Small Scale Military Headquarters

I was out looking for some replacement parts for my electric heli. this in turn had me go and check out several hobby shops locally to see if they carried what i have, or something that is the same, but rebadged...or anything comparable.

i walk into one, and lo and behold, 20 to 30 21st century 1/18 scale aircraft! they had several different version of the FW 190, the 109's, 104's and even a few Avengers. i got real excited, and was about to purchase a 190, and find a way to tote it home on a motorcycle. then i saw the price.

80 dollars! ($79.99) to be exact. the avenger was just a tad over 120.00

most of them were within reason "dusty".. i can see why. i went to another hobby shop for my R/C hunting..and same thing..similar prices. just a lot less aircraft though.


i never did understand the reasoning for hobby shops to be so expensive.. "we have the overhead because we are a "SPECIALTY" shop...we have people to pay, and out hobby is expensive.. "

i have learned one thing that makes sense. market to the rich, sleep with the masses, BUT market for the masses, sleep with the rich. if you drop the prices, for everyone (or most everyone) i think it would achange a bit.

technically EVERY store the world is a "specialty" shop .. if hobby shops understand they are no different, and there is nothing special about them, they can lower prices. (and actually make more profit by selling more for less rather than vice versa.) i guess some like the elitist idea.

sorry i had to rant.... but it made me think how people rant about prices on badcat, and other online venues. kinda brings it all into perspective..and not as bad to order online

big whoop......there's a hobby shop near me that has been selling xd planes for $129 a pop for years......and getting it.

My local one has two hanging from ceiling a P-47 bubble top and a stuka priced at just $45 and they have been there for a long time.

aferguson wrote:big whoop......there's a hobby shop near me that has been selling xd planes for $129 a pop for years......and getting it.

Yeah, but I just chalk that one off to the Canadian "we are so far from the rest of the world, they have to cover transport by dog sled and canoe" philosophy. I remember as a kid that the GI Joe figures that were $3 here in the States were always like $7 at Canadian Tire and such. And at the time, the dollar disparity wasn't that bad either--maybe $1.15 C to $1 US.

High prices are typically the mainstay of brick and mortar hobby stores, as they typically sell items right at MSRP and not much lower.. I sometimes pay these prices as it supports my local hobby shop and helps keep it in business..

Nowadays most brick and mortar stores sell online also so I am not sure if the overhead argument holds water. My longtime favorite used/independant book store started with internet sales years ago and that has helped them grow financially and inventory wise.

At the same time, buyer beware! How many times have we seen planes go for big bucks on e-bay when we know they could be purchased new at BCA for much less?

What is a Hobby Shop? I have not seen one of those in years

My local Hobbytown currently has XD P-51s, P-40s, Corsairs, F-86s, Mig-15s and F-104s for $60, plus the ME-262A, P-38 and Avenger for $75. Not bad prices all around and they are comparable to most small retailers with the advantage of not having the shipping costs. Still, its hard to purchase a "Huff" F-86 or "George Laven" F-104 from them for $60, when the same planes sold at Wal Mart earlier this year for $40 were discounted to $25 just a couple months ago...

If you want to rationalize it, the $80 FW-190 isn't too bad. Certainly double of what they retailed for at Wal Mart and about $20 more than what they went for at many small retailers, but if you take into account the seeming rarity the plane now has, plus the prospective shipping charges, it works out a little better. Still, if you can find one on ebay for much cheaper, that is the better way to go...

It really is hard for a "real" store to compete in this day and age of "instant" gratification. On the one hand If I can't find what I'm looking for on the net, I will gladly pay the amount for what I want and on the other hand I feel I'm helping (in a small way) a local business owner maintain a store front where I can take my kid and show him all the cool stuff they have inside, the endless models, rc planes, trains, etc, ect,....The ability to daydream if you will.

Sometimes you can find gold at those hobby shops.Two months ago I walked into my local Hobbypeople and there were two BBi Zeros.They were marked $48 but rang up at $44. They had the BBi 1/32 F4 a few weeks ago but I hesitated and now it's gone

GAU-8 wrote:if you drop the prices, for everyone (or most everyone) i think it would achange a bit.

technically EVERY store the world is a "specialty" shop .. if hobby shops understand they are no different, and there is nothing special about them, they can lower prices. (and actually make more profit by selling more for less rather than vice versa.) i guess some like the elitist idea.

This is not necessarily accurate. Dropping prices for a product does not in and of itself CREATE additional demand. Although it is true that by lowering prices a vendor might be able to woo in some additional customers, certain products tend to have certain interest levels and dictate supply (production numbers) and thus prices.

In the case of your hobby shop, you're talking about probably some mom and pop store who have some secondary market items that are long out of production. They can't lower the price and move more volume because what they have in stock may be all they can get. Prices tend to be more subjective and volatile in such situations.

but it made me think how people rant about prices on badcat, and other online venues. kinda brings it all into perspective..and not as bad to order online

I heard that!

WOW!

The funny thing is that those prices are still in line with some e-bay autions I have seen! LOL

It's strange to see such a huge difference in prices and it obviously pays to do homework on them.

IMO it all amounts to how bad you want it and whether or not you're willing to wait for it. And don't forget the human impulse factor as well. For example, I put off and put off getting the 1/18 Panthers, till, obviously they were gone! I ended up paying $67 for a S1 (not so bad) and $130 for the ambush scheme. My fault I waited but still glad I finally got them. But, as with most our AO's, pickens are slim and sslllooooowwww coming, so I buy alot from etailers or ebay because I simply don't want to wait. Just me..

All the more reason to keep this forum alive guys. I really value the trades I have made in past years. By trading with board members I have been able to acquire the items that were not available in my area. On occasion I have bought a few high priced items from my local hobby shop because I really wanted them and didn't want to wait.

Mark

The only shop I know of near me, is called Dynamic Hobbies. The guy's got a lot of XD, at least 20 or so planes. Me-109s, Fw-190s, Avengers, etc. The smaller planes sell for 60 and the Avengers sell for 70. Not bad looking at some of your pricing. His 32x that's out of production is only 20. 5 bucks more, and no shipping. It sucks that he doesn't carry 1:32 planes though, he said he'd be getting them in, I hope he does. I will buy 'em.

I was in such a craving for 32x/XD that I bought a 1:6 MG34 weapon set, and dang it's nice. I love it.

FieroDude wrote:

aferguson wrote:big whoop......there's a hobby shop near me that has been selling xd planes for $129 a pop for years......and getting it.

Yeah, but I just chalk that one off to the Canadian "we are so far from the rest of the world, they have to cover transport by dog sled and canoe" philosophy. I remember as a kid that the GI Joe figures that were $3 here in the States were always like $7 at Canadian Tire and such. And at the time, the dollar disparity wasn't that bad either--maybe $1.15 C to $1 US.

Yeah I hate that! I asked a hobby store manager how much to maybe order a couple FOV 105mm howitzer's and he replied that it would be $69.99 each! He said it had to do with customs or something like that Even right now, with the dollar on par, you Yanks still get books, electronics, clothes at like 45% less

I haven't bought from a hobby shop in years because of the prices, but I go in to take a gander at all of the stuff anyway.

AlloySkull wrote:
I was in such a craving for 32x/XD that I bought a 1:6 MG34 weapon set, and dang it's nice. I love it.

LOL, I was just staring at some today. Sadly decided not to buy it, but for $3 I might just go ahead and get one.

That always made me wonder why prices are higher at hobby shops. A few months back i saw the new p38 callifornia one for $70 at a airforce museum. Not bad overall a pretty decent price

i guess its not the price in itself that is getting me, its just the fact of how much MORE hobby shops charge for items.

i mean even the local convenience store has less quantity of certain items found in a hobby store and even they charge less. (and we all know convenience stores are high priced)

dont get me wrong, i do like to support my local hobby shop, but damn. they are expensive for the very little, but well worth information they give me