holy crap my lhs is the shit
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hogjowlz
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holy crap my lhs is the shit
i bought a microt a few weeks ago but didn't really bother to look at what parts he had figuring they wouldn't have anything besides maybe some stock parts.
well my stock battery died the other day ago so i went in to see if they had the lipo/charger combo and they dont. but the guy actually knew what the fuck i was talking about!! he then proceeded to show me the stock stuff and they carried just about everything for slightly more than what internet shops charge but the place is like 4 blocks away from my crib.
then i asked him about clear bodies and he was like well i doubt ill ever see any losi bodies but i have these.... so we walk over to another rack and he had every clear aftermarket body ive ever seen on any forum plus some aluminium stuff.
the moral of the story is im gona have to move across town so i dont give this dude all my paycheck.
well my stock battery died the other day ago so i went in to see if they had the lipo/charger combo and they dont. but the guy actually knew what the fuck i was talking about!! he then proceeded to show me the stock stuff and they carried just about everything for slightly more than what internet shops charge but the place is like 4 blocks away from my crib.
then i asked him about clear bodies and he was like well i doubt ill ever see any losi bodies but i have these.... so we walk over to another rack and he had every clear aftermarket body ive ever seen on any forum plus some aluminium stuff.
the moral of the story is im gona have to move across town so i dont give this dude all my paycheck.
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SuperFly
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The only LHS that I've been to that carries any sort of r/c cars is staffed by pimply-faced teenagers who have the attitude that if it isn't 1/10th or bigger and gas-powered, it isn't worth paying attention to.
They all have that sort of idiot mentality where they can't be bothered to say more than 30 words, and let out a big sigh if you call them on the phone and ask them if they have something in stock, and even then are only about 60% accurate. This place is a 30 minute drive, and their stuff isn't cheap, so when I call and ask for something and they tell me they have it and I drive out there and they don't, I get pissed and don't go back for a year or so.
I'm probably lucky there isn't a better hobby store near me, as it was bad enough when RS had lots of zips and xmod stuff in stock. I would have this weird thing where if I walked into a RadioShack, I would never come out empty-handed, even if I didn't need anything. I'd find myself stopping there on the way home from work just to check if they had anything I might need.
They all have that sort of idiot mentality where they can't be bothered to say more than 30 words, and let out a big sigh if you call them on the phone and ask them if they have something in stock, and even then are only about 60% accurate. This place is a 30 minute drive, and their stuff isn't cheap, so when I call and ask for something and they tell me they have it and I drive out there and they don't, I get pissed and don't go back for a year or so.
I'm probably lucky there isn't a better hobby store near me, as it was bad enough when RS had lots of zips and xmod stuff in stock. I would have this weird thing where if I walked into a RadioShack, I would never come out empty-handed, even if I didn't need anything. I'd find myself stopping there on the way home from work just to check if they had anything I might need.
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hogjowlz
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ya when i bought it i dealt with the old guy who was a self proclaimed "airplane guy" and when i was in there a few years ago looking for mini-z stuff i kind of got that "1/10th scale or nothing" attitude.
today i met the "car guy" and hes pretty cool. they even have races in the parking lot on saturdays which i of course have to work saturdays for now but in the winter i guess they set up an indoor track up the road. i doubt ill fit in with that crowd too much but hey at least its a shop that doesn't make me feel like i just got burnt as soon as i walk out the door.
today i met the "car guy" and hes pretty cool. they even have races in the parking lot on saturdays which i of course have to work saturdays for now but in the winter i guess they set up an indoor track up the road. i doubt ill fit in with that crowd too much but hey at least its a shop that doesn't make me feel like i just got burnt as soon as i walk out the door.
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sidewinder
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We have one LHS around us that's been pushing the Micro T like you wouldn't believe. Two of the starnge little people that hang out there are constantly drag racing theirs in the parking lot. They even have a tree and some lightbeam sensor at the finish. I was going to get one and join them but I didn't want to be one of "those" people that live at the shop and play "Magic the...Whatever the Hell it is." all day.
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. - Ayn Rand
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sidewinder
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crazydave
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Man I was so excited that the put a HobbyTown a mile up the road from me. And while the people are nice, at least they're not scam artist like at Hobby Bench, but its starting to turn out to be the same old crap.
I would be happy if they just stocked the replacement parts for the Micro-T, but if they had all the goodies, as you described hog, I would be going nuts in there. Oh well, at least disappointment is right up the road and not a 4 hour bus trip.
See, I would expect that from a kid, but when I called 10 minutes before they closed and got that from the owner, I got a little irritated. He says, "...but we're about to close", and I replied, "Well you're not closed yet, so you still got time, I'll pick it up tomorrow." If I owned my own business, I would be willing to stay late to help a customer, rather than get an attitude 10 minues before closing.and let out a big sigh if you call them on the phone and ask them if they have something in stock
I would be happy if they just stocked the replacement parts for the Micro-T, but if they had all the goodies, as you described hog, I would be going nuts in there. Oh well, at least disappointment is right up the road and not a 4 hour bus trip.
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Clint
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The way i see it..as long as the shop owner isnt a retard..most lhs's are at
the mercy of their distributor.
if you want your hobby shop to start stocking certain parts..ask him how
well that particular vehicle is selling..if he says it sells pretty good..then
you can mention to him that X Y and Z are commonly breakable/needed
parts. i bet he'd be more than willing to start putting things on the shelves.
a lot of R/C is fad based. micro-t has been selling well for 6 months now,
so an LHS might be more inclined to begin to stock parts. but when it first
came out..there was no indication that it would continue to sell, therefore
no reason to spend extra money and shelf space to stock parts for it.
GPMD(not gpm) is one of the largest distributors of LHS goods and they dont deal
with a lot of companies we use. No xray, HR, 3racing, gpm, atomic,
kyosho, iwaver etc etc so the hobby shop has to justify the expense of
working with those companies on their own. This usually means no order until a
set dollar goal is reached and little to no parts on the shelves. or else the
LHS has too much money caught up in shipping on a per part basis. I
ordered some xray stuff, lhs quoted me a price and stood by it. When it
came in the LHS ate up the $16 shipping charge. He lost money on that
deal, but i'm a regular so he didnt mind.
ask any shop owner about nitro fuel and shipping. it's enough headache to
close shop.
The general problem with Hobbytown is that the parent company doesnt
require prior r/c experience to open shop(it's called Hobbytown not R/C Town).
so you get some stores with absolutely no clue about R/C. The inital cost of a
hobbytown is pretty low compared to other franchise stores. i think it's
19,000 for the license and $60,000 starting cap, so it's attractive. ex
Mcdonalds is $250,000 starting cap.
the guys at the lhs here are nitro plane and train/wwII modelers. Recently
they had to close shop on the nitro plane section as he couldnt compete
with towerhobbies and the other online stores. so he's trying to switch
over to electric cars+trucks. Their r/c electric knowlege is lacking
to no fault of their own. it's just not what they were originally into.
the model painter dude is crazy good. he holds contests and has a
model train layout that he teaches every weekend. this coming weekend
they are giving airbrush seminars.
sorry that was long.
the mercy of their distributor.
if you want your hobby shop to start stocking certain parts..ask him how
well that particular vehicle is selling..if he says it sells pretty good..then
you can mention to him that X Y and Z are commonly breakable/needed
parts. i bet he'd be more than willing to start putting things on the shelves.
a lot of R/C is fad based. micro-t has been selling well for 6 months now,
so an LHS might be more inclined to begin to stock parts. but when it first
came out..there was no indication that it would continue to sell, therefore
no reason to spend extra money and shelf space to stock parts for it.
GPMD(not gpm) is one of the largest distributors of LHS goods and they dont deal
with a lot of companies we use. No xray, HR, 3racing, gpm, atomic,
kyosho, iwaver etc etc so the hobby shop has to justify the expense of
working with those companies on their own. This usually means no order until a
set dollar goal is reached and little to no parts on the shelves. or else the
LHS has too much money caught up in shipping on a per part basis. I
ordered some xray stuff, lhs quoted me a price and stood by it. When it
came in the LHS ate up the $16 shipping charge. He lost money on that
deal, but i'm a regular so he didnt mind.
ask any shop owner about nitro fuel and shipping. it's enough headache to
close shop.
The general problem with Hobbytown is that the parent company doesnt
require prior r/c experience to open shop(it's called Hobbytown not R/C Town).
so you get some stores with absolutely no clue about R/C. The inital cost of a
hobbytown is pretty low compared to other franchise stores. i think it's
19,000 for the license and $60,000 starting cap, so it's attractive. ex
Mcdonalds is $250,000 starting cap.
the guys at the lhs here are nitro plane and train/wwII modelers. Recently
they had to close shop on the nitro plane section as he couldnt compete
with towerhobbies and the other online stores. so he's trying to switch
over to electric cars+trucks. Their r/c electric knowlege is lacking
to no fault of their own. it's just not what they were originally into.
the model painter dude is crazy good. he holds contests and has a
model train layout that he teaches every weekend. this coming weekend
they are giving airbrush seminars.
sorry that was long.