LA is a great city, but it's been suffering from a lack of good hobby stores for years. Found me a new one and I'm really excited about it! But what about where you live?
When I was a kid, or even in college, there were still a number of decent stores around. There were plenty of hobby shops of various specialties, several mom and pop game stores, and the chain stores of Wizards of the Coast and Game Keeper were still prevalent. There was even a big GW store at the Glendale Galleria, not that I was in to it then but it did fascinate me walking by. That kind of all went to pot in the early-mid 2000s when store after store closed down, unable to stay above water with a tanking economy. The few that survived downsized considerably.
In recent years, I've turned mostly to the internet for my hobby supplies. I don't think there are any game stores close to LAX anymore. At best you might get 10ft at the back of a struggling comic book store. Two of my former favorite hobby shops: The Whistle Stop in Pasadena (of Big Bang Theory fame), and Allied Model Trains in Culver City are both OK, but have both downsized to tiny shadows of their former glory. Even then they were (obviously) mostly dedicated to trains. Sure, there's the chains- Hobby People for RC stuff and rockets, Michaels (crap for what we do) and Hobby Lobby (far away, and homophobic pricks). This week with news that our closest GW store in San Pedro is closing next month, I found myself looking sadly at a future of a cold hobby, devoid of human interaction and expertise.
That changed with a lucky coincidence. I was trolling ebay for some Tamiya clear paint (I had thus far been unable to find any brick and mortar stores that carried any meaningful supply of Tamiya at all) and placed an order. When it arrived, I was excited to find it came from Burbank House of Hobbies- probably 10 miles from where I grew up. It's been there since 1952 and I never knew it existed!
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| If this doesn't impress you, I'm jealous of where you live |
I looked through their catalog online and was floored. It's like Deet's favorite things all in one store! They stock the full Vallejo line including game and air (nobody carries Vallejo here). They've got Mig. Tamiya. AK. All these fancy things I've been wanting to try. I was in trouble.
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| *sniff* It's so beautiful! |
Now this isn't particularly close to me- 25mi and easily an hour drive through traffic. I managed to convince the GF we needed to do some things on that side of town this weekend and made the pilgrimage. It was glorious! I managed to keep myself together and only spend $50. Here's my haul. Got some reviews to do soon.
But that brings me to the original intent of the post: what the heck do people do for hobby stuff now? In a city the size of LA, I've found precisely one store that stocks the stuff I want. Where do you buy supplies? Where do you learn new techniques? Is it really only the internet now? And where do you go to get a game in? I've got Trip's house, and...
I know the vast majority of our readers probably aren't from LA, so this is more of a general question on the state of the hobby. Are good little gaming and hobby stores still alive out there where you live? Here's hoping.
~Deet
wish I could have gone with you, looks amazing.
ReplyDeletethe situation with game stores seems similar in the UK. Where I live in the South West I've lost several model shops and a dediccated game shop in the last few years, and another has downsized and closed its playing space. There are still several GWs around, but all except one are too small for meaningful gaming.
ReplyDeleteLuckily in the UK most games are played at clubs rather than stores, and the clubs are going strong. Within a half hour drive of my weekday home there are three or four, I could play three nights a week if I want.
I've recently started attending the Mid Somerset Wargames Club, which has the accolade of being the oldest club in the world, started in the mid 60's and still going strong.
I think USAnians ought to take matters into their own hands and start clubs. If stores aren't around then you'll have to do something, unless you are all happy to become collectors. All you need is a church hall or other meeting room (many clubs are held in pub function rooms here) and three people to set up a management commitee.
these UK gaming clubs, I'm assuming they have physical space - do they pay for that with dues? is the space permanent, or rented in a local all-purpose facility?
DeleteI think Knight's last sentence sort of touched on it. They are using community space/renting space.
DeleteHow did I not see that?!
DeleteThe San Pedro store closing pretty much was one nail in the coffin for me. Community and being able to be motivated by hanging out with like minded folks is largely what drives me. Not being able to just hop in to a store, just sit and paint or play, kills a lot of my motivation.
ReplyDeleteAlso the San Pedro store was literally half a block away from my house, so it made for convenient purchases when I needed something. A lot of my hobbying is done off impulse purchases. I hate leaving the store without at least having bought something, even if it was just another pot of paint. Having to drive somewhere farther makes it so I have to strategize when I need, and that kills a lot of the fun for me.
I think you are touching on two parts: 1) easy access to supplies and 2) hanging out with like-minded people playing games we all enjoy. I think we can more readily solve the second than the first.
DeleteThere are multiple hobby/game stores where I live in Northern Virginia. The main one I frequent is game store called Huzzah Hobbies and they sell all of the major wargames games, card games, and board games that are popular. They also have tons of gaming space and they host tournaments for all types of game systems. Another option is one called Leesburg Hobbies & Collectables and they mainly sell model trains, but also have a decent stock scale model kits and some wargames (mainly Warmahordes and X-Wing). They also stock Vallejo Game Color, Model Air and Tamiya paints, which is the main reason I shop there. They also host gaming on Friday and Saturday nights. Both of these stores are at most 10 minutes from my house.
ReplyDeleteA little further away (about 30 minutes) is another shop called Piper Hobby and it's your traditional, old school model shop. They sell TONS of scale model kits (armor, aircraft, maritime, civilian, and some sci-fi) and they also have the largest selection of paint: Vallejo Model Color, Tamiya, Humbrol, Mr. Hobby, Model Masters, and more. Near them is another shop specializing in R/C that haven't been too and another game shop that I don't patronize, though it has a decent stock from what I understand.
I still haven't made it to huzzah (in gaithersburg), as it's quite a hike due to the lack of bridges in the area! (if there wasn't a giant river, it would be like 20 minutes away!).
DeleteI've seen my local GW and hobby stores close though, and I pretty much just have a hobby town in rockville now, and dreamwizards locally. Though victory comics is now starting 40k stuff, and that is a bit closer then huzzah to me.
http://www.victorygamers.org/
Game Empire in Pasadena is HUGE. Emerald Knights in Burbank is smaller, but both shops sell 40k and supplies and have lots of gaming tables. Aero in Santa Monica has paints and models.
ReplyDeleteForgot about Aero. Haven't been there in ages
DeleteBrookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove might be out of the way but it beats the heck out of anything I have locally.
ReplyDelete