I want into a REAL hobby store this weekend

Not a Hobby Lobby or Michael's or any of that crapola, but a real deal old school hobby store.

The floor creaked, and the whole place smelled like paint and glue. There were RC airplanes hanging from the ceilings. They had trains, rockets, plastic car models, you name it.

The old man who owns the place had a glue stain on his hand, and gave me some very sound advice about how to keep my CA tips good (hit the bottle's bottom against a hard surface when are done using it to clear excess glue out of the tip so it went form a plug). He was a nice a guy, and I bought a few things.

It was great. It had been a long time, and all of you guys know that these places are an endangered species. If you get a chance and live in NorCal, check out the Loose Caboose in Napa. Spend a hundred bucks while you are there .

Sounds like a great excuse to head up to Napa...

I did too a couple weeks ago while visiting a friend in Kingston, ON. It was split level and had EVERYTHING. One of pretty much every builders kit Estes sells. All of the new stuff. An Interceptor g in the rafters. A massive v2 rocket. Tons of rc stuff. Boats. Kites. You name it. Here is a link to their site. If they weren't so far from me I'd buy everything there. https://www.leadingedgehobbies.com/~leadedge/webstore/wecs.php?store=&

Oh, I remember places like that!! Sadly, most all of them around here have closed and gone out if business.

Ask the person that runs places like that, they know everything about everything. Ask the kids at the 'Hobby Store' they seem to know nothing of anything :/

Have 2 in NJ I know of. Jackson hobbies, not a ton of rocket stuff but the kind of place you have to walk sideways to get to some of the stuff because it's just stuffed with stuff. Air hobbie in Mount Laurel, same thing, not a lot of rocket stuff but a bunch of old school stuff. He even has (if anyone remembers) the old monster/tourcher sceen models.

Sadly, there really are none of those great stores around where I'm at. There is a really nicely stocked RC shop, but unless you're into something RC, everything else is just stocked because you expect it to be.....good luck getting any help.

McKailas Dad said:

Oh, I remember places like that!! Sadly, most all of them around here have closed and gone out if business.

Ask the person that runs places like that, they know everything about everything. Ask the kids at the 'Hobby Store' they seem to know nothing of anything :/

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Yeah. Last month I got an estes QCC explorer and when I opened it up the BTs were bent beyond repair (they were actually twisted sideways) and the woman at the shop thought it would be flyable in that condition! Anyway, she called in one of the other staff and he refunded it.

TRFfan said:

Yeah. Last month I got an estes QCC explorer and when I opened it up the BTs were warped beyond repair (they were actually bent sideways) and the woman at the shop thought it would be flyable in that condition! Anyway, she called in one of the other staff and he refunded it.

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Sadly damaged body tubes and warped fins are starting to become standard issue from Estes. It's gotten to a point where about 1 out of every 3 I purchase needs to be replaced by Estes for one reason or another. Still waiting on Little Joe II wraps and JBR013 body tubes.

ericclinedinst said:

Sadly damaged body tubes and warped fins are starting to become standard issue from Estes.

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I would not be so quick to point the finger at Estes. Have you seen how most chain stores ship their stuff now? Usually its from a warehouse and comes in repacked boxes or plastic totes, my money is on most of the damage occurring between the warehouse/wholesaler and the vendors we buy from. Most manufacturers are well aware of the costs associated with losses incurred by poor packing practices, and while some loss is acceptable, avoidable loss is not. Estes has awesome customer service and warranty, so lets not knock what is probably not their fault (at least not all of it).

As for the REAL hobby shops, I wish we still had a few, now the only ones in my area are in small towns many miles away. Our launch site vendor is from the town of Dayton, WA (aka darn small town), and he still has or is trying to restart a real hobby shop after his health struggles. The only hobby shops we have in my town are Hobbytown (not a real Hobby Shop by any means), Hobby Lobby, and one or two shops catering to model railroaders (and one of those is closing soon, if not already). Sadly Amazon, Ebay, and direct purchasing from the manufacturer have done these brick and mortar shops in.

BTW: Eric, I am not personally making a statement to you, I have just seen a large number of these kinds of statements lately. Of course the injured parties are always louder than the satisfied parties too. Now if the kits are coming direct from Estes that's a whole nother thing entirely.

That kit was actually the first estes kit that I've got that was warped. After, I refunded it I got a Quest AGM harpoon but it turns out that it had a bend too, but only near the end, so I sawed the damaged part off. Since both kits were from different manufacturers and both had been bent, I think the shop was to blame.

Well. See. I am buying from multiple places. Estes directly, AC Supply, and locally. The exact same problems are arising from all sources. The common denominator is Estes. I've even spoken to Mike Fritz their marketing guy and he's pretty much stated to me that 'it is the way it is." I know they have great replacement customer service. If things keep coming to you damaged that doesn't really do much good does it? Per example one kit in question. The Prowler Launch Set. I received exactly 3 of them. Plus two replacement tubes. For a total of five body tubes to try to get one good body tube. Guess how many I have that were usable after FIVE tries. Hint... the number rhymes with hero....

ericclinedinst said:

Well. See. I am buying from multiple places. Estes directly, AC Supply, and locally. The exact same problems are arising from all sources. The common denominator is Estes. I've even spoken to Mike Fritz their marketing guy and he's pretty much stated to me that 'it is the way it is." I know they have great replacement customer service. If things keep coming to you damaged that doesn't really do much good does it? Per example one kit in question. The Prowler Launch Set. I received exactly 3 of them. Plus two replacement tubes. For a total of five body tubes to try to get one good body tube. Guess how many I have that were usable after FIVE tries. Hint... the number rhymes with hero....

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Well if Estes is fine with that, I guess then I will be too, just means more parts

One of my favorite pastimes while on my trips is to look up hobby shops and walk out to them. Gives me a reason to go for a walk and I never know what I'll find. That's how I found a #2157 Estes Saturn V on a shelf, just walked into one of those hole-in-the-wall shops (those are the best) near Van Nuys, CA. The best shop I've ever seen was RC Country Hobbies in Sacramento, though at the time I was just doing RC so I forget if they had rocket stuff.

I guess. But in the long run it seems like a waste. If you total multiple kits. Multiple shipping charges. Frustration from customers. Seems like that all adds up to a problem that's worth fixing to me. To contrast this, I opened up some of the boxed kits from the 90s that are 20+ years old at this point that have moved with me probably 15 times via various methods of transportation and guess what... they were in perfect shape. There was a time back in December where they were the only kits I could build while waiting on 'replacements.'

Additionally it kind of sucks to be out of a kit when it gets discontinued because of something being screwed up with it. Per example with the psii kits going out of stock, I checked my ventris and argent for sloppy transitions. I am SUPER GLAD I DID because both of them were trashed. Had I not, and waited a couple months there would be two kits I'd have had to figure out alternative ways to build. Which again is very frustrating and unfortunate when a little bit of quality control would go a long ways.

cobra1336 said:

Have 2 in NJ I know of.

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I have 2 others in northern NJ I can tell you about. F&M Hobbies in Flanders (recently moved from Denville) and Zepplin Hobbies in Wayne. F&M has a lot of trains and RC car stuff, some E2X and RTF rockets but a good selection of motors. Zepplin has more in the way of rocketry including some mid/High power stuff. They also have 2 huge slot car racing tracks in the back where you can rent a car and drive it around or bring your own, they host birthday parties too.

Glenn

Going to visit an old-school shop in Melbourne, FL next weekend. Haven't been to one in a while.

I will say that most of the HobbyTowns I've been to have been well-stocked and competently staffed, especially the locations in Kendall and Ormond Beach (which are, sadly, no more). There was also a small chain called Hobby Warehouse with locations in Sarasota, Ft. Myers and Naples that was first-rate.

And of course Orange Blossom Hobbies, the ultimate South Florida shop. Front was all flying aircraft (and a huge wall of rockets), west side was trains, middle was R/C and east side was plastics (four or five aisles worth).

I have a hundred excuses to goto Napa, French Laundry, Ad Hoc, Bouchon, Bottega just to name a few, now I have 101 excuses.

If you are in Maryland, we have Hobby Works in Laurel and Frederick. Just bought some Monokote trim there the other day.

Dude, you will not be dissapointed. The food and wine scene in Napa/Sonoma is top notch. Funny enough, I usually go to blue collar type places that the locals frequent and have great times.

RocketGeekInFL said:

I have a hundred excuses to goto Napa, French Laundry, Ad Hoc, Bouchon, Bottega just to name a few, now I have 101 excuses.

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The loose caboose has style. The doorway is painted to resemble the back of a train... They have free loose caboose bumper stickers. I put one on my trailer to make people wonder.

https://norcallifestyle.blogspot.com/2013/03/one-day-one-citynapa-ca.html