RIP Another Hobby Shop Closing

on 2/16/2008 11:41 AM Barry F said the following:

I have to drive about an hour to find a decent model shop. For me, that represents about 3.5 gallons of gas at ~$3.00 a gallon. I find it cheaper to buy online, pay less than gas for shipping, and wait a couple of days for delivery. That's just the way it is now-a-days.

Dont complain about having to drive at $3 i have to drive and at eq of about $8's....

My local model shop is shit (cos of the owner) but cant afford to drive to the next as its about 30 miles away...by the time i drive there and back, i cant afford to buy owt!

I'm in a simialr situation but the two shops in Pensacola, Bobe's and John's, are worth the trip. I look at it this way. The ability to actually see the kits and books before purchase means I'm not disappointed by an online order that doesn't live up to expectations. And I find stuff I didn't realize I needed.

Hey Curt - A fellow Pensacolian! Bobe's really is a good shop 'And I find stuff I didn't realize I needed.' - that happens to me at the homebrew shop, but that's another group!

Mike

- Curt wrote:

You have my condolences. The nearest really decent shop to here is now AAA Hobbies (AKA the front half of Stevens International) in New Jersey and it is 79 miles one way.

Cookie Sewell

there is a crappy shop and hour away and a good one 2 1/4. so driving isn't worth it except when i'm going that way anyway or when i have to have a hobby store fix.

oi!

Yep. Used to be 4 or 5 shops in this county. Now there's 'almost' one. There are kits there but they're shoved into the back corner to make room for all the r/c, packaged trains, die-cast cars, kites and what-not. It's easier to order through Squadron for the hard core model stuff and get the regular model stuff (paint, brushes, etc.) at Michael's. The next-best bet is a shop I've heard of over in York but have not seen yet. Alas, that's 30 miles away and I haven't time or money to check it out.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

The only model paints my Michaels sells are the small 1/4 oz. square Testors enamels and some Testors spray cans. Of course, there is a shitload of 2 oz. folk art acrylics by various manufacturers, if you want to mix your own colors.

snipped-for-privacy@some.domain wrote in news:oULtj.243332$ snipped-for-privacy@fe02.news.easynews.com:

Here we pay EURO 1,40 per liter. That is regular unleaded 95 octane. which (if my conversions are right) is about $5.50/gallon

which country is that? its about the same in UK, but with the £ to the $ about half...its more like

"Jules" wrote in news:IVWtj.102131$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

I live in the Netherlands. It was a very quick conversion/calculation. I could be wrong, but I know I DREAM about the US petrol prices!!

I have driven all over EU inc NL (i am again with my dog in 2 months) and the price is almost the same as UK prices...so i think im pretty close, but a EU litre/gallon is 4.546 litres a little differant to US gallon..but still much cheaper!

My next Euro trip, i work out the fuel will cost me about 800EU!!!!!! I goto Italy, then North all around Germany, to Denmark then back towards UK....about 6000 km...

I don't think there's much in Harrisburg but there is a shop in Camp Hill. I'm afraid I have no street address for you on that. I've never been there.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Yes, the Testors colours are what I meant as the other shop only has some Model Master colours. They don't carry any of the regular items. Since some paint is almost always used on a model I find it handy to get it at Michael's. The next best bet is the railroad hobby shop in Manheim, farther out than the 'hobby shop'.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Is that shop in Mechanicsburg still open? I was there (on a visit) several years back and it appeared to be fairly well stocked, although I only spent a few minutes there. I think the name was J.P.'s or something like that.

There's one about an hour from me, in Jackson, Ms. or there was a year or 2 ago. A Hobbytown, IIRC. There hasn't been one in my town, Vicksburg, in about 20 years, & it wasn't the greatest thing then. Unless I'm going to the north side of Jackson, I don't go to Hobbytown. If I do & I have time, I'll stop in & usually pick up some paints or something & look. Since I've been online for about 10 years, the bulk of my kit buying is online, either thru eBay or online shops. Way easier than driving & usually cheaper.

On Feb 16, 10:41=A0am, "Barry F" wrote:

Combining two threads, A modeling friend of mine was at the meeting of a local club last week, and folks were bemoaning the decision by Wal-Mart to drop models from their shelves. He said, so what, why do you need to buy your models at Wal-Mart? Several said, "they are much cheaper there than in the hobby shops." So my friend said, "then you have no qualms about putting your local hobby shops out of business." That started quite a lively discussion.