Saw a display of model kits at my local Walmart, including Enterprise C (?)

Bloop

Sr Member
So I stopped by Walmart and was surprised to see a selection of kits on display in the middle of one of the main aisles next to the toys. Even more surprising was the kits themselves - TOS Enterprise, Refit, and Enterprise C (which totally surprised me). I don't remember for certain, but I think they're the AMT kits.They had some car models too, including the original Knight Rider kit.

I have to assume they put these out to appeal to people closer to my age than children (which is why they weren't in the toy aisles, but adjacent). Even though you can watch Star Trek on all sorts of streaming platforms, I can't imagine too many kids getting excited over the Enterprise C (other than the fact that it looks cool) or the old KITT car.

Curious if any other Walmarts are doing this.
 
Last year right around Christmas my Walmart had a center aisle display of models.
It included some Star Wars Revell Build and Play, Flintstones "car", TV series Batmobile and some standard car kits (only one I can specifically remember was a Volkswagen Beetle).
 
A while back a handful of Walmarts had this display- this picture is from the one in Sumiton, Alabama
2S03AUk.jpg

I posted about this on the SSM board and found out only a very small group of stores got this display. I found a good deal on the Space 1999 Hawk for $17.
I spoke with the employees and they said that just had it arrived at their store and placed it near the DVD-Electronics area because that is where they had room. Eventually the remaining stock ended up on a shelf.

It could be a test marketing thing to judge if bring back a modelling section would be justified in sales, but it was so scattered and so many big Walmarts never got one it could not have provided a lot of data fo rthem
 
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The Walmarts in my area used to have a modeling section many years ago. For the most part, they had Revell military aircraft and ships as well as AMT and Revell car and truck kits with a few Revell Star Wars and AMT Trek kits. They haven't had those in a while.

It would be nice to see them back
 
My local Walmart had at least a half aisle of model kits of all kinds, along with paints and finishing tools.
That got whittled down over time after Sam Walton died
 
I seem to remember Jamie at Round2 saying a limited number of these palettes were made available. Which WMs received them was up to the managers, I think.
 
Nice to see an attempt to bring models back to Wallie-World, but Oye! I wish they hadn't included the Knight Rider kit. Sad to say,it is a dog...not for kids (would disappoint) and even the hard-core KR fan will struggle to maintain motivation to finish it. I was building one for a friend and have to set it aside, hoping I can source some correct wheels somewhere. I spent a great deal of time shaving and sanding the body to get the body lines straight and aligned. The bumpers need also need conversion to match KITT and the interior is pretty wonky. This is all about fidelity to the original, but the basic kit 'fit and finish' is the real shame.

Regards Robert
 
If Walmart is going to sell models, like just about all their inventory, it is going to focus on what the most people will buy the fastest, not niche perfection.

I think these kits are more or less intended for casual modelers who just put it together out of the box and perhaps add some paint. The KITT might be a nightmare on wheels to build up well, but for a beginner who just likes the show it is fine. They don't care about the wheels and bumper being just right.
 
My walmart had a display like that but the prices were wildly different (everything was higher).
The remaining stock has been moved to a shelf now but the prices haven't dropped yet.
 
My walmart had a display like that but the prices were wildly different (everything was higher).
The remaining stock has been moved to a shelf now but the prices haven't dropped yet.
That is really odd- the other Walmarts which had these displays all had the similar low pricing.
Display has not moved to some shelf space- the big posted price is for just some kits- the smaller ones are still at original pricing
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Wow... Did Wal-Mart actually get (sorta) cool...?

Hmmm....perhaps they just want to provide some cool items in their inventory, but with that particular corporation, I question their motives.

I think this is a move towards a possible expansion of their inventory that is designed to take more of “kill shot” directed at “Michael’s” and “Hobby Lobby”.

I speculate that you all may start to see even more “hobby-type items” popping up in their inventory.
 
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I speculate that you all may start to see even more “hobby-type items” popping up in their inventory.

That would be fine with me. The nearest "Hobby Lobby" is 50 miles away, round trip, and my local "Michaels" recently scaled back on all their models and hobby supplies to less than half an aisle; seems they needed the room for more LEGO. There's a hobby store, Hobbies Unlimited, in San Leandro, but it's also about 50 miles away round trip and they don't have 40 off coupons.
 
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