What's your favorite source to buy R/C parts, and what makes it great?

Tower Hobbies - Great prices, great customer service, fast shipping, and overall A++ service!

eBay stores, because they are cheap, yet still brand new products, and you all know most of the time the hobby store has every part known to man except for the one you need, and its on backorder. ebay comes in handy for situations like that and it will probably arrive at your house before their parts get to their shop

ebay. because they have paypal and that makes it easy to pay for the part's. Thank's Eric.

stormerhobbies.com They are close to Wyoming, great sponsors for all of our events, and just gotta love what cars they sometimes decide to race. (The original RC10's last year at one race)

1. HobbyTown USA. True, it's big & corporate, but they either have, or can quickly order, pretty much anything you need or want. Plus, the staff at my local HobbyTown (Denver, CO) is very knowledgeable about R/C in general, and always have the time to troubleshoot problems with me to find a solution.

2. www.towerhobbies.com. The old standby, since back in the days of mailer catalogs (well before the internet was popular). Great product information & descriptions (including rarely seen technical info., such as precise speed control voltages, ball bearing dimensions, part measurements, etc.), excellent selection, easy ordering & payment, and fast & secure delivery. Probably slightly more expensive once shipping is figured in, but Tower Hobbies can usually get a requested item very quickly. Also, their online "Wish List" feature is great for keeping a running list of desired performance parts if you won't be buying them for a while.

3. Lightning Hobbies/RC Chop Shop (located at: www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/default.aspx?sfid=79026). Tons of hard-to-find items, particularly on vintage Tamiya & Associated stock & performance parts. Example - these guys have circa late 1980s Thorp differentials for the Tamiya Blackfoot and vintage CRP performance parts for the original aluminum chassis RC-10!

4. The manufacturer. When in doubt, and if a part is hard to find, ALWAYS give the manufacturer a call about either availability or function. Example - the support guys at Associated know every wrinkle in their vehicles, and will be able to answer just about any question or find you information & availability about any part.

First up would be local hobby shop, then the track where I practice, and last but certainly not least, bargains are to be had on ebay. There will always be someone selling up, and you'll get decent goods for below retail prices. When starting out, you don't need the best kit. You need 'run' time, ie, practice. Example: I bought a brand new TC4 RTR off Ebay for just over £100. Seller was a model shop who was branching out onto Ebay, and he didn't price it high enough. It was the last time he 'gave one away', and I had a TC4 to learn with. Ah yes, and practice too...

It's sad but true but in today's market there is no way that a small business can compete with large companies. Thus my LHS is not my preferred choice for supplies, I would have to say that large mail order companies like Tower Hobbies are. ... So i guess then my only other choice is to be forced into buying from large mail order companies but i do miss the LHS that was around 20+ years ago when i started this hobby i don't know everything [far from it] but i know that i can only buy from those who make [somewhat allow] this hobby affordable and sometimes non person customer service is better than bad person to person service Sad really Sad but for me true but for those who have a good LHS for Gods sake please support them NuffSaid

My fav place to shop n buy stuff would have to be hobbytown usa cause tyler always gets me what i require to win!

My favorite of the sources is the Dandy Hobbyshop. he keeps the best of deals in stock and knows what parts, I need for more laps to be accour. Intermission... and then the service level is out of control, sometimes I get my car from him this day with more awful products installed upon its shassis. forfullment.

my favorite is strongsville hobby. they have all of the parts i need and if not they order it right away and their prices are cheap!

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