LHS and their brands

[Rijkvv 66]

Hi all, I wonder to what extend you make your purchase decisions whether your local hobby shop supports that particular brand in case you ever need service of some kind.

In my case, my interest in Kyosho and Carten starts to increase. Neither brand is supported by any shop in the vicinity. It would make it easy to order from webshops since my conscience won't protest I'm not shopping locally. But what if you have to return an item? Maybe I'm overthinking, I didn't NEED to visit my lhs for my Tamiya stuff yet, but I'm a sporadic user of my RC stuff so that may have to do with it as well. Would like to order some stuff and I doubt I could convince them to change their stock, though one stopped with Traxxas so I keep my fingers crossed. Curious about your opinions.

[Old_Corny 315]

I love to support local businesses - having been a business owner I like to think that people supported me.

Unfortunately we don't have a local model shop, so I support model shops around the UK by buying from them online. I try to avoid the corporate online outlets - they are often much more expensive anyway!

 

[Twinfan 2013]

Same here - no local hobby shop in my area.  I use several UK online companies and support them unless I can make a huge saving elsewhere e.g. I've made a few Tamico orders saving hundreds of pounds.

[Kowalski86 4274]

Here in the US of A, you're basically stuck with Traxxas if you really want to support your LHS. I buy paint, electronics, and more generic things when I want to support them, they also have a nice consignment system where I can sell RC stuff there and they receive a cut.

Tangent mode on

Personally, I've never been a fan of Traxxas's "80% us, 20% others" contract. But broken down Slash's and people who are incapable of fixing toy cars are the big money makers for LHS's over here.

[sosidge 670]

I doubt you would get a local shop to stock Carten as they are a small brand out of Taiwan that mostly sell direct to a handful of shops.

However Kyosho have good support in Europe and are already sold in several Dutch shops, there's no reason why your local shouldn't be able to start a relationship with them. In fact the Netherlands is so small I'd imagine that every shop is basically a local one!

[alvinlwh 7227]

My nearest LHS is a 90 minute ferry followed by a 2 hours plus drive to get to and they have more guns than RC in stock. 

My nearest practical RC shop is a 7 hours ferry ride followed by a 2 hours plus drive to get to. 

So my "local" Hobby store starts with www. and sometimes end with .hk.

[ad456 468]

My local Tamiya dealer is a 5 minute walk away, they don’t stock much but will order anything they can get for me, super nice people and while they aren’t RC specialists they are very helpful and keen to listen.  
If I need Lipos etc I use the same place in Dingwall that @alvinlwh referring to or use HobbyKing or CNHL. Everything is mail order or travel if it’s not Tamiya basically. 
I have a couple of Kyosho and love them and are fairly reliable. Broken a few parts but can have stuff in from Japan to North Scottish Isles in a couple of weeks if there’s nothing closer which is rare. I’d assume it would be the same situation for anything Carten if I had one, that’s the way it goes for my Axial, RC4WD and ECX stuff and unless the dreaded back order hits then stuff seldom sits waiting.

In short brands make no difference to me as the internet is quick enough and surprises aren’t common as I usually check parts availability before I buy a model.

Any shop that are worth dealing with will have a decent return policy and act like adults, if they don’t then don’t give them return business. 

[skom25 2179]

Tamiya, because LHS which is 10 minutes from home is distributor of Tamiya. They have also online shop.

At this moment, they have:

• More than 2500 Tamiya spare parts ( 1 part = 1 catalogue number)
• More than 800 accessories like wheels, tires, bodies etc 
• Around 300 tools, tapes etc
• Around 140 Tamiya cars

If you multiply this, because they have more than one piece of each part, you can easily imagine how much space they need.

I can go there and be back home in around 40 minutes with all parts I need or order them online and have next day at home.

 

[alvinlwh 7227]

2 hours ago, ad456 said:

My local Tamiya dealer is a 5 minute walk

Technically I will not call that a LHS but a toy shop that has Tamiya and most of them static models. 

[ad456 468]

I know ya do

[markbt73 5850]

My very first RC purchase certainly was. I had my heart set on a Kyosho Pegasus, but the guy at my LHS literally would not sell me one. He hated the living-hinge suspension and plastic dogbones, and would not stock them. He had one new-built Pegasus on the shelf that he would take down and talk smack about, then convince you why you should buy a Hornet instead. I listened, but I got a Grasshopper - via mail order, from somewhere else.

I did buy a whole lot of hop-ups and spare parts from him, though.

[Rinskie 1024]

Back during my racing days I only ran what I could get parts at the local track. But now I don't care. If I break something I will just order the needed parts and just play with something else until they come in. 

[Jonathon Gillham 4697]

Absolutely I do. My LHS is trackside so i run what chassis they sell. I dont need to carry spares and don't have an interrupted race day if I break something. Another club doesn't have the same support so i have to carry spares.

If its a collectable or fun car I don't worry though, I'll buy what I want from wherever makes sense as its not a problem if spares are a month away

[Andreas W 2510]

There are no LHS where I live. The nearest must be Norwegian Modellers,  a small hour away (half that from work). They have Tamiya paints and static models. Other than that ut goes in Arrma, Traxxas and die hard race buggies and on-road cars. Many years ago they also had a shop in Oslo and they had Kyosho. This was where I bought my Kyosho Burns. 

 

All Tamiya kits I have are purchased via norwegian shops that is a physical store somewhere. For the most I prefer to support smaller shops. Excellent examples for that are RC Maritime (fasteners, electronics,  Ride and Shimizu tyres),  Samirc (Tamiya and Kyosho), Løten RC shop (Tamiya) and Radiostyrt Modellhobby (Carten and tyres). All physical shops with excellent service.  

 

[Andreas W 2510]

On 10/17/2024 at 12:10 PM, Rijkvv said:

Hi all, I wonder to what extend you make your purchase decisions whether your local hobby shop supports that particular brand in case you ever need service of some kind.

In my case, my interest in Kyosho and Carten starts to increase. Neither brand is supported by any shop in the vicinity. It would make it easy to order from webshops since my conscience won't protest I'm not shopping locally. But what if you have to return an item? Maybe I'm overthinking, I didn't NEED to visit my lhs for my Tamiya stuff yet, but I'm a sporadic user of my RC stuff so that may have to do with it as well. Would like to order some stuff and I doubt I could convince them to change their stock, though one stopped with Traxxas so I keep my fingers crossed. Curious about your opinions.

For Carten you have RC4YOU in Belgium. I buy hopups and parts I need from either Tonisport or RC Kleinkram.  Both in Germany. They have most parts in stock and a huge selection of kits. Check them out. They are really good. 

 

I bought my Carten M210R Plus here in Norway and it was a bargain back then. That kit has doubled the price this year. Sadly the norwegian shop does not stock Carten parts, but would certainly order them for me,  if asked. But there's no point  that a shop in Bergen should order parts I perfectly well can order myself from Germany. 

[alvinlwh 7227]

This is how @ad456 and me go to our "L"HS. 

[No Slack 532]

Overhere the delivery man comes in a dull white van. Your delivery man drives a Lotus?

My LHS is 10 minutes by bicycle. I support them as much as possible. Today I went there for a small bottle of Vallejo paint. ( 2 Euro. The owner and I were happy).

[Rijkvv 66]

I remember to go to a nearby city for shopping by train, which took 30 minutes, which was a whole happening for me as a kid. Once a year, and so train travel was something special, as well as the shops they had over there. I think distance is relative. The Netherlands is small and maybe I'm spoiled. I know somebody had no problem driving 8 hours for a Lego show (another (kinda former) hobby of mine) which is something I couldn't imagine. I may just not be enough into the hobby (yet) to do it, and want it to be something I just do inbetween on a saturday afternoon.

Reading the comments I shouldn't be afraid to get into brands by ordering everything online I guess. I could still be going to the LHS for more general help, electronics et cetera. It used to be 10 minutes by bike for me, now it's about 10 minutes by car. Nice owner, it's just that he decided to deal in other brands. Looking how he managed to stuff everything in his shop I doubt he could carry more brands. And Kyosho has quite a number of kits as well, which he has covered with Tamiya, whilst Traxxas offers something different with mostly RTR bashers, at least that's what I assume is part of the reason behind it. Another shop about 30 minutes by car, that's the one who I believe has stopped with Traxxas, but I haven't visited them yet, nor heard of any replacement brand they want to start with.

[alvinlwh 7227]

6 hours ago, No Slack said:

Overhere the delivery man comes in a dull white van. Your delivery man drives a Lotus?

Here is how some times stuff get delivered here. 

 

[dannymulder 992]

13 hours ago, Rijkvv said:

I remember to go to a nearby city for shopping by train, which took 30 minutes, which was a whole happening for me as a kid. Once a year, and so train travel was something special, as well as the shops they had over there. I think distance is relative. The Netherlands is small and maybe I'm spoiled. I know somebody had no problem driving 8 hours for a Lego show (another (kinda former) hobby of mine) which is something I couldn't imagine. I may just not be enough into the hobby (yet) to do it, and want it to be something I just do inbetween on a saturday afternoon.

Reading the comments I shouldn't be afraid to get into brands by ordering everything online I guess. I could still be going to the LHS for more general help, electronics et cetera. It used to be 10 minutes by bike for me, now it's about 10 minutes by car. Nice owner, it's just that he decided to deal in other brands. Looking how he managed to stuff everything in his shop I doubt he could carry more brands. And Kyosho has quite a number of kits as well, which he has covered with Tamiya, whilst Traxxas offers something different with mostly RTR bashers, at least that's what I assume is part of the reason behind it. Another shop about 30 minutes by car, that's the one who I believe has stopped with Traxxas, but I haven't visited them yet, nor heard of any replacement brand they want to start with.

I am from the netherlands also, not any LHS nearby over here, al of my parts stuff and cars I buy online and the most in German webshops, and order parst from china, Kyosho parts most of the time I order them from Japan, They are much cheaper over there even with shipping cost and import dutes and taxes.

Most of the Dutch shops do not have Tamiya parts and upgrades, and when they do they are expensive, and most of there other stuf motors esc and other things cost a lot more over here, so to be honest you better of buying things online from another country, instead of bying from a LHS  over here or a Dutch webshop.

And in al of the ten years I am in the hobby I made maybe more then a hundred orders from different webshops and I never had any problem with them.

[urban warrior 495]

Living close to Frankfurt/Main I used to buy from LHS when I started my hobby back in the eighties. Through the decades all of them closed down, one after another. Today I mostly order from TAMICO, Seidel or Monster Hopups, all located here in Germany. Sometimes I order overseas or from the other end of the continent, because there are a lot of interesting things that you won't get here directly. Being a modeller here in Germany is sometimes not an easy living. Most people look at you, thinking you're a nerd or immature, or both. Sometimes I think especially the "center of Germany" is desolated from fun.

[JimBear 1024]

I am in the same boat as @urban warrior - had a look at trying to find something close to a "local" hobby store in Frankfurt am Main (would still be an hour and a bit with trains etc) but nothing useful turned up. So I mostly order from Tamico, Seidel, tonisport.de and RC Kleinkram. I tend to wander around (virtually) check any deals or when looking for specific parts.

[Krustybus 223]

We used to have a great shop in my town, Stafford, UK, called Bagnalls. It was always a treat to go there as a kid. I now live a short walk from the town but the shop is long gone sadly. Shrewsbury Model Centre was another favourite. Coupled with the number of bike shops there it was a dream town for a young nerd like me lol.

Anyway, nearest to me now is Wheelspin in Cannock, not too far away really and they have a really good range as I guess a lot of the UK folks on here are probably aware.

[Rijkvv 66]

My LHS is well-known locally I think. At King's Day (and before that Queen's Day) they have a demonstation with RC cars somewhere in town, the last years at the market square. People who learned about my hobby immediately asked if I knew about this shop (Peperkamp). I know what you mean, it's always a treat to visit a LHS. Boxes stacked from the floor to the ceiling, no wasted space whatsoever, quite opposite to fancy phone shops for example. Very dangerous for my wallet though. The owner's wife has a cake shop right next to it, in fact she made our wedding cake.

[Old_Corny 315]

On 10/23/2024 at 10:57 AM, Krustybus said:

We used to have a great shop in my town, Stafford, UK, called Bagnalls. It was always a treat to go there as a kid. I now live a short walk from the town but the shop is long gone sadly. Shrewsbury Model Centre was another favourite. Coupled with the number of bike shops there it was a dream town for a young nerd like me lol.

Anyway, nearest to me now is Wheelspin in Cannock, not too far away really and they have a really good range as I guess a lot of the UK folks on here are probably aware.

Used to love Bagnalls!

I use Wheelspin because they have the same accent as me Hoping to drop in one day when visiting family in the Midlands