90 replies to this topic

[niteowl7710]

Alright well established what we can't bring up in this thread, but in a continuing quest to figure out what exactly is going on with this I, your loyal Wal*Mart 3PL Groceries Relocater has been scouring my stores for the skinny. So far out of about 2 dozen (out of 212) Wally Worlds I service the only two I have found that have their stores set for this are in Severn, Maryland and Mechanicsburg, PA.

The displays will look like this (Mechanicsburg's bare shelves)


The peg board area is for glue (tubed toxic and horrifically smelly non-toxic), Testors Spray Paints, Testors Bottle Paint Starter Kits (in Acrylic!) along with the cheapo Testors Paint Brushes and X-Acto Knives and Blade Refills. The entire bottom shelf is dedicated to Estes Model Rocketry. The two full length and two half-length shelves are divvied up into the following categories. *Note these all have "Assortment" after them, or as part of the name (eg Assortment A, Assortment B, etc).

AMT Car
Modern Pickup
Vintage Truck
Special Edition A
Special Edition B
Cal Wheels A
Motor City A
Street Burner A
Corvette A
Performance A
Californai B (yes spelled that way)
Mtr City Muscle B
Street Burner B
Corvette B
Performance B
Assembly Line
Ferrari
Classic Cruiser
Car Show
Motorsport
Uptown
Muscle Car
Harley Davidson
Ship
Snap Plane
Historic Aircraft
Emergency Vehicles
Snap Car A
Snaptite Car B
Monster Truck
Duke's Hazzard
Sci Fi
Tank
Helicopter
Military Air

Glue kits are universally $19.9x (the last penny depends on the market...in Maryland they were 19.99, in PA $19.97). Snap kits are $14.9x. Yes I know that's more expensive than the 40% Coupon at H.L./Michael's/A.C. Moore. Yes I know some people hear the opening of "Empire Strikes Back" at the mention of Wal*Mart. Yes Harry I realize the internet is open 24/7, but so is Wal*Mart. But for those people with no LHS, and no reasonably close "big box" hobby retailer, and don't want to wait to have kits shipped to them (and/or get hosed on the S&H on eBay) this does present a viable option.

[mikemodeler]

Be interested to see if this is a reset for the upcoming holiday season or part of an experiment to see if certain stores will sell these and WM will expand to other stores?

I agree that having another outlet is good for the hobby and they are priced in line with other retailers. Let's face it, HL & Michaels have the prices they do because of their coupons. I wonder how many kits HL sells at full price vs, with a coupon?

Hopefully this helps the manufacturers with production and provides some needed cash flow for new and reissued kits.

[Skydime]

Well, hopefully we stay on track with this one. Anyway, it's good to finally see some heads up information from someone in the know about this. It is sad in a way though. I notice the prices are higher than they were at Christmas time last year. Of all places, you would figure Walmart would try to undercut everyone's price.

After initially not finding them at my two local Walmarts, I went back to the one 15 minutes from here and found a few. I have to admit, even at the higher prices, for me, it is a viable option. There is a Magic Mart that sells kits 30 minutes from here but, their selection hardly changes. But they are cheaper. Walmart seems to have a whole different selection and it keeps me from having to drive an hour to Hobby Lobby/Michaels or 2 1/2 hours to Hobby Town for many common kits.

I do see what Harry mentioned about ordering online in the other thread. Online is also a great option for those who want to snatch a deal on out of production kits, resin kits, and on free shipping deals. It also helps those who also have health or transportation issues that cannot get to a retailer. It just doesn't appeal to me because my wife and I do customer service from home. Every time someone pulls into the driveway, the dogs start barking.,,and that is a serious threat to our jobs. I don't wanna get fired just because the UPS guy delievered me an Aoshima Hilux.

Edited by Skydime, 25 August 2012 - 04:10 AM.

[Bartster]

l don't know if this news affects me or not. Our closest WM is Not open 24/7, but it is only a 40 mile round trip compared to 120 miles for HL. l doubt if our WM will carry model kits/supplies since we have a LHS that has 7 kits including 2(!) vintage James Bond kits. Plus he's open at least one day a month! Sometimes. l'll stick with the USPS-cheaper & more reliable. Ouch! Bart.

[Skydime]

Bart, you brought up another great point. I visit Pigeon Forge, TN frequently. The hobby shop down there is lucky to be open one out of five times I go there. I honestly don't see how shops can afford the rent and utilities that way. Even though your Walmart is not 24 hours, at least you know they will be open during regular business hours.

[Terror]

we had a shop like that(open part time) not to far away.Now they are closed all the time.lol

[2000-cvpi]

The local Walmart here has models. I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but it's a super Walmart. That may be the reason that they are stocking models. I do know that for the prices listed, I won't be buying from Walmart.

[Johnny]

Both WM's here have the toy department almost bare in areas as they are setting new mods for Christmas. The wife has yet to talk to anyone she used to work with there to find out if they are going to have models this year.
So far they didn't have the mod sheets hanging on the shelves nor any labeled.

[lanesteele240]

I think it is good they are selling them again. There is a whole generation of kids that have zero idea thAt you can put a "toy" togther. They have never been exposed. If they dont have a dad or uncle that puts them together that is one more gone that wont hand down our hobby to their kids. Maybe now they will see them and go, what is this, i should give it a try. Next thing they find A hobby shop and spend money there. So the hobby is better off now

[mademan]

seriously people are complaining about a $20.00 kit? the times are changing and compared to some things ...... $20.00 is cheap

[thatz4u]

wal-mart does price match also

[gluebomb]

My Wal-Mart finally filled their model shelves yesterday(Aug. 24th). I'll spend the 20 bucks on kits, I spent $45.99 on AMT's 1951 Chevy in the collectors tin at my local LHS.

[rel14]

Not in south florida,, been to them,, No models, Must be a north thing

[TooOld]

Yeah , we get no respect down here !

[martinfan5]

My next door nieghbor is a Wal-Mart manager. She says it's a holliday thing in select stores only (meaning larger and not rural areas). If it does well, it might be a year round thing but don't expect it, and it will not be extended to stores in rural areas.

I had a feeling it was a holiday reason

[Austin T]

I was at the local wally world the other day and asked a lady walking around if they had any models in stock or coming in soon,she said that she hadn't heard about that and then led me to the lego isle.....I don't think she had the slightest clue what a model car was,even after I explained it.

[crazyjim]

There's 3 super Wal-Marts within 15 miles of us and another one going up even closer. I do my very, very, best to avoid shopping (Lowe's, Home Depot, LHS excluded) and leave the chore to Marcia.

Hey Bart - you need to move closer to a hobby shop.

[niteowl7710]

I have three Central PA "rural" stores tonight I want to check on...i asked the toy manager at one of the stores near my house that I go to about it (knowing he builds models) and he said all he got was one (1) Snap Enzo and had no place to put it. He expected to carry a limited selection for Christmas, which that store hadn't done in 3 years. Then went on to discuss why Revell has never bothered to reissue the large scale kits...

[martinfan5]

I have three Central PA "rural" stores tonight I want to check on...i asked the toy manager at one of the stores near my house that I go to about it (knowing he builds models) and he said all he got was one (1) Snap Enzo and had no place to put it. He expected to carry a limited selection for Christmas, which that store hadn't done in 3 years. Then went on to discuss why Revell has never bothered to reissue the large scale kits...

Hmm, so I guess he is not counting the 1/12th Mustang Shelby kit as a large scale kit

[niteowl7710]

Hmm, so I guess he is not counting the 1/12th Mustang Shelby kit as a large scale kit

We were talking about that, and debating if that meant there would be more (aka a Camaro SS). He wanted them to bring back the 1/8th Jaguar XK-E.