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Where are the great Hobby Shops?


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My favorite is Hobbyland in Reynoldsburg / Blacklick Ohio. It used to be in Whitehall Ohio in the Town and Country Shopping Center . T+C was a mile long and one of the first Shopping Centers of it's kind. Saturday mornings were great there when I was a kid. They had an enormous 1/32- 1/24 slot track back in the 60's. The track is still around. They also had a big HO slot track.

Next is the giant Hobby Shop in Dayton Ohio near TJ Maxx, The Dayton shop is the biggest I've been in. They specialize in RC. It looked like 5 + people worked there. That's big-- right? I mean the building seemed bigger than a Dollar General store.

If I could I'd travel all over and visit Hobby Shops and model car shows. Would that be cool or what?

Another good shop for models you don't see everywhere is in Logan Ohio. Lot's of reissues there, Lil Coffin' and stuff like that.

Edited by Fender
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I managed to find a really nice shop while traveling down in the Boston area. Its called The Spare Time Shop and its in Marlborough, MA. They were packed floor to ceiling with kits of just about every genre and had some OOP stuff as well as aftermarket decals, accessories, some resin, etc. If I ever head down that way again I'll definitely be stopping in.

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My favorite is Hobbyland in Reynoldsburg / Blacklick Ohio. It used to be in Whitehall Ohio in the Town and Country Shopping Center . T+C was a mile long and one of the first Shopping Centers of it's kind. Saturday mornings were great there when I was a kid. They had an enormous 1/32- 1/24 slot track back in the 60's. The track is still around. They also had a big HO slot track.

Next is the giant Hobby Shop in Dayton Ohio near TJ Maxx, The Dayton shop is the biggest I've been in. They specialize in RC. It looked like 5 + people worked there. That's big-- right? I mean the building seemed bigger than a Dollar General store.

If I could I'd travel all over and visit Hobby Shops and model car shows. Would that be cool or what?

Another good shop for models you don't see everywhere is in Logan Ohio. Lot's of reissues there, Lil Coffin' and stuff like that.

There's still Hobbyland in Graceland Shopping Center in Columbus. There's also a new Hobbytown USA in Stoneridge Plaza in Gahanna. :)

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You'd need a time machine, but Trenton Hobby Center, in Trenton, NJ circa 1965, and around the corner from there during the same era, American Radio & Hobby. Also in the '50s and '60s, Jenkintown Hobby in Pennsylvania.

Today, there's Penn Valley Hobby in Lansdale, PA, but hours are very limited.

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When I lived in Colorado, my favorites were Compleat Games and Hobbies in Colorado Springs and Colpar's Hobbies in Aurora. Here in the Phoenix area my favorite is Hobby Depot in Tempe. I've been to Andy's a couple times, but I don't go to the westside very often.

Edited by Rob Hall
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Scale model supplies

458 Lexington Pkwy.

St. Paul, MN 55104-4609

This place has everything, it's a 45 minute drive for me but it's well worth it.

Here's the plastic car/truck aisle alone!

Image0078.jpg

I'm in SE Wisconsin, but I've been to Scale Model Supplies twice and have to agree it's a great hobby shop. Pegasus in California is good too. Here in Wisconsin, Model Empire in West Allis and Greenfield News & Hobby are excellent Milwaukee-area shops.

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Only one i know of anymore is in the basement of University Ace Hardware in Berkeley CA. Used to be a bunch around northern california but one by one they have disappeared. there is a decent one in the foothills in i think oakdale too but its nothing to write home about. so...yes...the internet.

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Being there's no hobby shop within a half hour or more from me I have to say that price wise www.scalehobbyist.com is the best and cheapest hobby shop that exists. I've checked many of these websites that everyone has listed and the prices at the mentioned website I posted are much better. Now if I had a local hobby shop within a hour drive of me that I could regularly visit and the prices were reasonable or comparable then I would support my local hobby shop. Till one exists lol I have to go online with who has the cheapest prices. Someone mentioned Penn Valley Hobby Shop in Lansdale. Super nice people but a bit expensive. They are sellers on ebay with VERY high prices.

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I'm in SE Wisconsin, but I've been to Scale Model Supplies twice and have to agree it's a great hobby shop. Pegasus in California is good too. Here in Wisconsin, Model Empire in West Allis and Greenfield News & Hobby are excellent Milwaukee-area shops.

I now live in Sacramento, but was born and raised in the Milwaukee area and concur with your praise of Model Empire and Greenfield N &H. Whenever I'm back there, I make the trip to both of those fine shops.

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There are six decent full-line (or fairly close) hobby shops in Massachusetts that I can think of:

My primary shop is The Spare Time Shop, Marlborough (about an hour west of Boston).

Harry's Hobbies and Collectibles, Norton (about an hour south of Boston).

Centerline Hobbies, Hyannis (on Cape Cod).

Hobby Emporium, Tyngsborough (about an hour north of Boston on the New Hampshire line, and as Mike said, GREAT shop).

Pioneer Valley Hobbies, West Springfield.

Hog Heaven Hobbies, Sturbridge (about 20-30 minutes west of Worcester on Rt. 20, go visit Old Sturbridge Village while you're there! www.osv.org).

There are a couple of other shops scattered around that are good back-ups.

Charlie Larkin

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