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junkmunki

Another nail in the coffin for model shops

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2 hours ago, Gebbly said:

I dont have any LHS near enough to me in Surrey to visit in person. When looking for a seller online I at least try and find a site that has a real store in the hopes it helps the actual store stay open.

I have found the following all who had good prices and great service :

https://www.snmstuff.co.uk/ - They have a shop in Farnborough. I have bought both RC and static kits and paints from them. They have also been extremely helpful when I have just phoned them up for advice.

Further afield I found

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/p/visit - With a real shop up in Leeds. I've also bought from them before and they have been helpful too.

https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/p/1/ - In Staffordshire were extremely helpful answering lots of RC questions when I was getting back into the hobby and offered lots of advice about parts choices and compatability.

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/ - Way up in Edinburgh. I got some good stuff from them.

 

MBModels in Leeds is good as well (they also run a club night): https://www.rccarshop.co.uk/

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2 hours ago, Gebbly said:

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/p/visit - With a real shop up in Leeds. I've also bought from them before and they have been helpful too.

Modelsport is really just a counter with a few models in glass display boxes, not the "Aladdin's cave" of RC delights you might hope. Great shop though, I have used them regularly for decades.

I think we're actually past the worst when it comes to high street model shops. Certainly it's a pretty precarious business to get into, but there's been a degree of "survival of the fittest" as well.

Being brutally honest, a lot of the small model shops have come and gone in the 30+ years that I have been visiting them had no chance of success anyway.  Limited stock, often based around the owners interests, unreliable ordering ("I can get it in for you next week" and it never appears), repairs that never get completed littering the shelves, carpets that are never cleaned (you get the picture). Not just hobby shops - hobby businesses. No wonder they close down after the owner realises that shifting £500 of stock a week won't make ends meet after he's burnt through his savings.

When I came to Bristol just over a decade ago we had 3 or 4 model shops of various flavours, including one from the Modelzone chain who then went bust. None were car specialists - if you found RC, it was plane stuff usually (again because of the owners interests and perhaps a consequence of the local aerospace industry).

Now there is only one model shop in Bristol - Antics. A local chain, and very much a generalist - but they have improved a lot over recent years. I use them for basics.

There used to be two models shops in Bath - again, both have since closed - but fortunately a new shop has opened up - Racecraft RC - who stocks a lot more for cars (as the owner is a Tamiya enthusiast among other things). Even though it's on an industrial estate it's a proper shop and well worth a visit just to browse - plenty on the shelves to pique your interest.

So even though the modelling hobby is in decline, there is still enough interest out there for good local shops to survive. 

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I think this is true of many high street sectors....I'm in my late 40s now but like @sosidge have spent a lot of time in Bristol and can remember having numerous independent record stores to choose from (and up in Gloucester too), model shops to browse and wonder at, independent book stores to lose an afternoon in, etc. I still buy, enjoy and collect records but other than the amazing Spillers in Cardiff it's all online. I either buy direct from band's websites or bandcamp or try to support indies rather than Amazon and even the biggies like Rough Trade, but online it is nevertheless. 

In terms of hobby stores, we also have an Antics here in Cardiff which sounds similar to the one in Bristol but always has a decent selection of Tamiya RC kits and hundreds of static kits. I tend to mainly use them for paint but have bought a couple of kits from them over the last few years 

There is a broader issue here though beyond hobbies losing popularity, which surely must ebb and flow with trends. High St rents are exorbitant and only ever seem to increase along with energy costs, so the base cost of operating a retail business just gets higher and higher. Even a giant like Debenhams failed to manage the shifting sands so a one man / mom-and-pop indie must find it impossible, then add in rising production costs hitting margins and it must seem more like a hobby to them than a business. Particularly when you factor in the space required...all of us here who have more than a couple of kits and live in a normal sized house will know that space becomes an issue pretty quickly. Now multiply that up into a retail situation, where every square foot is costing ££££. How much stock can you realistically display? How can that compete with a website that has everything? And when giants like Debenhams go down so does footfall into a city so there's reduced passing trade, and on it goes...

Every time I go into town it seems like another strip of shops or restaurants is now boarded up and being developed into yet more flats or student accommodation, a situation that is also driving the ongoing loss of independent music venues who get closed down when new developments open up and the new residents complain about the noise from a cultural institution that has probably been operating there for decades. I remember it happening to the Axiom in Cheltenham 20-odd years ago, and it's happening now to classic venues in Sheffield, Manchester, anywhere you care to look...

My (pessimistic) view is that unless a fundamental national policy shift is made to protect and support independent high streets and vibrant city centres through secure, cheap rents and local Chambers of Commerce who actively encourage and seek a rich, mixed retail and cultural economy rather than just more and more vape stores, American candy shops and residential flats, then this is only going one way...

Oh, and they could maybe get certain online giants to pay their full share of tax too. That might even the game up a bit 👍

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10 hours ago, lupogtiboy said:

Roxley Models doesn't do anything Tamiya as far as I know, it's more Corgi die cast, trains and bus models, still a nice little shop though. Dorking model shop doesn't do RC either, always been static only, although I've not actually been in there for many years, I do go past every now and then. 

I used to go to Mick Charles Models in Ewell, but they have closed down due to retirement. 

There is a great model shop in Worthing called Sussex Model Centre if ever you're down that way, though they are closed on a Sunday. 

It's sad that most of this hobby is now online, but the high street is slowly dying in general, you just don't get the choice you used to get anymore. 

Thanks for the info in Roxely, was going to pop in next time I passed.

 

Re. Dorking, they definitely had Tamiya RC cars when I went in there as a kid, albeit that was over 30 years ago!

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On 11/9/2022 at 4:44 PM, Busdriver said:

The only one close to me is DMS and although they still have a shop in Watford it is for collection only. All their business is either online or click and collect. Great shame. I think there’s still one in Slough but it doesn’t do much if any Tamiya and one in Stevenage but not sure what they do?

I used to go to dms when I was around that part of the country (just past the asda) and he was very good back in the hpi savage/losi LST days but then he closed on a Saturday and had weird opening times and stopped selling tamiya and refused to sell other manufacturers?  the last time i visited that shop was a fair few years ago (15 years ish) and he was ranting on about how rubbish tamiya was and TBH he was quite rude to put it mildly! Then I phoned up to see if he had a particular part and while I was explaining what I was looking for he was just laughing on the other end of the phone:wacko: so I just hung up.........very very bazaar:blink:

The one in stevenage is brilliant all the manufacturers are catered for (sc models) definitely worth a trip over but best call first because Shaun has just slowly recovered from the nasty cancer and he still on the road to recovery and still having the remaining treatment so at the moment during the week it's a bit hit and miss and open hours are slowly getting back to normal until he's fully recovered!

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1 minute ago, moffman said:

I used to go to dms when I was around that part of the country (just past the asda) and he was very good back in the hpi savage/losi LST days but then he closed on a Saturday and had weird opening times and stopped selling tamiya and refused to sell other manufacturers?  the last time i visited that shop was a fair few years ago (15 years ish) and he was ranting on about how rubbish tamiya was and TBH he was quite rude to put it mildly! Then I phoned up to see if he had a particular part and while I was explaining what I was looking for he was just laughing on the other end of the phone:wacko: so I just hung up.........very very bazaar:blink:

The one in stevenage is brilliant all the manufacturers are catered for (sc models) definitely worth a trip over but best call first because Shaun has just slowly recovered from the nasty cancer and he still on the road to recovery and still having the remaining treatment so at the moment during the week it's a bit hit and miss and open hours are slowly getting back to normal until he's fully recovered!

It’s interesting that, my experience of DMS a few years back was exactly the same. If you didn’t race at his club, or use his brands he wasn’t interested, even as you say rude. I read an exchange on some website between him and a group that called themselves Modelsport, but not as he thought the shop and it was really bad. However he seems to have mellowed and has Tamiya kits listed on the website. The reason I think that they were closed on Saturdays was due to their club. Haven’t seen him in the shop when I’ve gone to pick stuff up it’s usually a lady and she’s very nice? Maybe the Pandemic made him realise that he had to play a different game???

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21 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

It’s interesting that, my experience of DMS a few years back was exactly the same. If you didn’t race at his club, or use his brands he wasn’t interested, even as you say rude. I read an exchange on some website between him and a group that called themselves Modelsport, but not as he thought the shop and it was really bad. However he seems to have mellowed and has Tamiya kits listed on the website. The reason I think that they were closed on Saturdays was due to their club. Haven’t seen him in the shop when I’ve gone to pick stuff up it’s usually a lady and she’s very nice? Maybe the Pandemic made him realise that he had to play a different game???

Yeah very strange! Never bothered even going on his website after that and forgotten it even still existed until you mentioned it! His loss I suppose 

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Just visited a local hobby shop yesterday and ran into something I didn't expect -- chained off areas that used to be accessible by customers.

I visited the same store a few months ago, and the part of the store that has alcoves of parts and stacks of bodies is now restricted.  Any customer who wants to visit that part of the store needs to have an employee accompany him.  I asked why, and one of the employees explained they were having problems with people stealing.  "It's either this or close shop."

My wife and I were surprised and disappointed; the general public doesn't know/doesn't care what's in a hobby shop, so why do some hobbyists have to be that way?  A few bad apples make the hobby shop experience less inviting.

 

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Well, once my LHS gets done closing (December 1, IIRC) the nearest LHS will be some three hours away by interstate. 

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On 11/11/2022 at 8:01 PM, Elbowloh said:

Thanks for the info in Roxely, was going to pop in next time I passed.

 

Re. Dorking, they definitely had Tamiya RC cars when I went in there as a kid, albeit that was over 30 years ago!

First time I went there was when I was about 15 or 16, cycled from Woodhatch with a group of mates, so that's nearly 30 years ago (**** I'm old!) and they didn't have anything RC then, I guess if they did, I didn't spot it. I used to get all my RC stuff from Reigate Toys & Models in Woodhatch, handy for me then as that's where my nan lived. My first ever Tamiya came from there, he used to do a savings plan and he'd put whatever kit you wanted aside until you had enough saved with him. Was a sad day when they closed down. 

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On 11/9/2022 at 11:16 AM, Willy iine said:

In the USA, small mom and pop hobby shops have disappeared by around 2010, I think..

Unless they were able to migrate to an elaborate online system in the early 2000's, they just could not get the footing.

The last time I set foot in a brick and mortar hobby shop was over a decade ago.. :wacko:

I'm pretty sure I have to drive at least an hour to find a hobby shop that will carry a Tamiya kit.  I haven't been in a hobby shop since probably 1992. That was to order a parts tree for my Astute.

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1 hour ago, A-Baum said:

I'm pretty sure I have to drive at least an hour to find a hobby shop that will carry a Tamiya kit.  I haven't been in a hobby shop since probably 1992. That was to order a parts tree for my Astute.

Yeah, I think I would be completely out of luck for finding Tamiya parts locally.  That time I would waste chasing a wild goose in my car, I just shop online.. internationally.  B)  

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I have noticed that nearly all the hobby/model shops around now, seem to cater more for model railway. Not many carry stock of plastic or RC kits.

This begs the question, how long will it all last? There is a thread on this site about the members getting older and getting out of the hobby, so does this go for model railway etc? if so, the whole model industry will slowly fade away, as children and younger people aren't generally interested in modelling.

J

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95% of the stuff i buy at the local "Hobby Shops" is basically things i need right now...  like superglue.  all of them (a total of 5) except one are literally "HobbyTown".  They are all the same.  Useless for anything but the commodity items, and i basically drive to the nearest one so that i can get it in my grimy hands now instead of 3 days from now.   I have been told that "HobbyTown" is basically the store front for horizon hobby, which makes sense, since everything on the store floor is available for exactly the same price from horizonhobby.com.

the one single hobbyshop i do go to every couple months is a mom and pop shop that sells r/c crawlers.   they can order whatever i want, and the owner is totally passionate about the hobby, and extremely knowledgeable about his aspect of the hobby.

Everything else is ordered online...   usually not from a hobby shop, but from ebay or some other similar site.

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24 minutes ago, tim.senecal said:

95% of the stuff i buy at the local "Hobby Shops" is basically things i need right now...  like superglue.  all of them (a total of 5) except one are literally "HobbyTown".  They are all the same.  Useless for anything but the commodity items, and i basically drive to the nearest one so that i can get it in my grimy hands now instead of 3 days from now.   I have been told that "HobbyTown" is basically the store front for horizon hobby, which makes sense, since everything on the store floor is available for exactly the same price from horizonhobby.com.

the one single hobbyshop i do go to every couple months is a mom and pop shop that sells r/c crawlers.   they can order whatever i want, and the owner is totally passionate about the hobby, and extremely knowledgeable about his aspect of the hobby.

Everything else is ordered online...   usually not from a hobby shop, but from ebay or some other similar site.

I did notice the resemblance of HobbyTownUSA's available stock to Horizon Hobby or TowerHobbies.. For me, if TowerHobbies have something in stock, I buy from them..use the SuperSaver coupons and stuff .. and too time consuming to drive up to my nearest HobbyTownUSA just to be told they don't have what they listed as available.

 

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18 hours ago, junkmunki said:

I have noticed that nearly all the hobby/model shops around now, seem to cater more for model railway. Not many carry stock of plastic or RC kits.

This begs the question, how long will it all last? There is a thread on this site about the members getting older and getting out of the hobby, so does this go for model railway etc? if so, the whole model industry will slowly fade away, as children and younger people aren't generally interested in modelling.

J

I would think you're mostly right. I just don't see many/any kids getting into RC hobbies.  We all try to expose our kids but how many is that? When we were growing up you could drive around town and see kids driving RC cars all over the place. Now you don't even see kids outside, let alone using RC stuff.  I just don't see how most of the hobby survives past about 10 years from now. You have to have new blood into these things to keep it going.

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Another aspect to this is "Big Government"  up until 2016, I was able to fly whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted.  I sold all my r/c Airplane and Helicopter stuff when the FAA decided i needed to be a registered drone pilot (ie pay them $10 for the opportunity to get my credit card info stolen)  so for me, that entire aspect of the hobby no longer exists.

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On 11/14/2022 at 3:38 PM, tim.senecal said:

I have been told that "HobbyTown" is basically the store front for horizon hobby, which makes sense, since everything on the store floor is available for exactly the same price from horizonhobby.com.

HobbyTown and Horizon Hobby are two separate entities.  Hobby Town has been independently owned and has acted as a franchised chain for quite a long time.  It is likely that HH acts as a primary distributor for them, and as most of their products have fixed/MAP pricing, that is why the prices always line up.  If Hobby Town was just a store front for HH, then they certainly wouldn't carry Traxxas.

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Any articles about the Hobbytown scandals?

3 hours ago, bRIBEGuy said:

HobbyTown and Horizon Hobby are two separate entities.  Hobby Town has been independently owned and has acted as a franchised chain for quite a long time (complete with many very odd religious "scandals" along the way...).  It is likely that HH acts as a primary distributor for them, and as most of their products have fixed/MAP pricing, that is why the prices always line up.  If Hobby Town was just a store front for HH, then they certainly wouldn't carry Traxxas.

Any articles about the Hobbytown scandals that you can link?

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On 11/15/2022 at 9:38 AM, A-Baum said:

I would think you're mostly right. I just don't see many/any kids getting into RC hobbies.  We all try to expose our kids but how many is that? When we were growing up you could drive around town and see kids driving RC cars all over the place. Now you don't even see kids outside, let alone using RC stuff.  I just don't see how most of the hobby survives past about 10 years from now. You have to have new blood into these things to keep it going.

In my case, it helps that my wife runs the house like children's prison. 

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16 minutes ago, Mrowka said:

Any articles about the Hobbytown scandals that you can link?

I'd have to poke around and see... I just remember that the owners were VERY (enter religion here) and not so accommodating to individuals/rules that didn't align with their outlooks.

Edit: I may have misspoken (mistyped?) ... I think the religious stuff might have actually been Hobby Lobby, not Hobby Town.  Whoops.  First post edited...

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1 hour ago, bRIBEGuy said:

I'd have to poke around and see... I just remember that the owners were VERY (enter religion here) and not so accommodating to individuals/rules that didn't align with their outlooks.

Edit: I may have misspoken (mistyped?) ... I think the religious stuff might have actually been Hobby Lobby, not Hobby Town.  Whoops.  First post edited...

That is Hobby Lobby, as far as I know Hobby Towns all good.

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Yes, Hobby Lobby's owners have an interesting past....

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-biggest-controversies-in-hobby-lobby-history-2020-9

Back on subject, I do live a few miles away from one of the 2 Hub Hobby's in Minnesota........solid selection of Tamiya stuff and, if you get to know them, easy to order anything at MAP (or below) as long as Tamiya USA has it in stock.

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55 minutes ago, Gaoh X said:

... as long as Tamiya USA has it in stock.

That's where the issues here are too....

I'm "lucky" in that I have 3 independently owed LHS's within about 45km of my house.  One used to be a local giant, and was AMAZING, but has slowly fallen into a sad state over the past 10+ years.  Staff is jaded and elitist, stock is generally low (unless RTR Traxxas), and more and more I find no reason to go there unless I need a can of PS paint to wreck a new lexan body with.  They carry Tamiya, but usually it's a few oddball kits, and essentially no parts.  Special ordered are not openly welcomed.  Prices are high, and they have no interest in trying to match prices with other shops.  They had a Comical Hotshot priced at $389cad, when other shops have them at $269...

The second shop is an AWESOME old school place.... hobby "crap" piled everywhere, a fair number of Tamiya kits, and usually some pretty cool old school gems if you have the time and luck to dig deep enough.  It's very small and crowded though, most parts are behind the counter and out of site, and it's usually challenging to get help.  I don't even know if they'll do a special order, as I've never had a conversation with anyone there long enough to ask, despite having gone there for over 20 years.

The third shop is sort of in between the two...reasonably well stocked, some tamiya kits and a few parts, but where they do excel is their willingness (and even eagerness) to order in almost anything.  Prices are on par with most places, and I'll often try to order from them instead of online.  BUT..... Tamiya USA (and the associated Canadian distributor) kinda sucks, and many things aren't available even though I can hope online and buy them in a second.

I LOVE brick & mortar stores... but they do have a VERY hard role to fill to be successful in a digital "click click now now" culture.  I try to support them when I can... but I do often feel like doing so is becoming harder and harder.

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42 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

The second shop is an AWESOME old school place.... hobby "crap" piled everywhere, a fair number of Tamiya kits, and usually some pretty cool old school gems if you have the time and luck to dig deep enough.  It's very small and crowded though, most parts are behind the counter and out of site, and it's usually challenging to get help.  I don't even know if they'll do a special order, as I've never had a conversation with anyone there long enough to ask, despite having gone there for over 20 years.

That sounds like the perfect type of hobby shop...other than it being hard to get help. I was on a trip last week and stopped by an odd hole in the wall of a hobby shop with no signs outside, they had a few Kyosho re-releases but no kits of any kind. I did get to see an FMS WWII Jeep up close and the detail was very impressive. I wanted to ask if they recommend SCX24s or Enduro24s as they had some in stock, never got a chance to talk (I hate interrupting conversations), ended up buying a Mini Z 4x4 online. Funny thing is that for an "Authorized Arrma dealer" they had more Traxxas stuff in stock. I did get to see an XRT and TRX4M in person as well, I can't say the XRT really made an impression on me (I'm not a truggy person), the TRX4M had good detail but a rather thin body that I could see light through.

If I have any pet peeve with LHS's its that they don't always put a price tag on their parts, of course you could blame the manufacturers for that too.

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