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Latest Acquisitions Revisited!
- Thread starter tomwes
- Start date
The Zod
Active member
Latest Acquisitions
It's sad. Way back in the 90s I warned our VLS customers about what was coming in our newsletter. The brick and mortar hobby shops were closing their doors faster than we could delete them as customers. The Internet sold it cheaper then as they had no overhead whatsoever, but, I have always liked to look at the kits, accessories and books before i buy them. Guess I'm just old fashioned, but it seems most every time I buy something on the Internet, it isn't exactly what I thought it was. And, I hate returning things, especially on the Internet!
By the way, I have now been out of the model business since 2006. That's ten years. I bought some glue, superglue and zip-kicker the other day. The tab was $28. for 5 small items!!!! The prices of hobby related items, especially kits are insane! From what i have seen, they have effectively doubled since I retired.
I just moved from St. Louis to Springfield Mo. At least we had some hobby shops in St. Louis and an even great one with CRM. Springfield has one second rate train shop. A strictly RC shop and a HobbyTown that is predominately a toy store. These three shops serve an area population of a quarter million people! They don't carry Humbrol paints or Vallejo and when i asked about photo-etch, they didn't know what I was talking about!
Here is some incredible news. In 2000, there were 9000 hobby shops in America. Today, there are 2000. That's a fact!
Bob, the old guy!
ldguy
It's sad. Way back in the 90s I warned our VLS customers about what was coming in our newsletter. The brick and mortar hobby shops were closing their doors faster than we could delete them as customers. The Internet sold it cheaper then as they had no overhead whatsoever, but, I have always liked to look at the kits, accessories and books before i buy them. Guess I'm just old fashioned, but it seems most every time I buy something on the Internet, it isn't exactly what I thought it was. And, I hate returning things, especially on the Internet!
By the way, I have now been out of the model business since 2006. That's ten years. I bought some glue, superglue and zip-kicker the other day. The tab was $28. for 5 small items!!!! The prices of hobby related items, especially kits are insane! From what i have seen, they have effectively doubled since I retired.
I just moved from St. Louis to Springfield Mo. At least we had some hobby shops in St. Louis and an even great one with CRM. Springfield has one second rate train shop. A strictly RC shop and a HobbyTown that is predominately a toy store. These three shops serve an area population of a quarter million people! They don't carry Humbrol paints or Vallejo and when i asked about photo-etch, they didn't know what I was talking about!
Here is some incredible news. In 2000, there were 9000 hobby shops in America. Today, there are 2000. That's a fact!
Bob, the old guy!
ldguy
Duke Maddog
Well-known member
Latest Acquisitions
Bob, I totally agree: I like seeing what I'm buying before I buy and walking out with it the same day without waiting the extra time for it to be shipped. I'm not so old, but I am the same. I am glad that here in Southern California I still have seven local Hobby Shops to choose from.
Bob, I totally agree: I like seeing what I'm buying before I buy and walking out with it the same day without waiting the extra time for it to be shipped. I'm not so old, but I am the same. I am glad that here in Southern California I still have seven local Hobby Shops to choose from.
Tankbuilder
Active member
Latest Acquisitions
I see it with many things. People buy their majory hobby related purchases online and then wonder why the brick and mortar stores close. Also, a lot of younger people are no longer into model building like we were when younger. Not it's computer games, computers or social media that the youngsters are spending their time with. Oh, one more thought. Many people no longer have the patience to assemble a model. Many companies now only produce complicated models. where does a person wanting to get started in model building get an easy to assemble model/
Cheers
It's sad. Way back in the 90s I warned our VLS customers about what was coming in our newsletter. The brick and mortar hobby shops were closing their doors faster than we could delete them as customers. The Internet sold it cheaper then as they had no overhead whatsoever, but, I have always liked to look at the kits, accessories and books before i buy them. Guess I'm just old fashioned, but it seems most every time I buy something on the Internet, it isn't exactly what I thought it was. And, I hate returning things, especially on the Internet!
By the way, I have now been out of the model business since 2006. That's ten years. I bought some glue, superglue and zip-kicker the other day. The tab was $28. for 5 small items!!!! The prices of hobby related items, especially kits are insane! From what i have seen, they have effectively doubled since I retired.
I just moved from St. Louis to Springfield Mo. At least we had some hobby shops in St. Louis and an even great one with CRM. Springfield has one second rate train shop. A strictly RC shop and a HobbyTown that is predominately a toy store. These three shops serve an area population of a quarter million people! They don't carry Humbrol paints or Vallejo and when i asked about photo-etch, they didn't know what I was talking about!
Here is some incredible news. In 2000, there were 9000 hobby shops in America. Today, there are 2000. That's a fact!
Bob, the old guy!
I see it with many things. People buy their majory hobby related purchases online and then wonder why the brick and mortar stores close. Also, a lot of younger people are no longer into model building like we were when younger. Not it's computer games, computers or social media that the youngsters are spending their time with. Oh, one more thought. Many people no longer have the patience to assemble a model. Many companies now only produce complicated models. where does a person wanting to get started in model building get an easy to assemble model/
Cheers
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Latest Acquisitions
When I lived in Tulsa there were a couple of real small hobby shops there. I think it is now down to a gaming shop and a Hobby Town.
Here in Memphis we had a Hobby Town, but it went out of business. on the other hand there is a Games Workshop store where everything is overpriced and the biggest Hobby Shop I have ever seen. (I suspect that is why the Hobby Town died)
They do ebay and mail order but also RC, drones, gaming, trains, slot cars, comic books and about anything else hobby related. I get my Vallejo and Lifecolor paints there as well as occasional kits. Unfortunately most AM stuff comes from online stores as wel as the odd kit. It is always a good idea to go by there as you never know what will be on the shelves. He buys collections and does some discount so it is comparible to online within reason.
When I lived in Tulsa there were a couple of real small hobby shops there. I think it is now down to a gaming shop and a Hobby Town.
Here in Memphis we had a Hobby Town, but it went out of business. on the other hand there is a Games Workshop store where everything is overpriced and the biggest Hobby Shop I have ever seen. (I suspect that is why the Hobby Town died)
They do ebay and mail order but also RC, drones, gaming, trains, slot cars, comic books and about anything else hobby related. I get my Vallejo and Lifecolor paints there as well as occasional kits. Unfortunately most AM stuff comes from online stores as wel as the odd kit. It is always a good idea to go by there as you never know what will be on the shelves. He buys collections and does some discount so it is comparible to online within reason.
Latest Acquisitions
All I can say Bob is welcome to my world. 45 years ago when I started out in this hobby my models came from the dime store. My HO train set came from Western Auto at Christmas time. If I wanted more track I had to wait until we went 35 miles to Sedalia and even then I got that at a Scout shop. Hobby shop? What was that? Never heard of one. Never seen one. The first real hobby shop I was ever in was Bobbie Halls Hobby House in Dallas Texas and it was all trains. I was about 12 and my models still came from places like TG&Y and WalMart. I was probably 16 or 17 before saw a hobby shop really devoted to models plastic or otherwise and again that was 80 miles away in Kansas City. Not somewhere we went many times a year, but wow they had some paint called Tamiya. By this time the local stores had stopped carrying models or model paint. By the time I kit college Kansas City was my only source for model supplies, but all to soon that shop moved out of the mall to some place we didn't go. So plastic modeling became a intermittent persuit. With no source of kits and supplies I turned to books about the things I wanted to model. The mall book stores always plenty of books about tanks, planes, and ships. They also had something new "Model Magazines" wow!
Through college I continued to build with the materials I could find. I made sci-fi spacecraft out of well...let's just say out what you would throw away. I built all the battleships at Pearl Harbor out of wood and brass rod using the diagrams from one of the books from that far away book store. College was tough for me and building kept me from going insane. When we would go to Dallas to vist my Aunt and Uncle my Uncle(a model train and RC plane builder)and I would hit all the hobby shops we could find and I would go home with some projects to work on in the modeling desert that I lived in.
My real modeling life did not really begin until after I married my wife(1990) who was from Kansas City. Her family were avid RC car people which meant they knew where all the hobby shops were in KC. I felt like I had found the lost city of Eldorado. I suddenly had access to places like Papen fus, Hobby Haven, Micheals, and Hobby Lobby not to mention several RC shops. There were kits, paint, books, etc...etc and since we went to her folks about every other week....well you can imagine what happened....what still is happening.
So you see I understand all too well what is like to live in a modeling desert. I still live in that desert. We have just now got a Hobby Lobby that is closer(35 miles). Not the best place, but at least you can get some paint if you need it or glue. I love going to the hobby shops and I buy a lot of stuff from them, but I have to say since online stores have come around those of us living in the desert have access to much much more then I grew up with.
Everywhere Mary and I go we get the phone book and look up the local hobby shops and if we can we visit them. I'm always looking for the good ones like Norman Ok. which has a really good Hobbytown lots of kits or Lewisville TX their Hobbytown has Andrea figures and out of production kits. I guess living in a desert made me look harder for the oasis of styrene in the world whether they are at a shop or online. When you're thirsty you get water where you can.
Hang in there Bob hobby shops have come and gone in Springfield. Believe me I know.
All I can say Bob is welcome to my world. 45 years ago when I started out in this hobby my models came from the dime store. My HO train set came from Western Auto at Christmas time. If I wanted more track I had to wait until we went 35 miles to Sedalia and even then I got that at a Scout shop. Hobby shop? What was that? Never heard of one. Never seen one. The first real hobby shop I was ever in was Bobbie Halls Hobby House in Dallas Texas and it was all trains. I was about 12 and my models still came from places like TG&Y and WalMart. I was probably 16 or 17 before saw a hobby shop really devoted to models plastic or otherwise and again that was 80 miles away in Kansas City. Not somewhere we went many times a year, but wow they had some paint called Tamiya. By this time the local stores had stopped carrying models or model paint. By the time I kit college Kansas City was my only source for model supplies, but all to soon that shop moved out of the mall to some place we didn't go. So plastic modeling became a intermittent persuit. With no source of kits and supplies I turned to books about the things I wanted to model. The mall book stores always plenty of books about tanks, planes, and ships. They also had something new "Model Magazines" wow!
Through college I continued to build with the materials I could find. I made sci-fi spacecraft out of well...let's just say out what you would throw away. I built all the battleships at Pearl Harbor out of wood and brass rod using the diagrams from one of the books from that far away book store. College was tough for me and building kept me from going insane. When we would go to Dallas to vist my Aunt and Uncle my Uncle(a model train and RC plane builder)and I would hit all the hobby shops we could find and I would go home with some projects to work on in the modeling desert that I lived in.
My real modeling life did not really begin until after I married my wife(1990) who was from Kansas City. Her family were avid RC car people which meant they knew where all the hobby shops were in KC. I felt like I had found the lost city of Eldorado. I suddenly had access to places like Papen fus, Hobby Haven, Micheals, and Hobby Lobby not to mention several RC shops. There were kits, paint, books, etc...etc and since we went to her folks about every other week....well you can imagine what happened....what still is happening.
So you see I understand all too well what is like to live in a modeling desert. I still live in that desert. We have just now got a Hobby Lobby that is closer(35 miles). Not the best place, but at least you can get some paint if you need it or glue. I love going to the hobby shops and I buy a lot of stuff from them, but I have to say since online stores have come around those of us living in the desert have access to much much more then I grew up with.
Everywhere Mary and I go we get the phone book and look up the local hobby shops and if we can we visit them. I'm always looking for the good ones like Norman Ok. which has a really good Hobbytown lots of kits or Lewisville TX their Hobbytown has Andrea figures and out of production kits. I guess living in a desert made me look harder for the oasis of styrene in the world whether they are at a shop or online. When you're thirsty you get water where you can.
Hang in there Bob hobby shops have come and gone in Springfield. Believe me I know.
helios
Well-known member
Latest Acquisitions
Terry, it's funny you mention the auto parts store & scout shop for modeling supplies. In high school (late '80s / early '90s) my buddy and I would ride out bikes around town to fetch our kits & paints. Likewise, we didn't have a dedicated hobby shop in town. Where did we go, True-Value & the pet store. Yes, you read that right, the pet store! Ironically they had the largest selection of kits in town...and the first place we saw this funny Japanese manufacturer that began w/ an H. Boy they made the finest 1/72 aircraft we had ever seen at that time. We were still primarily 1/48 builders at the time, and Monogram was usually our go to.
Terry, it's funny you mention the auto parts store & scout shop for modeling supplies. In high school (late '80s / early '90s) my buddy and I would ride out bikes around town to fetch our kits & paints. Likewise, we didn't have a dedicated hobby shop in town. Where did we go, True-Value & the pet store. Yes, you read that right, the pet store! Ironically they had the largest selection of kits in town...and the first place we saw this funny Japanese manufacturer that began w/ an H. Boy they made the finest 1/72 aircraft we had ever seen at that time. We were still primarily 1/48 builders at the time, and Monogram was usually our go to.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Latest Acquisitions
LOL! That reminds me of my college days in the late 70's. In Stillwater OK there was a pet store called Aqua Mart and they had the best selection of kits in town. When my daughter started there in 2005 I went by and Fred was still there. He had finally quit carrying the plastic kits but was still selling crafts and fish. The building was a yellow painted cinder block place that at one time was a landry matt. In 2008 I tried to look him up again, but he had closed and sold the land. Turned out he had been there for 40 years and it was a good time for him to retire.
LOL! That reminds me of my college days in the late 70's. In Stillwater OK there was a pet store called Aqua Mart and they had the best selection of kits in town. When my daughter started there in 2005 I went by and Fred was still there. He had finally quit carrying the plastic kits but was still selling crafts and fish. The building was a yellow painted cinder block place that at one time was a landry matt. In 2008 I tried to look him up again, but he had closed and sold the land. Turned out he had been there for 40 years and it was a good time for him to retire.
Latest Acquisitions
A Pet store? Now that's wild.
[/quote]
Hey Terry,
A legendary hobby shop was in Kansas City during the 80s and before that was located in a hardware store. Papenfuss. It was one of the most awesome hobby shops I ever saw and i've seen them all over the world. I think it was in the east suburbs, maybe near Blue Springs or Raytown? You walked in, they had the hobby area fenced off from the rest of the store. It was very large area and everything imaginable was there. But, there was another room he would let you in if he knew you or you were a regular customer. But then, he also had a room in the basement that was a modeler's dream. Only his favorite people were allowed in there! I'll never forget that place. He went under during the 90s. What a pity!
I wish some of the guys on MA who are younger could have seen some of America's most fabulous shops back then. St. Louis had it's great one. Astro Hobby. If it existed, that old man, Charley, had it in stock. He was a real jerk, you weren't allowed to touch any products on display. You would point to it and he would bring one from his warehouse in back. Charley was a real prick in the true meaning of the word, but it was worth it to just go there.
VLS sold to both of those and watched as the Internet destroyed them. Great memories!
When I was in my early 20s, Ferguson was a crime free suburb with manicured lawns and a quaint little downtown area. It had a Ben Franklin Five and Dime and the manager was a modeler. I bought all my models there and I walked in one day and the hobby aisle was full of new kits from a company named Tamiya. This was back in the mid-60s and I had never heard of them before. At the time I was a can and aircraft modeler, but that changed everything. I fell in love with tanks!
A Pet store? Now that's wild.
[/quote]Hey Terry,
A legendary hobby shop was in Kansas City during the 80s and before that was located in a hardware store. Papenfuss. It was one of the most awesome hobby shops I ever saw and i've seen them all over the world. I think it was in the east suburbs, maybe near Blue Springs or Raytown? You walked in, they had the hobby area fenced off from the rest of the store. It was very large area and everything imaginable was there. But, there was another room he would let you in if he knew you or you were a regular customer. But then, he also had a room in the basement that was a modeler's dream. Only his favorite people were allowed in there! I'll never forget that place. He went under during the 90s. What a pity!
I wish some of the guys on MA who are younger could have seen some of America's most fabulous shops back then. St. Louis had it's great one. Astro Hobby. If it existed, that old man, Charley, had it in stock. He was a real jerk, you weren't allowed to touch any products on display. You would point to it and he would bring one from his warehouse in back. Charley was a real prick in the true meaning of the word, but it was worth it to just go there.
VLS sold to both of those and watched as the Internet destroyed them. Great memories!
When I was in my early 20s, Ferguson was a crime free suburb with manicured lawns and a quaint little downtown area. It had a Ben Franklin Five and Dime and the manager was a modeler. I bought all my models there and I walked in one day and the hobby aisle was full of new kits from a company named Tamiya. This was back in the mid-60s and I had never heard of them before. At the time I was a can and aircraft modeler, but that changed everything. I fell in love with tanks!
Latest Acquisitions
They are in Runnemade, NJ.
Growing up in the early to mid seventies, I got my dollar allowance and ran to Woolworth's Dime store to get an $0.88 (88 cent) ESCI 72nd scale kit, pay and have a nickel left after tax. The nickel went to the gumball machine to give me the energy to run back home and tear into the kit.
As a teen, I looked for hobby shops near me. Brooklyn had A Hobby Hut which was a 30 minute bus ride. Really nice shop and my father surprised me one day to buy me a control line P-40 with a sharkmouth. He also took me to a department store (Alexander's) in Queens (NY borough) and bought me a Monogram B-25H when it came out. Of course, it had a mouth on it.
While shopping around in a small neighborhood in Queens with a girlfriend, I decided to fix her door locks and went into a hardware store (Nagengast Hardware). Low and behold, the complete side wall of the store was stocked with kits! I bought so many of the DML 1/144th scale 2+2 kits that the owner gave me a discount. The shop closed in 2008 but just opened a new one!
Old shop:
Wow, this brings back memories!
New shop (note that it says Nagengast, established 1947):
Smaller shop without all those tools and hardware in the way!
I would love to visit on my next time near it.
Regards,
They are in Runnemade, NJ.
Growing up in the early to mid seventies, I got my dollar allowance and ran to Woolworth's Dime store to get an $0.88 (88 cent) ESCI 72nd scale kit, pay and have a nickel left after tax. The nickel went to the gumball machine to give me the energy to run back home and tear into the kit.
As a teen, I looked for hobby shops near me. Brooklyn had A Hobby Hut which was a 30 minute bus ride. Really nice shop and my father surprised me one day to buy me a control line P-40 with a sharkmouth. He also took me to a department store (Alexander's) in Queens (NY borough) and bought me a Monogram B-25H when it came out. Of course, it had a mouth on it.
While shopping around in a small neighborhood in Queens with a girlfriend, I decided to fix her door locks and went into a hardware store (Nagengast Hardware). Low and behold, the complete side wall of the store was stocked with kits! I bought so many of the DML 1/144th scale 2+2 kits that the owner gave me a discount. The shop closed in 2008 but just opened a new one!
Old shop:
Wow, this brings back memories!
New shop (note that it says Nagengast, established 1947):
Smaller shop without all those tools and hardware in the way!
I would love to visit on my next time near it.
Regards,
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Latest Acquisitions
Yeah, MidSouth Hobbies here (the big one I mentioned earlier) is a bit like what Papenfuss sounds like. Emo (the owner) has his trusted customers that have the run of the place. He aso has the back room with the oddball neat stuff which ONLY the trusted folks get to rumage around in. That is how I picked up all the Zoki Mura stuff at the beginning of the year.
I remember back in the 80's when the Tulsa modelers started talking about Eduard and Verlinden. Up until that time it was buy the kit and build it with maybe some scratch building done on it. Some of the Tulsa scale modelers at that time were heavy into going to competitions and really got into all the super detailing at the time. I learned a lot, but also became somewhat despirited from all that. It took a long time before I even entertained building another kit.
Yeah, MidSouth Hobbies here (the big one I mentioned earlier) is a bit like what Papenfuss sounds like. Emo (the owner) has his trusted customers that have the run of the place. He aso has the back room with the oddball neat stuff which ONLY the trusted folks get to rumage around in. That is how I picked up all the Zoki Mura stuff at the beginning of the year.
I remember back in the 80's when the Tulsa modelers started talking about Eduard and Verlinden. Up until that time it was buy the kit and build it with maybe some scratch building done on it. Some of the Tulsa scale modelers at that time were heavy into going to competitions and really got into all the super detailing at the time. I learned a lot, but also became somewhat despirited from all that. It took a long time before I even entertained building another kit.
Latest Acquisitions
eBay pruchase received June 1st:
For this:
This was received on the second...
My inspiration:
Regards,
eBay pruchase received June 1st:
For this:
This was received on the second...
My inspiration:
Regards,
Latest Acquisitions
Another receipt. Bought directly from Aviaeology.
Regards,
Another receipt. Bought directly from Aviaeology.
Regards,
