[AussieDave]

G'Day all

I am in HK in early October, just wondering if anyone knows if there are any hobby shops that specialise and sell Remote control Nitro Cars & Buggies, that are ready to run. They come in scales of 1/10 or 1/8 with or without the remote.
I am chasing the GS or Kyosho brand if possible because of the full range of spares available.

If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.







If there is someone that knows, can you post up an address or link.

Cheers to all that reply

Dave

[CarterTG]

I'm at a loss to explain why, but Hong Kong has one of the world's most incredible concentration of hobby shops. The shops are mostly clustered in its own sub-district. Why am I puzzled? HK's crowded environment is hardly the place the enjoy the RC hobby. Before the naitives jump on me, yes, I know about the paved RC track waaaaaaaay out in the boonies, and the occasional posted flyer advertising an indoor carpet "track"... temporary use of a vacated office flat.

Jump onto the CentaMap website or Google Maps, find the MongKok district, locate the Kwong Wah Hospital toward the southwest.

The hobby hotspot is around the intersection of Dundas Street and Kwong Wa Street. Start by wandering the shops in this area.

Directly south of the Kwong Wah Hospital, there's a YMCA International House. Across the street WEST of the YMCA are a couple additional shops, one specializing mostly in Tamiya cars and the other into RC aircraft. (Tung Fong Street)

I'm not sure why, but the first page of a thread I created no longer has the pictures I uploaded. Only the pics on the 2nd page appear when signed in:

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/s...=116875&page=2

Spreading further out, there was one shop either on Pak Po St or Shantung St. Then another shop to the east on Victory Ave near Liberty Ave.

Beyond this hobby cluster, there's an occasional lone shop throughout the HK districts. Across the harbor from Kowloon, somewhere around Central or its surrounding districts, my cousin led me to a tiny shop that seemed to specialize in NOTHING but Mugen parts and kits. That was a couple years ago, I have zero idea if the shop still exists.

Good luck.

[banang]

CarterTG pretty much summed up the RC hobby shopping in HK. Kwong Wa Street IS the RC centre of HK with RC shops located on both sides of the street.

Opening Hours
Most of the RC shops open after lunch and close at around 8pm or 9pm.

How to get there
You take the MTR to Yau Ma Tei station, exit A2 on Pitt Street. Walk north along Nathan Road and turn left on Dundas Street. Keep walking along Dundas Street and Kwong Wa Street is on your left and you'll see a RC shop.

It's a good idea to bring a local as some of the shops do not put any sticker price on the items so shop around before you buy. If you have a rough idea of the current pricing from online shops, then it'd be easy

[AussieDave]

G'Day and thanks to your replies CarterTG and banang.

I never knew that HK had the world's most concentration of hobby shops!!! That really had surprised me.

I will definitely look at those address's and check them out. As I said, I do have an idea of what I want. The main thing was to stick to a name brand for the spares to be readily available, in case of some sort of damage due to a crash or something.

Just out of curiosity, would Shenzhen have some shops as well, If so how do they compare with the HK shops with price??? or is it better to stick to the well known shops in HK for the fact they know what they sell.

Cheers and Thanks

[CarterTG]

In my numerous trips into the HK hobby shops, I've found that prices were clearly marked.. typically via traditional sticker-gun... from full kits down to spares and hop-ups, much of the stuff I browsed were clearly tagged.

I'm not an AssociatedElectronics hobbyist, and it wouldn't make sense for me to travel from the US to HK to buy a kit MADE in the US and expect a bargain. That being said, if the hobby items you intend on buying are japanese or taiwanese, expect some attractive pricing.

Since you already know what you want, you'll of course know how it's priced at home. Just calculate the HK exchange rate cost and keep it in the back of your mind. This way, when you see the prices in the HK shops, it'll serve as a handy comparison.

For example, one of the Tamiya on-road electric kits cost me $98usd ($762hkd) stateside. HK-based eBay vendors sell the same kit to US residents for $75usd plus $30usd shipping. Showing up at a HK hobby shop in-person, the same kit is stickered with a $495hkd pricetag ($63usd!!)

Something you need to consider/research is what RC frequency your home country uses.

The HK hobby shops often sell Radio Systems either in 75mhz, 40mhz or 27mhz. All I know is that 75mhz is what North America uses (for surface vehicles). 40mhz is what Great Britain uses. I think both countries also allow 27mhz to be used for RC, but that band is often crowded/noisy.

When I'm buying items in a Hong Kong store, I mostly take comfort and assurance I'm being sold legitimate goods (unless otherwise marked). ie, If I'm buying a digital camera, the HK proprietor often goes out of his way opening and powering up the product to show me it works and that there's no monkey business going on. This seems to be the culture and practice of many sales transactions in HK. It serves both the buyer AND seller.

Things get murky when buying mainland-made products from a HK street vendor. A well known electric RC heli called the Dragonfly is made by a Taiwanese company called GWS. Go up to the Apliu Street market in ShamShuiPo where a handful of streetvendors are hawking a variety of mainland-made electric helis... almost ALL of them are named "Dragonfly"... and almost none of them share the same size or mechanical parts. Look closer at these vendor's other wares. The boxed display of Japanese Tomy Bit-CharG palm-sized RC cars that should normally sell for $25usd... squint harder and take a closer look.. the $6usd pricetag and butchered "Engrish" description should set off loud mental alarms that this is copycat mainland product. Good luck if it lasts before you board the flight back home. By then, the vendor has already made his $5.50usd profit.

So you ask about Shenzen just across the border of mainland China. This is a place I pass through on every bus trip into the mainland. The hobby concept is foreign to them. You WILL find vendors selling RC toys, but none of the cars, buggies or helicopters have a recognizable name, spares, or hop-ups. It's the Apliu Street situation taken to even greater extremes.

Shenzen: Counterfeit showcase of the world. If you seek a Rolex that can fool even a Swiss jeweler, it's Shenzen. If you seek cheap electronics built to surprise you with an exploding Li-Ion battery, it's Shenzen. If you seek RC toys with brittle plastics and horrid molding tollerances, it's Shenzen. Caveat emptor indeed.

I'd stick with Hong Kong for legit RC hobby products.

[AussieDave]

Thanks for the great reply CarterTG.

I will now stick to the HK side for the RC Nitro car. Thanks for the advise. I don't want something that will last me 24hours.

It's always good to do your homework before you part with your hard earned dollars.

Thanks Mate

[banang]

Shenzhen RC hobby shop? Even mainland residents travel to HK for the great selection of RC parts.

For major brands like Kyosho and GS, I don't know about GS but the sole Kyosho distributor for HK, Macau and greater China is based in HK. Kyosho parts are available in most of the RC shops in Kwong Wa Street. I'm sure you won't be disappointed

[AussieDave]

G'day all
I want to thank you guys for the great advice on these RC cars. After a frenzy of shopping at the Ladies Markets with my wife and I, we went to Kwong Wah St and Yin Chong St, Yau Ma Tei at around 2.30pm as you guys suggested.
There was heaps of shops there. Some specialized in Helecopters others Planes.
We wandered into the Yan On Building and located a shop named "Urban Company" which had a few of RTR RC cars. He did not speak much english, thank God I spoke pretty well Cantonese. I got him down a little and ended up with 2 Kyosho FW05T Plus cars, Ones a Ferrari and the other a Suburu. I would of normally paid $4200HK each in Australia for these little beauties, but all up I paid $3560HK for 2, which is s huge bargain. My wife took one in her suitcase and I the other.
Having a lot of fun with the cars with my son!

Sorry to get off subject here, but I couldn't help notice the other shops around the same area. Which at first was a surprise for us Aussies! The windows of the shops stocked machine guns and pistols! AK47's to Glock's. Which at first seemed like the real deal, until upon closer inspection were basically pellet/BB guns. What do you guys do with these in HK???? They must be very popular in HK! These things are highly Illegal to bring back to Australia! I'd say once I got to customs here, they would be hand cuffing me and taken away! LOL

Cheers and thanks again.

[F1GP]

I agree with you AussieDave.
Every time I go past those gun/military surplus wannabe shops, I always think, "What on Earth do HKers do with these things? Its not like you can shoot each other like paintball guns."

I'm surprised Bush hasn't put HK on his W.o.M.D. list because of all of these "toys".

[CarterTG]

Originally Posted by AussieDave

...ended up with 2 Kyosho FW05T Plus cars, Ones a Ferrari and the other a Suburu.

Congrats and thanks for the update, AussieDave. I had been wondering how you faired.

The only other place outside of the HK hobby district that makes my wallet nervous is the Chicago Hobby Show. Some pics from last Sunday's attendance: