We visited: Hobby stores around Europe
This summer we visited several attractions throughout Europe and in these series of articles we will bring you photo reports from each of them. The last article won’t cover any attractions, rather it will give a review of the hobby shops I visited.
Zwehrener Modellbau-Lädchen
First hobby store I visited was Zwehrener Modellbau-Lädchen in Kassel. It’s basically a model railroad shop but it does have some plastic models as well. Plenty of hobby supplies, paints etc are also on offer. The store manager is really helpful, loves the hobby but knowledge of German is a must. His English isn’t great.
Address: Frankfurter Str. 243, 34134 Kassel, Germany
Opening times: Mon-Fri: 10-18, Sat: 10-13, Sun: closed
Berliner Zinnfiguren
Second hobby store I visited was the highlight of the trip for me. Berliner Zinnfiguren. It’s a lovely shop with plenty of display miniatures and busts, both painted and unpainted, fantasy and historical on offer. It boasts several paint ranges, loads of plastic models (historic). Also it is a treasure trove of hobby books. The staff is really helpful, knowledgeable.
Address: Knesebeckstraße 88, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Opening times: Mon-Fri: 13-18, Sat: 10-15, Sun: closed
Modulor
Third one on the list is Modulor, also in Berlin. It’s a huge department store with huge hobby assortment. You won’t find any plastic models or miniatures for gaming or display there (only minis there are architectural miniatures in tiny scale). But hobby supplies are a plenty. Prices are high, so the only advantage this place has is that you can get everything in one place – from materials to tools.
Address: Prinzenstraße 85, 10969 Berlin, Germany
Opening times: Mon-Fri: 10-20, Sat: 10-18, Sun: closed
Battlefield Berlin
Next up is the famous Battlefield Berlin, a longstanding sponsor of ours. Being mates with the former employee has its perks so I got to enter the store from the back entrance. Huge assortment of gaming stuff, be it tabletop or RPG or just boardgames. Games Workshop, Corvus Belli, Wyrd, you name it, they have it. Wide range of paint suppliers is also on offer. And for us painters they do carry some display miniatures as well.
Address: Gneisenaustraße 43, 10961 Berlin, Germany
Opening times: Mon/Wed/Fri: 10-20, Tue/Thu: 10-19, Sat: 10-18, Sun: closed
Hobby 2000
We leave Germany and head to Belgium where, in Liege, we find ourselves in Hobby 2000, a huge warehouse of hobby heaven. Even though there must have been 6 or 7 employees there, none of them paid any attention to me. They must have a busy online store as all of them were busy packaging parcels. The hobby goods were laying around and I literally had to sift through boxes and boxes of minis to find something I like. But at least I could take my time about it. The biggest part of the warehouse is dedicated to railroad, then military models (plastic). Then come the hobby supplies with loads of paint ranges, materials and tools. There are some wargaming miniatures as well as a limited supply of display miniatures (which all seem second hand).
Address: Quai de la Boverie 78, 4020 Liège, Belgium
Opening times: Mon-Sat: 9:30-18, Sun: closed
Kit ou Double
Next store is an accidental find that I stumbled upon in Bastogne – Kit ou Double. A proper old school hobby store. Any plastic model you can think of, you can find it there. Probably a lot of OOP boxes and kits as well. The owner is an older gent, leaves you alone to shop around but if you have questions is ready to answer them.
Address: Rue de Neufchâteau 14, 6600 Bastogne, Belgium
Opening times: Tue-Sat: 10-18, Sun: 13-18, Mon: closed
Modellbahn Kaufmann
The last store on the list (before an honourable mention) is in Dornbirn – Modellbahn Kaufmann. A dedicated model railroad store – similar to the first one in Kassel, but without the plastic models. The owner is forthcoming and helpful.
Address: Bahnhofstraße 12, 6850 Dornbirn, Austria
Opening times: Mon-Fri: 9-12 and 14-18, Sat: 9-12, Sun: closed
Warhammer
Honourable mention goes to all the Warhammer stores in all the cities that I visited. I managed not to enter a single one. Even if I wanted to, they were all closed at the time I arrived. However, they all are alike (like McDonalds), they all carry the same products. And what I managed to see, peaking through the windows, all of them require dusting of the display cases :D
Warhammer Hamburg, Colonnaden 15, 20354 Hamburg, Germany, Mon-Sat: 11-18, Sun: closed
Warhammer Zwolle, Sassenstraat 15, 8011 PA Zwolle, Netherlands, Tue/Wed/Fri: 12-18, Thu: 12-17:30 and 18-21, Sat: 11-17, Sun/Mon: closed (someone had been high coming up with those opening times!)
Warhammer Metz, 52 En Fournirue, 57000 Metz, France, Mon/Thu: 13:30-18:30, Tue/Wed/Fri: 10-12:30 and 13:30-19, Sat: 10-19, Sun: closed
Warhammer Strasbourg, 5 Rue des Frères, 67000 Strasbourg, France, Tue/Wed: 11-19, Thu: 14-19, Fri: 11-13 and 14-19, Sat: 10-19, Sun/Mon: closed
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