I get to travel quite a bit in my job, which means i get to explore some really neat hobby shops... hey - our industry is one of the few that is not dominated by a cookie-cutter "mass merchant". We still have tons of "mom-n-pops" that run the trade, and that makes it fun!

With that litle sideline out of the way, I'll be in Vancouver , Canada in early November... can anyone recommend a good hobbyshop for the 1:35 crowd? And -are things usually a "good buy" in Canada or does the exchange rate make it actually more expensive?

Keith--I don't know about Vancouver itself, but if you have the chance to cross over to the Island and visit Victoria, get to BC Shaver and Hobbies. It's a really good store.

As for deals, I know that it's not such a great deal for us to go to the States anymore, so it might not be bad for you. I also think that hotel prices are really cheap in Canada compared to the US.

Nic

Hey there, and welcome to Vancouver (in the near future).

Not sure about the price difference here, but we do have many hobby stores. If you go to the Vancouver IPMS page, there's a page with all the hobby shops in Vancouver that are affiliated with them. Here's the link: http://members.tripod.com/~ipms/shops.html The one is Burnaby (on Rumble St.) is a nice store if you want 1/35 scale models, and they have a nice selection of paints.

There's one there that I go to frequently, that is not listed on there. It's the:
Creative Hobby Store
43 6th St New Westminster
Phone: (604)524-6644

If you go to this one, be sure to go downstairs, since that's where he keeps all of the 1/35 Scale models. I'm not sure of the price difference, but I do know that it was $15 CAN for my Tamaya 1/35 Modern Infantry set (6 figures). Paints are about $3 for 1 Model Masters. Don't quote me on the paints though, since I usually buy so many, that I don't realize how much each one costs.

And almost directly across the street (it's up one street, and to the left a few stores) is a railway store that is actually quite good if you want stuff to build scenery (for a diorama), and they also have some different paints. They are:

Pacific Scales Railway
612 Carnarvon St. (Perpendicular to 6th St.) New Westminster
Phone (604) 524-8825

Both of these are walking distance to the "New Westminster" skytrain station, just incase you would like to use Public transit.

If there's anything else, just ask!

Keith--What you should do is come to Alberta. There's some very good model stores in Calgary and Edmonton, but best of all, there's no provincial sales tax like they have in BC

Nic

Hehehe, you better come quickly too. Since I hear the Canadian government is thinking of raising the GST to 10% (right now it's 7%).

The 3 hobby shops I HAVE to go to when on the mainland are.....Burnaby Hobbies in Burnaby of course. Has a great selection of plastic but the books are awesome!!! This is the only store in BC that can get Accurate Armour stuff in.
Fine Scale Models I believe it's called but I can't remember what part of the city it's in....a guy named Martin owns it....good guy and great selection of stuff....he buys people's collections too so sometimes you can find great old kits in there.
And my favorite is a place in Richmond but I can't remember the name right now and it's driving me crazy!!! It's a huge store and has something for everyone....if I wake up screaming the name of it in the middle of the night I'll come out here and post it before I go back to sleep.
Maybe one of the mainlanders can help figure it out.
And if you do come to the island and want to go to the BC Shaver Shop let me know and we'll connect up there...would be cool to meet someone from the site.

Try Imperial Hobbies in Richmond, Burnaby hobbies in Burnaby or Magic Box Hobbies in Kerrisdale or Tsawwassen. They're in the phone book.

JC Hayes

magic box is very good Great selection of PE and tamiya armour, imperial very good but tend to be a bit more expensive than others a few dollars not much. Burnaby hobbies is aslo very good, I was not overly excited about bc shaver in Victoria good selection of verlinden but not that much armour. There is a good hobby store in Richmond in a CHinese mall called Wings corner hobby store great selction of books.

If you were at BC Shavers and didn't see much armour then you weren't looking in the right places. They have more armour than most stores their size.
Yes....Imperial Hobbies is my favorite place to shop....they have everything you could ever want.....and I don't mind paying a little extra for it...but I didn't find it more expensive there than anywhere else. Same as most places....some things are more....some things are less

What would you guys say is the best shop to get 1/35 Modern Military figures from? I went to the Royal Oak (actually on Rumble St.) store, but he didn't have anything.

Creative Hobby's in New Westminster doesn't have too many (they have about 2 or 3 modern figure kits).

Is Imperial Hobby's good for 1/35 Modern Military figures? When I say modern, I'm talking about Desert Storm and later, so pretty much 1990 - present.

Imperial Hobbies is good...they have a lot of stock and a lot of different stuff from companies you've never heard of.....but you have to either look for it...could take a few hours to go all through the store.....or ask them if they have it. They seems like a great bunch of guys over there who work for the owner....they even open up a 1/2 hour early for us island guys when we go over for the Vancouver IPMS show and competition....and on that day...they give 10 or 15% off.....and I'm pretty sure they give a discount everyday for IPMS members so don't forget your card of you have 1.