Where do you guys suggest for buying kits? It seems like the local shops just seem to charge so much, they start off by being more than the mail order places, then the charge you tax, 8% at most of the shops here in the Cleveland Ohio area, one of the shops here even wanted an extra 10 dollars to order any kits that they did not have in stock, but they normally did carry, since you were requesting something specific, then you copuld be waiting up to 3 weeks by the time they finally get it in.

Any good mail order places that you guys can suggest would be much appreciated.

Thanks,


Jacob

Tower Hobbies

....or Horizon Hobbies

I tend to watch RCU and ebay for deals. I buy kits that look like good prices and that I am interested in. Have about 50 right now. If I want one and am short, I can always sell another that I would never build that I got a good price on. Not a bad way to do it. Then youl always have something to build. The only problem is when you get bored with the one you are working on and start another, then end up with 4 going. You have to stop and complete one at a time till they are done at that point.

Second what Flyboy said, although I feel like a slacker when it comes to backlog. I've only got one (airplane) build in progress, 11 kits on the shelf, and one on the way from Singapore. I also watch Tower, and other places, for specials, bought two from them about a month ago. And finally, I make regular stops at the LHS, his prices are reasonable.

I've tried the LHS thing, but all of the local shop near me seem to only carry trains and plastic models, not even to many RC Cars.


I'll probably just keep an Eye on Tower for a deal.


Jacob

try quantummodels.com

I know that kind of store, there are a couple in my area too. Stopped going there long ago.

Those aren't hobby shops, those are toy stores.
Dennis-

What are you looking for?

Tower doesn't carry many kits any more. Check out Hobby Barn (http://www.hobbybarn.com/site_map.html). They carry a lot of the old Royal kits which were excellent.

loking for a Good Price on a Goldberg Tiger 2 Kit .

You surely must be joking? How many kits should they carry? Just looking quickly through their " RC Airplane Kit" selection, I see 18 categories, from gliders to giants. Under just one of those categories ("Scale, .20 - .50" ) I see selections from manufacturers with names like GeeBee, Great Planes, House of Balsa, Lanier, Midwest, Sig, and Top Flite, for a total of 17 kits. Hey, they show a DC-3 kit! Hmmmmm..... 'scuse me while I decide whether to order this one...

Dave Olson

Dave -

No I'm not joking. I have a Tower cataloge from 1990 and the number of *kits* (not arf's) is magnitudes larger. How many kits should they carry? As many as they see fit. It's their business and they can run it any way they want to.

If they carry the kit you want by all means order it. But there are thousands of kits on the market. Tower carries only a small handful and the number (how many total kits did you count?) seems to be getting smaller with each new cataloge. I'm not going through and counting to prove my point though. I have planes to build.

The Tower catalog is not the best place to try to quantify the number of kits they carry. They seem to be spread all over the place. Their web site is much easier to navigate if you are specifically looking for kits.

As for their quantity of kits, Tower has never carried everything from everyone. Nobody can, too expensive. When I'm shopping for kits, I look at Tower, Hobby Barn, and a few other places.

OK, I don't get it. My original post was a suggestion for another place to buy kits. I never said Tower can or should carry every kit available. The fact is they carry a small percentage of kits on the market. It's not a Tower bash. It's a simple fact. There are a heck of a lot of manufacturers to choose from and if somebody only looks at what is carried by any one supplier then they are missing out on a lot of what's available.

If you want to limit yourself to the offerings of one company and you're happy with that I personally don't care. If you want to know some places where you can buy kits I'm happy to help. It's as simple as that.

jkinosh:

There is a tiger 2 arf (I know you said you were looking for a kit not an arf) on ebay right now with a starting bid of 99 bux. Just do a search for item number 5927613295 and you'll find it.

Have you ever checked out [link=http://www.greatlakeshobbies.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/shophome.html?E+scstore]Great Lakes Hobbies[/link] as they are in Cleveland.

Only thing that is a drawback of ordering from them is you have to pay sales tax even though you ordered your stuff online. I just placed an order for LOT'S of stuff from them (props - fuel tanks - prop nuts - misc hardware - ca glue and the list goes on) basically the order was pretty close to 300 bux worth of stuff. I compared the prices at great lakes verses the ones from tower and on my order I just placed I saved over 150 bux even with paying the sales tax and shipping (I don't think tower offers enough rebates or coupons to cover that difference in prices). The shipping is usually quick....I've been ordering from them for the past 3-4 years and never had any problems with my orders.

Madd_Maxx

Maxx, they charged you sales tax because you live in Ohio (according to info below your avatar). If you lived in say, Kentucky, then they would not charge you sales tax.


dave...

LuckyArmpit:

I realize that and don't have a problem with it either. I was just stating the fact that they DO charge sales tax for all in state orders to jkinosh (also from Ohio) so there wouldn't be any surprises if he decides to order from them sometime in the future. As I stated before I can afford to pay shipping and sales tax on orders from them due to the GREAT PRICES (Tower can't even come close) and quick shipping.

Madd_Maxx

Your original post started with "Tower doesn't carry many kits any more". People questioned this statement, not your suggestion for other places. You may not consider this a "Tower bash", but it sure sounds like you are telling people to not bother shopping there. If it wasn't a bash, then what was it? Most, perhaps all, retail hobby vendors only carry a small percentage of kits available. Most also have been shifting from kits to ARFs as the buying pattern of us consumers have changed.
Nobody said anything like that. I think many people were just mentioning the place they look first, or perhaps most often. By suggesting that Tower doesn't carry many kits, and mentioning how many Hobby Barn carries, weren't you suggesting that people should not bother looking at Tower because Hobby Barn is so much better?
Then let's stop arguing about Tower. The fact is they carry quite a few kits. So does Hobby Barn. So do many other places. Personally, one of my favorites has become Singapore Hobby Supply. In the last year I've bought more kits from them, 7 counting the one that's in transit, than anywhere else. I too have planes to build

I didn't tell anyone not to shop at Tower. I said Tower doesn't carry very many kits. Would it be better had I said Tower carries a small percentage of available kits? My whole point (again and again) is that there are many other sources and a far greater variety overall if you look around and don't rely on a company or two for all your modeling needs.

Yes I know. I shop around and can pretty much tell you what everyone carries. I've been in this hobby for a very long time and soak information like a sponge.


Which was my main reason for even mentioning Tower. Many people think Tower is the end-all, be-all to this hobby. There's nothing wrong with Tower. OK? Nothing wrong with Tower. Let me say it again. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TOWER.

My point (again and again and again which apparently isn't being picked up on ata ll) is that there is so much more that Tower doesn't carry. Tower is fine for what it is. I shop there too because there is nothing wrong with Tower. There is a lot that I want that they don't carry just as there are things that I want that others don't carry. Are we clear now or do I have to mention again that there is nothing wrong with Tower. There are other companies besides Tower that carry things that Tower doesn't. Tower carries things that other companies don't carry. Shop around.

This is verging on utter stupidity now. I did not say Hobby Barn was better, had more kits or anything to this effect. I mentioned one line of kits Hobby Barn carries and that's all I said about it. Where you got the rest of this I have no idea.

I never was arguing about Tower. I'm basically wasting time defending against accusations of things I never said. But I agree that this has gotten stupid. Hopefully the original poster got his question answered and isn't convinced that he's back in kindergarten.

Enjoy your builds. I have hinges to install.

You know there are many kits of the past which many of us wish were still around. Well Tower does not sell any of them and those who are looking would be pleasantly surprised as to whats out their in Laser cut hotrods.

Sigh, it's obvious you've either forgotten, or never learned the old adage "if you've got nothing good to say about someone, say nothing at all". The way you said it was a bash against Tower. I'm surprised you can't see that. It's a pity you became defensive, upset, and even insulting when people disagreed with you. I'm done trying to explain this to you.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

Try
www.sheldonshobbies.com. they seem to have a good listing.

Please do not forget that you can also purchase plans and laser cut kits for building as well.

Lew B