Danny Lectro Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 [...]the model kits are a mess, nothing is organized and its hard to see what they have without moving kits around. Same here, even with the more limited selection. There were a few random kits kind of jammed together on the highest shelf, at least nine feet up.
clovis Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Our Michaels is pretty lame, and pushed into a corner on an outside wall.Hobby Lobby is next door, in the same strip mall, and beats Michaels pretty bad.
Tom Geiger Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Our Michaels is pretty lame, and pushed into a corner on an outside wall. Hobby Lobby is next door, in the same strip mall, and beats Michaels pretty bad. Interesting! Usually shopping center leases prevent competing businesses.
FordRodnKustom Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 My local one looks just like the one posted above...even with the same selection of kits. I've stocked up using 40 - 50% coupons. There are no other hobby stores anywhere near here so I find Michael's handy at times..
Tom Geiger Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Funny thing... since I read this thread the ads that are popping up on the board are a Michaels 50% of coupon... only it's an expired one!
MeatMan Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 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.
mikemodeler Posted January 4, 2015 Author Posted January 4, 2015 I was at my closest Michael's today, I'd say they have an ok selection, and up to date. 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.
VW93 Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 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.
mrindy77 Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Picked up a 1970 Chevelle for 50% off. Depends on what your looking for the Woodbury store probably had 30 different car kits. Not the LHS selection but could not pass up the 50% discount.
SfanGoch Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 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.
Danny Lectro Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) test - Why can't I post a full reply in this thread? Edited January 7, 2015 by Danny Lectro
Robberbaron Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 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.
hpiguy Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 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.
Tom Geiger Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 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.
hpiguy Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 That makes sense too. Unfortunately, ours sucked for five years before HL built their place.
Danny Lectro Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) 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 January 10, 2015 by Danny Lectro
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