First off, sorry if this subject has already been posted. The connection is really slow today, and I don't have the patience to look for it...
So, I'm a model builder. Yup. My question is this: Can I ever again go to a hobby store and get only what I planned to? I was going to go pick up the 1/48th Revel P-38 Lighning today. When I saw that the kit was only 10.99, I just had to look at the other kits. I found out that my Hobby Lobby had completely restocked thier selection of Tamiya military kits... Aaaak!! I came to get one plane, so I left with two.... and some masking take.... but that's it! The other model I got was Hasegawa's 1/48th Bf109G-14.
Anyone else seem to have the uncontrollable to buy model kits when you're at the hobby store?

YodaMan

Well a least you bought a good looking, kick-axx kit of an equally good looking and kick-axx aircraft

The same thing happens to me many times. I usually go to the hobbyshop to get some paint or new blades but I cannot resist picking up a kit. Sometimes I go there looking for something specific, like last Tuesday I went to get a Tamiya M4A3 Sherman, but they didn't have it in stock. I should have just done an about face and save my money, but instead I picked up a Tamiya M48 and a Tiger I.......DOH.

BTW, next time pick up some Armor...

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC

I actually have to limit myself to visiting a hobby store only once a month. If I don't control my impulsiveness, I would be spending $50-$100 a week. Therefore, my 3 favorite local hobby shops only get to see me once every 3 months

I certainly could have... All of Tamiya's kits... Skdfz 250, Willy's Jeep, 6x6 truck, I think there was a sdkfz 140 or something - it was a tank, but for the turret it had a quad machine gun or something. I didn't look too hard at it, otherwise I woulda spent even more money!

By the way, I got the Bf109 for 12.99! :-) The 'regular' price was 25 bucks!!! :-)

YodaMan

Yea, Verily! I never get out of a hobby shop with just the item originally in mind, unless I am totally skunked and they have none of whatever was on my shopping list. Particularly if I start finding things on sale, the red mist rises and I start grabbing stuff off shelves. After all, I came looking for X,Y, and Z, and planning to spend this many $$$. Well, if I find stuff cheaper, then absolutely I must add to the pile to reach the budgeted $$$! Anything less strikes me as, well, Un-American!
Greg

ok ok ok, you got me. I just bought a Roman warship for no apparent reason other than it looked cool. Whatever, don't want to hear it..... lol There has been other instances when I have made the trek to my model mecca (Colpar Hobbies in Denver) to "Load up on Goodies" (Aqcuire 2nd mortgage) and have left the store with nothing more than a damn tube of glue and some #11 blades!!! So I guess it goes either way. Awhile back Hobby Lobby had their 1/2 off sale on plastic and I actually took off an entire aternoon from work to hit the stores....all 4 in my area. I amassed a rather impressivre amount of plastic while spending only half of what I normally would have had to spend. I need more models like I need another hole in my head, but there is so much new and great stuff coming down the pike that its hard to resist....anyway, I got models to buy, err.... I mean build. "Q"

I do most of my shopping online, most times when I go to a hobby shop for something I am looking for they don't have it. So I go to the hobby shop when I am not looking for anything, and leave there about $50 lighter away.

Many's the time I've found myself standing in the middle of the hobby store aisle, kit in hand as I debate with myself whether I really need to get it today, or if it will wait until I at least get close to finishing something already in the works.

This sometimes takes quite a while, I can only imagine what other people think. Sometimes I'm able to put it down and just walk away, other times, I put it down, only to come back and continue the internal debate.

Just a few days ago I found myself in the hobby shop looking for modern soviet AFV crew for my ESCI BMP-1, didn't find anything but the WWII era set, but I did find the Flak 38 I needed for an upcoming conversion I have planned. The price was right, the kit located in a shop relatively far from my normal shop (that didn't have it), and I was late meeting my buddy for Star Wars, so the decision was quick and easy. Now I just need to find a T-34-76 (1943) and I'm all set. Now I can justify the purchase of Tamiyas M41 and SdKfz. 251/1 as necessary practice for the T-34(r) Flakpanzer conversion - which will make my future purchasing dilema's not only easier, but necessary. I mean, I've already bought part of the conversion, so it'd be silly to turn back now. And I do need a little more armor experience because I want to do a good job on the conversion, right? And hey, what's the point of going to all that work on a conversion if you don't dress the model up with PE details? Now that it's looking really sharp, may as well go ahead and get new track as well. I'll stop at new gun barrels though, gotta draw the line somewhere.

It would look really nice with new barrels though. . . .

-Paul

Just bring the wife along. Amazing what happens to compulsion!

Did somebody say compulsive spending? I would if I had the money...oh wait, thats why I don't have the money!

Mark

I'm a terrible obsessive spender.
That's why I don't carry a credit card in my wallet anymore.
But, damn the internet and the easy access spending.

My local shop had a bunch of the older Verlinden stuff on clearance at prices 50-66% off normal retail. Barely left there with the wallet intact. I could not figure out why some stuff was on clearance and other stuff not. Some OOP stuff was two-thirds off, some was full price. Some newer stuff was 50% off and some at full price. If there was a rhyme or reason, I didn't figure it out.

This Saturday I will be driving 100 miles to visit 2 hobby shops (larger than the ones 30 miles away that I call home) and the Barns and Noble (the one 30 miles away is a college book store and has very little to offer). The last time I made this trip I came away with quite a haul. I plan the same this trip. I haven't bought a new model for almost a month (not counting 2 ebay buys) to make me feel better about the upcomming trip. Yep, this weekend I plan to be a compulsive spender.

I hear what you guys are saying,on Sat I wanted to get some plastic sheet and tubing well heck time the day was over had the M88 from AFV club,the Hummer with 242 bushmaster,and had him hold the hummer avenger for me so I can sneak it in over the week. What day you working late Honey

Yep I guess you could call me a compulsive spender,amazing how that one tin of paint I go to the model store for always seems to turn into a kit when I leave the store.Its not just kits either,My local store has a good selection of Concord books which also cause me to pry open the wallet

If I go to a store for a tin of paint, I would end up with a kit. If I go there for a kit, I would end up with 3 kits, and all the aftermarket stuffs for them.

Here is a good one, last month I went to the store for a canned air for my airbrush, then I ended up with a good double action airbrush, a compressor... 2 weeks later, not happy with the first compressor, then go to the shop again, get another compressor and another air brush....

I need medical help!!!

What's even worse is that I live in an area that 3 really good hobby shops are all within 10 minutes walking distance. The Modelling God hates me!!!

I spent few weeks in USA, and it was HORRIBLE....! You can go anywhere, give your credit card, and...Nothin' asked ( not like here ! ), no Identity card, no forgotten silly secret number, nothin' ! Just ask, pay and go....I couldn' t live in this country ! :-)
I went with a small suitcase, and went back home with two ENORMOUS travelbags full of kits, books ( Hunnicutt' s ones ' re VERY heavy ! ), magazines, tools ( 20$ ? It ' s SO cheap, Honey...Give me two boxes more, please ! )....! Everybody was happy...Save Mr BankMan, little bit anxious, may be !
Now, I ' m more serious...WW2 US armor only...And Nam ! And 1/25th 41 Chevy pickup...And FineMolds TIE fighter...And Tamiya T-Rex...And........! That ' s ( my ) life ! :-)
' ve a nice day...!

In stores I'm rather serious.
I go there with an idea of I'm looking for, nothing too precise. That way, I'm able to choose the
kit that seems the most intersting.
But online, it's different...When there's someone selling a lot of different stuff at good prices on ebay, I've
got more difficulties controling myself... I tend to buy because it's at a good price, more than because
I'm certain I know how I'm going to use that model. But now, I tend to tell my girl friend each time I buy,
so I know when she's kind of surprised by the quantity, it's time to calm down.

I second that! Also, knowing that you'll hear about it when you bring new stuff home helps to curb impulsiveness. Being married has greatly improved my self-restraint. Before marriage, I couldn't come out of a hobby shop with at least 2 kits plus what I came there for. I guess that's why I have 105 kits in the kit closet to build yet.

And to think I used to wonder how all the guys here could have a collection of 100+ kits.........

YodaMan

Yodaman...wait until you have a disposable income, a place of your own, and no female 'guidance' to hold you back. Your 100 will come!

I went into the hobby shop today for some plastic stock. Came out $40 later with plastic, paints, and a book. Thank god they didn't have any kits that caught my eye! And they don't stock PE (yet!), so I am safe from that for the moment. Still, got a bit of the ol' sideways look from my wife..."You've been in there for 40 minutes!" Sigh....

i have that problem also.it doesnt matter if its models ,books or anything else if its related to the hobbie i buy it.i always seem to come out with more than i went in there for

if a new kit, photoetch set, or magazine interests me, it's mine

Here's what I do... I have a list of ALL kits I want. I then price those kits online to find the cheapest price anywhere. I put the price on my list and take that list with me to the hobby shop. When I see a kit I really want, I pull out that list and see that I can save $X by buying online. That cures the impulse buying right then! I only buy what I came for that way. When I purchase kits, I limit myself to only 1 or 2 splurges per year and I do it online where I can get the best prices. I will spend $150- $200 each time. When I go to the hobby shop, I only buy needed supplies and maybe figure sets or airplane supplies(for my RC stuff).

Don :-)

See, for me, I just look at the web prices and say,'Well, the shipping charges aren't on there yet.... and do I really want to wait a whole week to get the model? Of course not!' *
When I really want a model, I want it as soon as possible!

YodaMan
*this statement was somewhat, but not overly, exaggerated!