All Points Hobbies -a review

 
   This has been a long time coming! I promised this review back in December. My apologies to Ben at All Points Hobbies once again. Toddler fun and my bashfulness made this wait far too long!

photo by afagen

   Back in December I was checking out online sites that sold model car kits. I don't know if any of you have had the same problem finding them as much as I have, but locally there doesn't seem to be a place that sells them (or at least the ones I wanted to find) anywhere. My father was into models. He loved building them and he had a great eye for detail. If something may be incorrect you could see that it bugged him but you also could see him light right up with a great miniature! My mother also has a great appreciation for miniatures. The two of them (with my grandfather) built me a 1/100 scale (I believe :) replica of my grandfather's parents house. It was never fully completed but it did have clap board siding and two stories! My mother even started making miniature black and white photos that she printed in her dark room... aka our bathroom at the time lol and braided rugs. They did an amazing job. So it is easy to see why I may want to pass this interest on. I also want to share the need for keeping the imagination active to my kids.

   The wii that consumes so much of my kids time lately is sucking all their real fun right out. I never really had game systems around but the few times we did... boy is that all we wanted to do. Those times were easily forgotten but the miniatures we created and played with were certainly not! With boys they may not appreciate miniatures while being young but they will always light up to building a model car or plane. Especially when they are allowed the task mostly themselves. Unfortunately, this was what made me be so late on getting this review up.

   All Points Hobbies was nice enough to send the boys out a 1969 Chevy Camaro Z-28 Easy Car Model Kit in their Civil Auto Cars/Trucks section of their site. I was always into the painting of the models but once Ben had pointed me in the direction of this kit, the smart reasoning behind it started ringing loud in my ears... sticky glue, paint and the fumes may not be good for 9 and younger boys to be around. They still haven't gotten the eating over your plates down! So we got the kit in the mail (in no time I might add!) and I couldn't tell you how excited the oldest was to get cracking at it. This kit was an easy snap together kit but had lots of parts so it would still be fun putting it together. It came with sticker decals and only 4 screws to put in. It was perfect and it sells for only $14.95.

   It was smooth sailing at first but we started it late and he needed to go to bed. The first night he got all the pieces detached from the plastic holders and got most of the frame done. We shelved it for the night to start on it after school the next day. He was more than happy to get an early start in the morning and he and his brothers had decided to rearrange the car a bit and give the car a decal makeover :/ That was pretty absent minded of me to leave it in reach but I thought it would be just fine for one night. Haven't I learned my lesson with 3 boys? Apparently not! So for a while I was thinking of how I would get the stickers off without them looking wrinkled or getting ripped because some of them were really small. But the stickers weren't the only things they messed with. They also broke a bumper and lost a couple pieces. So I came clean to Ben and ordered the same kit and now here is what we have!

   After the last fiasco I didn't dare let this one out of my site till it was done. The oldest was gone and with him being gone quite a bit with the end of school and baseball, I decided to have the younger two help me put this together. Lil Riot was a very good helper with keeping the pieces safe and handing me them when I had the need. Spaz just wants to race it around. However, it is on a high shelf (safe and sound) and awaiting the arrival of the oldest when he gets home. I think we will do a couple more of these easy car kits before we graduate him to the more involved ones considering!

   The instructions were great and easy to understand with all the diagrams. The oldest did a fine job of getting everything the first time. The only thing I will say that we had a hard time on were the darn stickers! The running lights (I believe) were so tiny that they were almost impossible to put on lol. However, they did go on and when I finally got them in place, I put clear glaze medium over it so they won't ever come off! Ha ha. See, I do learn from my mistakes sometimes!

   All Points Hobbies provides so many different kits that I would find it hard to believe that you couldn't find what you were looking for. They have military, civil automobiles, sea and air. In fact my favorite model that I owned when I was younger is in stock, and that is the Titanic. I got that for a present when I was younger, but as I said my father had and eye for detail and loved model kits so I got a made ship that I couldn't paint because the paint was too permanent lol. I still have it actually. I'm grown up now.. I should paint it. Memories I guess? Or, I can make new ones with my boys and get this kit for $20.95 at All Points Hobbies.

   It's not just kits that they sell either. They also sell tools and accessories, diorama, figures and other supplies. These are the details that makes the miniatures pop. The extra details.. such as soldiers in action on the battlefield next to that model of the tank make it more tangible for the onlooker. Have you ever seen those scenes when you go to the fair? Usually they have at least two scenes that are on display at the craft building in our local fair. The detail in these models are absolutely incredible! I wouldn't be at all surprised that they took years to complete. Especially since the gentleman that made one of them said he made his own plastic men in the scene. Amazing! Now even if my boys don't want to make elaborate scenes such as those, there is nothing wrong with giving them the sense of pride and enjoyment in making their very own model. 

   Ben, the owner of All Points Hobbies couldn't be a nicer guy. He loves to build models himself. So he started his business (with his wife) out of love for his hobby. He thoroughly enjoys what he does and you can tell. If you are looking for something, let him know. He will do what he can to help you out. Check out the customer feedback and see how helpful he is.

   Mothers, you can admit you might have already started thinking of what to get this year for the Holidays. If not.. maybe you have lots of birthdays through the summer and fall in the family like we do. Either way, in the hobby world of model kits, All Points Hobbies is modeling at it's finest! 

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   Thank you Ben for being so patient and letting us review this great kit. 

   

I received this product for the purpose of review. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.