Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Buying Diecast Cars in Canberra

Yesterday I wandered over to Belconnen Westfield Shopping Centre to see a movie (Surrogates, excellent - Bladerunner lite for the 00's). As I was early, I decided to take advantage of the cluster of toy departments (K-Mart, Toys-r-Us, Coles, Woolies) and see if there were any Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars that caught my eye.

I thought about it later, that the other cluster of diecast suppliers is Fyshwick. I have visited all three, but prefer one over the others. The three are - Super Toyworld, Fisher Discounts and Monaro Models and Hobbies.

Super Toyworld        5 Barrier St, Fyshwick


An enormous toyshop, with dedicated R/C and diecast sections. The range is good, and they have an excellent display of 1/18's and a good range of Hotwheels and Matchbox (strangely in the toy section NOT in the diecast section). Prices are not outrageous, but limited 'specials' on diecasts. 1/43 is not a prime focus of this store. Staff are friendly and helpful.

Fisher Discounts        68 Barrier St, Fyshwick


A strange store. Downstairs is a large old style hardware store, specialising n power tools for tradies. Upstairs is a model car/train/plane area. It is jam packed and there is a strong focus on diecast cars. There is an enormous range of diecast cars in 1/43. They have good specials and very reasonable prices. Staff are very friendly and helpful.

Monaro Models and Hobbies        80 Newcastle St, Fyshwick


A large store, nice and open and not as jam packed as Fisher Discounts, but the focus here is very much on R/C. Diecast cars have a small dedicated room in the corner, which i always feel odd entering. Although I have been there several times looking for particular cars, I've never bought anything. The range is small, and doesn't have a real focus. The staff are friendly and helpful but I think they are more focussed on R/C.

Where I shop

The store with the greatest range in 1/43 is Fisher Discounts.  I prefer to shop there due to the range, the ever changing specials and the friendly staff. I was once overcharged $10 (didn't realise until i got home) but apart from that all my experiences there have been good. I still visit the other stores, especially Toyworld as it shares a street with Fisher Discounts, but reviewing my purchase spreadsheet its clear that Fisher Discounts are ahead on parting my money from me in exchange for miniature cars.

If you know of any other stores in the Canberra region that specialise in Diecast cars, please email me or leave a comment.

4 comments:

  1. If you are chasing HSP AMAX windhobby Hispeed himoto topwin smartech exceed and acme car and parts (both nitro and electric)then check out myRC Hobbystore. They post for only $4.70 and have the cheapest stock available for all scales 1:8, 1:10, and 1:16 :)

    www.myrc.com.au

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  2. isn't fisher discount not selling and has store anymore?

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  3. Yeah Fisher Discounts no longer sells any models.

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    ReplyDelete