hong kong - asia's r/c heaven

[herman]

would just like to share the following...
the post (post # 181) below can be found on the following link:
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthre...t=61230&page=7
and was beautifully written by stealth... last 1/23/2008
(you might be required to register to see the site... but like most things in life, registration is free... )

======

*HONG KONG*

*ASIA's R/C HEAVEN!!!*



Taking the Star Ferry to my Hong Kong hotel in the Kowloon side!



After checking-in to my hotel in the morning,
I quickly made my way to the Mongkok area by subway.




Here are maps that I found from RCTech Members
RockDragon & RevMaxx! If anyone is going to this area
of HK for the 1st time, use it! Its extremely helpful!
THANKS GUYS!!!



This Map shows the spots of my R/C shop targets!




My first Bullseye is the Waigo Hobby shop which opened early (10:30 a.m.).
Its on Tung Fong Street and very near the Yau Mae Tei subway station. Look for
Barry for any assistance. He speaks English very well and is super helpful. The shop
has a lot of Tamiya and Yokomo stuff.




Ahh...finally...the famous KWONG WA STREET! South Asia's R/C Paradise!




Since it was still a bit early (about 1 PM) most of the other shops were
still closed. Fortunately, CHIN NGAI HOBBY (GPM) was open. Owners
were very nice & they even gave me directions to Pizza Hut for lunch...
where I took my time until the other hobby shops opened! Sorry Miles, out
of stock yung B4 Aluminum Wing Mounts. One week pa daw next batch.




Just after the GPM shop, I made my way to a small mall just off from
Kwong Wa St. - KING's HOBBY had some decent stuff so I made
sure to take note of their prices while I made my rounds to the other shops.

[herman]

Just down from King's Hobby was RACING MODEL SHOP. It also had ok stuff.
Beside it was a vacant spot which had a hobby shop... but I guess they closed?!
Emer, I noticed the sign which said "URBAN COMPANY" - is this the shop you
mentioned? Looks like they moved?




No idea what the name of this shop was...but if I remember right its
prices were similar to its neighbors... though the owner was very friendly!




For Hong Kong standards MMC was a big Model/Hobby shop with a mix
of R/C, AirSoft, Plastic Models, etc. They were one of if not the the most
expensive shop for R/C stuff. Even though they had a few things that other
shops were out of, I felt they were very overpriced in comparison.




By this time I was sure the other shops on Kwong Wa St. were open. My
first stop was ACTION HOBBIES. In my research before my trip it seemed
they were one of the most competitive shops with prices and amount of items.
I had not seen any Orion packs & so I was hopping they would be available here.
Unfortunately, they were out of stock but talk about amazing timing...a shipment
was arriving that night & I was promised they would be available the next day!



Here is a picture of ACTION HOBBIES store owner Andy Lam.
He speaks English very well & has Awesome prices at his shop! Be sure
to hit them first when you go R/C Shopping in Hong Kong!



Here is a picture of On-Road Racer **** Wong. He works with Andy at the
shop and is also very helpful if you have any questions regarding their stuff!



Across Action hobbies is TQ RACING MODEL. The store owner, Ching,
was also very cool. this is where I got the jackpot for Sir Miles as well as one
of Kenneth's orders. The shop was full and busy so I couldn't get a picture
with Ching. I scored one of my chargers here and it definitely is another must
stop for those R/C shopping for deals!




Just beside TQ Racing Model is HOBBY HOBBY. It had a few things of
interest but I notice the store owner was a bit too occupied on the phone to
answer any questions. He did smile though and was friendly but his shop only
had a few things of interest to me: basically Electronics & Electric Off-Road parts.

[herman]

Just a few stores down was WAILE MODEL CENTER. This store seemed more
geared towards helicopters and Planes as well as Nitro stuff. It had some Electronic
stuff of interest to me... primarily Lithium capable chargers. The one I was looking for was out of stock though. The store was also quite busy so I didn't have much of a chance to ask too many questions.




This shop had quite a bit of good stuff.
They had the most Off-Road parts for:
AE & JConcepts

Lung, the guy in the red shirt, seems to be one of the owners. The store
has 4 cute & fat lazy cats lying around the shop. Prices were alright on
some items but pricy on others. I did purchase a few small items from
them though. here is a link to their online site so you can see what they
have at their shop:

http://shopping.*******.hk/index.php...a63c186ac61e55




Here is one of the bigger and most complete hobby shops on the street.
HARMONY MODEL Co. has a bit of a reputation for being pricy... but
actually I found the price to be decent. He gave good discounts especially
if you bought a bunch of stuff. Kenneth, this is where I got your other "orders"!



Here is a pic of HARMONY'S store owner. One of his recent guests in
2007 was Gil Losi Jr.! He made sure to show me the picture he had
of them together when I was at his shop!




On my first day this shop was closed. But the day I was leaving CHALLENGER
MODEL TRADING CO. was open... and with lots of good stuff! I got my 2nd charger here since all the other shops were out of stock. The price was quite a bit higher but averaging the two made getting both still a good deal.




Towards the end of my "tour" I visited WING JET MODEL CO. Nothing really
stood out at this shop but if you are looking for Tamiya stuff this is probably the one
stop you should make. They also sell a lot of plastic models with dioramas.



*Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the very last hobby
shop I visited... JET HOBBY on Victory Ave. (away from
the other shops & near the pet shops). The store was crammed
with stuff... mostly HPI and Hot Bodies stuff. So if you use these
brands, you got to hit up this shop!


THE END

[herman]

sure hope you like going through the thread... stealth was really thorough.... i've been to almost all the shops he's mentioned...

[neweraz84]

Thats very kool man, thats at lot a hobby shops. I drool everytime I see a pic, there are like no hobby shops here in philadelphia.

[Tjay]

too bad I didn't have enough time to go see H.K...next time I hope. Nice pics Herman!

[SaiTam]

Some of these shop owners are the top RC drivers in HK.

HEC has been in business for a long time with a bad rep among the locals. Some shops are not particularly friendly or sometimes can be dishonest.

How did you not get a photo of the (toy)gun shop? It looks very hard core.

[herman]

pls. take note that i didn't write the above article

it was written by "stealth"... and can be found on the site/link i posted... it was really well written and quite thorough... wish i could do the same given the time...

i actually have seen and been to the airsoft gun shops... yep they are pretty hardcore, but i'm not into those kinds of things... another thing is how to bring them out of h.k and into your own country...

[cdog4w]

Thanks for the info/link herman. I'm heading to China in June for an all around tourism type trip, but will have a few days in HK. Both me and my wife are excited about shopping there (for different things of course .

[pomme de terre]

Thanks for the lists of R/C shops. My dad visits HK every year or so but he doesnt know where any shops are, so this will help the next time he goes there.

[herman]

just love to share stuff and hope others will benefit from the info...
here are some of my articles that i have written... over the years...

2002
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/showth...t=r%2Fc+heaven
2004
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/showth...t=r%2Fc+heaven
2006
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/showth...Fc+heaven+part
2008
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27658

[herman]

Thanks for the info/link herman. I'm heading to China in June for an all around tourism type trip, but will have a few days in HK. Both me and my wife are excited about shopping there (for different things of course

no problem... what part of china are you seeing? my wife and i have been to shanghai... mostly sightseeing... but if it's shopping that you're after, hong kong is it... (for me that is)...

here's a tip... since most hobby shops open after lunch... i would suggest heading for them around 3-4pm....

you can drop off your wife at the ladies street market (along tung choi) open till late 10pm or later depending on the season... while you can sneak off to the hobby shops...

[myscoobysti]

This thread brings back a lot of happy memories, makes me wanna pack my suitcase now and fly there.

A minor note for buying parts for mini-z:
Action Hobbies sells Atomic parts and TQ Racing Model sells 3 Racing parts. The rest of the shops sell mainly only Kyosho.

[Aurora]

myscoobysti,

That was partially true. Action Hobbies do sell a lot of Atomic parts and TQ selling a lot of 3 racing stuff respectively, but all of them do sell a mix of brands nowadays.

Within those shops, one could possibly Miniz brands such as Kyosho, Atomic, PN, 3 racing, GPM, KM, TOPCAD, etc.

Btw, TQ do have a pretty bad rep amongst the locals for being not so friendly towards customers.

And if you guys ever plan to visit, do make sure to do some research on how to get to those two Miniz tracks that are not too far away from these shops:


CT
http://www.miniz.hk.st/
http://www.miniz.hk.st/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13574


MMS
http://rcmms.com.hk/modules/news/
http://rcmms.com.hk/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2

[myscoobysti]

Originally Posted by Aurora

Action Hobbies do sell a lot of Atomic parts and TQ selling a lot of 3 racing stuff respectively, but all of them do sell a mix of brands nowadays.

Oh! That's good to know. The few times that I was there was moons ago.

Thanks for clearing that up.