Tamiya In Nyc?

[fristajlo]

Didnt know in which section I should post this question, but I hope its in the right place so here goes:

I´m going to NY in about a weeks time and I naturally want to go shopping for some Tamiya kits (RC-cars). Searched the web but have only (so far) found Brooklyn hobbies and they dont seem to sell Tamiya. Surely there must be at least a couple of stores in Manhattan/Brooklyn that sell Tamiya?

If you know please post a reply!

[bad andy]

Not sure if you will be in/near the bronx but these guys are worth a shot - http://www.brucknerhobbies.com/

I'm not familiar with the hobby shops in Manhattan too much but I can probably say without having been recently that you won't find prices competitive with internet retailers for sure. When I was a kid, there used to be a huge shop called America's Hobby Center (I'd glaze over the printed circular every chance I got) but I don't think that business is in operation anymore.

I took the liberty of searching Tamiya's authorized dealers page and came up with this listing: http://www.tamiyausa.com/dealers/state.php?id=NY - Looks like possibly some options in Brooklyn but you'll have to map out the others to determine what is nearby to where you will be. Where will you be?

BA

[JeepnMike]

Traxxxas & Associated have thoroughly saturated the RC market in America. You will be hard pressed to find a hobby shop that has 1 Tamiya kit. Sorry mate

[kaiser]

Traxxxas & Associated have thoroughly saturated the RC market in America. You will be hard pressed to find a hobby shop that has 1 Tamiya kit. Sorry mate

it's traxxas really, i know plenty of shops that stock nothing but traxxas.

alot of shops around here have some tamiya kits, mostly grasshoppers, xb cr01's (due to the crawler craze), and lunchboxes.

they never have any parts though, just a few kits.

[TamiyaDan]

del

[lucasan]

it's traxxas really, i know plenty of shops that stock nothing but traxxas.

alot of shops around here have some tamiya kits, mostly grasshoppers, xb cr01's (due to the crawler craze), and lunchboxes.

they never have any parts though, just a few kits.

Yeah, it's kind of sad how the market is going towards or has gone towards the rtr market completely. I really hope Tamiya is able to sustain this trend and continue making kits. If Tamiya goes completely rtr I fear it will be the end of the world as we know it. Good luck in your search, and as someone else said in this thread, it's unlikely you will find prices competitive with online shops in NY. I have found a couple of shops in Socal since moving here but they're kind of a hike.

[candre23]

I really hope Tamiya is able to sustain this trend and continue making kits.

I don't think you have to worry. Judging by the list of upcoming products, they don't look to be abandoning hobbyists any time soon. Tamiya is a Japanese company, and their primary market is Japan. Japan still has a strong model-building culture. As long as they can make money selling locally, the hobbyist minority in the rest of the world will always be able to get in on the action - even if it means going through the hassle of importing.

As somebody who only recently got into RC cars, I would like to point out that the RTR phenomenon isn't really a bad thing. Sure, most of the kids who buy an RTR truck aren't ever going to build something for themselves, but some of them will. I never would have just up and purchased a big box of confusing parts that I had to assemble before I could drive. But because RTR was easy, I bought an Evader buggy and got hooked. After tearing it apart a few times, I realized it wasn't all that difficult, and started looking for "projects". Now I'm knee-deep in RC car parts, buying old chassis, tearing them apart, modding them and rebuilding. I'm having a blast with a hobby I never would have even considered were it not for cheap RTR cars.

[Tamiya1/10]

,will gang rape your wallet even harder.

Spot On!!!!!!have a nice ring to it....gang rape your wallet even harder

[fristajlo]

Thank you guys for all the input!

Sad reading though, sounds a bit like my hometown Stockholm. As far as I know (havent bought a new kit in a store for about 20 years, I´m most likely part of the problem;)) there are 1 or 2 stores in the city.

My intention was to buy a 2010 sand scorcher (and/or something more), but I might aswell shop online from HK. A bit sad since the food and other shopping is so great in NY, a brand new SS to bring home would have been the icing on the cake.

[Wildcatlost]

Another vote for Bruckner Hobbies, a bit out of the way from Manhattan, and hard to get to without a car, but the best I've found in NYC, especially for Tamiya bits.

Sorry to say, but I spend most of my time between the Tower Hobbies and Tamiya USA websites.

If I may add, you can always check out the Chelsea Flea. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2736...new_york_city-i

I came back with an original Wild Willy LWB, almost complete and never run, for $65.00 recently.

Best of luck.

[fristajlo]

Another vote for Bruckner Hobbies, a bit out of the way from Manhattan, and hard to get to without a car, but the best I've found in NYC, especially for Tamiya bits.

Sorry to say, but I spend most of my time between the Tower Hobbies and Tamiya USA websites.

If I may add, you can always check out the Chelsea Flea. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2736...new_york_city-i

I came back with an original Wild Willy LWB, almost complete and never run, for $65.00 recently.

Best of luck.

Thanks! Was considering the flea markets as a possible source for rc-cars. Found these so far:

-Greenflea

-Chelsea flea (is this the same as The antiques garage?)

-west 25th

-hells kitchen flea

-brooklyn flea

Have I missed any or can I disregard any of the above ?

[Olly_Lunchbox]

I took he misus to NY last year and secrely hoped I'd find some Tamiya suff whilst we were there, infact I remember planing how I was going to fit it all in my case on the flight home. Needless to say I found zip. I did make the trip to Red Caboose but there was nothing, there was a really nice guy in there though who chatted with me for ages about trains, he was so enthusiastic that it started to rub off on me.

I didn't touch the internet the whole time we were there and when we got home I waited ooh... about 8 minutes before logging on to TC to see what the latest was. Bang, Tamiya had dropped he big one whilst we were away. There was only one topic being discussed and the thread was already about 15 pages long - Sand Scorcher rerelease! My disappointment at not finding any Tamiya in NY disappeared immediately.

[JeepnMike]

My intention was to buy a 2010 sand scorcher (and/or something more)

If you are going to find a NIB Tamiya product on a store shelf in America, it is probably going to be a 2010 Sand Scorcher (possibly a Frog or a Brat or a Hornet otherwise). Someone previously mentioned a few shops in the area, I am betting one of them will have a 2010 SS. Most are smart enough to realize what Tower charges for kits and will charge usually about $20 or so more. It sure couldn't hurt to call.. I am betting if you wanted any kit, this would be the one they have.

Good luck!

[candre23]

You might have some luck with one of the hundreds of little asian electronics shops. They're all over the place, and they have all kinds of weird stuff. I know I've seen RC cars in some of them, but I haven't gone into the city in a while and don't remember if I specifically saw any Tamiya stuff.

[TamiyaDan]

del

[fristajlo]

well, as i said before i can confirm that willis has the 2010 sandscorcher but that is going to be like a 80-100$ cab ride out of Manhattan. willis also has 1/14 truck kits and most of the Re-releases in stock, they carry RTR also. the big sellers are traxxas there. they have a r/c track in the basement as well. Raceway hobbies out in 110 is just a racing track so they won't have any tamiya just the most popular kits and parts.

unless you wanna come to my house and bring lots of cash

a lot of shops have those micro tamiya r/c cars. you may have seen them the micro grasshopper, and fox cars that you recharge on the transmitter.

there like 25$

**** ****! Now thats a nice collection ! I only have one of those...

[fristajlo]

You might have some luck with one of the hundreds of little asian electronics shops. They're all over the place, and they have all kinds of weird stuff. I know I've seen RC cars in some of them, but I haven't gone into the city in a while and don't remember if I specifically saw any Tamiya stuff.

Will check them out! thanks

[fristajlo]

If you are going to find a NIB Tamiya product on a store shelf in America, it is probably going to be a 2010 Sand Scorcher (possibly a Frog or a Brat or a Hornet otherwise). Someone previously mentioned a few shops in the area, I am betting one of them will have a 2010 SS. Most are smart enough to realize what Tower charges for kits and will charge usually about $20 or so more. It sure couldn't hurt to call.. I am betting if you wanted any kit, this would be the one they have.

Good luck!

Thank you! There may be some possibilities after all

[TamiyaDan]

del

[candre23]

so unless you find a hole in the wall hobby shop with a 70 year old owner that just wants to retire you won't find anything amazing since 99.999% of those hobby stores are gone.

Not exactly close to NYC, but Trains & Lanes in Easton, PA is this sort of place. It's big, dark, dirty, and completely unorganized. They have a ton of old stock, but the only thing harder than finding the part you want is getting the staff to help you do it. But if you need some old part and don't want to wait for shipping from asia, it's one of the few places left that you might have a shot.

[TamiyaDan]

del