@jfeenstra
I was under the impression that El Cajon Hobbies was an RC place, never been tho. I shop locally at Discount Hobby Warehouse in Clairemont Mesa and they still carry a lot of plastic, mostly airplanes and some ships but they do have an aisle dedicated to armor. I also hear of a place called Hobby Town in the El Cajon area but I haven’t been there yet, heard that they have plastic too.
2 Likes
Been there many at times as I used to work off Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Glad to hear they are still around.
I was disappointed the last few times at Discount. But there’s always Brookhurst (2hrs away of course, on a good day)!
1 Like
9 Likes
Good selection at Brookhurst H, but kits getting are too expensive there…IMO. And they hardly carry Dragon armor kits anymore. I make the 2 hr drive on occasion. Been trying to find Mr Color, Glossy Sea Blue. Even Brookhurst H. can’t get it. Discount Hobby plastic model selection is weak.
Used them before and would again.
AHHQ, has these new Sherman kits up for pre-order. He also has a message on them not being available until July..,said there’s some kind of hold up with orders out of Hong Kong?
2 Likes
Awesome. Looks like at least some stuff is getting through to Andy at normal prices.
@Damraska
This’ll be my first time buy big box Takom bundled kits. I don’t know any better, but to me getting a pair of Shermans for $89 and a 1/16th scale figure thrown in sounds like a nice deal. Someone posted that these kits are going for $65 on Hobby Easy so after you factor in the shipping differential it might be a wash? IDK
I’d like to offer this for consideration.
We all have different values and preferences when it comes to purchasing Chinese kits—whether to buy China Direct or through a U.S. middleman. If prices are roughly comparable, I personally prefer to keep the U.S. seller (Andy, etc.) in the loop rather than save $5–10.
For me, Andy’s outstanding customer service and overall convenience easily justify a small premium.
Case in point: the day before yesterday, an issue came up with a standing order. I called Andy’s customer service number and…
Someone actually answered the phone!
Turns out, one item had been misplaced during their recent move. I was already on their contact list to resolve it. In under five minutes, we worked out a substitute item, I was refunded the $2.75 difference, and the order shipped Friday.
Even with the best Chinese vendors, resolving issues like that is usually more cumbersome and time-consuming.
Just my two cents on why I value buying through a solid American middleman over going direct.
3 Likes
I called once and talked to Andy himself (or someone that sounded like him) about an issue/concern. Nice guy from my interactions.
1 Like
The stock that is on hand currently is almost all pre tariff orders. So no raised prices due to tariffs. The stuff that was shipped after the tariffs kicked in are where you might see prices raised. I’m not privy to the discussions on that side of the house.
3 Likes
Different hobby, same impact.
A stroker crank that used to cost ~$650 to $850 (depending on sales) just restocked for around $1,500 at Summit Racing.
We stumbled onto this while chasing down a set of Callies 6.125 rods for my current LS2 stroker build. These rods, which I’ve used in other LS builds at ~$650, were out of stock—no restock date in sight.
That was just before the recent 90-day hold & freeze between the U.S. and China.
A few days later, we found a comparable (maybe even slightly better) set from Molnar for ~$850—already up ~$200 due to tariffs. The whole purchase went sideways when the distributor sold them to me at the old price, then refused to honor it after restocking at the new tariff-inflated rate. The choice was simple: eat the cost and move forward, or take a delay trying to save $200. I went with the government-style solution—pay more and move on.
The dispute dragged on until the freeze somewhat stabilized things. I didn’t get the original price honored, but at least I didn’t get stuck paying $1,500 either.
A friend who’s an electrical contractor told me all his switchgear is up at least 15% from his usual distributors. He had to raise prices—he’d already been eating the margin.
No politics in this—just real-world observations from the car hobby over the past few weeks.
Hope nobody’s fridge dies right now—because what used to be a routine visit to the financial proctologist might now require full-blown sphincter dilation.
Hopefully things stabilize soon.
3 Likes
That is one thing that Andy is doing is honoring pre order prices. Items from the same batch that were not purchased pre order will not have a pre tariff pre order price.
3 Likes
I have a fixed budget for spending on this hobby each year. I’ve rarely ever run out of “Modeling Money”. If prices sky rocket, I guess I’ll just have to make do with a lot less stuff. I do worry about my LHS, Andy, and those guys, I pray none of them go out of business.
The M-1 Super Sherman has a shy cousin, which is rarely seen, the M-1 on a late welded hull, most likely the M4A3 hull.
I have never been able to find pictures of the M-1 on the welded, late hull and HVSS, only with VVSS.
Since M-51s were made on the late welded hull, it is likely, M-1s were also fitted with HVSS, but so far, I have not seen photos of this combination.
