Hi guys,

What a can of worms to open but have any of you walked into your local or regional (depending on how isolated you are) hobby store and tried to find something that is not there and attempt to get something ordered and the employees look at you like space cadets? I get the impression my local store has been overrun by a bunch of fantasy/role game, RC freaks who may not even know that they have armor models on the shelves. Is this a widespread problem?I feel bad that I often use online stores for my wants but it's more reliable than trying to get the "Comic book guy from the Simpsons" to figure it out and make it happen. Wow! I feel alot better now. Thanks...............

I'm kind of lucky in that respect. About 13 years ago I found one of the LHS and the guy specializes in ARMOR. He will order anything I want armor, aircraft, ships, subs, or resin conversions. In my travels I have found the type of shops you have mentioned and I am never comfortable in them. I never order online because I like my LHS and I don't want him to fold up.

When I lived outside of Boston, my LHS literally carried everything. He had great sale prices too. The local HobbyTownUSA carried a small selection of armor, but were generally helpful.

I've only visited one LHS since moving to Ft. Knox. They seemed very knowledgeable and I went there with a regular and was given the club discount even though I didn't join the club until later that evening. I could foresee spending a lot of money there if it wasn't for the 40 minute drive and the fact that I'm trying to stick to 1/72 scale and they did not have a large Braille scale assortment.

My LHS is great - if he doesn't have it - it's ordered and in store within a few days. Probably the same one as Major Scott mentioned if he shops in Mineola, Long Island.

Yep Peter its the same place.
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

the place i go to is helpful but overprices most of their stuff

Suprisingly enough, the best service I've ever gotten was from a shop that mainly specialises in RC Models. I ordered a part for my Motortool from the guy, a few day's later he SMS's me and tells me that it's ready for pickup. Most of the time you as the customer need to do the chasing to get what you want!

For an RC Shop, he also has an impressive amount of kits, and if he doesn't have the specific kit that your looking for on his shelves that that time, he can order it and have it within a week or so and his prices are reasonable

On the other side of the coin, I've also gone to a shop and asked for a quotation only to get an SMS two weeks later telling me that the part I ordered is ready for pickup!

I mean, hello... I asked for a quotation

Cougar

I'm lucky in this respect. There are two very good hobby shops in Silicon Valley, California. There's D&J Hobbies in Campbell and San Antonio Hobbies in Mountain View. Both carry model stuff as well as crafts, RC, games, and trains. At D&J, each section has its specialist crew. San Antonio has the edge on reference material. Both have good kit selection. The crew at San Antonio changed recently so I don't know anyone there anymore. D&J has Al who has been a Good Guy and fountain of information for years.

I'm lucky if my shop doesn't have it in they will order it for me same with PE ect they have a trade acct with Hannants I could order it from there but by doing it through the model shop it works out better for the following reasons a, no postage,b takes the same time to get here (2 weeks for Hannants UK customers ) and I still get my 10% discount

My local hobby shop was extremely helpful. It shut down. Helped me get rid of all those guilty feelings about not using it. Mind you, about all it carried was a line of rusting humbrol paints from 25 years ago.

Vinnie

Well, we have only one LHS in the town where I live, and I think what spave cadets you're talking about bf.

The guys in my LHS actually where from the same class as yours..... Als long as the name Warhammer is in the package, it's in store, but to them Resin, Detail Sets, Armor, Figures etc. are nothing more than some dirty words they don't want to speak out in the open ....

That's why I moved to the internet store(s). We have one good one in the Netherlands (who's advertisement is on top of our forums www.plasticmodelbouw.nl )...friendly people, relatively good prices...it sure beats those ENI's (Earths Native Inhabitants) back at my LHS.

Well I order a lot at plasticmodelbouw.nl as well, but my local hobby store is usefull too as it specializes in armor! I also learned a lot about dio building and weathering from the owner.

Too bad his prices are getting higher and higher...

LHS what's that? You mean the place where teenagers buy Warhammer items? Don't have one... What counts as a LHS is around 350 KM away and they ARE helpful. The kind of traditional family business which is becoming rarer and rarer. They know what they're talking about and a phonecall will have what I need in my hands in 2-3 days, They are also good for those OOP production items which cost an arm and a leg from E-Bay. Nope, not putting a link up to their website...Jim :-) :-) :-)

talking of warhammer pick up the games workshop paints their great and can be airbrushed and thinned with water go some goog colours

I guess im lucky!I have two really good LHS!One carries alot of armor resin and stocks humbrol as well as any other paint you can mention!they also have a huge selection of refrence books!!!!the second doesnt carry that much armor but they sponsor our local club!and they give a discount so i do most of my local purchases from them!!!!!

My LHS has a good stock of kits and paints. Most of the staff are helpful. Some are more into RC then plastic kits. I have found some reluctency to order some decals form ultracast for me. Overall though I would give them an A for effort.

HastyP

I used to have a great LHS. Very knowledgable and helpful. To bad they went out of business.

I have a local shop that is a Hobby/Craft shop and I can't fault them for being space cadets. Modeling isn't thier only or main focus.

I do have a local hobby shop that focuses on RR stuff and they are REALLY helpful. They helped with research on a rail car I did, they helped with diorama materials. They have helped recommend tools and paints etc.

So - I have both worlds with different focuses.

ha hem
Thats not fair i'm a fantasy ,roleplay "freak " too :-) i know what you mean though. ,i'm lucky in that before i worked for Games Workshop i was already heavily into military and armour models etc ,
so i have a dual knowledge ,but to answer your question ,No my LHS is rubbish it sells MRR and MRR and err MRR :-) ,when i ask for anything 1/35 he attempts to assimilate me :-) he occaisionally gets 1/72 revell armour and ,italeri 1/35 but if you need fruil tracks ,he'll most likley order "n" gauge tracks
:-) and frequently glazes over whe i speak of 1/35 AM stuff

The LHS that I used to frequent was really decent.. The husband of the owner wsa into armour as well so he was extremely helpfull.. Unfortunatley the got completly out of plastic.. Piced up a stack of kist for next to nothing.. Missed out on a Famo and a Dragon wagon by hours.. The wagon sold for under 30 bucks CAN

I think my LHS tries to be helpful. They too are beginning to get run over with Fantasy and metal toys. They carry quite a bit of older plastic but don't really seem to ever get enough newer plastic. I think because they are not that big they seem to have trouble getting when they try to order for me. Probably 7 out of 10 times they cannot get it. I don't know if it's just because what I want is so popular and every store would have trouble or they just don;t have a decent supply chain that has access to these kits.

Once again I usually use them for supplies and tools and older kits.

My local store tries to be helpful too.

They are staffed with people interested in all hobbies. They will order items if I ask for them.

The unfortunate thing is "they can't always get what I want (sorry Rolling Stones)" and as such I sometimes must mail order through the internet.

They other thing is they seem to get their orders filled more slowly or don't seem to have the newer items as quickly as the rest of you seem to get them. I guess Canada is the last on the list when it comes to filling orders from DML/Dragon and other companies (or so I am told by the store owners).

Cheers, Michael

Well, My LHS started as a games kind of shop, but the staff seem really eager to learn about the models they've started stocking- the only minor gripe is that there are no preorders- it seems that the staff and the guy(s) who order the stuff don't have an open channel, so mostly they can only tell me which manufacturer is arriving, not the specific items...

Cheers!
Tvrtko

I do buy alot online simply because I can save money. However, my local Hobby Shop (privately owned which makes a big difference I think) is very helpful and knowledgeable and will special order anything that I need.

My LHS is about an hour's drive away in Atlanta, but it specializes in plastic and supplies. It's probably the only true plastic model hobby shop left in Georgia and maybe for many states around. They used to be able to get anything I wanted, but have been dropped by some of their suppliers because they don't order enough. They have also had to slow down their overseas orders because of the decline of the dollar. However, they are extremely helpful and will try their best to still get what I want. I buy things from them that I could probably get on line and maybe cheaper, but I buy because I want them to last. It's a great place to go and mix with other modelers. If it goes, there's nothing left in Georgia except a few Hobbytown, USAs which have had the same kits on the shelf for the last 5 years!! That's kinda sad.