Hobbyco Store - Sydney

Apologies for the lack of posting from a land down under. It seems that WiFi here is limited and/or expensive so I've had to concentrate on working on MREmag.com or backing photos up to Flickr.

However, I felt I ought to share this model shop with you. Possibly the biggest I've found. HobbyCo describe this on their website as a “Flagship store”. Now, as far as I know, only fashion emporia have flagship stores – that being the big shop in the capital where all the trendy stuff goes.

Well, this isn't in the capital city and if the contents are trendy then I've suddenly become cool.

Sited in the top floor of the Queen Victoria shopping centre, the most impressive building in the centre of Sydney, it has everything you could wish for.

Obviously I headed straight for the model railway section, right as you walk in the door and behind the operating railway in the window if further guidance were needed. That railway, by the way, looks like a standard Hornby display item and was running Flying Scotsman double-headed with Thomas on one level and something German looking on another.

Train wiser there is a huge range of Hornby products, both rolling stock and Skaledale. You can have Bachmann too, and most surprisingly, Peco. Not just track but O gauge building components. If you need road vehicles then a pretty impressive selection of Oxford Diecast are stocked.

Foreign models aplenty include American and Australian locos and rolling stock. Ausie wagons are rarer but several box sets were on sale. A sale bin had some bogie hopper kits, a local production complete with transfers but not bogies. $25AUS a kit if you fancy them.

 



Outside trains, I found a huge range of plastic kits, slot cars, R/C cars and aircraft and piles of laser cut model boat kits, many from manufacturers I'd not heard of. Plenty of Manga stuff if you want it as well as all the normal ships, aircraft and cars.

Paint and glue is stocked along with a wide range of tools. As befits the location, Tamiya and Mr Hobby Japanese materials are available.

This is one heck of a model store. I can't comment on prices as I'm still halving everything to convert it in to pounds sterling so it all looks reasonable. I'd certainly love to have a shop ike this in a few UK cities!

Me, I left with an Assie diecast car, a cartoon Karman Ghia and an etched brass kit for the Sydney opera house. And even more worries about future excess baggage charges. Suggestions for methods of shipping a lot of magazines and books from Aus to the UK would be welcomed...

 

More details of the store from the Hobbyco website.