We have a local hobby store in town here. Most of the time the place is a mess, it seems to be one of those places that buys out inventory of closed stores and damaged products. Imagine a classic used book store with books stacked all over the place. Now imagine those books are hobby items- trains, plastic models, R/C stuff, etc. Personally, I find it hard to locate anything in there, but as one of my friends says, "Sometimes, they just don't know what they've got."
Case in point. Same friend was in there the other week. Notices a few new HO locomotives just arrived on the counter. He asks the proprietor about one in particular, and how much he wants for it. "A hundred," is the response. My friend thinks about it for a little bit, and goes back later to get it. The only thing missing is the box--apparently it got damaged in shipping--but after a close inspection and track test, he's satisfied that everything works properly. For $100, he got a brand new Lionel HO UP Veranda Gas Turbine!
So far the best I've managed to find there was a Dragon Wings die cast 747 model. Normally retails for about $35, went to the counter and asked "How much?" The response was, "Uhh, what is this, a puzzle? How about ten bucks?"
"Sure!"
Ok, thus ends the lament. Thanks for bearing with me.
-Eric