spruecutter96 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Hi, All. Whilst attending the Midlands Air Museum model show yesterday, I was told about a model-shop that used to specialize in second-hand kits in Wimbledon, South London. The fella who told me about this place said he hadn't visted it for maybe 6 years and the best location he could give me was Wimbeldon (on or near the South Circular). He said the shop has never had a website and the owner largely sold to "local" kit-collectors (that last bit sounds a tad "League of Gentlemen" to me, but never mind). Does anyone know the shop he was referring to? Is it still in business today? If it is, what's the address, please? Any information will be very gratefully received. Thanks. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Pete Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Chris, I think he might be referring to Comet Miniatures which was in Lavender Hill. If so, I think it closed about five years ago. Not sure if it relocated. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 Hi, Pete. Thanks for your reply. I don't think it could have been Comet Miniatures (the owner - Tony James - is now trading on-line only as timeless_hobbies, BTW). The fella I was talking to didn't mention that the shop was primarily SCi-FI / Fantasy and he probably would have mentioned that if it had been Comet Miniatures. I will keep looking, but I have a feeling the shop I'm after may be long gone. Thank you for taking the time to reply - much appreciated. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 I recall a shop closer to Croydon, think it was on the Croydon Road - not really Wimbledon though, and thought it closed longer ago than six years. It used to sell other secondhand stuff, but had some great kits in there at very good prices - bagged a Bosica Alfa 1750 for £6 back in the day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntPhillips Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Comet Miniatures was my first thought too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Tony at Comet had a good selection of second hand kits at Telford, so he still deals in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 In case it's any use, here is the Timeless Hobbies website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Jinxman said: I recall a shop closer to Croydon, think it was on the Croydon Road - not really Wimbledon though, and thought it closed longer ago than six years. It used to sell other secondhand stuff, but had some great kits in there at very good prices - bagged a Bosica Alfa 1750 for £6 back in the day... Milslides had a shop in Streatham back in the 1980s and early 90s, as well as the original premises in Croydon and a later shop in Redhill. Not sure if that's what you're thinking of as they must be gone about 20 years. Regarding @spruecutter96's question, I think the business in question might have been BMW Models - Builders Merchants Wimbledon I believe. Edited December 6, 2017 by JosephLalor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) BMW models, in the 70s at least, was not a 2nd hand specialist but closer perhaps to what Hannants is today. It was a regular importer of overseas kits, a prime advertiser in magazines, and fairly central to the hobby for signs of new releases. It clearly declined later, but I've no details of that. Edited December 6, 2017 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Humm Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 BMW Models went out of business in 1982, so that's well before the timeline of the original post. The only other secondhand models specialist south of the river that comes to mind is Kit Krazy, but Bexley Heath is a long way from Wimbledon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Off on a tangent, there was a second hand kit shop in Cowley, Oxford around 1994/5. I managed to repurpose a few kits and bits there and acquire a few to replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 11 hours ago, Richard Humm said: BMW Models went out of business in 1982, so that's well before the timeline of the original post. The only other secondhand models specialist south of the river that comes to mind is Kit Krazy, but Bexley Heath is a long way from Wimbledon. You have got my old oppo Collectakit in Addlestone, he's on line and sends out lists on request. He attends model shows most weekends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 Thanks for all your replies - I think I might have to file this one under "what could have been...." It was worth a try, though. Cheers. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Humm Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 On 12/7/2017 at 10:11 AM, chris57 said: You have got my old oppo Collectakit in Addlestone, he's on line and sends out lists on request. He attends model shows most weekends. Pat doesn't have a shop as far as I know, so I wasn't counting him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LotusArenco Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 On 12/4/2017 at 10:32 AM, Potato Pete said: Comet Miniatures On 12/6/2017 at 5:00 PM, AntPhillips said: Comet Miniatures I’ll go with Comet Miniatures as well. Back in the 90’s Comet had two (three?) shops in the same area, one sci-fi, one second hand, and I think the other was for trade? Comet also fits the bill for ‘Wimbledon’ (fairly close) and ‘on the South Circular’. Mart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 11 hours ago, Richard Humm said: Pat doesn't have a shop as far as I know, so I wasn't counting him. Don't tell him he doesn't count, he won't luv you for that. Judging from his show site he's probably one of the two largest second hand dealers in the UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 (edited) Looking at the previous comments, maybe it was Comet Miniatures. I started visting Tony James' shop (singular) about 5 or 6 years ago. In those days, he had floor-to-ceiling SF kits on the ground floor and second-hand kits in a very murky, dusty basement. There were some underground gems lurking down there. Tony shut the shop down a few years ago and now trades on-line only as timeless_hobbies. I saw him at the Hanslope HAMEX show a couple of weeks ago and he seemed much the same as ever. He was telling me stories about Peter Jackson and H.R. Giger (designer of the original Alien back in the 1970's) coming into his shop over the years, which I found very interesting. Cheers for the replies. Chris. Edited April 9, 2018 by spruecutter96 Typo and adding information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Humm Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 6 hours ago, chris57 said: Don't tell him he doesn't count, he won't luv you for that. Judging from his show site he's probably one of the two largest second hand dealers in the UK I wasn't dissing him (I've been buying from him for nearly 30 years), but this thread was about a south London shop, and as far as I know Pat has always been shows and mail order only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 BMW were located at 327-329 Haydons Road, very close to the railway flyover. Some 40 years ago I have been their supplier of Polish and East German (GDR) kits. I still do remember Miss Paula H..... there Cheers Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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