They made me a deal I couldn’t refuse…
My lovely wife needed to run by Hobby Lobby for some craft supplies this morning. My son had a $20 bill burning a hole in his pocket and wanted to check out their selection of plastic toy soldiers to add to his already massive army of polystyrene warriors. The model kit aisle is only two away from the army men aisle but, having already been warned that our discretionary $$$ is kinda light for the week, I decided to avoid that particular part of the store. I’m not world-renowned for my impulse control. Let’s just say I’m the reason they put a wall of candy in the check-out lane.
So I’m trying to be fiscally conservative and what does Hobby Lobby go and do? As I’m weaving through glassware and baskets, I find they’ve fiendishly put a display right in my path stacked high with “CLEARANCE” priced model kits.
The first one that caught my eye was the hard-to-miss box art of the Revell 1/48 scale Lockheed PV-1 Ventura kit. The one with the trippy Cthulhu-esque octopus decal around the dorsal gun turret. I’d read a couple of good reviews in various modelling magazines and had thought it would look nice hanging somewhere in my house. Although, if I may digress, I’ve recently started wondering if I can get away with that at the office. I put a couple of die-cast 1/72 scale P-47 Thunderbolts on a bookcase and nobody batted an eye.
Anyway, the normal price tag was still affixed to the box: $32.99. Right below it was the yellow & red clearance price tag screaming, “HEY NERD! I’M ONLY $11.87,” at little ol’ me.
So, under my arm that fairly large box went. I knew it was going to be hard to conceal that one from the wife. What’s the saying? “In for a penny, in for a pound?” So, I started circling the display, covering all points of the compass. They had the model kits mixed in with some slot car sets and some jigsaw puzzles. There were a bunch of car kits but luckily for my bank account, that’s not a bug that’s ever bitten me.
However, I did find several Tamiya 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang kits. Regular price: $19.99. Clearance price: $7.19. I grabbed one and added a Tamiya 1/35 Barricade & Tank Trap set priced down from $5.99 to $2.15. I looked to see if they were giving anything away for free but unfortunately, no.
In the end, I got $59.00 worth of kits for $21.21 not including tax. It feels like I’m printing money! And lest you feel sorry for Hobby Lobby, we ended up getting a bunch of other stuff at regular price. So whomever is marking down the good kits…keep on doing what you’re doing.
And oh yeah…If you’re fortunate enough to live near a Hobby Lobby, you probably already know that they have great weekly sales but almost always put a “40% Off One Item” coupon on their website and in their weekly newspaper insert ads. The coupons are good for just about any regular-priced item in the store with a few exceptions noted in the fine print. But model kits and hobby supplies ain’t one of them.
I pass a Hobby Lobby every night on the way home from work and I’ve been known to keep 2 or 5 of those 40% coupons in my wallet in case the mood to browse the model aisle strikes. Have I ever snuck a kit past my wife late at night in an effort to avoid uncomfortable questions? Nope. Never. Just…ahhh…putting out the garbage. Nothing to see here, Honey.
That’s about it for now. Until next time…stay nerdy my friends.
Copyright 2013 It Came From The Nerd Cave