Cities & Best Hobby Store

[AKPilot]

You know, I'm getting ready to head out on another trip for my company and was thinking. From time-to-time people here post asking questions about cities and the best hobby shops in those.

For example:

Chicago, IL - Al's Hobbies; everything from Semroc, Fliskits, Sunward, to PML and LOC - plus all accessories, electronics, motor casings, etc.

Champaign, IL - Slots and Wings; scratch-n-dent from Tower and Horizon Hobby companies. HUGE garage sale area where you can name your price on OOP and in-production rocketry items. Carries tupperware containers full of misc. nose cones, decals, centering rings, etc. Almost always negotiable, except the yard sale area where it's all negotiable.


Is it possible to start a list of city/state and associated hobby stores? With time we can clean it up and consolidate it.

Thanks

 

[sunward]

....Is it possible to start a list of city/state and associated hobby stores? With time we can clean it up and consolidate it.....

That would be a long list!

There would also be the task and amount of information needed as you would have to list name, address, phone numbers, hours, etc. And check everything.

And then how do you handle online sellers? Would they be included?

 

[AKPilot]

That would be a long list!

There would also be the task and amount of information needed as you would have to list name, address, phone numbers, hours, etc. And check everything.

And then how do you handle online sellers? Would they be included?

No, nothing daunting. And yes, hopefully it will be a long list. You can simply name the city, state, province, or even country for our overseas friends - along with the name of the store. A description and what they have would be nice. But, no phone numbers or hours. An individual could look that up on their own and they could be subject to change.

As far as on-line vendors, we could list those if they accept visitors.

 

[user 13]

I like Ultimate Hobby in Auburn WA. About 30 min south of Seattle.

131 E Main St
Auburn, WA 98002
(253) 939-2515

A nice classic shop. Good selection of rockets, plastic, and trains.

In Mass I like Spare Time shop.

222 East Main Street, Marlborough, MA 01752

https://www.sparetimeshop.com

 

[AKPilot]

Yea, I have to second Ultimate Hobby. On my last Seattle trip I stopped by and was really impressed! Not too much as far as rocketry, simple LPR models but the rest of the store carried everything I could imagine and a few things I never knew existed.

 

[CharlaineC]

rocketry related theirs none I would concider the best in rhode island

theirs two that I know of that carry rocketry

Apponaug Color & Hobby Shop Inc.
1364 Greenwich Ave.
Warwick, R I 02886
(401) 737-5506
some rocketry items but nothing over 18mm and 13mm they refuse to order e motors and the kits never change though thye do have most of the sunward rocket line and a few estes. but their prices are as bad if not worse than their coustomer service.

the other one i forget the name.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Here's the list for Houston--

On the SW side, there's RC Hobby Shop, off HWY 59 and HWY 6 in Sugarland. Mostly RC cars and planes, but a corner is dedicated to trains and they have a roughly 8x16 back wall area for rockets. Mostly Estes and Estes parts, and some Estes engines. LPR/ D,E engines only, though they offered to order a casing for our club pres but never followed through or returned his phone calls when inquiring again about it.

Also on the SW side but closer to downtown, near Loop 610 on Chimney Rock, is I&I Hobbies. Mostly R/C planes, cars, and boats, trains, plastic models, and books, but they do have one rocketry area about 4X12, all Estes. Little or no parts, and some Estes engines through E's. LPR only.

On the north side, at I-45 and FM 1960, there's Larry's Hobbies. Mostly RC cars/planes, and 'second half' of the store is all trains. Quite a bit of plastic models as well. One corner of the store is rocket stuff, mostly Estes with some red somethingorothers Estes-like 3fnc kits. Some Estes parts, and Estes motors through E's. Display area is roughly 8X12 or so. Pretty much just LPR.

On the south side, at I-45 just north of NASA Road 1, is M&M Hobby Shop. Kind of a small shop, but floor to ceiling with trains, plastic kits, cars, planes, and rockets. They're close to NASA/Houston rocket club area and get a lot more business than most I'd suppose They have about an aisle and a corner of rocket stuff, Estes, LOC/Precision mostly. Kits, parts, and some motors and reloads, Estes and Aerotech. I got some LOC 3 inch tubing last time I was there, lots of MPR/HPR parts, transitions, nose cones... pretty nice store.

Over on the East side, out at Baytown area near I-10, there's Hawk's Hobbies. I haven't been over there (not sure if they have a brick-n-mortar store or just mail order) but I've met them and they're real nice folks-- they've come out to the Challenger Memorial Launch here at Needville. Be sure to check them out on the web.

There are several other 'train only' stores, most notably Spring Crossing up on Louetta just off I-45 north of FM 1960, and Houston Roundhouse just off Loop 610 South at Old South Main, but nobody here is interested in trains... OL JR

 

[sandman]

I've never been there but what about Lee Prieser's shops in Pheonix, AZ.

Hobby Bench.

Can anybody from Pheonix shed some light?

 

[MKP]

Here's the two I frequent in Orem, Utah.

Hobbytown USA at 582 E. University Parkway.

Mostly RC, but a pretty good selection of Estes kits and supplies as well as some Quest and Aerotech kits and motors SU and reloadable, but haven't seen anything over 29mm, but they're will to order most anything.

And my personal favorite, just because of its old fashioned hobby store feel, the Hobby Stop, LC at 327E. 1200S. #10, Behind Arby's, across from from University Mall. (It's a little hard to find)

Mostly trains, but lots of Estes stuff with a bunch of OOP stuff. Packed to the brim with miscellaneous supplies and access to hard to find Estes motors. I'm being generous folks, this place is my little gem. (Of course, I also know that many of you aren't going to wind up in Orem, Utah.)

 

[o1d_dude]

R/C Country Hobbies
6011 Folsom Blvd
Sacramento, CA

Website: https://www.rccountryhobbies.com

• Large supply of Estes, Quest, Aerotech, Quasarone rocket kits, components, motors (single use and reloads).

• All types of modeling supplies and tools for all hobby interests.

• Frequent buyer discount program.

• Family owned business.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Anyone have any suggestions for Southern California? LA to San Diego.

 

[MarkII]

In the (northern) Adirondack Region of New York, there is only one:

Norwood Hobby Shop
2 South Main Street
Norwood, NY 13669

website

Fortunately, they are a good one! They carry kits from Estes-Cox, Custom Rockets and Quest Aerospace. Rocket engines by Estes-Cox, ranging from 1/2A to E. They also have a decent selection of scratch-building supplies that would be useful to the rocket builder.

There is also a hobby shop in Watertown, NY, which is part of the North Country, but not part of the Adirondacks. I cannot comment on it because I haven't visited it yet.

Mark \\.

 

[Ted Cochran]

Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota

Hub Hobby Center
82 Minnesota Ave
651-490-1675
https://www.hubhobbycenter.com

Rocket merchandise:
Estes kits, starter sets, motors, components, educator bulk packs of both kits and motors
Quest kits, motors, launch equipment, educator bulk packs
FlisKits kits
DynaStar kits
Semroc kits
Custom kits, educator bulk packs of kits
Apogee books
Edmonds Aerospace kits
Peter Alway kits by BMS
Aerotech kits, launch equipment, consumer motors (D-G)
Public Missiles kits, parachutes, some components, motor adapters, Co-Pilot altimeters, Accufire timers, motor retainers
LOC/Precision kits, parachutes, components
Balsa Machining Service nose cones, body tubes, parts
Comments: Talk to staff members Alan (estenson [at] mn-rocketry [dot] net) or Rob for rocket assistance

 

[dwmzmm]

Here's the list for Houston--

Mostly Estes and Estes parts, and some Estes engines. LPR/ D,E engines only, though they offered to order a casing for our club pres but never followed through or returned his phone calls when inquiring again about it.


OL JR

(Para-phrasing LBJ) "I shall not seek, nor will I accept, any nomination .... as
your next president." Jeff, I'm the Challenger 498 Section NAR Advisor, not the club president (unless you're referring about Jesse - past president - or
Jon). But you're right, this hobby shop never followed through about the 18 mm reloadable hardwares....

 

[REAPER]

I've never been there but what about Lee Prieser's shops in Pheonix, AZ.

Hobby Bench.

Can anybody from Pheonix shed some light?

Sorry for the late response,

Lee's shops are pretty good,they have Estes,Quest and Aerotech. They recently started carrying Semroc,which is pretty cool. Hobby Bench is like a lot of other shops, in that they tend to emphasize R/C airplanes and cars.
We(Phx metro area) also have Adventure Hobbies in Mesa. They carry the same as Hobby Bench except no Semroc,but they do have some PML and LOC kits. Neither of these shops have much in the way of motors for MPR and HPR,which I find strange in Hobby Bench's case. They have been carrying Aerotech for a long time,but the biggest motor they carry is an Estes E????

 

[DexterLB]

There is only ONE hobby shop in Bulgaria (Steldi modelist) and they don't sell rocket stuff

 

[AKPilot]

Sounds like I need to schedule a trip to the Mesa office. Was there about three years ago, but I obviously didn't do it right.

 

[user 13]

Ok, found another one.

I have to make a disclaimer though, they don't carry any rockets.

I know others here also build plastic. This place is a great old time plastic model shop, the kind I grew up going to.

Skyway Model shop
12615 Renton Ave
South Seattle
98178

It's about 1 mile west of the approach end of runway 33.

LOTS of out of production kits. A good selection of Real space plastic and one of the best aircraft selection I have seen.

 

[dr wogz]

UDISCO in Montreal, quebec

West side of Decarie, jsut south of Queen Mary road.


May I also suggest we look into 'sub folders / headings / catagories' and break this into the 50 states, 10 provinces, and international, etc.. ? Might make better / easier sorting & finding & managing.. Dunno if the forums support this, but I've seen similar on other sites..

 

[AKPilot]

Galaxy Hobbies
Lynwood, WA (north of Seattle)


Time Machine
Manchester CT
(OOP & present Estes, Flis, AT, Sunward, Semroc, & Custom - along with everything for everything else) Enormous!

 

[dwmzmm]

Ok, found another one.

I have to make a disclaimer though, they don't carry any rockets.

I know others here also build plastic. This place is a great old time plastic model shop, the kind I grew up going to.

Skyway Model shop
12615 Renton Ave
South Seattle
98178

It's about 1 mile west of the approach end of runway 33.

LOTS of out of production kits. A good selection of Real space plastic and one of the best aircraft selection I have seen.

Back in the 1960's, when my Dad was in the USAF, he was assigned to Eglin
AFB. The hobby shop on base was (are you ready for this?) right next to
the flight line! Yes, I could spend hours in the hobby shop looking at one
great kit after another (Revell, Monogram, Lindberg, Airfix, etc) of cool looking
models (the F4 Phantoms were my personal favorite), then go outside on the
porch of the hobby shop and watch the buzzing activities on the flight line
(plenty of military aircraft being prepped for flight, and aircraft landing & taking off around the clock). That was my way of enjoying entertainment in
those days!! (wasn't into model rocketry, yet; didn't learn of it until 1969)

 

[BR549]

How about we add a forum, "Hobby Shops by State".

Have one post per state (and/or country) and people can add a hobby shop with a short synopsis of what they carry, address, and store hours.

I go on business trips throughout the year, and that would be awesome to have.

 

[MarkII]

How does this look, so far? This is just a first cut, and it is very much a work in progress.

MarkII

View attachment Recommended Hobby Shops.pdf

 

[zog139]

In between Baltimore/Washington DC is

Hobby Works

(301) 725-0383
354 Domer Ave
Laurel, MD

Hands down the best service. Our own Rokitflite is the manager

 

[powderburner]

How does this look, so far? This is just a first cut, and it is very much a work in progress.

Nice...good idea

I think it would be helpful to add the local phone number, thrown in with the "address" (neighborhood?) info.

If I was in town, I might want to call ahead to get detailed route instructions, or store hours, or an inventory check-

 

[dpower]

How does this look, so far? This is just a first cut, and it is very much a work in progress.

MarkII

I would alphabetize it by State first, then city. Oh, and add these for WI:

Milwaukee - Greenfield News & Hobby (Full Line Modern Hobby shop)
Milwaukee - Happy Hobby (Old & disorganized, but a blast to wander)
Waukesha - Hiawatha Hobbies (Emphasis on Trains, but decent rocket & PM selection)

 

[MarkII]

I would alphabetize it by State first, then city. Oh, and add these for WI:

Milwaukee - Greenfield News & Hobby (Full Line Modern Hobby shop)
Milwaukee - Happy Hobby (Old & disorganized, but a blast to wander)
Waukesha - Hiawatha Hobbies (Emphasis on Trains, but decent rocket & PM selection)

It is already alphabetized by state, then city.

Nice...good idea

I think it would be helpful to add the local phone number, thrown in with the "address" (neighborhood?) info.

If I was in town, I might want to call ahead to get detailed route instructions, or store hours, or an inventory check-

Great idea, but I pulled all of the information out of the posts in this thread. Whatever information the poster provided was what I used. I quoted the posts verbatim.

MarkII

 

[powderburner]

OK, this is gonna be MY two cents, anybody else who has an opinion, knowledge of some hidden little shop, please chime in (n5wd, where are you?)

In my experience, Ft Worth does not have a decent hobby shop. Yeah, in a town this size, absolutely nothing. No decent hobby shops downtown, or south, and only one on Hwy 80 west (but it is very limited on rocketry stuff). I get a lot of kits and motors at places like Wmart and HobLob, but I refuse to call those stores "hobby shops."

We used to have a small HobbyTown on south Hulen until a few years ago but all it had for rocketry was about (literally) two feet of wall space with a few Estes kits. No mid-power stuff, no motors, nothing to write home about. There used to be a good-sized HobbyTown in south Arlington but it has been years since I went over there (you'd have to hold a gun to my head to make me drive in that Arlington traffic).

There are a few hobby shops around (and there have been others in the past--I have lived in the area 30+ yrs and seen them come and go) but they are slanted toward RC. They offer a few build supplies that are useful for rocketry, but they are not rocketry hobby shops.

Now, there may be some little jewel of a shop tucked away on the far north side, or east side, that I don't know about. Anybody else know of one?

 

[mjennings]

Central Flordia (East Coast)

Space Coast Hobbies: mostly estes, but they do have parts bins that fluxtuate in content
2135 Palm Bay Road NE #1 · Palm Bay, FL 32905
321-722-3696
Monday - Saturday (10am - 6pm)

It's only about 45 min south of KSC

And now only open to May 31, 2009 and then closing.

 

[bob jablonski]

There's a list of hobby shops on my web site. To many to write here.
Mr Bob
Starlight Guy
www.starlightrocketry.com