Oh wow! I wasn’t aware of wildfires there. I’m so sad that I haven’t visited there before the fires started.
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Be thankful you can go to a real hobby store. My options are
Hobby lobby, Michael’s, hobbytown/s an I have to drive an hour or more to those options. The closest hobbytown to me is focused on RC cars which I could care less about.
The last couple hobby stores here were bought out by hobbytown , closed up and moved farther away.
You are lucky
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D&J and San Antonio were awesome. That’s the kind of shops missing from the Sacramento area. It sucks ordering online, but I’m in a desert out here.
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Yeah, I think the whole Bay Area is a desert where hobby shops are concerned. Lots of Gaming shops so paint is in abundance (if you are willing to convert RLM numbers to “eye” identification)
My issue with online buying is the shipping costs. Now I’m limited to online shops within the US as I recently received an unexpected $75 customs tax on a $70 purchase from Poland.
Cheers,
C.
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It could sound very surprinsing for a capital city, but here, in Paris, France, my only real solution is online shopping. The only serious ( and, IIRC, big ) local store that we had closed at the start of the COVID pandemic, and by then it had already fallen on hard times.
The only stores left aren’t fully dedicated to the hobby, or pretty small, or not very well stocked !
Even then it’s complicated to find some products, and I have to cycle between three or four online shops, including Amazon. Sad!
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Ouch! I’m going to have to be careful to avoid overseas purchases in the future. I agree that the cost of shipping is brutal. I never seem to find everything I need at one online retailer. An item here and an item there runs up shipping costs quickly. Another knock on online buying: I lose the instant gratification I so desperately crave!
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I’m in Knoxville TN right now visiting family and have a few spare minutes. Which hobby shop is the best in the area?
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Create a DBA and convert your hobby to a tax deduction.
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I was recently in Paris and visited Euro-Maquette, I was impressed with the selection of kits but yeah it is a pretty small shop. Other than that I didn’t see many options for model shops.
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The only hobby store near me is called Fundemonium and it’s closing. I got my paints, glue, and special order things from them. Was a cool place!
Now I am faced with buying these items online and the shipping costs are not fun. There is no store near me (<25 miles) that carries Tamiya Acrylic paints.
Not sure which online store I’ll use.
However, there is a hobby lobby going in just down the street. Not sure when it will open. We’ll check it out when it open.
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The only 2 in the SF Bay Area I know that carries Tamiya paints are the ACE Hardware in downtown Berkeley, and Sheldon’s Hobbies in the Laurel Glen area in San Jose.
The Hobby Lobby carries some Vallejo and Testors.
PS. I go to Fundemonium when I’m in the North Bay. Sorry to hear that it’s closing.
PPS. I looked at (but have never been to) Loose Caboose Hobbies in Napa and from pictures, it looks like they carry Tamiya.
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Thanks. Ill check them out.
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I’ve got a small one 20 min away in Olympia WA, but they are mainly RC with only one small shelf of models. Next closest one is much larger with tons of models but they are a good 80 min away and only open 10–3 tue through Saturday so I can never get there.
The local hobby lobby is a joke unless you want basic monogram car kits and a very limited collection of level 3 aircraft.
I was in Denver last week and found a store that hade at least 1000sq/ft of scale models ans I was very jealous. Almost walked out with the Ford aircraft carrier but I wasn’t sure it would like the plane ride home.
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Tell me where in Denver is this store? I will shortly be moving to a town near Torrington Wyoming so will be in Denver from time to time.
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It’s close to the wings over the Rockies flight museum in Aurora. They said they have the largest plastic model stock within 500 miles.
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Maybe farther than 500 miles. Yeah, I was afraid it was that HobbyTown.
The place in Arora,Co. is near Englewood,Co. where my mother grew up. I have deep deep family history in Denver and the Greater Colorado area.
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Why were you afraid?
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Hobbytown ruins good hobby shops when they buy them.
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The Model Empire store I mentioned in one of my early posts way back near the beginning of this thread is having a sale on all Racecar/Racing and NASCAR items this weekend on Sunday. Here are the details below.
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Not always,depends. Mine in Hickory NC is run by a model guy,nice selection of kits and supplies
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