I've haven't been there in almost a year so it might have gone downhill.



I remember that I think. Just east of UTD.

Paul

the hobbytown in arlington isnt too bad. good selection but a little overpriced. good paints and plastic
-zigg

No doubt about it, if I had the money to open one, I would in a heartbeat. The one store I went to in Hurst (Hobby Maker) had great selections. Too bad he closed.

Hi all,

A bit o' history,

Bobbye Hall and her husband Buddy opened a shop in '46 (!) @ Fitzhugh and Bryan in Dallas. He dinked around and she divorced him somewhat soon after.

She was one of a kind in a man's world; she had a great business sense and was one of the original importers of brass locomotives and other model railroad specialties (Hallmark Models). She also was an early NMRA and various other hobby organizations board member. She was well traveled across the globe.

I know this from working there for 12+ years ('84-'97). It was fun and educational meeting all of the customers; especially the regulars. One regular in particular was Steve Gauss (Steve G here on this board; hi Steve, ltns :-) A true enthusiast; he BUILT just about all Soviet Bloc A/C that were old, new, recently released, etc.

Back to Bobbye Hall,

I visited her in Mesquite approximately a year before she died. She was still sharp and and had recently written a book - "Tracks from Texas to Tokyo". . A neat little history about her life and the hobby business. She penned an autograph in mine and we had a nice little visit.

I'll say that it was the best job that I ever had; what with the customers and co-workers, all of the
newly released goodies, etc. It was a a great run...the shop was closed back in '01 and I was lucky enough to show up that Saturday for the last "beer thirty" after closing time.

In closing, hellos to all of the customers and co-workers from the old days,

Bob

p.s. The shop that was located in Balch Springs was Eagle Hobbies; owned by Joe Sullivan.

p.p.s. That was BUDDY Hall's..

p.p.s. Where did 25+ years go.........?

p.p.p.s. (is that correct?) Len Morgan the owner of Wild Bill's is a straight-up guy - I met him there back in '84 and he was/is most helpful. AND still in business; he found his niche years ago...

I noticed from skimming that some of you are in the DFW area. If you are looking for more options there is a Hobbytown in SA, and there is also a small hobby shop named Dibbles.

The Hobbytown people really have no clue about anything in respects to scale models, however they do have a nice selection of armor kits, tools, and supplies. They have a surprisingly large selection of 1/72 armor.

Dibbles is a nice little hobby shop run by a couple of guys who have seem to have been there forever. They know their stuff and are up for a conversation anytime you feel like it. There kit selection is pretty small and doesn't seem to rotate a lot, but you can find some older kits there (they buy from peoples personal collections) and they are more than willing to order anything specific that you are looking for. If you want their number I can send it your way.

There is also an online store by the name of Tankrats AFV Depot that is dedicated solely to scale armor. The store's main focus is 1/35 scale, but the sight has recently expanded deeply into 1/72 braille scale territory, and is looking to move into 1/48 sometime around the end of this year. Tankrats is run by one man and his friend who are a couple of WWII armor nuts. Shipping is free on all orders, which is very helpful. The downside is that it can be very difficult to get ahold of them with how busy they are. But they do stand by their services, and if you really do need to get ahold of them then try by phone until you get through to one of them.

I would like to say there is a guy in Oklahoma City ( couple of hours up I-35) who has a shop that is just great. It is Freedom Discount Books and Hobbies. He also sells on EBay. He will be opening a website soon and selling directly without EBay he is very trustworthy and I have never had a problem with his service or products. He actually sponsors the SoonerAMPS and gives us a place to meet for free. Lots of Armor old and new. If you are interested, his contact information is at the bottom of the SoonerAMPS website at SoonerAMPS(dot)com.

I can vouch for Freedom Discount Books and Hobbies. I've made a good handful of purchases from them through ebay over the past year and a half or so and they're service has been great. Would like to visit if I ever make it back up to Oklahoma again.

Wow, things sure have changed, when I lived in Dallas (Lake Highlands) OKC was a 4 hr haul up I-35.

I think something may be in the works. At the Squyadronfest bakc in June I ran into Tom (he managed Keiths Shop) and he was looking into hooking up with some guy who was really dong RC aircraft but wanted to branch into plastic. I wish I had better info, I thik they were looking at the Plano area As for me, well Ebay and the internet (Great MOdels, Lucky MOdels and Hooby Link Japan) arewhaere I get my stuff, though I did go a bit crazy at the Squadron Open House.

hi gang
i'm in arlington and the only places we have are well[ infamous ]known just south of I-20 off cooper on the west side. its hobby lobby and hobbytown[ just moved back over there ]. not a lot as has been stated, but with the bigger store hobbytown has beefed up plastic somewhat, but you'd have to visit to see it.

thanks for all the tips on stores, i have saved freedom books to fav and will probably be useing them for a few things.

having been out of modeling for a couple of years i am starting all over again and consider myself a rookie again, lol.

blaster its been awhile, but i know ya ships are magnificent, and i'm sorry my illnesses kept me out of the tiger campaign you had, maybe next time?

have a good one gang.

reb

hey guys,
anyone know when the next model show will be held in the dallas area? I will be starting a new dio shortly and would like to know how much time i have!!
thanks!
-ziggy