15th February 2025
Often, Saturday is the one day a week that I manage to get away from the day job to spend time with Liz watch football and the case of today, enjoy the company of friends. Today is – or rather will be, as I’m writing this in advance of events to come – no different in that regard, all three bases being covered! But first, a trip into town…
One of life’s great pleasures for me at least, is our weekly walk into town to indulge in some non-supermarket shopping. The convenience of a local supermarket is all very well, but there is something very pleasing about being able to use smaller shops such as our butchers and bakers and the indoor market, for at least some of our weekly purchases. Living in a small market town, we are blessed with plenty of these little shops, so we try and support them as much as possible and though there will never be a chance to replace the main shop with one that only uses smaller outlets, we still try and do our bit.
Part of the pleasure of these shops is the chance you have to actually speak to people about the items that you want to buy. There’s an undeniable passion that you can often feel as questions are asked, goods handed over and money exchanged. You simply don’t get that when you enter a supermarket, basket in hand ready to rush, grab, and then impersonally scan your collection of items at points that have replaced human interaction, with the bleep bleep of the scanner’s glass window.
As usual, experiences elsewhere often bring me back to building models. Tiny shops often make me feel a pang of remorse at the loss of model shops. Modern shopping habits have replaced what we once did, the impersonal clicking of a mouse superseding the tactile experience of dusty shelves filed with all manner of future possibilities. Where we live there are simply no model shops, so the only chance I have to actually pick up a kit and look at it are in the local branch of Hobbycraft, which as we know is hardly bulging at the model kit seams. So, my only choice is to buy online, pleasure and excitement being replaced with nothing more than a utilitarian process. It’s a shame, but I guess it is what it is. Time moves on.
Unlike the growing number of independent shops that we have in town that cater to more, shall we say adult needs (no, not those adult needs!) I don’t see a time when we will see model shops springing up as they did when we were kids – unless of course you happen to live in Somerset! There, there seems to be a growing collection of hobby shops that you simply don’t see in any other county, spearheaded of course, by the wonderful Jadlam enterprise and their stunning HQ in Glastonbury. Maybe Somerset is just an outlier or maybe it’s a portent of things to come. Perhaps the days of the modelshop are not quite over and we may yet see them start to reappear, little by little. I won’t hold my breath, but I might keep my fingers crossed.
So I’m now off to spend time with the friends who have just arrived, noisy chat replacing the solitude of my office. We will then be off to the football which, if it ever stops raining (yeah, fat chance!) should be a fun few hours in the far-too fresh air.
Have a great day, everyone and I will see you all tomorrow.
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That certainly resonated with me Spencer, my work area is invariably a tip and also working on one kit at…
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Ah… where the magic happens! Looking really great Spence; mine is overdue a good looking at.
As I am setting up a modeling emporium in the new house, I’d be interested in what you added or…
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SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
I also lament the ability to browse a model shop’s wares as the last great shop in my area closed a few decades (!) ago. For the same reasons, I dislike buying online as I want to be able to hold the box, turn it around, read all the details and hear the sprues moving around as I do so.
I’m fortunate to travel to Tokyo several times a year where model building is as strong as ever. There are several shops whose shelves are jam-packed with model boxes of all types both new and (sometimes very) old. Jam-packed is no exaggeration as these shops are in very small spaces that are sometimes challenging to move around in as well as being able to crane one’s head to look at everything shelved and/or piled up.
Regardless, I always look forward to visiting these shops, if only to get that satisfying model shop feeling if I find something to purchase or not. I can’t wait for May to be there and feed my love of real model shops once again.
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I also lament the ability to browse a model shop’s wares as the last great shop in my area closed a few decades (!) ago. For the same reasons, I dislike buying online as I want to be able to hold the box, turn it around, read all the details and hear the sprues moving around as I do so.
I’m fortunate to travel to Tokyo several times a year where model building is as strong as ever. There are several shops whose shelves are jam-packed with model boxes of all types both new and (sometimes very) old. Jam-packed is no exaggeration as these shops are in very small spaces that are sometimes challenging to move around in as well as being able to crane one’s head to look at everything shelved and/or piled up.
Regardless, I always look forward to visiting these shops, if only to get that satisfying model shop feeling if I find something to purchase or not. I can’t wait for May to be there and feed my love of real model shops once again.
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Just to let you, Spencer, and your readers (some of whom might be planning a city break – why not try Dublin?) know, Somerset is not the only place where in-person, bricks-and-mortar model shops are going strong. Dublin and its environs have no less than four dedicated model shops, as well as a toy retailer with a floor full of model kits and paints. Three of these are in Dublin city centre, within walking distance of the main drag, and the other two are in the wider suburbs. The long-established Marks Models has a small shop in the city centre, as well as a very large retail warehouse in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, just 10 miles for the city. Then we have the shop known officially as the Dublin Model Shop, but known to most of us as Walshie’s (after its larger-than-life proprietor, Paul Walsh). This is also in the city, in James Street, which is reached by a half hour walk, or a ten-minute ride on the e light rail tram from the city centre, Paul stock not only new kits, but also lots of second-hand ones, very competitively priced. Then in Kildare town, about 30 miles from the city centre by car, and also reachable by the commuter rail system, is the Hobby Den. This, which is owned by Bryan Walsh (no relation to Paul) opens only on a Saturday, but stocks a lot of kits not available elsewhere, including also paints and other accessories. Finally, in the city centre there is Toymaster, which is a toy shop but with a very large selection of mainstream kits and paints. One to think about if you are planning a city break. (And if you happen to be there on the third Saturday in the month, you would be most welcome to come to the IPMS Ireland Dublin Chapter’s meeting in the city centre, from 11 am till 1 pm.)
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I live in Alaska (US). Alaska is in square miles, 7.1 TIMES the size of the UK (AK = 1,717,856km2 UK=242,495km2). We have exactly one hobby shop in the entire state. To make matters worse, retail spaces like Michaels don’t carry models up here. Mail order takes weeks, not days to arrive. I am blessed to live just 45 miles from this one, well stocked shop in Anchorage and I will patronize that shop even when I don’t need something just to ensure that they stay in business. Keep the shops alive as best you can!
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