I am in the position that I have alot of HO/N/Lionel/ HO Traction /N Traction trains and probably…read morehave enough by any one's estimation so I am VERY careful about train acquisitions. I really like an old fashioned multi hobby heavy on trains with expert repair service but with really nice and helpful knowledgeable trustworthy and respectful employees. I have just described Desplaines Hobby Shop. What you give up with a shop like this is any discount which is the price you pay for a really good hobby shop with trains stocked in depth. What you gain is the kind of shop that you can refer friends and families to and know that they will always be treated with respect and given accurate advice and guidance on trains regardless of their level of knowledge in the hobby. I have purchased both brass and plastic from them as well as modeling supplies. Their repair service is top flight and in fact they will often tell you how you can fix your problem yourself absolutely gratis. Without a doubt this is the one and only hobby shop I patronize and would recommend it to anyone. They are a monument to the days when Chicago was full of great hobby shops like Hobby City, Al's and Chicagoland that are all gone, Des Plaines Hobby is the last great hobby shop standing

I had often visited this establishment nearly thirty years ago when I was big into model trains,…read morebefore moving away. I recently moved back into the area, and was looking for paint for a couple of model projects. Judging by their website, I was under the impression that they were mainly trains, but they had the paint I was looking for, so I stopped in and was pleasantly surprised to see that they carried a wide selection of of other items including plastic model kits. The staff was very courteous and helpful, especially the older gentleman who brought me a shopping basket when he saw the growing number of paint bottles I was holding. As it turned out, they were having a store wide sale which meant I was able to get what I needed for a savings on what I had expected to pay when I walked in the door. I will definitely be returning.

Terrific selection of board games, figures, dice. Huge room for games. Very friendly staff. We'll…read morebe buying our games here on the future!

The only game store worthy of the name in the greater Chicago and Western Burbs. Seriously. And…read morethat includes an excellent selection of wargames as well. They have actions twice a year too.

Deceptive charging practices. Went in to browse last week…read moreand found a couple things in a bin labeled 3/$5. I know some places add an extra charge for using credit card with low purchases, and i hadnt been sure i was going to buy something. I asked if there would be a charge and he said "just tax" and i didnt ask further. Looked at my checking account later that week and I had been charged $10.95. Again, the bin these were in was labeled $5 for three small items (or $2 each) I mean this could be partially my fault for not asking specifics but i was running late for something else. Anyways the guy in there seemed nice but now i feel like his small talk was just there to distract me from asking more about the price. So yeah. Check your bank account after they charge you because they might straight up charge you double without telling you.

Excellent place to buy collectibles and vintage toys. Very small inside, but packed to the brim…read morewith everything you grew up with. Great place to buy all those things you wanted but your parents never bought for you :) Owners here are great guys, very friendly and knowledgeable. Odd hours, but a great, unique place!

The store was nicely stocked, and an associate was very helpful helping me find a sprcific model…read morepaint color.

Great store with a knowledgeable staff. Great variety of products from toys to models to legos and…read moreRC vehicles(cars, planes, boats, etc...)

This place is AMAZING. Forget Hobby Lobby and Micheals. This is your one stop shop for all your…read morecraft needs. The prices are truly great and the owners are always so kind to me. I highly HIGHLY recommend this store. Also, I know there's a lot of miniature enthusiasts out there, they've got what we need. I will NEVER step foot in a hobby lobby again. I can't express enough how truly wonderful this store is.

I spend far too much money on craft supplies. And there are so many crafts I pick up, buy supplies,…read morethen abandon. So I thought this would be a good place to purchase some supplies. It's a little out of the way, and it's a bit of a jumble. Most of these supplies look as though they sat in a warehouse for a long time. You have to be willing to look and search. I'm pretty craft-compulsive, and I bought nothing. Nothing. There were some (longtime?) customers in the store so they must know what they want. I was able to go down aisles, wander down corridors freely and no one bothered me. I suppose if I asked for help I would have gotten it. Sorry but this was not my vibe.

I acknowledge that your local game store is going to pull all sorts of demographics. As a parent, I…read moredidn't know what to expect bringing my 5-year-old into the local game shop. But this is definitely going to be a local store that we'll be going to a lot more, even if the prices are a little higher for them to make margins. This is the kind of game store I want in keep in our community! I'll admit I was a little apprehensive to engage with the staff at first due to my inexperience in this kind of envitonmemt, but my kid immediately gravitated toward the Pokemon cards behind the glass counter and we were asked if there was anything we needed help with. We have been looking all over for affordable, genuine cards to little avail. Unfortunately, the cards at this shop were all way outside our range (he's just trying to get started out): $45+ booster boxes or $5+ individual cards. We were obviously not going to be able to make a purchase today (looking for something like one $5 booster pack) but the team member was very helpful taking the time to explain the kids trading card market, suggest other places to look, offer advice on finding affordable cards, and let my kid take his time to pour over the cards behind the counter. On the way out, he generously shared a simple gift that meant so much for my kid. I don't know if he'll read this but thank you so much for making my kid's day - he was over the moon to have some Pokemon cards of his own to share with his friends at school. This is the kind of local game store that is a treasure to have in the community. I definitely will be bringing my kids around in the future to support it some more! Thanks again!

After having Sunday brunch nearby I was looking for video game stores to stop at on my way back to…read moreWisconsin. Everything Games was close by and open, so I drove over to check them out. The store is impressive. They have an awesome selection of retro video games, board games, LEGO, miniatures for Warhammer, anime related plush, sports cards, and card games like Magic, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. There's even a good size gaming area where I saw people playing in a card game tournament. As good as the inventory was, their customer service was even better. A specific video game I wanted was priced $10 more than the current market value, so I brought that to their attention. Rather than getting mad and arguing with me about their prices, the employee pulled up the same website I was using for a reference and confirmed what I was seeing. He then adjusted the price without hesitation. Now that's customer service. I would glad to go out of my way to come back to Everything Games next time I'm in the Chicago area.

Amazing amount of Pokemon product you can't find elsewhere not to mention the price! It will always…read morebe my go to for Pokemon

This is a nice little store in downtown Skokie. Prices are fair and employees have always been…read morefriendly and you can tell they really enjoy the hobby. I've been going here for the past year and have mostly had good experiences. The reason for three stars is because the one time I tried to sell my old binder of Pokemon cards (which admittedly I did not know a lot about) it seemed like they tried to take advantage of the fact that I wasn't knowledgeable. I say that because they offered me $100 for the whole binder - which had a base set holo Charizard and a lot of other base set cards. I ended up selling just that Charizard for $300 on eBay, and a handful of the other ones for $40-60 as well. The $100 offer was quite insulting, and after doing more research it really felt like they were trying to take me for a ride. I know card shops have to make money but to offer $100 for the whole binder when I sold one card for triple that amount is pretty insane. When I asked the employee how he got to that value he just said "a lot of these cards aren't in good condition", and didn't really elaborate after that. Will definitely still be a customer but will most likely not try and sell anything here as that experience left a bad impression on me.

Terrible customer service. Terrible prices! Holy crap. $50+ for a plastic model kit? Ridiculous…read more Same for other items. Crabby guy behind the counter won't even look up at you when you try to talk to him. Ask for help or advice? Nah. Crab ass A-hole. Will never go back there. Lombard Hobby will go above and beyond for you. Same for Hobbytown in Schaumburg. Keep your money and shop elsewhere. I'm genuine surprised at how many google reviews complain about their customer arrive and prices. You'd think if they shit on people, and get bad reviews, they would do better. Guess not. Guess they don't want my money. And they don't need yours.

My favorite Lionel train repair & sales of current & vintage. Also an all around excellent toy &…read morehobby shop.

Organized bins/boxes tho you have to request for the boxes to be put out because they are all…read moreinside their glass display. Competitive prices, clean & safe space. Friendly staff & they waited for us even tho they were close to closing when we arrived.

Just simply amazing! The vibe is right, and the staff is cool. We need more businesses like this…read morethat think about the community they serve.

I recently took my son and a friend to dads slot car racing where they had the best time racing…read morecars - and eating ice cream! My son wanted to take 2 other friends back on a Thursday evening. Unfortunately, dads was closed but I saw that mid- America was open for business score! This is way bigger than dads. They had the "professional" racers up front and put us on the beginner track on the back. Lurie set up my kids and also had them racing for 30 min. They all had a fun time despite a few meltdowns, but usually the case with a group of 1st grade boys. The cars and tracks here were in much better condition than dads where everything kept breaking. So if choosing between the 2 locations I'd probably come back here next time. It's a great way to kill some time (especially on a rainy or winter day) and a pretty affordable activity too! I also think would be a fun spot for a kids bday party!

Owner Roger Schmitt operates "Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies"…read more Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the last surviving electric model car (slot) raceways open to the public. There were thousands of 'commercial' slot car tracks in the USA in the late 1960's and 1970's; there were a half dozen racing centers in the greater Atlanta area alone. A lot of things caused the slot racing centers to close one by one- people not being as interested in hobbies and the rise of computer video games being a couple of reasons. In the last few years, there has been a revival of sorts with a certain amount of people who were glued to computer screens in the 1980's and 1990's playing "adventure" and "virtual reality" games discovering it was actually more fun "playing" in 3-D. So hobbies like model railroading, R/C airplanes, and yes slot car racing have made a comeback. For a change, more new raceways have been opening in the last few years in the USA than have been closing. All that having been said- Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the best equipped and run model car raceways in North America. Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is about people having fun and inviting their inner child to come out to play. Rental racing cars are available so that you and your buddy can pretend you are Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. to "Shake and Bake" around their awesome 8-lane Oval track. By the same token children are invited for hours of family fun-Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies can even arrange a memorable racing birthday party for children aged 6 and up. Call them for special package deals for a day of fun for any sized group. Does your company want to encourage team building? How about a team racing event? Drivers, pit crews, team leaders... miniature racing teaches the same working together for success lessons that "pro" racing instills. Call the raceway now to plan and schedule your corporate event. Stop in sometime and check it out for yourself- but keep an open mind that this is something intended to be a pre-digital age entertainment. It may not be the right sort of thing for impatient or short attention span children or adults.