[Guy Schlicter]

Hi,I live in the NYC area(Staten Island)and have only 1 Hobby Shop on the North Shore of the Island.In Manhattan there is one on the Upper East Side called Jans and is good sized and one around Madison Square Garden called Americas Hobby center.In Late April I bought the Big Polar Lights NX-01 from him for a reduced price,hes a nice man.I used to buy from another hobby dealer who lost his store and on Fridays and Saturdays sells out of his car to his Loyal customers near where the store once was.I bought my first USS Enterprise E from Ertl from him and still have it and still order from him from time to time.I live in 1 of the biggest cities in the World and have very little in the way of model Shops,I don't have a big selection of Hobby Shops available to me and chances are many of you have more around you then I do in the way of hobbies,Thanks,Guy Schlicter

 

[falcondesigns]

I think Jan's is gone,last year when i went there it was gone.The lady who owned it was very nice and she liked when i was in town and visited with her.Try Manhattan trains on 45st just west of Fifth Ave.Village Comics on sullivan st has models,so does Forbidden Planet on B'way and 13 st.St Marks Comics and Toy Tokyo also in the village,get their address from the phone book.I was born and grew up in New York City.

 

[John P]

It IS rough for us these days. There was a great little hobby shop in Clifton, NJ, John's Hobby. His business started suffering when the local highway underwent major reconstruction, and the exit near his shop was closed for 2 years. It was real hard to get to him. When the construction cleared and I went to vidit, he was gone.

It'd be a long haul for you, Guy, but I go to HiWay Hobby House on rt 17 North in Ramsey, NJ. It's just a few miles south of the NY state border. I have a friend from Staten Island who works in secaucus, and makes the trip up 17 once in a while. I think it'd be about an hour's drive for you. HHH is still the biggest hobby shop in the whole area. It's been there since 1956, but even they are talking about how hard it is to make ends meet these days.

To get there, take the Goethels across to the NJ Turnpike north, get off exit 16 for route 3 east, then get on rt 17 north. From there it's about 20 miles or so north. Right after the Lake Street overpass in Ramsey. If you suddenly find yourself on the NY Thruway, you missed it .

 

[Dave Hussey]

What about Megahobby? They have a real store don't they? is it too far away to drive over and peruse the aisles?

Huzz

 

[abu625]

Even here on the Left Coast, most dedicated hobby stores have gone out of business. Thank God for Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove. Not only are they one of the largest hobby stores anywhere stocked with virtually everything made by every company in every country on every planet in the known universe, but they're always packed with customers (at least on weekends), suggesting that they might actually stay in business for a while.

 

[Ziz]

What about Megahobby? They have a real store don't they? is it too far away to drive over and peruse the aisles?

Huzz

I don't think Mega has a store, just warehouse. They moved out here to Long Island, last I heard. So, you'd have to pay NY sales tax even though you're ordering online, but you'd get it fairly quick (doesn't have to go that far) and shipping cost would be minimal.

 

[Trek Ace]

Brookhurst is deceptively small in appearance on the outside for what awaits you on the inside. It is about the only shop I've seen that carries a good selection of the Blue Line ship models. Excellent shop. I'm sure they'll be around for a long while.

 

[Dave Hussey]

Wow.

I live in a relatively small berg waaaaaaaaaay out on the east coast of Canada, only about 150,000 population.

Within walking distance from my work is a comic shop where I can go now and get or have ordered any Polar Lights model. They have the NX-01 in stock and all the Bandai Enterprise kits (NX-01, A and E). The owner has offered to get for me a Product Enterprise Eagle.

Five minutes drive from here is a real hobby shop. Lots of R/C stuff but a great selection of plastic kits. They had last week the PL NX-01, some POTA kits, the Back to the Future DeLorean. In getting ready for my Wilco Proteus, I decided I needed some sheet styrene to fill in the windows. They had it. Sarge advised that thick CA glue and accelerator could be used to get an instant bond and in some cases replace filler. Did they have it? Yup. I also decided that I needed some 1/8 I beam for the structure details inside the Proteus. The local shop can get it, no problemo.

Wow!!

And we also have George Street:

http://www.foundlocally.com/StJohns/Dining/BarScene.htm

I am NOT moving!

Huzz

 

[bludden]

My favorite model ship is CultTVMan dot com.

The owner is funny, like a clown.

 

[ChrisDoll]

We're fortunate in the Seattle area - Galaxy Hobby in Lynnwood is a full-service hobby shop, privately owned, that shows a lot of support for SF / Fantasy modelling.

 

[flyingfrets]

Try Avenel Hobbies in Iselin. Take the Goethals Bridge into NJ, go south on 1/9 to Rte. 35 North. Take the 35 North exit and he's maybe 3/4 a mile up on your left. Well stocked, lots of Polar stuff. Pretty much something for everyone....

Also deceptively small on the outside, but worth the trip. I go up from Atlantic City maybe every 4 or 6 weeks.

 

[Lord Morbius]

Jeez, seems like ages since i last posted...

I know you might not be interested seein as i'm on the other side of the pond and all, and i don't wanna rub it in or nuthin but over here in Belfast we are really well catered for as far as modelling is concerned. there seems to be a real strong modelling subculture here, at least i think there must be cause the shops are here and they always seem to be doing plenty of business. I went into one last time enquiring about the new polar lights enterprise refit kit and the chap (an enthusiastic and knowledgable but pretty nerdy looking fellow) knew all about it. So i am real confident of getting my sweaty digits on one of those babies.
Sorry to interupt guys, Just thought i'd poke my nose in... i mean there's only so much drinking, smoking and chasing women an irishman can do

M.Pritchard.

 

[Otto69]

How to phrase this...

I'm not tooooo surprised that Ireland has a good supply of modelling vendors, as in nearby England there is a long standing and apparently ongoing tradition in handcrafted items, ranging from small models, to smoking pipes, to handmade aluminum gas tanks for motorcycles (which use the "English wheel" for fabrication). Something about the culture in that part of the world seems to encourage creativity and craftsmanship. Hmm. Maybe it's because they have such awful TV. If so, they should count themselves lucky.

 

[BigJohn]

What about Village Comics in The Village .. I always visit there when I am in NYC . Also Amok Time in Levittown, NY is that to far ? Johnny

 

[Mars - 1]

Buck up, my nearest hobby shop is a 40 mile drive, and unless you want to buy war game stuff, there's not much reason to go there. There's a Hobby Town about 70 miles from me, but it's pretty much mainline stuff. 90% of my kits are from online shops.

 

[trooper109]

Hi,
I too am from Staten Island. I used to be a regular in Brownies all the time but their model inventory is going down as their RC plane inventory goes up. Too bad... I head to NJ for my stuff. I go to Hobby Heaven in Cranford. Its about a 30 minute ride over the Goethals. They have everything there, and the inventory always seems to be changing so you never know what s the flavor of the month.

There's an IMPS club in nearby Garwood (good bunch of guys - not too much sci-fi -but they don't make you feel stupid ) that has a page of all NJ shops - http://www.njipms.org/Links/njlinks.htm

 

[Zombie_61]

Even here on the Left Coast, most dedicated hobby stores have gone out of business. Thank God for Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove. Not only are they one of the largest hobby stores anywhere stocked with virtually everything made by every company in every country on every planet in the known universe, but they're always packed with customers (at least on weekends), suggesting that they might actually stay in business for a while.

Yeah, what he said! Most of the Left Coast hobby shops carry a small selection of kits, but they're mostly set up for RC enthusiasts, as though remote control cars and planes are the only hobby worth pursuing. Just walking into one of those shops you almost get the feeling they're a bunch of elitist snobs. "Oh, the styrene kits? They're in that back corner over there behind the employee rest room." Brookhurst welcomes every customer with equal enthusiasm, and I've yet to encounter an employee that isn't knowledgeable about the products they sell.

Brookhurst is deceptively small in appearance on the outside for what awaits you on the inside...Excellent shop. I'm sure they'll be around for a long while.

Yes, great selection, but not too well organized. Last time I was there the styrene kit section was a bit of a mess, and if you're into gaming figures you could spend hours trying to find what you're looking for. Then again, that was about a year ago...maybe they've straightened the place up a bit since then.

Another excellent Left Coast shop is Pegasus Hobbies in Montclair. Their website needs a lot of work, but the store has a large selection of kits and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

Disclaimer: Aside from being an occasional customer, I have no affiliation whatsoever with either of these hobby shops. The opinions given here are simply the rantings of another model-building schmuck who would selfishly like to see these shops stay in business. :wave:

 

[Jim NCC1701A]

Ace Hobby, Acorn Models, Hobby Direct, Hobby City 2000. All within 20 minutes drive of where I live in Auckland. And those are just the ones I go to. There're others. Not bad for a country with a population of only 4 million, hmm?

Cheers!

Jim.