time to take a dump on my local LHS

[Brushless55]

Luckaly for me my LHS Hobbytown has a racer from NAMBA20 and is getting his feet wet with FE
starting with the AQ Revolt30
so our boat supply is starting to go up some..

[wakesurfer8]

all hobby shops should have someone that has knowledge of all their products...even if it means having a person dedicated to boats, another to planes, and another to cars...its just common sense and would make it easier for pretty much everyone

[iamandrew]

Lol Lol lol, have a look at my post in the off topic section of this site, exactly the same

[siberianhusky]

There are a number of reasons boating isn't that popular that I won't get into, but you do need a pile of stuff to go run a boat, along with a place to run it with good water conditions most of the time.
A small heli or park flyer just needs a bit of open space, a car just needs the road in front of your house.
It's a catch 22 the hobby shop needs the customers to bother with boats, but without a place to buy them you can't generate the customers. Then they have to compete with specialized boat sites on line, plus everybody has to compete with the Chinese.
Boats are also very expensive IMO for what you really get. My blade heli ready to fly with battery, charger and radio is about half the price of just a Revolt, then you have to buy everything else to make it run. I can go out back in the morning have my coffee and fly a couple packs before work....
Plus for the most part people nowadays don't want to learn anything, it has to be an open the box and go, no offense to anybody but sometime I can't believe that some people don't know how to perform some of the most basic tasks!
Judging by the ages of a lot of us on here we grew up at the end of the "fix it" generation, we like taking things apart and fixing them instead of buying a new one. That's an alien concept to most younger people today.
If you read any of the flying forums there are a lot of old timers lamenting the end of the hobby they knew, learning how to build the plane, tune the engine, figure out why it actually flies.
Things have changed thats for sure, hobby shops deal in generalities, online now I have access to a much wider range of products from smaller manufacturers from around the world than I ever did before.

[RIPFENCE]

Good points...

[Shawn]

Not that much different here in Jacksonville, FL. We have 5 shops, two are owned by the same mom and pop company and one is a large warehouse that now sells to the public.

The mom and pop duo are by far the nicest folks to deal with but their FE boat knowledge is slim to none. In fact it turns out the pond some people run at is about 2 miles from the main location but they couldn't tell me exactly where. I had to use google maps and satellite shots to figure it out.

Out of all the shops combined, support is about 65% cars, 25% flight then trains and scale then boats.

One thing I learned just the other week though is for the most part if I want to be a do it yourself hobbiest I'm able to find some of random supplies at the mom and pop main store. I'm forced to get the rest online.

As for Hobbytown USA, I had one walking distance from my house. The biggest bunch of RC jerks I've ever been around. I had the money, momentum and even the support from my wife to get back into RC (cars) and they actually turned me off so bad I gave up on the hobby for a few years. They are closed now, that company seems determined to fail as a corporation.

[shannon87]

Its pretty much the same with my hobby stores in my general area if it wasn't for ose and all the great folks here I'd still be buying cheap boats that don't even have a hatch I've learned so much in the past few years I have seen the odd Fe boat such as the venom p1 and ekos both being around 500 au dollars seen a Spartan for almost 800 dollars I can almost get two aq/pb boats for that and when I've asked about aq/pb they either don't stock it or they are twice the price its no wonder why boating is hard to get into in Australia unless u know what you are doing or know somebody especially being new at the hobby I'd hate to know how many cheap boats I've wasted my money on until I found ose and brought an aquacraft Rio and now own two fg brushless boats soon adding a revolt or impulse to the fleet so whenever I see a newbie struggling with finding a boat I point them to ose. Sorry about the lack of grammar as I'm using my phone but thanks for all the help I'm now a knowledgeable newbie

[ozzie-crawl]

Tell you how good my LHS is. A guy i met at the pond wanted to get in to FE,he said he was going to get the LHS to help him build a decent boat. I warned him of them and as proof to there uselessness,had him ring the shop and see if they could get him a Neu motor for his build, after being put threw to the "resident electric expert" (there words) the so called experts reply was "We dont carry any cheap Chinese crap motors". They then proceeded to try and sell him some re-badged junk at 5-6 times its actual cost that would not have powered a 20" boat yet alone a 30+ inch hull.
There common practice if you rung looking for a part they would say they have it in stock,when you get to the shop there was a mix up or the ten they had on the shelf sold in the last half hour,but if you leave a deposit they will order it in.
I was in this shop one day when a guy walked in needing a new fuel tank for a monster truck,they had none in stock so removed one from a clients car that was in for a tune. Just so happens i knew the guy who was getting his car tuned at the shop,when i asked him how he went getting his truck tuned up he said he was charged for a new fuel tank because his had a crack in it. So they sold his good fuel tank to another customer then charged him to replace it saying his was broken.

[Flying Scotsman]

Do not get me started on this subject....but we do have in Vancouver an owner who has some knowledge and parts....Buy from OSE in my opinion.

Douggie

[MassiveOverkill]

As for Hobbytown USA, I had one walking distance from my house. The biggest bunch of RC jerks I've ever been around. I had the money, momentum and even the support from my wife to get back into RC (cars) and they actually turned me off so bad I gave up on the hobby for a few years. They are closed now, that company seems determined to fail as a corporation.

This ^^ The only thing I use HobbyTown for is carbon rod. They carry some of the popular boats but don't carry any parts for them. If you're not into RC cars forget about it, and even at that, they're lacking. Ace Hardware carries alot of the other stuff I need including a nice assortment of cheap brass, steel, and aluminum tubing.

I did have a good 1st experience with Rocket City Racing. I ordered a 90 amp Seaking ESC but it was out of stock. Owner told me he had the 120 that he'd sell me for the same price so I jumped on it. I try to support local when possible even though I have to pay taxes because of it.

[siberianhusky]

LOL it's not just hobby shops, some of the things I see in my trade are unbelievable, how about a chimney that had no flue tiles except for an 18" long piece coming out of the cap? People couldn't figure out why the mortar joints were turning brown! Creosote seepage!
Got called in for a leaking basement in a house some people had just bought, when the drywall was removed we found somebody had just drywalled over the cellar door then backfilled the outside!
Many years ago worked for a real clown, one day we were building a stone fireplace inside a multi million dollar cottage, he was too lazy to get off the scaffolding so he took a dump in a bag and stuck it into the fireplace and built over it!

[masonis1]

The hobby store i had to.go.to.for boat parts... Only lhs that carries boat parts... Said my.boat would never run with my setup and they wouldnt supply parts for a build like this. Well i.finally got the parts from a different place. Long drive.
Took it to the store and said. Here look. That "never run.boat" running and doing great. I said some stuff and walked out. Hah never been back since
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[T.S.Davis]

In metro dEEtroit we have some great hobby stores. They stock a lot of pieces n' parts. I can pick up a Hughey shaft or an Octura 646/3 any day of the week on my way home. It kinda kicks butt to be honest. There is a down side though. Even in the store with the more knowledgeable guys there is a lack of understanding with FE. They're such great people with such a killer stock that they are NOT annoying about it. We're very fortunate.

Anybody ever apply for a job with their LHS? Not to get rich. They can't possibly pay a big wage. Just to help out and expand their knowledge base. It's a recurring theme. You ask a question........ they don't know so they give you some BS answer that conflicts with what you already did know. Or worse, local hobby guy talks down to you because he doesn't even understand what your saying. What if you were the local hobby guy? Just a thought.

[ozzie-crawl]

One of the LhS got me good a few times.I ring them up ask if they have xxxx item and they say "yes got them on the shelf" but when i get there they all of a sudden have sold out or mixed the part,but if i pay a deposit they will order it in. This LHS is over a hours drive there and back so kinda pi88ed me off after the 3 or 4 time. Last time i asked if they have 5.5mm bullet connectors,the guy got *!***!***!***!**ty because i asked him 3 times to check and make sure they had them. Of course when i get there they dont have any but will order them in,guy then asks if i want any thing else, i asked for some push rods and cleats and some 1/4 brass tube, i picked them up of the counter and told him that covers my fuel and wasted time and walked out with out paying for them.
Then they bitch when people dont support there shop

[T.S.Davis]

charged for a new fuel tank because his had a crack in it. So they sold his good fuel tank to another customer then charged him to replace it saying his was broken.

That right there is scummy. No way around that.