Okay, HvH—where can I get one of those discount coupons???
My banks ATM machine spits them out on the back of every reciept. 40% off of one regular priced item.
I get 'em in the two Sunday newspapers I get, at the bottom of their ads. I once got $50 discount off a set of train tracks I bought for my grandson. Not a bad deal at all!
Since the demise of what were once somewhat plentiful Hobby Shops or even department stores with a model section included, Hobby Lobby has turned into a godsend for me.
They have “fair” prices but factor in a coupon and it gets pretty darn good. They also rotate their stock and what is getting phased out goes on clearance. In most stores that seems to mean the model gets marked down every week until sold.
I make a point of stopping by any of them I’m near just to see what they might have. Last week I caught the big Monogram (now Revell) ‘Big Deuce’ kit for only 37.29!!! It was the second one I’ve bought on clearance it just happened that a far away store still had another long after my closer stores sold them all. Just tonite I picked up the 1/700 Wisconsin by Trumpeter for 12.99. Again on clearance. So another thing I do is simply wait, when I can, since most any model they stock eventually gets rotated out.[;)]
Their shelf prices for kits is much higher than what you can do online, but I got a gift card to them for Christmas so what the hey…I used two of the 40% off coupons today and snagged the Trumpy 1/700 New Orleans Cruiser and the new Tamiya Zero in 48th scale—saved a bundle—even beat the net prices w/ the coupons…
I subscribe to their weekly email newsletter and they are delivered every Sunday morning.
You need to tame the manager… Then those shelf prices aren’t carved in stone…
Is that when you’ve factored in shipping costs for items bought online, Herr Feldmarschall? My observation is that the comparison evens out, generally speaking.
I’m impressed with their selection and the size of their scale model and model railroad aisles, for a general hobby and craft store, plus, as a previous post noted, it’s worth looking through the clearance bins. Our local HL often has a lot of tubes of paint, marked down very conveniently.
Regards,
Brad
Well, the Zero had a shelf price of almost $60 (not including sales tax)…I can order one from GM for $43…Hobbytown USA stores are even worse as far as prices go…
I get their coupons in the weekly email to which I am a subscriber and they are also in the newspapers once a week. They used to be 50% off any one item, but have been only 40% for the last year or more.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
The local Hobby Lobby had jacked the prices up to where it’s about the same as some deals online after using the 40% off coupon. The selection has really gone down hill too! Sort of like Michael’s in the old days, great kit selections and sales, now I don’t even bother looking anymore.
Hobby Lobbys order their model kits, paints, tools, etc. on Tuesday and they come in on the following Thursday… Get to know the clerk that runs that section… While you’re at it, tame the manager… I talk my local HL boss down on prices all the time… BUT… You best be a regular customer before you try, and then you have to pay attention to which kits are moving and which ones are not… I’ve gotten as much as 70% off kits that I tracked for a year (I just take a Sharpie and mark my initials & date in the corner of the box bottom)… Managers would rather sell them than send them back to the warehouse…
Try that with an On-line hobby shop…
lol…That’s hardcore.
Heh… My daughter’s got a another word for it, lol…[B]
It’s just the opposite for my local HL. They have actually broadened their selection, carrying several new Tamiya armor offerings.