Wife took me to the closest Hobbytown this evening to pick out a Birthday present. Searched through wat little they had in Armor and managed to find a Dragon King Tiger Porsche turret with zimmerit. This is an awesome kit, the molded on zimm is simply fantastic. I know Dragon has several other kits with this detail, has anyone here built any yet?
On a related note, I was a bit disappointed to see the selection of armor to be so small. At one time this same shop had an aisle about 16’ long by 6’ high with nothing but armor. They stocked just about everything Tamiya and Dragon produced. Now the selection is no bigger that 4’ long and only covers about four shelves. Is this a trend happening every where? Do you find yourself shopping more and more online except for paints and supply?
I’m looking forward to the Tiger I Zimmed Offering
I wish I had the 4’ section now, the hobby shop in metro Detroit that I go/went to, just closed thier doors. I think the only way they can keep a store front is to sell on ebay and online as well.
It’s happening in my neck of the woods here in north Texas, shops that once had full shelves have shoved the models into a little corner, just to stock RC crap, thats what makes money mindless electronics for the masses.
My LHS is still going after some 30 plus years. Their armor selection is decent, especially if you want Tamiya kits. Their Dragon selection has actually improved over the years and harder to get AFV Club kits are showing up more. Their AM is pretty weak however.
Nice kit. I’ve been patiently scouting ebay for a zimmed up KT, but they always go for so much. I’m in no hurry since I’ve got a decent stash.
Mine is somewhat constant, but is seemingly going through a minor reduction of models in stock. The owner, probably to stay in business has expanded heavily into warhammer, axis and allies, DnD, and the like. I think that his own primary intrests lie in model railroads and RC wingy things and choppers. Right now armor is at about 8’x 3’ and wingy things are at about 6-7’ x 14’ or so…
Not that this affects me much, I order my kits from the web; which saddens me, but the budget won’t allow for the extra $$ on in store purchases. I’ll keep buying tools and paints though (and as we all know that at 2.50-3.50 for a 1/2 oz bottle of paint, it gets expensive real fast when you need another set of NATO colors, plus some of your favorites…and that fancy new glue…and the Great Scale Modelling issue, and some of that fuzzy green stuff from woodland scenics, and …
Of course if he stocked Zvezda and EE, ARMO and RPM, that would be a different story…
Blame it on this miserable economy. My own kit acquisition fund is currently depleted and awaiting resupply!
When guys aren’t buying kits, stores will shuffle around products to find things that may attract buyers. If the economy improves, you may see those kits come back with renewed demand.
I too shop online but miss that feel of actually being able to hold the kit and look it over before purchase. I also understand the $$$ issues. I have one hobby shop within five minutes of my house but he is in the process of remodeling his store and the stock is not the best right now. He assures me that when he finishes he will be stocking a very decent selection of ALL kits. I wont hold my breath though, he specializes in hard to find autos and trains. Plus he is running an ebay store. Other than that the other Hobby Shops are 20-50 miles away. I try to plan other things around a hobby shop trip so I dont feel it was a waste if I dont buy anything.
I understand how the economy is not so great right now, and everytime I purchase something online, I feel like I am helping to hurt my LHS. Oh well, at least I have forums where I can talk about stuff!
i know how you guys feel about that. the closet lhs shop for me is about 4 hours away and the way gas is i cant afford that drive. so its the inter net for me. yeah it may take a few day to get it here but thats something can live with. i really sure do miss the one hobby shop we did have.
True, the local LHS takes a hit, but nonetheless, you are supporting a business, one that’s probably even bigger (worker wise) on the internet. I wish my LHS would have some sales on kits that have been snoozing on the shelf for a long time. It can’t make money if it sits there and often they are overpriced. Had they not diversified into games, diecast and cards (Yu-gi-oh and Pokemon among others), they probably would have gone under by now.
