I really wanted to like this place. I enjoy supporting small businesses and was excited to spend money at a local hobby shop. I purchased an RC car here that failed within minutes. The store exchanged it, but the replacement failed as well. Being sold one defective product is unfortunate. Being sold two in a row and then told a refund was not possible is poor customer service. We made multiple trips and still ended up with a broken toy. It's hard to understand why a business would choose to lose a customer over a $22 item. What should have been a simple customer service issue turned into a frustrating ordeal. Very disappointing. read more

Toy stores still exist! This place is great for all ages. Wide selection from toys to build it yourself model cars/kits. Specifically came here for Gundam Kits and they did not disappoint! Great selection, well organized very reasonably priced. Very helpful staff as well. Super surprised on finding this great gem. read more

See all

Great selection of Gundams and great prices. We've really gotten in to ROKR model kits and they have a lot of cool ones. I bought the cuckoo clock from them and it was less than the A-Word place. It looks beautiful since we finished it! I'd rather spend my money here, locally, for model kits and supplies. The staff is always friendly and helpful. I find excuses to go see what they have read more

I am so impressed with the stock selections and the amount of sub structure parts. I came in looking for a very very small screw ( I couldn't find any where). The staff there is amazing, so knowledgedable and helpful. It wasn't a standard screw but they searched around the store and found exactly what I was looking for. I can't say enough about the team work and willingness to go the extra mile. So much nicer than the other hobby shops and better prices! read more

My son brought his RC car into the shop today, and I'm grateful that Nate, Justin, and Isreal worked together and gave my son a quick lesson on how to fix his car. These guys were very patient and figured out the problem in no time. As soon as we left, my son voiced that he wants to come to this store instead, because of how nice and knowledgeable these guys were. As soon as we got home he was having a blast this his RC car again after it sitting to the side for a few months. Thank you guys again for making my kids summer break alot more fun. read more

Great selection of r/c cars and very friendly staff. Every time I bring in a r/c for repair they always help fix it. Great hobby store

Ya can't help but admire knowledgeable staff. Ask one of staff members behind the counter a toy question & you're gonna get a proper answer. Very nice to have friendly help when one is in need of a toy for the kids, grandkids, or the adult who just refuses to grow out of playing with modern toys. And they have a selection that'll keep you in the store for quite a while. A must stop for toy shoppin. It's an RC paradise! Helos, trophy trucks, cars, planes, jets, many sizes of drones & more. read more

Love this place. I have two young boys and this location houses many RC options for them as they get order. We have purchased, cars, trucks, boats, and planes. Also the old legacy Radio Shack items are nice to be able to get. read more

Walked into the store as I am an RC nut. The only person to greet me was the cashier. I walked around the store. The rest of the staff could not be bothered. All of them busy talking amongst themselves, mainly non business related banter. I wandered the aisles for about 20 minutes. I also looked in counters in full view of the employees. Not a hint of wanting to provide any service or assistance. The selection of general hobby things is sparse. Cars seem to be a focus as the guys mainly were tinkering on their own cars, I noticed. As far as customer service value is concerned I experienced zero. Not boo from staff the whole time I was in the store. My experience was underwhelming. They have a large store with a little selection of various toy store items, not much RC flying related and a good proportion of RC car stuff. I cannot say they have a great selection of anything. Not sure i can call this a "Hobbytown," but more a general store that has toys and some hobby related items. I think I prefer the real hobby shop in Kearny Mesa, Discount Hobby Warehouse which is also friendlier. I walked out and, at least, the cashier was pleasant and said goodbye. I will come in again sometime to double check again. Not a positive experience. read more

Fun place! Staff is cool, but I can see some of them have the elite mind-set. Mister "I know more than you". But it's like that in that realm. Overall, good experience in the store, tons of cool models and electronics. My kids love it there, so that's a plus. Need RC parts, head here and they may have what you're looking for! Just watch out for the cool employees. read more

I been a customer here for about a year now. It's the closest to me and the workers here don't pay attention at all. They don't lift a finger no one looks interested and rather just ask you if you wanna pay and leave rather than help. I asked if they could help me fix my rc car which I bought there and they said they don't know how to and I saw them fixing other cars. Selection is not good. You can go to another place and find a better value and more parts available for your next rc car. read more

Great hobby shop! Great selections of everything and the CS is outstanding. Anytime I need something soldered on my RC. They take care of me. Recommend calling first to make sure they have parts and or time for repairs read more

I want to take the time to say I make the drive here for the customer service I receive. Israel is always very helpful on multiple occasions. read more

I visited HobbyTown on my search to find a replacement LiPo battery for my son's Losi Mini-T 2.0. Although they did not have the battery in stock (backordered everywhere), Brayden (sp?) was helpful and informative. He spent 15 minutes explaining how LiPo batteries work, how to properly maintain them and recommended a better charger than the one that came with the car. Folks, this is why you go support local businesses and talk to people so you can learn. Amazon does not provide this service. I will be returning here for my RC car needs going forward. Great service! read more

I have been waiting for an RC car for the last month and they called me as soon as it arrived. They had plenty of them when I arrived. The manager even let me drive the his rc car in the store! All around great people great service! read more

This place has an amazing variety of RC cars and a bunch of other fun items and Ryan is the most knowledgable and nicest guy his customer service is more than any other guy there. If you come here ask for Ryan and you will love your experience here!! read more

This place has it all! Big/adult and little kid items galore. Tons of repair parts for remote controlled vehicles and airplanes. Way too much to list here so you need to go see this to believe it. Looking for perfect gifts and worried about the shortage of remote control vehicles or toys? Well these folks stocked up for you and they have a lot of inventory. I was shocked to see how much they have, I am sure you will find a perfect gift! I checked out their remote controlled cars and airplanes, the prices are great and I felt this place has the bigger names for sale which means quality and solid parts with easy to upgrade options for specific needs. I watched the staff help kids or all ages upgrade their cars and didn't push for updates or needless upgrades, just quality free advice from experts which was nice to witness. Holidays are coming and this store has the gifts that will wow your loved ones! Highly recommend! read more

HobbyTown - Toy Stores Near Me - Santee, California

Very bad customer service! bought a set of Traxxas tool set from them. The handle is suppose to be racheting, but gear is skipping. You can not tighten a screw. And if you want to lossen a tight screw it won't work. I tried to return the faulty merchandise, no such luck! They won't accept the return because they said the box has been open and the merchandise was used. How would you find out if the merchandise is good if you don't open bag and try to use the product. This is the reason why AMAZON is prospering, they back up the products that they are selling. read more

Great customer service, they have a variety of different toys and art projects to do. I was looking for anime figures and they didn't have a big selection they had more Marvel figures but not what I was looking for. read more

HobbyTown - Front - Toy Stores Near Me - Santee, California

Good service. Helpful staff. 2 other hobby stores are closer to me but Hobbytown usually has what I need in stock.

Nice place with a lot of stock on all assortments of RC vehicles. Just sad that my experience was not on the same level. Customer service is what will prevent me from doing business with them again. Started with issues I had with my nephews RedCat 64. Took it in to have them get it going for me. During the time I was there I purchased several upgrade parts as well as another 59 RedCat. Special ordered a new controller I waited for for a few weeks. Had to call in several times because I got no update. There excuse was they misplaced my number. Part finally arrived and took the RC back in to see the "Red Cat lowrider guy". Straight blew me off. Was going to leave it with them to work on it but his attitude was poor. Ended up taking to a reputable guy in the Los Angeles area just to discover I did not need a whole new controller. He changed out a switch and had me and my nephew as good as new. And didn't even charge me. read more

Everyone here is very helpful and super friendly! They have a huge selection of remote control cars and planes. Multiple employees greeted me and were willing to take time to show me different options and figure out what would work best for me. Definitely will be back to pick up some upgrades and probably replacement parts (I'm a new driver...lol). Best spot in town! read more

Bad customer service. I had my receipt and wouldn't let me return a product because I didn't have the debit card with me that my husband paid for the item with. read more

This place and all its employees are useless. Bought a servo that was faulty out the box and what I was told was I was basically out of luck. Save your money go to krazy Kevin's l , El Cajon hobbies, or discount hobby.I wouldn't shop here. Save your money for some of the other LHS in San Diego read more

I got my very first rc car is March 2022 here, staff were nice incredibly nice and they gave me an adapter for one cent since the charger didn't have the right plug I needed, awesome people. read more

HobbyTown - ECX torment from this store - Toy Stores Near Me - Santee, California

HobbyTown was my go to hobby shop till today! Long story short! Bought a part. Installed it to find out it did not work. Brought it back to have it checked. They confirmed it wasnt working. OWNER said i need to contact the manufacturer!!!! No refund, no exchange?!? I'll just take my money elsewhere. Sucks cause the guys that work there are awesome!!! read more

These guys were so helpful in fixing my son's RC car. Went above and beyond and I will not go anywhere else for our RC needs...Go nowhere else! read more

I bought my son an RC car here and worked literally for two minutes. I Tried to take back for a new one, but they would not exchange it.I waited for an hour for the owner to show up until they finally told me he's not coming in now. Come back later. Finally, the owner called me and told me to bring it in then they told me that they were going to replace the speed control the motor and differentials. They only replace the motor and told me everything was fine immediately after the speed control went out and right after that differential went out I had to buy all the parts myself and install them I don't recommend coming here. They told me that this car was great and they have no problems with them but I've had nothing but problems with it and they have not backed it up. read more

Agree with one of the posters from earlier. Similar experience. They sell you something that doesn't work and then say you can't return it because it's open/used. Not sure how we're supposed to find out it doesn't work unless we open it/use it. read more

All the guys down there at Hobbytown have been very helpful. Always willing to help. Look forward to going in all the time and see what cool new stuff they have. Keep up the great work! read more

Mr. Ryan and Mr. Robert are AMAZING!!! They are always so patient with my boys. They listen to what my kids are telling them and what they are looking for and never try to upsale them. Being that we don't know what the heck we are doing, I am super appreciative of this. Thank you guys for helping us!! We always look forward to seeing you!! read more

See all

Cool place for RC hobbiest and puzzles! When a car part breaks they usually have the replacement instock. If it's not instock they can get it within a week. We have been going here since they opened. This store brings the childhood out of you. The staff are knowledgeable when it comes to RCing. They carry all the major RC brands! They have the most selection of cars in San Diego. This place is cool! read more

HobbyTown Santee has a great selection of tools for model kits like gundam and other series. It was a great time catching quality tools at a fairly low price! read more

Had to change a motor in my sons LATRAX truck had a little problem. Bought the motor from HobbyTown and took it home to replace it. Again ran into a problem changing the motor. Stopped by there again and the guys took care of it right on the spot. Will be visiting HobbyTown again for my next purchase. read more

These guys were super helpful. I had an issue out of the box with my RC surfer and they helped me get it back in working condition. Very knowledgeable and knew what was wrong right away. read more

Love coming here. We come here maybe once a month to see what they have. We have purchased a few learning toys for my niece and our son loves the rubber band guns they used to sell. They have Melissa and Doug, Lego, Nerf, And a bunch more name brands. They even have a little section with Radio Shack parts. We always find odds and ends when we come here. They used to have lazer printed puzzles which the kid loved. Staff is also helpful in helping us figure out what we need and how to make stuff work. read more

I had bought a paasche airbrush gun there, used it the first time. worked good, cleaned it,went to use again, failed, wouldnt pull the paint through the gun no matter what I tried, been using airbrush guns for years,so I know what Im doing. took it back, no luck,manager told me that I would have to call paasche. Wouldnt give me my money back(with a receipt), wouldnt even exchange it for another one either. Almost 150 bucks wasted. This is a crappy thing to do to a customer who spends a good amount of money there. Never again. Why sell high end stuff if youre not going to back the products?.. I will not spend another dime in there... read more

I kinda had an alright experience here. The people were alright and all but one guy was particularly rude while ringing me up. I always try to start a little conversation just by asking how his day was going. He kinda just shrugged my question off. I would say go to Discount Hobby Warehouse. They are all super friendly and open and will help you no matter how busy it is in there. read more

I'll definitely be back. This store and is staff are terrific! They stock all sorts of hard to find materials, parts, tools, kits and accessories for your hobby(s). I'm into flying RC Planes and was astounded by how well the staff answered my questions over the phone as well as the huge variety of stuff they have in stock.. They had a lot of RC kits, Lipo and NiCad batteries and all the material needed to make as well as fix them and they are willing to order what ever they don't have.. so you can save yourself a lot on shipping especially from overseas.. I'm very happy I found this store.. they even has a special $10 off discount if I spent over $50.. so I did splurge a bit.. read more

Ryan is cool and knows his Hobbies, Jason is a pain in the Ass and the long haired kid is friendly and helpful. This place has come a long way and continues to grow. I'm glad the hobby industry isn't dead in East County. Come out of your pockets and support your local hobby shop. read more