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Michael's - what's your opinion?


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I use their coupon to buy paint and glue and the occasional kit for parts. Yesterday I needed a can of gloss black in a bad way so I took the 50% of coupon and bought a can. I think it was old though as it kind of sputtered out even though I heated the can and shook it well. Now I've got a some buffing to do. I've also noticed that their bottle paints look like they've been there a while. Hobby Lobby is about a 15 minute drive one way but its worth the trip. I'll still buy my glue and bead wire from Michaels with the coupon though.

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I was at my closest Michael's today, I'd say they have an ok selection, and up to date.

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If these stores were near me I would be more likely to shop for kits there, but the stores around me don't come close to looking this up to date or complete. A real shame as the so called hobby shops in my area are disappearing or focusing more on R/C and abandoning model kits.

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My in town Michaels has about half of what the Michaels in Mooresville, NC has. Also they are never in the right place on the shelf so it is a pain to see what the correct price is. Luckily a price scanner is close by.

The Mooresville location has more AMT kits, the local one only has about two or three. Also the Mooresville location does a better job of keeping the shelves organized.

The Mooresville location is 60 miles round trip but Mooresville also has a HL. I'll hit both whenever I'm there visiting friends that live in Mooresville.

HL is opening a location here in Salisbury sometime this summer.

If I can't find a kit I want at either HL or Michaels I use the discount coupon for supplies.

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The location closest to me is not set up like that. The most recent kit they had was Revell's Chevelle Pro-Street. I have not yet checked the one a bit further up north.

I think the NY Metro area may be a worse market for model kits than most these days.

Gotta agree with you on that. When I was a kid, there was a hobby shop, three stationery stores and three toy stores just in my neighborhood where I could buy models. Even the bigger candy stores had a small model section in the back behind the magazine and comic racks.

Where do you go, Bruckner Hobbies on E. Tremont? Great for R/C; lousy for plastic. If you don't mind taking a ride to Queens, there's 105 Hobbies, on Jamaica Ave., in Richmond Hill. They specialize in R/C; but, the model section is car-heavy. if you don't see it, they'll order it and you'll get it within the week. considering that this is a NYC hobby shop, the prices are pretty good; definitely better than Jan's in Manhattan.

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The Michael's nearest me does carry kits, but probably has only a quarter of the shelf space compared to Hobby Lobby, which is in the next complex directly east. That Michael's also seems quite disorganized compared to HL.

The next nearest Michael's is slightly smaller, and did not carry any model kits the last time I stopped in there.

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Our Michaels is sad for kits. Maybe five feet of shelf for kits, and they've been stocking and restocking the same exact kits for years.

It seems the only way they drop a kit is if the factory cancels the kit entirely. It's like those tourist traps in the northwoods that have the same model kits grossly overpriced that only sell on rainy days when the kids can't play in the lake or go fishing.

I check them out when they have a 50% off ad, and usually get something like a set of artists oils for making washes.

Hobby Lobby is three doors down and they must have two or three local modelers working in their kit section because it's WELL stocked. And they get in very model styrene specific stuff as well. Touch and flow glue applicators even. Not even our old hobby shop was this well stocked for plastic model tools and accessories. And stock is rotated often. Sales on the older kits, and newer kits stocked often.

Hobby Lobby beats Michaels on everything. Their regular prices are better, and their stock is leagues beyond.

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I think at least three guys complained that their Michaels store that's very near to a Hobby Lobby had a lame model department. I'm thinking that they surrendered and just stocked some obligatory models knowing they couldn't compete with HL in that area. The Michaels stores near me (no HL near) have a better stock than described, more like the set of photos that were posted earlier.

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Joe (SfanGoch), I've been trying to respond to your post, but the forum keeps sending me back to the home page every time i hit "Post". Can't figure out why, unless the forum software has a problem with some of the words / local names / formatting I used?

Edited by Danny Lectro
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