's website sells Monogram kits and the 1/96 Revell U.S.S. Constitution !

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/search_10151_10104?vName=Toys+%26+Games&cName=Vehicles+%26+Remote+Control+Toys&keyword=revell&viewItems=25&autoRedirect=true&prop17=revell

and the (Sold Out !? ) Revell 1:8th '32 Ford Deuce Hot Rod 3 'n 1.

apparently with free store pick-up as well as being able to check on in stock availability at area stores.

Monogram kits at K-Mart are cheaper than my local Hobby Town but more than HL with coupon.

Would be nice if HL carried as many Tom Daniels kits.

 

  • Member since
    July 2011
  • From: Armpit of NY
Posted by MJames70 on Sunday, July 31, 2011 2:38 PM

In the good old days, back in the late 70s/early 80s, the K-Mart closest to me not only had a whole aisle of models in general, the then exotic and very expensive ESCI 1/48 aircraft were stocked there. I could hardly believe it....here I was, a kid reading Scale Modeler at the time, and the kits the 'pros' in there were building were showing up on the shelf at a local K-Mart!

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Sunday, July 31, 2011 4:09 PM

Yep, I remember them days in 80s... K-Mart having Tamiya armor kits and figures as well as Revell and Monogram, AMT, etc... 

  • Member since
    June 2011
  • From: Detroit
Posted by garylee on Sunday, July 31, 2011 6:13 PM

Here in Michigan we have Meijer stores, and they used to have not only a decent selection of kits, but a complete line of paints and even some airbrush supplies. Then the internet murdered the hobby shop and that was the end of that. Now they only stock a few kits at Christmas time. And now I've just found out that one of my favorite shops, Riders Hobby Shop in Ypsilanti, is closing next month. They were the best deal around (other than the internet) for Model Master paint at $2.76 a bottle. Yes, I went and stocked up before they're gone for good. Crying

Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten. Bwahahaha

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Sunday, July 31, 2011 6:38 PM

garylee

Here in Michigan we have Meijer stores, and they used to have not only a decent selection of kits, but a complete line of paints and even some airbrush supplies. Then the internet murdered the hobby shop and that was the end of that. Now they only stock a few kits at Christmas time. And now I've just found out that one of my favorite shops, Riders Hobby Shop in Ypsilanti, is closing next month. They were the best deal around (other than the internet) for Model Master paint at $2.76 a bottle. Yes, I went and stocked up before they're gone for good. Crying

Scratch my earlier post, on Walmart at X-mas time. It was Meijers that I was thinking of.

I was just in that Riders shop last week. Saw everything marked down, figured another one was about to bite the dust......sad. I stopped in for some Metallizers....no joy(that was the only place close that carried them). Couldn't find anything that I couldn't live without....even 20% off didn't seem like a deal to me!

  • Member since
    June 2011
  • From: Detroit
Posted by garylee on Sunday, July 31, 2011 6:54 PM

Hey fermis,

Didn't know you lived so close. We'll have to chat sometime. One of the things I loved about that Riders was that they'd always give you the online price on anything in the store. I went in there one day and saw a 1/32nd Hasegawa P-47 marked at almost $70 but I walked out with it for under $50. That's also how I got the good price on MM paints. I was in there last week myself. Bought about a zillion dollars worth of paint before it's gone. They didn't have much left, though. Good RLM selection, though. They also had a 1/24th Airfix Spitfire that wasn't the worst deal until I noticed it was marked as missing the landing gear so I passed. I might go back around the end of the second week in August to see if they have any big last minute reductions. I assume you're familiar with Nankin Hardware? They ain't what they used to be, either, but now them and Hobby Lobby is pretty much all we have left. Unless you know something I don't? 

Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten. Bwahahaha

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Sunday, July 31, 2011 7:07 PM

garylee

Here in Michigan we have Meijer stores, and they used to have not only a decent selection of kits, but a complete line of paints and even some airbrush supplies.

That must have been before Meijer built stores in the Chicago metro area.

I don't ever recall seeing kits at their Chicago area stores.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Sunday, July 31, 2011 7:15 PM

garylee

Hey fermis,

Didn't know you lived so close. We'll have to chat sometime. One of the things I loved about that Riders was that they'd always give you the online price on anything in the store. I went in there one day and saw a 1/32nd Hasegawa P-47 marked at almost $70 but I walked out with it for under $50. That's also how I got the good price on MM paints. I was in there last week myself. Bought about a zillion dollars worth of paint before it's gone. They didn't have much left, though. Good RLM selection, though. They also had a 1/24th Airfix Spitfire that wasn't the worst deal until I noticed it was marked as missing the landing gear so I passed. I might go back around the end of the second week in August to see if they have any big last minute reductions. I assume you're familiar with Nankin Hardware? They ain't what they used to be, either, but now them and Hobby Lobby is pretty much all we have left. Unless you know something I don't? 

I checked out that Spit, still WAY to pricey for my blood. I don't get down to Nankins very often, maybe once every two years (if I also need to hit up "Guitar Center" and "Rock of Ages"). Their kits are too expensive, and not worth the drive for for a couple bottles of paint!

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 3:32 AM

Is this thread getting to me!!!

I know this is weird but,

I had a dream a few nights ago that I went into Walmart and they had an entire isle of aircraft carriers,  real space and scifi models in large scale. The boxes were huge, as in maybe two would fit in a shopping basket. I tracked down a clerk to check on the price and he said they were not for sale until the movies came out. I was standing there thinking of a way to "smuggle" them out when the store manager appeared and said they were going to take all my credit cardsand had me put in handcuffs. End of dream.

Yeah, I know, kinda dumb.

 

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 9:49 AM

mitsdude

Is this thread getting to me!!!

I know this is weird but,

I had a dream a few nights ago that I went into Walmart and they had an entire isle of aircraft carriers,  real space and scifi models in large scale. The boxes were huge, as in maybe two would fit in a shopping basket. I tracked down a clerk to check on the price and he said they were not for sale until the movies came out. I was standing there thinking of a way to "smuggle" them out when the store manager appeared and said they were going to take all my credit cardsand had me put in handcuffs. End of dream.

Yeah, I know, kinda dumb.

Considering recent events, it sounds like something my uncle Sam might dream......Wink

  • Member since
    August 2011
  • From: Torrance, California
Posted by BruceAdama on Saturday, August 6, 2011 4:37 AM

I never realized that Wal-Mart hadn't been selling plastic kits... then again, I don't do much shopping there. I have found that K-Mart, Target, Big Lots, Michael's, and Toys R Us are usually the best non-hobby shop alternatives.

With Toys R Us it depends on the location... the location here in Torrance has nothing, but the Hawthorne location has a few plastic kits... it's where I got my metal box edition of the Polar Lights 1/32 scale Batmobile.

  • Member since
    July 2011
  • From: Armpit of NY
Posted by MJames70 on Saturday, August 6, 2011 11:46 AM

Must be nice to see something in TRU. The local store is probably lucky to be still open, and is quite different now, and a fraction of the size it used to be when it first opened. Even then, though, the model aisle was pretty weak sauce here, mostly just Revell/Monogram. Just the occasional odd kit from someone else. Today, nothing, and the store that was once stacked to the ceiling has almost nothing in it in general. Symptomatic of TRUs struggle to survive and stay relevant the last decade....

Meanwhile, none of the local Walmarts have anything. Last time was 4-5 years ago when they had the 1/32 21st Century airplanes. When 21st Century Toys failed, that was the end of models at Walmart here in Central New York.

  • Member since
    June 2011
  • From: Detroit
Posted by garylee on Saturday, August 6, 2011 1:16 PM

MJames70

Must be nice to see something in TRU. The local store is probably lucky to be still open, and is quite different now, and a fraction of the size it used to be when it first opened. Even then, though, the model aisle was pretty weak sauce here, mostly just Revell/Monogram. Just the occasional odd kit from someone else. Today, nothing, and the store that was once stacked to the ceiling has almost nothing in it in general. Symptomatic of TRUs struggle to survive and stay relevant the last decade....

Meanwhile, none of the local Walmarts have anything. Last time was 4-5 years ago when they had the 1/32 21st Century airplanes. When 21st Century Toys failed, that was the end of models at Walmart here in Central New York.

The Internet murdered the Hobby Shop. Crying

Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten. Bwahahaha

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