How far do you drive to local hobby store?

My trek to the model shop is about an hour and a half. Which is good for my pocket book but a pain if I need a single jar of paint which is why I have about a hunderd differnt colours on hand, about a third unopend.

My favorite is just a few minutes away from the house. There are two Hobby Lobby's within about 10 minutes. Where I work I've got a Hobbytown, another Hobby Lobby, and another branch of my favorite LHS within a few minutes. I'm blessed.

Dan

Let's see, I have seven hobby stores to choose from that I have been to at least twice. There are several more I haven't taken time to go check out, but then I'm finding everything I need in any one of these shops:

These two LHS that are 5 and 7 minutes driving time away:

Tony's Hobbies: Great for kits and supplies, particularly aircraft and car kits. Carries a fair selection of 1/72 scale Armor and a good selection of ships along with RR stuff. One of the best selections of models I've seen.

Legends Hobbies and Toys:Good for supplies. It's very small, so the kit selection isn't as good as it used to be. Lots of Anime figures and Gundam; main supplier seems to be mostly Japanese companies

another two which are 15 minutes driving time away:

Hobby People: Pretty good on kit selection, one of the best for supplies. They seem to be expanding the R/C aspect as well, the kit selection appears to be shrinking.

'R' Hobbies: For a small store, the have a great selection of models and a fairly good selection of supplies. If not, they are willing to order anything I might need.

25-30 minutes away there are three more:

Brookhurst Hobbies: HUGE selection of models, wargaming supplies and every known paint company out there! Massive selection of models, including a large collection of 1/72 scale armor from almost every small scale armor manufacturer. They've got a very respectable collection of modeling tools and supplies, as well as enough books to fill a small library!

Prestige Hobbies: Very good model selection; particularly in aircraft and cars. They have one of the largest selections of wooden ship models and a respectable selection of A/M parts for wooden ships. They even have a consignment section where people can bring in old kits they don't want and sell them on consignment. That gives them the largest selection of OOP kits I've ever seen. Massive selection of Hot Wheels collectibles and die-cast racing collectibles, as well as a respectable RR section.

Model Maniac: Great selection of models; excellent selection of supplies and tools. He even has a couple of tables at the back where kids and their fathers/mothers can come in and build in the store. I believe he hosts a small kids model club that builds in the store on a certain day. He's also an avid supporter of our IPMS club.

These are the ones I have been to. There are about three more listed in the phone book that are about 10-15 minutes away that I have not shopped at.

Seems like most of you guys are lucky. My closest hobby store is now an hour away with no traffic, and I only know of 3 stores in New Hampshire. And the FSM hobby store directory in the back doesn't list any stores in VT or ME either. Is there something about New England that there aren't many scale modelers here?


Dave

hhhhhmmmmmmmmm.........
access to the LHSs' is the easy part.....
one store carries primarily R/C, no supplies, no AM stuff, no decals and only specific kit mfgs.......excluding Accu.Min., Hasegawa, Classic Airframes, Eduard.....to name but a few......these folks are not hobbyists!!!!!!!!
the other store, though small(including the owner, there's only room for 3 or 4 patrons) at least will order AM or decal items & does carry supplies and includes all mfgs in his teensie weensie inventory.....& the owner IS a hobbyist.........

Not too far really - about 45km - or 45 minutes on a suburban rail system.
Not a drama.

QUOTE: Originally posted by reggiethedorf japan must be hobby shop central !!! u lucky guy brian!

Yup, there are plenty of 'em! Most of them have a great selection of kits, and several of them (luckily, the ones closest to me!) also have an excellent selection of aftermarket stuff, tools, and other accessories.

The biggest problem is that it's hard to walk by one without stopping in, and it's even harder to walk out without buying something. That's why my buying unfortunately exceeds my building these days... and why my bank account doesn't seem to be growing at all!

the problem can be solved with a beeg box adressed to
50 monk's hll road
singapore 228576
#07-50
then put all the unbuilt kits in it and mail away !

i can dream, cant i

My LHS is only 3.5 miles form my house but if I drive to it during working hours it could take any where from 45 mins to 75 mins (Traffic is v.bad in Dublin) To walk to said store would take about 45mins and to cycle would be half that but there is no where safe to lock a bike.

I usually go early Saturday mornings if I go, that take all of 15 mins. I get my kits there but I get my paint from the states about twice a year. (Friends and family pick it up for me). I get most of my AM stuff online.

James

About 5 kms or 15 minutes drive.

If you don't count Hobby Lobby (which here in Midland has about 15 kits available), my nearest hobby shop is in Dallas or Amarillo - about a 6 hour drive.

Two closest to me are about 10-15 minutes away. another's maybe 20-25. still another is around 30-35 minutes away. (yes, I have four hobby shops near me unfortunately, as I am driver liscence impaired at the moment, I can't go to eny of them unless my parents drive me)

This is really interesting reading. I myself first have to take a half-hour ride on the ferry. When I hit land it's another half-hour down the highway. The total distance is about 25 miles.

There is a craft store with a dozen or so kits and a Hobby Lobby about an hour and a half from where I live. If I want to go to a real hobby shop then I have to go to St Louis and that is two and a half hours away.

My Local Hoby Shop just got submerged by the remnants of Ivan flooding the French Broad. Lately I still have been driving 2 hours to Winston Salem to a place called Hungates. It's a modelers dream come true. Imagine HobbyTown but no RC and 3 times the selection of kits! I usually stock up while I am there to keep from having to go often. Sometimes I get kits from the net. Most all of my Photo-etch etc. comes from the net.

Okay, my turn. I have two nearby hobby shops which are 15 mins. away from home but is of no problem for me 'cuz they're inside two different shopping malls which are located about a couple of minutes walk from my place of work. There is another hobby shop in a nearby town which would cost me another 15 to 20 mins. drive from the office.

The two closest are both within 10 minutes. The third, and biggest, is 20 minutes away.

My LHS is about 10 minutes drive away...but it mostly stocks Tamiya stuff in the armor section and their prices can easily be beat online. I mostly use it for supplies, paint, etc.

I've got 2 LHS'.

The first one is 3 minutes drive from work, dedicated to aircraft, and therefore stocks everything from Tamigawa to Occidental & Maquette, to name but a few. Not big on supplies, but the kit selection is stunning.

My second LHS is a 15 minute drive from home, an carries a large selection of aircraft, armour and ships in scales from 1/24 - 1/1200. They also stock RC and railway stuff, so a huge selection of glues and materials for dios and scratchbuilding etc.

All in all I count myself lucky.

Karl

It is about 150 miles for a real hobby store. I have to drive to Saginaw. In between my trips I do alot of M.O.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Duke Maddog Let's see, I have seven hobby stores to choose from that I have been to at least twice. There are several more I haven't taken time to go check out, but then I'm finding everything I need in any one of these shops: These two LHS that are 5 and 7 minutes driving time away: Tony's Hobbies: Great for kits and supplies, particularly aircraft and car kits. Carries a fair selection of 1/72 scale Armor and a good selection of ships along with RR stuff. One of the best selections of models I've seen. Legends Hobbies and Toys:Good for supplies. It's very small, so the kit selection isn't as good as it used to be. Lots of Anime figures and Gundam; main supplier seems to be mostly Japanese companies another two which are 15 minutes driving time away: Hobby People: Pretty good on kit selection, one of the best for supplies. They seem to be expanding the R/C aspect as well, the kit selection appears to be shrinking. 'R' Hobbies: For a small store, the have a great selection of models and a fairly good selection of supplies. If not, they are willing to order anything I might need. 25-30 minutes away there are three more: Brookhurst Hobbies: HUGE selection of models, wargaming supplies and every known paint company out there! Massive selection of models, including a large collection of 1/72 scale armor from almost every small scale armor manufacturer. They've got a very respectable collection of modeling tools and supplies, as well as enough books to fill a small library! Prestige Hobbies: Very good model selection; particularly in aircraft and cars. They have one of the largest selections of wooden ship models and a respectable selection of A/M parts for wooden ships. They even have a consignment section where people can bring in old kits they don't want and sell them on consignment. That gives them the largest selection of OOP kits I've ever seen. Massive selection of Hot Wheels collectibles and die-cast racing collectibles, as well as a respectable RR section. Model Maniac: Great selection of models; excellent selection of supplies and tools. He even has a couple of tables at the back where kids and their fathers/mothers can come in and build in the store. I believe he hosts a small kids model club that builds in the store on a certain day. He's also an avid supporter of our IPMS club. These are the ones I have been to. There are about three more listed in the phone book that are about 10-15 minutes away that I have not shopped at.

I like Brookhurst Hobbies; I've been there several times. Another Orange County hobby shop I've been to is Gyro Hobbies in Lake Forest. They are primarily RC but they have a nice selection of kits and I've gotten hard-to-find stuff there. I used to go to Accu-Scale in Westminster, but that went out of business--a pity since that was the most convenient hobby shop; it was right off the 405 Freeway. When I lived in Van Nuys, I would visit my friend in Orange County every couple of months so I would include a stop at one of those shops. There was virtually nothing in the way of hobby shops in the San Fernando Valley although Smith Brothers in Northridge was pretty good.

Now that I'm living in Phoenix, I've got a couple of hobby shops I like to go to. My favorite is Hobby Depot in Tempe, about twelve miles or so from where I live. It only takes fifteen or twenty minutes to get there during midday (Phoenix traffic is nothing like L. A.) and if I go there shortly before they close, I can enjoy a pizza at Red Devil Pizza in the same shopping center. And a brand-new hobby shop recently opened in Glendale, called Andy's Hobby Headquarters, which is on the way to my mother's house in Sun City West, so that one's convenient to stop by when I go to see her (I'm on my way to see her now and I need to get some empty paint jars so I'd better leave soon!)

Judgeing from the replys to your question, I guess I win! (or lose) The closest city that can possibly support a HS is Anchorage, 205 miles from my home. In the summer it is about 3 hours&20 minutes (depending on how many troopers you see) and winter it depends on avalanch blasting, usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour to shoot them, and traffic is held during the process. I used to live in the Aleutians, where you first had to fly 625 miles just to get to the road system. Mail order still is my preference Unfortunately, this state is too small for a good hobby store.

Well.......around here, I got a Hobby Lobby 2 miles down the road, but Hobbytown (10 miles away) has a lot better selection. There is a Micheals craft store about 5 miles away with a very small amount of models and I don't even bother walking down the model isle at Wally World.

Great Hobbies out of Edmonton Alberta is a mere 180 miles away. Great news is that my moving to the east coast will reduce my travel distance by at least 100 miles.

I don't drive I walk the measly 2.6km to the shop.

well since I found the new hobby shop it's actually a further drive... and Bob.. the sad thing is, I drive almost as long as you to go the 45 or so miles to it.. (the 3 hrs 20 min you mentioned) but it's definitely worth it.. a REAL hobby shop with REAL modelers in it... not just RC people in modelers clothing...

and to put a plug in for them... Anyone near Houston, TX check out Hobby Island on Richmond. You wont be sorry...

(sorry yall, but all the other real hobby shops closed here, only R/C places with a handful of kits are left... so have to let em know where to go)

the local here in fort mcmurray is... 2 blocks away! they have tamiya paints, which is good, but most of their stuff is for RC guys. although I did buy a kit there (DML Hummel early), and it was cheaper than at any of the stores in Edmonton by about $5, and the paints are a little cheaper too.
Lou, it seems like edmonton has a great variety of hobby stores, every time I go down there I end up visiting at least 2 or 3, usually great hobbies and hobby wholesale, and sometimes comex too.