Models in Grocery Stores ?

[TooOld]

I just returned from my weekly trip to the local Publix here in Citrus Park . In the aisle with school supplies and cheap toys were two Revell '70 Chevelles ( Streetburners ) for $15.99 each ! I was shocked and just stared at them for a few minutes . The shelf next to them was empty and had room for several more kits . Maybe they were already sold ? I wasn't interested in that particular kit so I moved on . Now I'm wondering if it is worth buying . Do any of you have this kit ?

This could be a sign of good things to come .

[Scuderia]

lucky that kit is on my to do list. Sounds like a good price too. those build up nice.

As far as seeing kits at the grocer, i think it depends. you can run into kits all sorts of places. Nice thing is a lot of times you get a killer deal because of it.

[Tony T]

About three Christmases ago I bought 2 models at the grocery store...the haven't had them back again...hopefully a good sign if they do start popping up again.

[Dave Van]

If you are as old as me.....you remember when every drug, grocery and even 7-11 carried model car kits.

[TooOld]

If you are as old as me.....you remember when every drug, grocery and even 7-11 carried model car kits.

I grew up in Torrance , Ca . and in the late 60's the best place to buy models was at the corner Thrifty Drug store .

[cobraman]

Years ago Walgreens had a model section.

[slusher]

l have one of those kits l have not built yet. l am 46 and was born raised in chicago, l remember models in the drug store,dime stores and local hobby shops was every where....Slusher

[vettecote]

My ACE hardware store has models...although they are priced like a hobby shop!...Joe

[JamesW]

I remember the dime store having them. Come to think of it I haven't seen a dime store in a while, were they replaced by dollar stores while I wasn't looking?

I made frequent trips to the dime store up the street my house when I was a kid. 15 years ago AT LEAST the went bankrupt and within a couple months there was a Family Dollar in there. A couple years later a Rite Aid was built across the street, then they closed a year later and a Dollar General moved in.

I WISH the Grocery's would start selling kits. I've got 2 places in town that sell models. Both have a VERY limited selection and are way overpriced. Otherwise, the nearest place to me is an hour away or more.

[Dr. Cranky]

The Thriftys stores in California was were I first bought kits . . .

That would be a good sign except the Publix in my area is reducing stock to the bare minimum ###### THEY themselves market. Brand new store and the selection sucks. I doubt they would give up space for styrene.

[rmvw guy]

One of my favorite places to buy them when I was a kid was a local hardware store.

[MAGNUM4342]

Now here's a nostalgic thread! Growing up as a young boy in the early seventies, I remember buying lots of kits at the multiple local hobby shops. I also picked some up at places like Kroger's grocery stores, Ben Franklin's five-and-dime, Demmer's hardware, the drugstore, Woolworth's and Kresge's (which became K-mart)

Basically, model kits were everywhere. Such a hot and popular item with a great profit margin that everyone and his brother was selling them. I remember seeing an old Aurora Chitty Bang Bang kit at the hardware store when my dad went to get supplies for a porch he was building. Fortunately he needed to go there several times and each time he went I was right there with him bugging him to death for that kit. Finally he was heading there for the last item he needed and wouldn't let me go! I was crushed!...until he came home with the kit. In 1972 that kit cost a dollar. Fondest of memories. :)

[Draggon]

At one time my local Raley's Supermarket had a very nice selection, some Revell 32's, some R-M stuff, even Testors paint. The Longs Drugs ( now CVS ) had AMT offerings. I got a Blackforce and Street Fury there. Back in the late 60's early 70's, Longs always had a great selection. I still have a half-dozen kits I bought back then and haven't yet built.

[Dave Van]

I grew up in Torrance , Ca . and in the late 60's the best place to buy models was at the corner Thrifty Drug store .

1960's Whittier CA here!!! The local The non chain drug store up the street had a Testors paint rack and always 30-40 models in stock. I can recall getting a note from my mom to allow me to buy a tube of Testors glue!!!

And a hardware store is where I made the best purchase ever. I found a old hardware store in the NC mountains around 1977 that was stuck in 1966.....models from 1962 to 1966 ....about 50 of them. Took me 3 visits to get them all but I did. Ended up selling most of them....and buying my 1/1 scale 1973 Javelin so it was a good deal for sure!

Edited July 7, 2012 by Dave Van

[Ace-Garageguy]

I just returned from my weekly trip to the local Publix here in Citrus Park . In the aisle with school supplies and cheap toys were two Revell '70 Chevelles ( Streetburners ) for $15.99 each ! I was shocked and just stared at them for a few minutes . The shelf next to them was empty and had room for several more kits . Maybe they were already sold ? I wasn't interested in that particular kit so I moved on . Now I'm wondering if it is worth buying . Do any of you have this kit ?

This was built from that kit. It's pretty basic, not a lot of parts, but they're nice parts.

[Brizio]

Here Fred Meyer chain has kits too! Years ago WalMar was selling Pocher!

[crazyjim]

I HATE going to grocery stores!

[rmvw guy]

I HATE going to grocery stores!

...It's all about food mostly!

[FEENIX]

The K-Mart near me has some model kits. a whole row with tom daniel kits, a whole row for snap tite, and a whole row of street burners with classic kits next to it like old roadsters. I really hope they start popping up more in grocery stores. I remember as a kid, I was able to get them at Wal-mart and now they're no where to be found in there.

[Ben]

If you are as old as me.....you remember when every drug, grocery and even 7-11 carried model car kits.

Yep!

[62rebel]

almost every place that had a cash register sold models when i was a kid.... some even at the hardware stores, but mostly all the drug stores and convenience stores, grocery stores, and discount department stores. i built most of the MPC Grand National series from kits bought at the local Kings grocery, and Drug Fair had a good twenty-four feet of shelves floor to shoulder with ambrosia.....

everything from $1.99 JoHan to $7.99 Monogram Classics and Aurora monsters, Revell big scale trikes, funny cars, even a few IMC remnants from a couple years back (they seldom had "clearance" sales, they just kept old stock until it sold)....

when Wallyworld quit the biz, they had the new Revell Merc at $7.99 for a while and i stocked up..... if i'd seen it coming, i'd have stocked up on the AMT repops they were selling so cheap. i let them pass, because i figured Wally would always have them.....

[Don Sikora II]

There used to be a grocery chain called "Eagle' and even into the 1980s the store here had a surprisingly good selection of model cars. Several drug stores had kits (Thrift Drug had a selection better than many hobby shops) and a few hardware stores did too. Ben Franklin had plenty of kits, and Wilson's Variety had a full hobby department...I still have the X-Acto pin vise I bought there at least 30 years ago. It was the first modeling tool I bought besides a knife.

[Chitown]

Growing up in Chicago during the late '60s-early'70s, I remember getting kits at Jewel/Osco food stores, Rexall and Walgreens drug stores, 7-11 and White Hen Pantry convenience stores and a few auto parts stores. I even got the Revell '70 Mustang Grande kit at Radio Shack for like a buck or so during Christmastime. I once found an original AMT Ala Kart at a neighborhood store (for the youngsters, this would be something that existed everywhere before the onslaught of 7-11s, etc.) that had a few kits. I recall almost every dime and department store having models, even JC Penny, Weiboldts and Sears.

Now most of my purchases are done online with a smattering of LHS and Hob-Lob thrown in.

[Tom Setzer]

When I was a kid I bought models at the local Hobby shop, the five and dimes, Western Auto, and My Favorite Place The Local Firestone Dealer, who had monthly Model Car Contest, and Owned one of the Coolests AV8s I have ever seen!

[foxbat426]

Model cars are making a comeback it seems - great news. I need to start checking my local stores again. My wal-mart discountinued them about two years ago - i was pissed. I couldn't understand why because there were always hobbiests there checking them out with me - they moved a lot of models and testors paint.