International builders community question

[gtx6970]

Something I think about from time to time , Whats it like to obtain model kits and supplies in the international community ?

Are there stores / shops that carry model kits , or is most if not everything purchased via mail order ?

What got me thinking about it is. I sell restoration parts / supplies for vintage Mopar cars. and I have a customer in Spain ( 2 brothers actually ) that are restoring 3 early 60's Chrysler Imperials. And they've mentioned that every single part has been bought via mail order .

Just curious , I've never been outside the US and international traveling is out of the question( wife hates to fly) But I would love to travel and see the world thru my own eyes.

[CJ1971]

Well i'm from Australia, specifically NSW. I've been in this hobby since around the age of 10-11 & i'm now 41.

Model kits, be they Japanese/US/European costs us a fair whack of $ down here, at local hobby shops, which is quite odd considering our dollar is higher than the US dollar right now.

For several years now, thanks to the internet & places like Ebay, i exclusively buy my kits off the net. Period. Even with shipping costs, US & Japanese kits cost between $10-25 less this way.

We have been getting ripped off for years by retailers greed. There is no other word for it.

Piece of advice.... There's a big Mopar market down here & you'd be crazy not to offer International sales in your business ;-)

Cheers Cliff

[W-409]

Well here in Finland we have pretty good amount of Hobby Shops and other Dealers. I live in Vantaa, which is very close to our Capital Helsinki, where are at least Four Hobby Shops. One has airplanes and other Military stuff, but it is possible to find cars in the rest of them. Especially TietoNikkari has a lot of car models on their stash. And it is possible to buy Evergreen and other styrenes and plastic rods etc from those shops, as well as BMF, Revell & Humbroll Paints etc.

Then we have a few online dealers, and one of them sells of course model kits, but also a lot of Aftermarket stuff, parts, resins and Photo Etch sets etc. I have bought a lot of stuff from these Dealers, and there are more of them too.

And we mostly have American Cars in here.

Also private sellers have great kits and parts for sale. The rarest or the newest items need to be ordered from the US, but otherwise it's possible to find treasures from Finland, too.

Oh and about the prices....They are a bit more expensive here, of course, but mainly new kits are from 25 to 30€.

Edited March 26, 2013 by W-409

[heinz74]

Like i've mentioned before..modelling here in Holland (Netherlands).in terms of cars isn't all that big

it doesn't really help considering the fact that we never really had US cars over here..

sure hearses were mostly US like Caprice's and such..but being close to 40 years old i can't really recall ever seeing a 68 Charger R/T in the flesh except for shows and such..

Ferarri's and Lambo's have a following over here ..

fact is that there aren't many really nice euro cars in 1/24-25 made by the big manufacturers like R-M in comparrison to 'your' US cars..

1/18 Diecast is much bigger and there are a couple of really great stores over here having lots of great models in stock like AutoArt,Minichamps,Otto.Norev etc..and most is sold through mailorder

most aftermarketparts i buy for 1/18 i buy straight from Germany ,like the wheels of 1 of my ///M3's

see photo

1/18 Autoart with 18inch BBS RS/GT

Anyway ,there is a hobbystore nearby for me ,but that's mostly R/C ,

i usually drive to the city of Antwerpen which has a hobbystore ..and they carry just about anything i need...a lot of tools and kits (mostly modern,new stuff)and some magazine's

combining that with my girl's shopping for clothes and shoes ,i just turn it into a day of fun for us both..

can't be bad...

[English Jules]

Well i used to get everything surface from the US to UK, took 2-3 months but so cheap i could buy 20 or 30 car kts (at a 1/4) of the UK price IF one or 2 made it here to a shop. no surface now so shipping prices are sky high, i used to collect genuine CHiPs toys but again, something might cost $5 but $15 to $40 just for shipping :-( Example is there is a seller on ebay selling Linberg Crown Vics at $5. i would love 10 of em (got a lot but you can never have too many lol). but the shipping is a killer. Now im really after some Lindberg cop Chargers, 4, not a chance of getting them in UK, not imported. I also get lightbars, cop decals etc from the US, got some on the way now. postage was $16 for that amount worth of items, small little farty things.

Lots of US sellers wont ship overseas....even if i asked them. I always asked if it was rare, like a CHiPs toy, some would say ok, some wouldnt budge....

Trouble is, having to pay costs and tax. ok tax is tax (20%) BUT then the company wants a good few more quid just for telling you your package has arrived.

I have a LHS, 10 min drive, but i hate the owner, cant stand him, plus i used to work for him, my mate is the manager so im in often (wife works 5 min walk away so i get her to meet in there lol). I get my paints, odd bits etc, i get 10% discount but i would rather give to a friendly shop guy. Internal shipping here has shot up in the last year a lot, now its going to go up again.

I like German model shops, i drive over to E Germany when i can, so i can bring back loads of German beer and vodka (and cigs from Poland).

I do get stuff from China on ebay, shipping is pretty cheap, and the items are half or less of retail price here, so grab a couple of items and both would cost less or at worst the price of just 1 from a shop here.

[Draggon]

I'd love to travel to Japan and bask in the Aoshima-Fujimi-Tamiya goodliness!