Hi all, I went to the local HL today, internet coupon in hand. At the front of the store was a bunch of boxes of clearance items. I picked up a ProModeler Dog Sabre for $8.16 and a Tamiya 1/48th scale F84 T-bird for $12.97. I then went back to the model section and couldn't find anything left that I wanted for even 50% off.
There was another guy there who had, among other things, two Accurate Miniatures B-25Bs. I told him I should have come earlier as I really would like an AM B-25. He took one off his stack and said "Here, take this one." I thanked him and took him up on his offer. So, I got that B-25 for $21.00.
I went to HL today and found nothing I wanted. I was surprised however to see an Accurate miniatures Dauntless and F-3F. Glad to see an AM kit on the store shelves and especially glad to see Hobby Lobby carrying them. If I saw a B-25 I probably would have bought it. Cheers, Max Bryant
Last night, I picked up a $39.99 1/72 Italeri C-130 for $8.00! This was on a clearance table set up near the cash registers. There were also a number of ERTL semi-tractor trailer kits (around $5) and two Monogram USS Enterprise aircraft carrier kits for $20-something. I also picked up two Aztek airbrush tips on this table for $1.60 each.
BTW: This Hobby Lobby is in Denver near Leetsdale & Monaco.
Here in Springfield, OH, we're lucky to get what little Tamygawa and Academy kits that do show up. Seems like half (or better) of the AC inventory is Kang/Zeng-crap with a few R/M also rans thrown in. :-(
-- Chuck Ryan snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net Springfield OH
I've been in 2 of the 3 Birmingham, AL area stores this week. They all have/had the AM B-25, F3F and Dauntless (I picked up one of each), the Tamiya Swordfish, Do-335, Wildcat (bought one!), and Zero, as well as the normal tamiya 1/72 planes. The highlight for me was the 1/32 Academy F/A-18C that I picked up at the Gardendale, AL store. It was the only one they had, was marked $39.99 !!!, then got the 50% off of that ! Not a bad deal at all.
I dropped by the Loveland and Longmont, Colorado, Hobby Lobbies with the printed internet coupons still sitting in my printer tray back home, this after driving all the way down from Estes Park, a 35 - 45 minute drive down the Big Thompson River Canyon, and almost a 3,000 drop in elevation.
Not knowing what to do, I decided the best strategy was to plead with the store people to cut me some slack and give me the 50% off even without the coupons. It worked both times, but was a harder task in Loveland, cause the manager did not know about the sale. Seems that they never know about it until the first customer shows up with a coupon. Corporate never tells these people anything.
So after getting two refusals from two different people, I basically stated that my excuse was valid and that if I had to drive back to Estes Park empty handed, they would have a terribly upset customer not likely to come back any time soon; that plus they would be out about $150 of the models I wanted to buy. "Can't you call someone, somewhere, to find out this sale is legit until Saturday? This IS your store and you should know what is going on." It finally worked, but I do believe that my hysteria was unecessary theatrics that I should not have had to call upon.
Longemont was easier, because the head of model department knew about the sale and about RMS getting the word out. Apparently a whole bunch of hard core IPMSers had already descended upon that store.
Anyhow, I walked out with a bunch a Tamiya armor, a new interest area for me, so I do not have anywhere near enough of a stash of the tried and true models of the last two decades. A Patton, a Marder II, a Jeep, a Mutt, a Sherman, a Panter G Late Version, a Kettenkraftrad, a 7.5 Cm Anti-Tank Gun and a M113 ACAV.
A few here and there airplanes: Accurate Miniatures F3F, Hobbycraft A-4M (I didn't know this version was out), a Minicraft PB4Y-1 (B-24 with the rounder front turret). They had the AM B-25 and Dauntless, but I took a pass on those because ....... I already have them. There must be warehouses full of these AM kits just sitting somewhere, cause these are the issues from a few years back. No wonder AM went belly up with all that inventory just eating away at their capital. There is a company that could have used an MBA or two in management.
Also an interesting find, a couple of Trumpeter kits reboxed by Hobbycraft: M1A1 "Baghdad Liberator" and a British AS-90 (cool looking vehicle, IMHO). Those of you who know me know that I am a liberal in politics who just about blew a fuse when we started this Iraqi war without my permission. Nevertheless, I don't hold that against the troops; not their fault we have a reckless cowboy President masquerading as a free world leader . So I am quite happy to build models of our Army's equipment "over there." I just hope we get it back soon.
The AM kits at Hobby Lobby are not new-old-stock (stuff sitting in a warehouse for years). They are in fact new re-releases from the new AM ownership group.
John Benson ------------------------ IPMS El Paso Web Guy
Although they've got lots more car models, that was my experience, too. The closest they got was with a ($11.99/2) Polar Lights Lee Roy Yarbrough #98 Cyclone, but I've already got 4 of these '69 Ford things (Cale's #21, Petty's #43, and Allison's #27x2) to build, so I passed. What did I walk out with? A '60 Ford Galaxie for $3.66 + tax - without using the coupon! Still dunno why it was on sale ... but now I've got two of 'em.
As I'm a 1/72nd scale fan, all my purchases are 1/72nd:
Tamiya Douglas Skyray Minicraft Lockheed Harpoon Gunship Revell Germany Thunderbolt D-30 (I bought the M years ago and wanted to kitbash Frank Gabreski's final D using Hasegawa and JoHan decal sheets) Revell Germany SB2C-1 Helldiver HobbyCraft (Intech) P-51B/C Mustang
All these for $28.
As I had over $150, I could have done loads more damage with that coupon.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce/IPMS #35922 {Sig Quotes Removed on Request}
My total came to $156. Got an AM B-25, Do 335, 4 Gundham High Grade kits, landed that 1/350 Bismark that eluded me at the last sale, and another kit that I just can't seem to remember at the moment. Musta bought too many.
Actually, it's a Ventura, not a Harpoon. I just got a little education about the bigger Lockheed piston twins overnight. BTW, when I was a teenager, there were a couple Howards (probably 350s) at the local airport. I never thought to take photos of them because I always expected them to be there. They left that field just before I began taking flying lessons there and I don't know where they went. The Minicraft kit seems very Hasegawa-ish, even if Hasegawa didn't make it originally.
Only difference between the D-30 and M kits are the underwing stores, bombs and drop tanks versus HVARs. The D-30 is better for the job but still needs the Hamilton Standard prop--thanks Joe Hegedus!
Must be an old Matchbox mold (comparing it to an old Matchbox Brewster Buffalo).
While I'm a Gundam fan, the Gundam models available at this location didn't excite me: the American issue "Burning Gundam" (ex-God Gundam), the Master Gundam and the Gundam Nataku. I'm mostly a "UC" man.
They didn't have any Airfix stuff, as another poster suggested.
There was still plenty there to tempt me, but somehow I think I'll have other opportunities to come with this store.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce/IPMS #35922 {Sig Quotes Removed on Request}
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