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!

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.

Decided to stop by some card collector stores in Ottawa over the weekend to see what's up!…read more This was my first stop! This is the mecca for collectors ! It's pretty spacious and holds tons and tons of wide range sports memorabilia. It was very busy in here and was pretty difficult to get some service as there was only 2 guys working. The high end hockey cards have it's own room / section in the back corner. We had to ask to find it. It was really fun and exciting like a kid in the candy store! Service was great just maybe a bit long as they were taking care of other people. However, they were really nice and kind. Prices: a bit too high .. I mean yes they gotta pay for rent and staff but still .. the cards were 10-30% more than the market value a bit hefty for me. They seem willing to negotiate if you ask them but it was still super pricey for certain things. Overall, it's a very nice and clean place lot's of items to discover have a look if you're into that kind of place like I am hihi Cheers

This is such a cool store right from the entrance that's filled with manga (in English and French),…read morefigures of all sizes, and even has two floors. You could spend so much time wandering and taking it all in.

Imaginaire opened on October 21, 2023. It's a chain from Quebec and this location is the first one…read moreoutside of Quebec. It is located in the Rideau Centre and spans 2 floors. It's huge. It has board games, comics, collectible cards, Funko Pop, LARP gear, dice and so much more. Prices are a bit on the high side, and I didn't see any sales while I was there, but their inventory is huge and it's fun to poke around. (66)

they scammed me i ordered something and it said 1 bussiness day and ive been waiting a year and i…read moregot nothing and i checked and they cancelled my order and they didnt give me a refund

I would give a zero if I could! Never order from trinity hobby! They cancelled my order and blamed…read moreme when the paypal express option on their website was set to the cheapest shipping option as a default and is for card singles only which they said was specified on they're website but the express option skips over that. They said they can't ship paint that way and they wanted me to pay $15 for parcel shipping instead of the $3 letter (i dont even know if it is the letter option) shipping option that was default on the express checkout. Blaming your customer which is buying from your for the first time is just bad for business

We used to frequent Fandom II when we lived here, but moved to Vancouver about a decade ago and…read morehaven't been back. Walking by it last night, we decided to stop in and take a look around. There was a desk parked in front of the door, and someone waiting by it. They let us know that while you could take a walk around, they preferred you know exactly what you were looking for and they'd fetch it for you. Completely understandable, considering the small store and the state of the pandemic. No problem on our end, whatsoever. We let him know we weren't looking for anything in particular, and would just come back another time, and thank you, but he was adamant that there must be one particular thing we'd be looking for. He was getting weirdly accusatory about it, when we had not at all been aggressive towards him. He asked which particular fandom we liked, and my husband said "pretty much all of them - comics, D&D, mini painting-" to which the shopkeeper responded by interrupting, with no levity at all, "that's what someone who's not actually a geek would say." The hell, guy? Rather then try and defend our extensive nerd cred with this uppity troll, we told him we'd rather spend our money elsewhere and happily visited The Comic Book Shoppe, fighting the urge to swing by on the way back with our purchases, shouting "BIG MISTAKE", Pretty-Woman-Style.

Though I have patronized Fandom II for decades and spent hundreds of dollars here, I was…read moreconsistently treated badly. I think I was willing to put up with this when I shouldn't have. It is every single time I go there that I feel the seething hostility of the owner, for no reason I could imagine. I used to think he was like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, surly and acted like you were lucky to be in his store, but I think he's more like the Ice King from Adventure Time, more of a misanthropic sociopath I have reached my limit for how much I can take, I would rather shop online then go here, I will never shop here again and I hope it shuts down, Ottawa would be better served by an empty lot.

My son and I were in a fantasy baseball pool this summer and got caught up in the sport. When we…read moremoved to Ottawa, I wanted to surprise him with something baseball to hang in his new room. A shirt, a pennant, a poster, a lamp, an autographed ball??? I happened to be in Billings Bridge Mall and found EI Sports. I went inside, and found all kinds of items - backpacks, hats, shirts, posters, lamps... all with team logos. Most of it was hockey stuff, but hey it is Canada! Sadly, the selection at the store was a little on the light side. I talked to the owner and he told me that the store does do some business, but EI really makes their money at card and collectible shows. They set up booths at weekend events and that is where you will find all the good stuff. Nevertheless, if you are looking for something basic, the EI store will have it. I ended up with a poster that cost as much as the posters in the nearby big discount outlet, so prices are okay.

Me and my friends go in there all the time to get cards and models. If you ask them to stock more…read moreof one time or order something for you they will do with a smile. The customer service there is great there are always nice.