Bittersweet model purchase....

[Wittpilot]

Went down to the Hobbytown USA in Dayton today... I love just going and looking around, and I only go once in a great while because its like 45 min away and usually pretty pricey... go inside... it was empty!!! They are going out of business... Bad economy = less people having extra cash for hobbies I guess... but I did pick up a few models for my uncle for Christmas... he always gets a lot for my wife and I so I rewarded him this year... I got $215 worth of models...and I paid $55 for them.... 5 models one of them is the Tamiya models with the ball bearing wheels and an engine that runs on an electric motor!!! I will have to take some pics and post the models I got... .maybe later....

great deal, but sucks because the place is now out of business...now where do I go??

-witt

 

[JAMIE]

It really is a shame

 

[GT182]

Don't feel bad Witt. The only hobby shop with a great line of plastic models around here is closed too. One week it was open as I was looking at getting that awesome German U-Boat. Went back the next week and the store is empty and closed for good. They folded overnight I was told. Just closed up at 9pm and cleared the place out that night.

With the price of oil so high, that meant the price of plastic models went out of sight.

 

[Lionheart]

Don't feel bad Witt. The only hobby shop with a great line of plastic models around here is closed too. One week it was open as I was looking at getting that awesome German U-Boat. Went back the next week and the store is empty and closed for good. They folded overnight I was told. Just closed up at 9pm and cleared the place out that night.

With the price of oil so high, that meant the price of plastic models went out of sight.

Yep... Petrolium based products...


Happened to the Kit Car industry back in the 1970's too during the fuel crisis. What a mess that was.

Used to be able to get a drum of resin for $90.00 or less.. Then it was $300.00... Who knows what it is today. Probably $1000.00 or more. Where you could make a complete dune buggy body for about $300.00, now its thousands.

Man, there used to be some good models out there...



Bill

 

[smilo]

earlier this year, our local store closed.
I was able to get 2 old 1/72 Monogram kits;
a Bf110E-1 and a Do17Z
I also got an Academy 1/72 Hawker Tempest V
but the topper is an Airfix 1/72 Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
it includes a Lancaster BI/III, a Spitfire MkIIa and a Hurricane MkIIc
there was a lot more, but I ran out of cash.
now, they sit on the shelf, waiting.

 

[Piglet]

In Burbank, we had T&A Hobbies. Run by Tony and Addie, an old ex A-4 pilot and his mom(!) She would always be building some plane whenever I went in the store. They always had the rarer oddball kits, in addition to the normal stuff. Also was the place for electric R/C planes. Well about two tears ago, they retired and the store is no more. They ran that store for ages, and just about every real aviation legend has been there. Being right next to Lockheed resulted in some humorous events. Engineers working on the real Stealth Fighter used to go there and buy the Tester's "F-19" kits. Ol' Tony always wondered about the funny smiles on their faces...
Just about the only high-end real hobby store left out in my area is way down in Orange County, Brookhurst Hobbies.

 

[Willy]

About the only source for plastic around here is Hobby Lobby down in Jackson and models are just a very small part of the store. Last year when they cleared out a bunch of there old stock, I got what was left of their 1/144 propliner series plus some 1/100 WWII fighters. Most of what they've got left is cars, ships and jets.


One of these days, I'll get around to putting 'em together.

 

[Silver Fox]

I would happily recommend Military Hobbies to anybody maybe looking to go the mail order route. They're here in the same city as me and it's a great store with a great staff.

I know it's not the same as being able to kill time wandering around a hobby store... but you can still get plenty of kits from a place like that.

 

[Dain Arns]

Reality is, hobby stores have moved to online outlets now and the customers have followed along now. The "Mom and Pop" hobby store is a thing of the past, unfortunately, they just can't compete with the low prices that online can offer. For me its a 120 mile round trip now, to the closest store. Hobby Lobby is okay, but its really not a model/RC type hobby store. Working for a hobby store was still one of my most favorite jobs, ever.

 

[wombat666]

The other major killer of real 'Hobby Shops' has been the march of the diecast 'Toys'.
I can never quite understand the 'buy it and slap it on the shelf' mindset!
:isadizzy:
My 'Local' has become about 50% R/C, 30% Diecast and the remaining 20% seems to be Armour or gross large scale Aircraft.

 

[Wulf190]

Glad I have two some what close Hobby shops. I still have way too many kits in boxes to buy more, but ever once and a while they have a gem of a book that I just have to add to my library.:redf:

 

[Prowler1111]

The other major killer of real 'Hobby Shops' has been the march of the diecast 'Toys'.
I can never quite understand the 'buy it and slap it on the shelf' mindset!
:isadizzy:
My 'Local' has become about 50% R/C, 30% Diecast and the remaining 20% seems to be Armour or gross large scale Aircraft.

Guilty as charged, i used to be an avid plastic modeler, still have perhaps a ton of unbuilt models in their boxes, but i became an avid Die Cast collector, and i´m always checking the vendor´s pages looking for new releases..

Prowler

 

[GT182]

Same a s Prowler. I never had the means and resources to do the kits and details I wanted in plastic. Diecast solved that with the great detail already done. Plus the fact there were no hobby shops up north, but there were lots of diecast models in various stores. Now diecast models are getting hard to find in stores.