walmart still carry models

[Brandon05l]

does walmart still carry model i know that all the ones around here dont

[camaroman]

That is a negative. After almost killing the LHS business they no longer carry them.

[Guest]

K-Mart has a very small selection, as does Fleet farm. The best non hobby shop here to get them is Michaels.

[Eric Stone]

The best non hobby shop here to get them is Michaels.

Around here, Hobby Lobby has a much better selection than Michael's.

[disabled modeler]

hey guys, we have a hobby lobby that rarely gets anything new other than the same stuff thats restocked over and over. we also have a so called hobby shop that has kits with the box art faded from sitting on the shelves for the past 5 or 8 years......hobby lobby came to town and it was great at first.....they were cheap and had new goodies.....their prices have doubled now to e bay level. not the best town to live in if your a builder or a collector. i get mine from others that love the hobby as i do and rarely off e bay when i can afford them......mark

[BigGary]

Walmart stopped selling kits almost 2 years ago. Big disappointment for those with no hobby shops around. Michael's 40-50% off coupons come in real handy, but as someone said, the selction is limited. Hobby Lobby has many kits and high prices, and not near so generous with discount coupons.

It was stated that Walmart killed hobby shops. While they may have been a factor, a larger factor is online purchasing. For example, the supply of resin bodies at even the best LHS is limited, but you can find anything online. Same with other parts, supplies, kits, etc. My personal experience is that I will buy from a LHS if I can because of outrageous shipping rates from most online sellers. I can ship a kit anywhere for about $7, but most online retailers want at least $10. I recognize that boxes, packing labor, and postage are legitimate expenses, but some I think are trying to make most of their profit on shipping.

I was going to order sanding pads from Micro-Mark, but cancelled the order when the shipping was more than the items that weighed only a few ounces. Outrageous!

Gary

[elan]

No models at Wal-Mart up here either. The only places that carry kits are Michaels and Hobby Lobby, both of which are very pricey. I wait until I need a bunch of stuff and then order online. It's the only way to go.

[voljeepx]

We have no LHS here in Frankfort. Well, we have one who still has "models" in his store name, but there are about ten kits in stock, the rest is all comic books and world of warcrap! Anyway, even when Walmart had kits in stock, the selection here was spotty at best. Hobby Lobby is the best choice, but do some internet searches before you go. I always find 40-50% off coupons online, which can go a long way.

[Chuck Most]

does walmart still carry model i know that all the ones around here dont

No, and thank God! One less reason to set foot in THAT dump!

As has been pointed out, K Mart still carries them, but your selection is quite limited. My local KM only stocks Revell plastic kits and Maisto die cast kits. The prices are okay, but they really aren't much less than the prices at Hulings or Dean's.

Check your local 'dime' and 'variety' stores. Most of those places also carry kits, though the amount of selection and prices can vary quite wildly!

[Guest Mustang3.8]

Wal-Mart does NOT still sell models. They have'nt for two years. They quit selling them 'cause kids were buying the glue to get high.

[Chuck Most]

Wal-Mart does NOT still sell models. They have'nt for two years. They quit selling them 'cause kids were buying the glue to get high.

That may explain why K Mart only sells the citrus-fresh non toxic junk!

[BigGary]

That's not true at all. They quit selling them because they weren't generating the kind of "churn" that Wally wanted them to, and Wally figured there more profitable uses for the shelf space that models were occupying.

Ken is correct. Walmart buys at a negotiated margin. If they can't get that price or margin, the item is no longer sold. When you've gone to WM expecting to buy an item you've bought there before and they don't have it, this is probably the reason. It may also have gone into history because it wasn't selling well enough. Walmart, and most other large retailers, negotiate to buy a certain number of an item, and if it doesn't sell well enough, they don't buy any more. Notice that Sam's root beer and other Sam's soft drinks are no longer available, so if you were addicted Mountain Thunder, you are out of luck. These Sam's branded drinks are gone.

Gary

[Harry P.]

Michael's 40-50% off coupons come in real handy, but as someone said, the selction is limited. Hobby Lobby has many kits and high prices, and not near so generous with discount coupons.

Gary

Hobby Lobby has a much wider selection of models than Michael's, and they offer a 40% off coupon every week. You can either download the coupon on the HL web site or get it in the Sunday paper.

[Greg Cullinan]

Most models I own I have bought online. I have found the selection and prices are better. If you have the means to shop online I would reccomend it. If you need a list of online sites for kits,supplies or accesories let me know.

[MikeMc]

whats a walmart????

[Chuck Most]

One little box store to check out occasionally is Big Lots. I've bought several kits from them in the past for $5. Definitely not a good place for selection,but you can't beat that price anywhere even for a "parts kit"! I buy 90% of my models from ebay anyhow. I always get the best deals from there.

Other outlet type stores carry them from time to time as well. I picked up two AMT '94 GMC Sonoma kits for seven bucks a pop at my local Merchandise Outlet (actual name of the store). They've since closed.

I've even seen them at antique shops, but as you may guess, selection isn't great, and the prices are ridiculous, even by antique store standards. (An AMT Freuhauf trailer, in a crushed, water damaged box that's missing three tires and the decals are shot for $40 bucks? Are these people mainlining acid, or something?!) Though once I did pick up an AMT/Ertl Brickyard C1500 pace truck promo at an antique shop for the princely sum of ten bucks! (The 1/18 Sun Star Checker cab next to it, however, was GROSSLY overpriced at $45... I've never paid more than $15 for any of the 1/18 Sun Star models I've gotten.)

[Art Anderson]

Perhaps I am unique, but I never really did consider Walmart, or for that matter, Kmart, Target or any of the others as my "go to" place for model kits. I check out Hobby Lobby here periodically, but that's about it.

I don't go online to seek out model kits, unless it's something I gotta have, and I can't find it locally. And, "locally" means a trip to Indianapolis, where there are a couple of pretty nice LHS's that are regular stops there--LHS here is heavily focused on RC, with a huge train shop here that is a great place to find raw materials, even detail stuff for trains that can be adapted to model car use.

Perhaps I am "Old School", but I like the idea of a LHS being there when I want or need the little stuff, but if that is all they ever got the chance to sell us modelers, we'd not have them around any more. Yes, the LHS needs to bear in mind that I'm not their gold mine, nor any other customer or group of customers, but without being able to sell me that larger ticket item on occasion, what's in it for them?

Art

[george 53]

whats a walmart????

Mike-O that's a mart where they sell WALLS,you thilly boy you!!!!

[Aaronw]

My personal experience is that I will buy from a LHS if I can because of outrageous shipping rates from most online sellers. I can ship a kit anywhere for about $7, but most online retailers want at least $10. I recognize that boxes, packing labor, and postage are legitimate expenses, but some I think are trying to make most of their profit on shipping.

I was going to order sanding pads from Micro-Mark, but cancelled the order when the shipping was more than the items that weighed only a few ounces. Outrageous!

Gary

You can't shop online like you do in a regular store. You have to make larger orders to cover the shipping, many even offer free shipping on larger orders.

It isn't really the shops ripping you off on the shipping, most have flat rate packages in different sizes so taking Micromark as an example it probably does cost them $8.95 to ship those pads because it is on the small side for that price shipping package. They could probably add a fair bit more without raising the price of shipping.

[Chuck Most]

Perhaps I am unique, but I never really did consider Walmart, or for that matter, Kmart, Target or any of the others as my "go to" place for model kits. I check out Hobby Lobby here periodically, but that's about it.

I don't go online to seek out model kits, unless it's something I gotta have, and I can't find it locally. And, "locally" means a trip to Indianapolis, where there are a couple of pretty nice LHS's that are regular stops there--LHS here is heavily focused on RC, with a huge train shop here that is a great place to find raw materials, even detail stuff for trains that can be adapted to model car use.

Perhaps I am "Old School", but I like the idea of a LHS being there when I want or need the little stuff, but if that is all they ever got the chance to sell us modelers, we'd not have them around any more. Yes, the LHS needs to bear in mind that I'm not their gold mine, nor any other customer or group of customers, but without being able to sell me that larger ticket item on occasion, what's in it for them?

Art

I'm with Art all the way here-

Most of my Wal-Mart kits ended up as parts donors... why part out the one I got for $12 at the LHS when I can cannibalize the one I got at Mall-Wart for $8?

I'm also not big on getting kits on line, and tend to seek out my 'local sources' first (and two of these 'local sources' are 40 miles away, one way.)

I wouldn't call myself old school in that regard- I'll be the first person to admit to you that I'm quite a luddite for only being 27 years old! I just have some 'hit/miss' trust issues with technology. Besides, which is more exciting- walking into (insert your favorite kit dealer here)'s shop and seeing what he's got in stock this time, or scrolling and clicking for hours on end?

[Harry P.]

Besides, which is more exciting- walking into (insert your favorite kit dealer here)'s shop and seeing what he's got in stock this time, or scrolling and clicking for hours on end?

For me, I don't get any particular charge out of "how" I get the model.. the fun starts after I get it! So I buy online, for many reasons: Huge selection-far more than any "brick and mortar" store (the whole world is my "local hobby shop"), the convenience of always being open, the better prices vs. hobby shops (in most cases, even after you add S&H), the ability to do an instant "price check" and finding the lowest price available for what I want, and the fact that it comes right to my door! No gas wasted, no traffic or parking hassles, etc.

[Chuck Most]

No gas wasted, no traffic or parking hassles, etc.

No seeing what those retailers DON'T have listed for sale on line (which is often better than 90% of the stuff they do have listed.) No running into an old friend en route to the shop. No meeting a fellow modeler who gives you screaming deals on some really cool old kits he's had stashed for years and just now realizes he's not going to build. No driving past the house of that hot 20-ish year old who washes her '08/'09 Bullitt Mustang in her two-piece swimsuit (well, in the summer anyway). No chance of the person you're buying from being a creepy old pervert who thinks you're a 12 year old girl. No chance of your crappy (but fully insured) car being stolen so you can use the money as a down payment on a new Focus (or a 4 or 5 year old Mustang). No chance of being kidnapped by aliens and probed on the way, but I guess that could just as easily happen staying at home. And how will you ever know how well those snow tires and winter wiper blades you just bought for the car work unless you give them an extensive test by driving 80 miles to a NSLHS (not-so-local-hobby-shop)?

See how much you're missing out on, Harry!? To me, it's not just about buying the model- it's about the other mini-adventures it can lead to!

[Harry P.]

No seeing what those retailers DON'T have listed for sale on line (which is often better than 90% of the stuff they do have listed.) No running into an old friend en route to the shop. No meeting a fellow modeler who gives you screaming deals on some really cool old kits he's had stashed for years and just now realizes he's not going to build. No driving past the house of that hot 20-ish year old who washes her '08/'09 Bullitt Mustang in her two-piece swimsuit (well, in the summer anyway). No chance of the person you're buying from being a creepy old pervert who thinks you're a 12 year old girl. No chance of your crappy (but fully insured) car being stolen so you can use the money as a down payment on a new Focus (or a 4 or 5 year old Mustang). No chance of being kidnapped by aliens and probed on the way, but I guess that could just as easily happen staying at home. And how will you ever know how well those snow tires and winter wiper blades you just bought for the car work unless you give them an extensive test by driving 80 miles to a NSLHS (not-so-local-hobby-shop)?

See how much you're missing out on, Harry!? To me, it's not just about buying the model- it's about the other mini-adventures it can lead to!

Oh, I have all of those experiences...while out doing other things... I just don't buy my models that way.

BTW... we got our first snow the other day, and while I was out and about "experiencing life," my suspicions were confirmed. A Mustang is not a good winter driver!

[Chuck Most]

BTW... we got our first snow the other day, and while I was out and about "experiencing life," my suspicions were confirmed. A Mustang is not a good winter driver!

A Mustang... a bad winter driver? The hell you say!

[Zoom Zoom]

A Mustang is not a good winter driver!

I could have told you that 40 years ago

Our Mustang-driving neighbors, as well as my aunt, all complained about how little traction they had.

On the other hand, invest in a good set of winter tires; four wheels & four quality snow tires...you'll be amazed. A RWD car in snow country shouldn't leave home w/o them.