My boyfriend loves to travel, so naturally, collecting different currencies from around the world…read morebecame a fun hobby of his. Earlier this week, we took a walk downtown and stopped by The Coin Hunter while we were there. To sum up, the store was well organized, the staff was helpful and the selection of coins blew my mind. When you enter, you will notice a multitude of sparkling coins on the wall displays and beneath the glass counters, along with collection books and limited edition mintage. However, my boyfriend was more interested in taking home a handful of British pounds (and this is where the "Hunter" in "The Coin Hunter" comes in). Lo and behold, four tin buckets full of imperfect copper and silver coins from all around the world. Two of these pails sat near the railing with a sign that read, "4 for $1." My boyfriend dug through this metallic mess for a set of British pounds until his hands were completely tarnished and equally happy with his finds. Thankfully, the store will provide you with disinfecting hand wipes, but I personally suggest bringing some disposable gloves if you intend on doing some major digging. During this experience, the owner of the shop was very approachable and conversant. As my boyfriend explored the buckets for treasure, I overheard the owner appraising some coins from Barbados, and his knowledge of basic rates and value of this foreign currency was quite impressive. If you decide to stop in sometime, know that street parking is available and free (and a spot or two out front is most likely up for grabs). I'm no coin expert, but The Coin Hunter is a well-kept hobby shop that I enjoyed perusing. Until next time!

I get excited just knowing I'm going there. This is the ultimate toy store. Helpful staff, highly…read morerecommended!

When I was planning our trip to Ottawa, I made it a point that we would come here and all my…read moreexpectations were blown out of the water. Hobby shops like this simply do not exist anymore in New York which used to have a slew of them when building plastic models was popular. There are still a couple of mom & pop places scattered around but not on the scale of the Hobby Centre. Kids these days only interact in the virtual world and hobbies like this will eventually fade away. But in the meantime, I'm going to hoard as many plastic model kits that will fit in my house. My favorite theme for building and painting plastic models are World War II planes, so I was on the hunt for a 1/72 B-17G Flying Fortress or maybe a B-29 Superfortress. Airfix (from the UK) is one of my favorite brands and they stock a lot of their line here, but neither bomber were in stock on this trip. The hunt goes on. They did have a new release of the Avro Lancaster, which I have been searching high and low. I also picked up an Italeri JAS-39 Gripen and a vintage Airfix BAC Lightning. Prices are pretty good, especially on the older vintage kits along the back wall. With the favorable US$ exchange rate, I got some good deals. If I had spent more time here, I definitely would have blown through all the cash in my wallet, never mind my spending limit on my credit card. I just might have to make a return trip to Canada with a large trailer!

I ordered 2 Gullow balsa airplane kits. my order was right on the date they gave me. freindy staff,…read moreI will be ordering from them again.

Sold my parents everything I needed to get a kit going. If you don't know much, they'll take you…read morefor a ride. Battery was a Lipo they provided a NiMh charger. The connector on the battery also required a swap. Simple things if you know what's what. If you're a newb to electronics and RC I'd suggest talking to someone with some knowledge before visiting here. Some of the staff don't know much about what they're selling. Only upside is their availability of rocket engines.

Well! THIS was a surprise!! I got into the store with maybe 20 minutes to spare, to find out I'd…read morethey had what I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay... and I've never been in a Hobby Lobby before. Oh boy, did they ever come through!! Three times the amount of beads, for a third of the price!! Wow! And, they were 50% off!! Thrilled!! The yarn, on the other hand, was very "meh". It's a big store, clean and bright. The staff was very helpful. I can't wait to go back, when I have more time and more money to spend.

We were in line for an extreme amount of time because of a very minimal error by the cashier. The…read moremanager proceeded to come over and mess the problem up more. I will not be coming back to this establishment ever again.

Super helpful staff, an incredible owner, and if they don't have what you're looking for within the…read moreshelves and shelves of gaming stock, they'll order it for your convenience. Michael has made this store into one of the cornerstones of the tabletop and comics scene, and apart from select stores in the Toronto area, you really won't find another place like this to get lost in for hours on end anywhere nearby, check it out when you get the chance!

I don't think I can walk by a games store without going in. It really makes you feel some kind of…read moreway when you walk into an entire store which is dedicated solely to fun. The store had a big comic section. Next to this area was a variety of art books, D&D dungeon master guides, and various merch like Funko Pops and comic figurines. I was more interested in the TCG section with singles for MTG. Here they had a whole Ultimate Guard section which I have never seen before. They had a ton of great displays for TCG accessories and I saw some really cute Christmas themed Dragon Shield sleeves. It looked like they carried just about every other colour of Dragon Shields as well. The next part of the store was all about Warhammer. The back of the store had many tables set up and there were a few people playing Warhammer. The tables were pretty spaced out which made it easy to get around. While we were browsing some of the cards, an employee came over and offered to help. It really seemed like they were genuinely interested in what we were looking at since we all share the same hobby which made the whole experience feel comfortable.

The best all-around hobby store within proximity to Ottawa. Covers pretty much all the bases in the…read moremodel domain; trains (HO and N, DCC & DC), plastic kits (cars, boats, planes, motorcycles etc), diecasts, magazines, etc. Especially well stocked in model building raw materials. Friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff. Of special note for the model train community is their train expert who does repairs, upgrades and general maintenance at reasonable rates. Glad to have this store in our city.

A nice, little, local store with lots of selection and very friendly service. They have a ton of…read morehobby-related products (with a focus on model trains and other vehicles) and a very well-organized setup. Those products aren't my particular area of expertise so I can't comment on their specifics. I do know, however, that they have a good selection of tools and scenery items available if you're into tabletop gaming. Basically every hobby tool you could need, they have, as well as an okay selection of paint as well (they are missing some of the ultra-high quality acrylic brands used for wargames, e.g. p3, vgc, citadel). I went in looking specifically for some terrain items from the Woodland Scenics brand and they have a ton of those in stock. Their prices for those items (flock, bushes, etc.) are also very good as well, beating both Amazon and Wal-Mart. There's also a bunch of other items in the store (puzzles, magazines, other collectibles) that I didn't really pay close attention to. Overall, it looks like a great place to go for a wide selection of general hobby supplies.

Spectacular "old school" hobby shop. I read about it on Yelp, and stopped on way from airport to…read morehotel during a business trip. They are located at 540C West Hunt Club Road. From the moment I walked in, I was super excited, they have RC planes, boats, helicopters, cars and trucks. They have plastic models. But for me? they had Balsa. Old timey free flight balsa. Glider Kits (yes, I bought one), rubber planes, static display. They also stock sticks and sheets for short kits, repairs, etc. What a great shop, run by a friendly crew. I highly recommend them - and if you LIVE in the area? go buy stuff form em, keep em in business. Cause when a shop closes? thats it. nothing local! keep these great people operating and helping out.

I never heard of this place until my friend told me they sell high end R/C vehicles. I was going…read moreto pull the trigger on an E-revo 2.0 on ebay but actually found that this store had it for significantly cheaper. I ordered it and it got send across the country to my home in a reasonable amount of time...and before xmas despite the Canada Post strike. It arrived brand new, factory sealed and decently protected in an outer box. Great to do internet business with establishment even though they don't have a location in Vancouver.