Oh no! I'm doomed...

[dg1]

I was just in a Hobby Lobby that opened less than 1 mile from where I work. Not a real impressive selection. Mostly one of each item and a very limited offering of the Estes line. I would say that 2/3 of the store is devoted to just "stuff", crap, not true Hobby Store merchandise. In fact there is very little of what I would call hobbies (models, rockets, trains, RC, etc). Its all pretty muched confined to one aisle. I can see getting low power motors and building supplies there with the 40% and 50% off coupons though.

The one rocket I really wanted (the Mini Max) was out. I did pick up a Patriot though. This kit just begs for 24 mm power.

On a side note, I saw that the mini powered Honest John's decals now say U. S. Military instead of U. S. Army. The Patriot however still says U.S. Army.

 

[UPscaler]

Most hobby lobby stores are more like craft stores. Patriot is great on 24 power, mine loves E9-8s.




Braden

 

[Daddyisabar]

Get ready to plow through 10,000 square feet of Chinese home decor crap, isles of scrap booking and old lady craft junk, and at the very far end of the store, usually near the potties, you will find 1/10 of an isle of LPR Estes stuff. Get out your 40% coupon and be the only male purchasing only one item with a coupon in the entire line. If you can find a male checker be sure to get in his line to make his day when buying some motors, so at least he can talk clustering for 30 seconds.

Search and you will find Xacto blade packs, Krylon and Testors spray paint, a meager selection of balsa, vinyl stick on letters and some occasional glues. NO MORE DOPE AT HOBBY LOBBY! Be especially careful when purchasing underwear elastic for shock cords as you must enter the fabric section. Like the Crocodile Hunter used to say "DANGER-DANGER-DANGER!" You can do it - your are the MAN! Good luck and God's speed.

 

[cobra1336]

I think hobby lobby is the same as Michaels around here??? If so re check the motor prices, our store doubled the prices and with the 50% coupon it's not a great deal anymore. B and C's are 11.99 a 3 pack.

 

[troj]

Hobby Lobby and Michael's are different companies.

Regarding Hobby Lobby, remember, what you consider a hobby others will consider "crap". Our vendors would love to have half as many people actively involved in the hobby of rocketry as there are actively involved in scrap booking (yes, it's a hobby, just not one of interest to me).

-Kevin

 

[Daddyisabar]

I always carry some extra 40% coupons to give to anyone I see in the store with or looking at a rocket. Actually had some success bringing people out to a launch. So sad to see the kid cry "I want a rocket" when mom's cart is filled with plastiform decor crap. Yes, I called it crap! There is no other way to describe the absolute horror that some of that stuff is - especially the fake WWI fighters that moms buy for the kid's room or Dad's den.:y:

$$$$$ spent on decor crap - millions and millions

$ moms spend on "hard to build and dangerous" rockets - zero to tens?

 

[NJRick]

Daddy...damn that is funny stuff!! 10,000 sq. feet of chinese home decor stuff with 1/10 of an isle devoted to rocketry.....HA!! it true..no hobby lobbies near me in NJ...but I do go to Michaels for paint and engines and I think my 15 year old son (wing man) are the only males in that joint when we go in there....I was just there on Sunday...I had my inaugural flight of Dr. Zooch's Jupiter C....launched it on an Estes engine and at chute deployment I thought the thing exploded....seemed like the ejection charge was really violent....it pretty much blew the "Explorer 1" satellite into orbit and I had to buy some dowel to replace it.

 

[JPVegh]

One mans crap is another mans or womans hobby. When we go to Hobby Lobby I head for the rockets and my wife heads for the candle making supplies.

The seasonal isles can be a great source for odd roc stuff.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Daddy...damn that is funny stuff!! 10,000 sq. feet of chinese home decor stuff with 1/10 of an isle devoted to rocketry.....HA!! it true..no hobby lobbies near me in NJ...but I do go to Michaels for paint and engines and I think my 15 year old son (wing man) are the only males in that joint when we go in there....I was just there on Sunday...I had my inaugural flight of Dr. Zooch's Jupiter C....launched it on an Estes engine and at chute deployment I thought the thing exploded....seemed like the ejection charge was really violent....it pretty much blew the "Explorer 1" satellite into orbit and I had to buy some dowel to replace it.

Michaels is a bit better on the decor stuff but not as good with rocket products as I can no longer find D motors at 50% off. Their Estes line is thin as well. So keep flying Zooch's stuff! Some of the motors have strong charges but better a little too much than not enough! Those Zooch's can be a little tight on the pack if you have limited space and you are not alone in fixing damage after a scale rocket's flight.

Just keep your 15 year old son flying rockets and make sure he hangs around Michaels for rocket parts and not to pick up on all the hot chicks that shop there!

 

[Daddyisabar]

And the High Power guys think they have problems buying motors - certification, shipping, storage, regulations, etc. Just try to walk in the boots of Low Power guy at Hobby Lobby during the post Christmas season's 90% off sales, when Grandma is bringing back 15 packs of googly eyes to exchange for plastic mini Santas, when the moms are mad and the kids are running wild, when the staff is short handed. Get to the back of the store and hope there is something left, stand in those lines to buy one pack of BP motors at a time; why after that I will take on the ATF anytime, much easier and safer.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Don't forget the "clearance aisle" (once your HL has been around awhile-- doubt there's ANYTHING on clearance in a NEW store...)

It's usually about the center of the rear wall of the store, or very near the rear corners on either side (or both or all three-- most HL's have 2 clearance areas and some have all three). You can often find some pretty good deals on rockets back there... even if it's something you're not particularly fond of or would normally buy, if it's cheap enough and has some parts you can always buy it for extra nosecones, tubes, and other parts for kitbashing...

Of course you can't buy anything on clearance with the 40% off coupon (unless you find a REALLY dumb checker!) but it's certainly worth a look see!

Good luck and happy hunting! OL JR

 

[gagreen]

there are some other odd goodies in there if you dig deep enough. 2part foam if your in a pinch, start up mold and cast stuff, odd tapes that make really unique 3d design elements under paint, knives, paints, airbrush stuff, strange decorator items that with the right eye become rocket parts and a lot of other crazy stuff. Dont try to be "manly" and only look at the model aisle, ive actually got phone numbers for some pretty good looking girls in the other aisles at a hobby lobby in a college town. lol

 

[gpoehlein]

I love shopping at the local Hobby Lobby. They have a lot of really cool stuff all around the store - keep your eyes open 'cause you can usually find a rocket use for items in just about every department! At our HL, for example, the model section has a really great supply of tools and building supplies - they even carry 5 and 30 minute epoxy, several types of CA, ,Flexifiles, airbrush accessories and parts, an incredible selection of hobby knives and blades and markers of most every color and size. The also carry the Alumalite resin casting kits and supplies, Depron foam sheets and a decent selection of balsa and basswood. Other areas of the store to keep an eye on (especially when they have sales in other areas) include modeling clay (plasticine for nose weights and balancing gliders), scrapbooking (paper stocks, hole punches, paper cutters and decorative adhesive foils), glue and paint, dowels in just about every size imaginable, mat board (great for centering rings and paper rocket fin cores) and even candy (OK - you got me - except for the occasional plastic candy dispenser that can be used for odd rocs, the candy is really only good for munching on while you're building - gotta keep the blood sugar up for those marathon build sessions! )

Also, I print out the 40% off coupon whenever I can to keep my motor collection full. As Doug (dhurstell) will attest I have over 250 motors at any given time. I do NOT like to run out of a particular motor, especially if our club is having a contest. I try to keep about a dozen or so of each motor on hand (or a half dozen of the 24mm motors) at any given time. I'd say that at least 75% of that motor collection were purchased one pack at a time using the 40% off one item coupon. Over time, one can build up an impressive inventory of motors that way. Pity they don't carry some of the less popular motors (like the A8-5, B6-6, 1/4A3-3T, A8-0, A10-0T, D12-0, D12-7, any of the C11 motors and the E9-8. All the rest - coupon time, baby! Oh, and my local HL has started carrying the bulk educators packs, so I grabbed a box of 24 A8-3 motors on sale as well (I go through that one the most since I like to fly the A8-3 in my Alpha, Tube Bertha (Baby Bertha with tube fins) and Ranger (burns three at a time). They also have the 1/2A3-4T motor bulk pack too but I've got enough of those for a while. I'm just sorry they no longer carry the Quest rockets (heck, at one time, I'm told, they even carried Aerotech and Estes-North Coast rockets, but I got back into rocketry a bit too late for that, unfortunately).

 

[gagreen]

a long time ago i got my ncr phantom 4k starter kit there. i think 12 years ago, still have it and still flyable lol.

 

[dg1]

Get ready to plow through 10,000 square feet of Chinese home decor crap, isles of scrap booking and old lady craft junk, and at the very far end of the store, usually near the potties, you will find 1/10 of an isle of LPR Estes stuff. Get out your 40% coupon and be the only male purchasing only one item with a coupon in the entire line. If you can find a male checker be sure to get in his line to make his day when buying some motors, so at least he can talk clustering for 30 seconds.

Search and you will find Xacto blade packs, Krylon and Testors spray paint, a meager selection of balsa, vinyl stick on letters and some occasional glues. NO MORE DOPE AT HOBBY LOBBY! Be especially careful when purchasing underwear elastic for shock cords as you must enter the fabric section. Like the Crocodile Hunter used to say "DANGER-DANGER-DANGER!" You can do it - your are the MAN! Good luck and God's speed.

I always carry some extra 40% coupons to give to anyone I see in the store with or looking at a rocket. Actually had some success bringing people out to a launch. So sad to see the kid cry "I want a rocket" when mom's cart is filled with plastiform decor crap. Yes, I called it crap! There is no other way to describe the absolute horror that some of that stuff is - especially the fake WWI fighters that moms buy for the kid's room or Dad's den.:y:

$$$$$ spent on decor crap - millions and millions

$ moms spend on "hard to build and dangerous" rockets - zero to tens?

And the High Power guys think they have problems buying motors - certification, shipping, storage, regulations, etc. Just try to walk in the boots of Low Power guy at Hobby Lobby during the post Christmas season's 90% off sales, when Grandma is bringing back 15 packs of googly eyes to exchange for plastic mini Santas, when the moms are mad and the kids are running wild, when the staff is short handed. Get to the back of the store and hope there is something left, stand in those lines to buy one pack of BP motors at a time; why after that I will take on the ATF anytime, much easier and safer.

My son still flys a lot of low power so I plan on stocking up on D's and E's and of course A-C's when it makes sense. I didn't think the regular price on the motors was high so the coupon makes them a great deal. I've noticed this more at Michaels. They have an airbrush kit there for around $200. When you use the coupon it makes it the same price as Amazon or any other big retailer. I've also seen this on painting supplies at Michaels...$7 for a rattle can??

HL has 5 and 30 minute epoxy for $10 so again the coupon would make this a great deal. I thinking about picking up an airbrush so the coupon will be awesome (their airbrushes didn't seem to be marked up like the other places). The Patriot was a great deal for $9.00.

I plan on building some of the low power stuff from my childhood so I'll be checking from time to time to score a deal. And I must get my hands on a Mini Max. I must.

 

[Pippen]

It's usually about the center of the rear wall of the store, or very near the rear corners on either side (or both or all three-- most HL's have 2 clearance areas and some have all three). You can often find some pretty good deals on rockets back there... even if it's something you're not particularly fond of or would normally buy, if it's cheap enough and has some parts you can always buy it for extra nosecones, tubes, and other parts for kitbashing...

I was a bit surprised to read this as our Hobby Lobby rarely has rockets on clearance. They don't stock too many of one kit to begin with and kids building 4-H projects clears out a lot of their stock each summer. Every now and then I find something, but not often, and the clearance prices are about what I'd pay with the 40% off coupon.

Plenty of other good stuff shows up on the hobby clearance aisle though.

 

[gpoehlein]

I was a bit surprised to read this as our Hobby Lobby rarely has rockets on clearance. They don't stock too many of one kit to begin with and kids building 4-H projects clears out a lot of their stock each summer. Every now and then I find something, but not often, and the clearance prices are about what I'd pay with the 40% off coupon.

Plenty of other good stuff shows up on the hobby clearance aisle though.

Much of the time, the only rockets I've found in the Clearance section were models that either Estes has discontinued or else models that HL has decided not to carry any more. (Like the Interceptor E.) Right now, there is one rocket there - a Super Neon XL that has been opened and returned. I didn't pick it up because I don't know what's missing (if anything), it's still a bit too expensive ($15) and I really don't need it for parts (still have a couple surplus Mean Machines, so I'm really good on BT-60).

 

[Daddyisabar]

My son still flys a lot of low power so I plan on stocking up on D's and E's and of course A-C's when it makes sense. I didn't think the regular price on the motors was high so the coupon makes them a great deal. I've noticed this more at Michaels. They have an airbrush kit there for around $200. When you use the coupon it makes it the same price as Amazon or any other big retailer. I've also seen this on painting supplies at Michaels...$7 for a rattle can??

HL has 5 and 30 minute epoxy for $10 so again the coupon would make this a great deal. I thinking about picking up an airbrush so the coupon will be awesome (their airbrushes didn't seem to be marked up like the other places). The Patriot was a great deal for $9.00.

I plan on building some of the low power stuff from my childhood so I'll be checking from time to time to score a deal. And I must get my hands on a Mini Max. I must.

They still use price tags and the absolute best is sometimes an item is mis-marked. It doesn't happen often but with the tiered pricing on Estes items sometimes E's are priced as D's and Big Bertha's are priced as Baby Bertha's. Joy, joy, joy, and I don't even feel bad about it because I know they are making a good profit off me even with 40% off.

 

[Beergnome]

Ive said it before, and I'll say it again, the places seem to exist so that middle aged, middle, middle classed house wives can decorate their McMansions in the late century Applebee's Motif.

But, there is a lot of good junk in there that can be applied to whatever hobbies you may be into, and plenty of stuff to give you ideas. you might have to go to a more specialized hobby store to finish the project mind you, but its a good spring board for ideas, and a place to pick up cheap supplies in a pinch.
the hobby lobby I frequent also sells estes engines about $3 less than my LHS, while the LHS usually has estes kits for about $3 less than Hobby lobby. I know right? go figure.

I like snooping through the science toy/kit section. I try to always pick up something for my co-workers kids to squirrel away for Christmas. Last Saturday, I gave a tour of the brewery to my Prep-cooks 9 year old science minded nephew. The young man needed to do a report on recycling, so I lead him and his mother around the beer mines, explaining what was happening here and there, and how various sciences related to whatever process, and how recycling could come into play. y'know, spent grain becomes cow chow, and that eventually becomes hamburgers, or, it can become mulch that's used to grow veggies. spent yeast can be used to accelerate the mulching process, or make marmite. brewery waste water can be distilled of it's latent ethanol and be used as fuel for mom and dads cars (or rotgut vodka)
in any case, I'm waiting to hear back on how he did on his report, and I got a DIY Hydrogen fuel cell powered toy car kit with his name on it.

I don't have kids of my own, so I live vicariously through other folks kids, and I ONLY give out science orientated toys, and Hobby Lobby DOES have a nice little section of these things at a reasonable price.

I'm thinking that this year, all the kids (and their dads ) are going to get the $20ish dollar little intro estes rocketry kits.

 

[[POW]Eagle159]

One mans crap is another mans or womans hobby. When we go to Hobby Lobby I head for the rockets and my wife heads for the candle making supplies.

The seasonal isles can be a great source for odd roc stuff.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:



Mine has all the estes engines in the rocket isle. Like half of the rocket isle is JUST engines! pretty nice.

 

[Beergnome]

just a wee little OT update, the young man I gave the brewery tour to on Saturday got a A+ on his project!

So now it would appear there is a picture of me towering over a little smiling kid, standing in front of a bunch of fermentation tanks, hanging in the hallway of an inner-city elementary school. And I really couldn't be prouder.