For me it is usually Amazon or Hobby lobby. I have made a purchase or two from Big Bad Toy Store, but that is just about it. I have looked at USA Gundam store but have not made a purchase yet. Anyone have any other places that they buy from?
I’ve bought from USA Gundam before, reasonable prices and quick shipping.
Rob
Iwata Padawan
Our local Hobby Town and Hobby Lobby have “tons” of mecha type kits on their shelves.
My local hobby store which is just 2-3 miles from me has some Gundam and other mech kits.
Otherwise, the Hobbytown in West Allis, Wisconsin has a HUGE assortment. And I do mean HUGE! At least 2 to 2 1/2 aisles worth of Gundam and other mech type kits. If I want anything, I can browse the aisles while my model club meeting is also going on at the same time in the store.
HobbyTown in West Allis, WI, has an AMAZING selection of mech kits, not just Gundam. They also have a Gundam club that builds there every other Saturday. We’ve hosted the BAMM make-n-take in conjunction with the Richard Bong IPMS Chapter there the last two years with Gunpla models. Last year was standing room only–we ran out of chairs! Anyway, great store and great people (order via web or visit). USA Gundam (web only) is another source. Hub Hobby is another Midwest location to check out (order or visit).
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I’ve ordered from USA Gundam several times. Good service, good selection, and competitive prices.
HobbyTown USA. Local store carries a reasonable selection and the online store is pretty expansive.
HobbyLink Japan. Huge selection. Overseas shipping is high but if picking up several items can actually save money.
eBay. I enjoy the torture of building 80s-90s era kits and if willing to spend the time sifting through and refining searches it’s possible to find some excellent deals on those old mecha kits.
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My go to is Newtype! They’re really close to where I live so the shipping isn’t bad. Tatsu hobby is also pretty good, but they’re a little expensive. For that one it’s more fun to go in person.
Here is the mid-Atlantic, we have a good store in the Gundam Kitchen. His website is https://www.thegundamkitchen.com/, and he has a Facebook page, too. He has other wargaming and sci-fi subjects in stock, including Maschinen Krieger. The shop is about 10 minutes across the Ben Franklin bridge from Philly.
Usa Gundam store is the main one for gundam realted purchases that i use, HLJ being a close second. Mostly though i buy from my local stores.
This is great, i would always encourage to buy from local shops. If you are in an area where you have no close hobby shops or they do not carry these types of kits, it is nice to have options for where to order from.
I advocate for buying from your friendly local hobby store (FLHS) or friendly local game store (FLGS) whenever you can. What local means for people differs. I have to drive an hour to get to the West Allis HobbyTown. If you don’t have a local hobby/game store, then Inirge to order regionally. Most of brick-and-mortar stores have web storefronts and will take orders and ship.
What about price? You’ll find that many, if not most stores will match prices or at least come close.
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(First post! Had to chime in here since I’ve been on a Gunpla binge lately.)
Besides the obvious Hobby Lobby, I’ve gotten some from Andy’s Hobby Headquarters (I live about 30 minutes from his store.) I got one of the massive Meng Evangelion kits there and something from Bandai called “Big Tony” that was just too cool to pass up. Great store if you happen to be in the area and he’s just opened a warehouse store that I haven’t been to yet.
Michael’s might be a surprise for some - it was for me. I read on the Gunpla subreddit that they had started carrying some Bandai kits despite seeming to have cleared out their model kits recently. They run a lot of different discounts so it’s not as dependable as HL’s usual biweekly 40% discount but it might be worth keeping an eye on their stock and deals. They actually did just run a 40% off coupon and I grabbed an MG nu Gundam for $60, which was cheaper than any place else I could find. Not a big selection, unfortunately but maybe it’ll grow in time.
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Hey! welcome to the community! It’s always great getting new Gundam guys (or gals) here! Do you do any custom work?
Not so far but I’ve really only mostly completed one kit here recently (RG Zeong, amazing kit!) It was intended to be a fun quick-and-light build in between some other more intense builds (like a heavily modified 1/12 Fiat Mefistofele that I’ve been working on-and-off on for (I think) almost 3 years now. I’ll have to post about that in the appropriate forum soon.)
I had meant to just build it out-of-box with some matte coating to knock out the swirls in some of the darker colors but ended up giving in to my usual tendency to overdo it and wound up painting everything. It took far longer than I’d meant it to (started back in mid-April and just needs decals now.) I’m going to try and strike a better balance on the next kit. They’re so beautifully crafted that you really can get something really nice with minimal extra work. A stark contrast to, say, making my own wire wheels - which is exactly why I wanted to work on the Zeong in the first place.
I would not count on Michael’s. Our store had a small selection as well, after they were sold nothing was restocked. That has been at least seven months ago.
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I’ve been eyeing the “Big Tony” at my local HobbyTown for a while. I’m kinda hoping they put a clearance price on it.
I do like buying from my local store, but I always cringe at the prices as compared to HLJ. If I were just buying the one kit and shipping it, the price would be about the same. But I usually have several kits in my warehouse before shipping.
Also, my local rarely carries the kits I want.