Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Offbeat Places You Have Purchased Model Kits?


Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I got several models as a teenager from our local Winn-Dixie grocery in Marathon, Florida.

I remember in the early 70's, I must've been around 6 or 7 years old, a full on Revell Display with all kinds of cool kits in the back of a Super Market in Tijuana, Mexico! 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

I remember in the early 70's, I must've been around 6 or 7 years old, a full on Revell Display with all kinds of cool kits in the back of a Super Market in Tijuana, Mexico! 

Back in the 1990s, I saw some Lodela (Mexican Revell) kits in Mexican department stores.  As I remember, only a few kits, all aircraft and none interesting enough to buy.

That was a work trip, to Mexico City (the Ford plant) and Puebla (VW plant).  For anyone needing another scale model project, the VW plant had some neat pick-up trucks made out of old Rabbits. They were dented and beat up, and only used for parts hauling on the factory grounds. They couldn't be driven on public roads. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sporadically bought kits from '65 to '70, then got out of it the next two years.  I drove to the Sears store several miles from my folks' house for some Craftsman tools and saw  model kits (it wasn't Christmas season).  I ended up buying the original issue of the MPC '73 Cougar.  Some of the local drug stores, dime stores and chain hardware stores carried a good selection.  Those were the good old days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/18/2020 at 6:30 PM, cobraman said:

Long ago there was a place in Chicago called " Starks Warehouse". It was sort of like a railroad salvage. You never knew what they would have so it was fun to go and hope to see some kits. They almost always had some and my dad would always buy me one or two.

Starks! My brother and I used to go there, they had a couple locations. It reminded me of an Army-Navy surplus store on steroids. Don't recall ever seeing models there, maybe I just never found them, the places were so big. I do recall they always had electric guitars, the real weird low-end and off brand ones. Wasn't interested so much then as I just wanted a Fender. Wish I could go back and get a few of those now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There used to be a Discount Clearance style store near my house that carried quite a few Aurora kits and weird import stuff as well. I would check every few weeks to see what would come in and get cleared out. Family style bargain stores where also pretty good hunting grounds. I remember one having a bunch of Ertl farm vehicle kits for just a few bucks. 

Wish I still had some of the models I scored there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/21/2020 at 11:55 AM, cobraman said:

Didn't know there was more than one. We went to the one on Harlem Ave.

There was also one on about 16th and Canal in Chicago. It might have been the first location. We went to that one for a while before discovering the one on Harlem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Growing up  I used to go into a stationary store, their  basement was full of games that were particularly popular around Christmas every year and shelves full of Airfix kits. The shop closed when the owner retired and I grew up and moved but years later I ran into the owner, now quite elderly, and he still remembered me. Still have a lot of the kits I bought there.

Again growing up about once a year the family would go away to visit close relatives. The business area was always closed on Sunday except for one drugstore which carried an excellent selection of kits including hard to find IMC. A trip there was always sucessful and years later I met someone else who had also been a shopper in the drugstores model corner.

The city of Brandon, Manitoba has a great aviation museum but it also hase a nice hobby shop that shares space with a house paint store. Seems like an unusual combination but if it helps keep the hobby shop open I'll  support it.

Stopped in once at a garden supply store and found that they had a decent selection of kits, never been back that way though.

In the nearest city to me there is an engraving shop, trophies and such, but in a back room the owner had an excellent selection of older kits.

The problem is that these out of the way finds are becoming the rare exception rather then being something that you're merely surprised to find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was stationed in Portsmouth, NH in the mid 1960s. There was a sporting goods store that had toys and models on the second floor. Right around the corner from my high school there was a small TV repair shop. They had one small shelving unit next to the counter that had about 20 car kits. You sometimes wonder how you managed to stumble upon these places.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to a antique store and there were several collections of plastic. Bought several jo-han kits for $15 each and a union model ford mk 4 for $20. Sometimes they do not know what they have. Oh and a revell 1970 Torino cobra for $10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/23/2020 at 12:23 PM, robertw said:

Growing up  I used to go into a stationary store....

I hate stores that move. It makes it difficult to enter and exit the joint.  :P :D

There were two stationery stores in the neighborhood which sold model kits when I was a kid. There was Ted's Stationery (closed in 1974), which had a great selection of kits. I bought my first Johan Turbine Car there for a buck and change. The other was Jam's Stationery, which recently closed. That was my go-to place to buy MAD paperbacks. The model section was located in the rear of the store and, like Ted's, always had a large selection. I bought plenty of Aurora models plus Hawk and early Hasegawa aircraft kits. The guy who was store manager looked like David McCallum's character in the Outer Limits episode "The Sixth Finger" if he wore Clark Kent specs.

image.png.9a6bd137c5e3a0cfe73d7e8595f60090.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

How about a store that sell house paint as its main stock and trade. Haven't been back there for a few years but the last time it had a nice selection of kits, model paint and train stuff. Don't remember the name of the store but it was in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...