Detroit area hobby shops to visit?

[ZTony8]

Dean's is still there in Flushing.Not one of MY favorite places as his prices are all over the map and seemingly not related to rarity or sanity.
There's Whistle Stop on Harper & Shadylane in St.Clair Shores.They're retail but do have some kits left at clearance prices(Just not as many as in January-that's when they put their slow selling,mostly Tamiya,kits on sale and I snap them up.he he he).P&D has a few sale priced kits.There's also a place in Warren called Prop Shop Hobbies on Van Dyke north of 9 Mile road.He doesn't have a lot of models but he tends to hang on to the ones that don't sell so he still may have some oddball Japanese kits.
The Riders stores are all gone.

[DPalmer43]

Is Ryder still around? There was one, I want to say on John R, just south of Oakland Mall.

Alas, that location is long gone. So is the Canton and Taylor locations. They still have their place in Flint and Grand Rapids. I've never been to either of those locations. I went to their Canton store many times. Very small, very few plastics. I think that they suffered from their expansion (many stores) and when the Metro Detroit area was hit hard by the recession, the hobby shops were hit big.

[DPalmer43]

And if you're in the metro Detroit area, Great Lakes Toy and Hobby over on Van Dyke just north of 19 mile is definitely worth the visit. Very nice selection of plastics and die casts.

Also, over on Plymouth Road just west of Merriman is Lightning Speedway. It's a slot car hobby shop but they're carrying plastics (Tamiya, Monogram...) along with the complete line of Tamiya spray and brush paints. Granted its not a "plastics only" hobby shop, but the fact that they're carrying the paints, some decent plastics, and various putty's and magazines, it's worth the trip. That and the 1/32 slot cars are just too cool

[Brooklin1]

Thanks for the info on Lightning. Much in the way of F1/racing models. Tamiya, Fujimi?

[DPalmer43]

Not as much as I'd like, but they had 5 or 6 of the 1/20 F1 kits. Some of the Chaparral's that were released over the past year (old Monogram re-releases?) and some of the Tamiya 956's stick out in my mind. I was happy to see the full line of Tamiya paints as Nankin (9 mile and Farmington Rd) don't seem to restock all that often and are more often than not, out of the color(s) that I need.

Lightning Speedway is also carrying Scale Auto Enthusiast, something that Nankin doesn't (Nankin is just down the street from me here at work, so they're the "go to" place when I need something quick....like glue or paint). SAE might not be the best rag out there, but its better than nothing

[Mario1fan]

Try the ModelCave 103 W Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti, Michigan. All plastics and tons of cars. Very impressive store with rare kits and new. 20% discount at purchase.