House of Hobbies in Florida

[vamach1]

I was in the Clearwater area on vacation and went to the House of Hobbies on Route 19.  There used to be two locations and they combined them about 15 years ago.  I rememer the one in Clearwater on Ft. Harrison St and it was packed to the ceiling with kits and RC cars and trains.  The store is a little better organized with a huge model selection including many older kits.  There are boxes in every aisle and you cannot even see everything.  There are a few rows of diecast models going back to at least the 1990's.  If you are on vacation or live down there it is well worth checking out.

[Mike Chernecki]

I wish I knew about this before. I spent a week in Tampa at IBM doing some training. I couldn't find any hobby shops... but I found Clearwater Beach.

[Jantrix]

I wish I knew about this before. I spent a week in Tampa at IBM doing some training. I couldn't find any hobby shops... but I found Clearwater Beach.

Tampa is kinda lacking in hobby shops. But we have plenty across the bay in Pinellas County. We have House of Hobbies in Palm Harbor as Rex mentioned. The couple that runs that store are nearly an institution here in Tampa Bay. I used to buy from them when I was a kid, when they had a store on Main Street in New Port Richey in the 80's. 

But we also have Jackson Bros on Gulf to Bay, Phil's Hobbies on Park Blvd, and Model Citizen (formerly Ralph's) on 66st St.

[crazyjim]

Sounds like I need to do a road trip.  Been about 2 hours away and never visited any of those shops.   Are those shops you mentioned fairly close together, Rob?

[Jantrix]

Phils, Model Citizen and Jackson Bros are fairly close. House of Hobbies is 20-30 mins away down US19 depending on traffic.

I do recommend Model Citizen, as the previous owner was big on buying collections so there's an outstanding model car selection.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Jantrix