Chicagoland Toys and Hobbies

Popped into the store this evening to pick up a Cub Scout uniform for my son. Both the men working were really friendly and helpful. My son loved looking around the store. So much stuff! Will definitely go back again to check out the cool model planes, trains, cars, etc.

I’ve only been here once and it was amazing! I loved how they had everything set up, very clean and organized. I don’t remember the name of the man that helped me but he was very sweet and patient. He didn’t rush me or try to sell me what I didn’t need. I will definitely go back.

This place is great, I am so happy I finally found a place with modest employees who won’t gloat about how many different cars they have and how much better their brushless system is. I walked in and a guy named Paul, helped me out. Found a good car and motor upgrade, and purchased it on the spot. They even showed me some other cool stuff, but I passed and will probably come back later on. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone that is new or looking for awesome customer service!

Friendly and knowledgeable staff meets great prices and good stock. Got into Scalextric slot cars recently and they helped me get into a set I love at a great price. Returning for more track of course but that’s a good thing!

In October of 2013, my wife and I purchased an RC beginners mode helicopter which cost around $ 100 for my 10 year old son. After using it only one day it started malfunctioning.
I couldn’t find the time to take it in for the RC tech Chris to rake a look at it.
Finally in February of 2015 I was able to bring it in. Chris inspected it and tried numerous part replacements on a motor and blade gear. After attempting to fix it and couldn’t resolve or pinpoint the exact problem, Chris replaced the copter with no extra charges for a brand new one.
Needless to say I am extremely satisfied with the quality if service, I didn’t even have to argue my point and was surprised that after more than a few months they still honored the warranty and replacement hassle free.
Hats off to Chicagoland Hobby, I will definitely be hoping there again for an upgrade and highly recommend them!

Chicagoland Hobby has become even more significant now that we have lost several old school high customer service hobby shops in the last year. Greg Bosak and his shop are a source for out of production model RR equipment in a market that is increassingly becoming limited production buy it now or never see it again. Greg is the kind of hobby shop owner who makes a real attempt to help you the customer track down the model item that when it was common was of no interest to you but now has become your passion and even obsession. Greg really does try to connect
model RR hobbyists who have items they are ready to part with with hobbyists who are extremely frustrated with their inability to find an item that has captured their imagination. We traction modelers are a small community and most hobby shops ignore us, within the reason of inventory control Greg has continued to stock and make available trolleys, interurbans, el cars, trolley poles, books and magazines and all those things that allow one to nurture an interest in traction. And then go down the list in other types of HO/​N/​Lionel/​G/​equipment and then plastic, die cast and RC and then you see a hobby shop that is making a major effort to be inclusive of any many people as possible in hobbies. Greg, his staff and his shop really does embody the philosophy of «HOBBIES FOR HEALTH.» This shop is a rare throwback to the golden age of hobbies and hobby shops.

This place is amazing. Chris in the RC section spent a lot of time helping a noob like me pick out a quadcopter. Selection was pretty decent, though as a beginner, I don’t know everything that’s out there. Owner Greg was very helpful on our second trip there. If you can, do business directly with Greg. You can tell he loves what he does.

Great store with a great owner. The selection of trains is amazing. They have expanded their plastic model selection and have a good selection of beginner r/​c planes and helicopters. Probably one of the best hobby shops left in Chicago.

I have been back 2 times since my last review and both times I had exceptional customer service! I bought a starter rocket kit the first time (waiting for a great non rainy day to launch it), and starter model kits the 2^nd time in. I am really happy with the gentleman that helped me both times. I almost positive he is the owner. I will find out the next time I see him.

LIONEL TRAINS. 5 stars. That’s what you go there for. it’s quite obvious the moment you walk through the door that this place caters PRIMARILY to the Lionel train crowd. That being said, I’ll break it down Barney-​style for some of our slower reviewers– Chicagoland Hobbies DOES NOT cater to the RC Helicopter crowd. Yes, they have some stuff, as well as slot cars, model airplanes and such, as does any respectable hobby shop, but they primarily specialize in LIONEL TRAINS. If you want knowledgeable help in RC Helicopters, go to a shop that specializes in RC Helicopters (Try Al’s Hobby Shop in Elmhurst– if you don’t have wheels, no sweat. Metra drops you off 1 block away. Worth the trip). If you need Lionel, come here.

Preamble: Like many people in Chicago, I am originally from south east michigan. I grew up with a number of good hobby stores. I never thought about how nice they were until I came to chicago.
I am only into RC stuff so it is quite possible that this location is better for other hobbies. I have only been to this place once and that visit was quite short. I may have just had a poor experience that one time
Substantive:
Inventory: This place sucks. They have very few products and their sales staff do not seem to know anything about what they carry.
Sales staff: I asked for a simple prop for my RC plane. The sales people had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the size. They did not even know where their own inventory was located (Not that it even made a diference since they did not have anything close to what I needed). They probably have just one guy that knows about each thing. It is nice to have a specialist in a retail location but the non-​experts should be at least competent in areas that they do not specialize in.
Prices: I did not stay long enough to compare them
Redeeming qualities: none
Overall
This place is even worse then strictly RC. If you live in the north side of chicago and like R/​C then you should probably stick to buying online.

I like Chicagoland Hobby.
I’m one of those guys who actually liked making models and had one of those huge model train layouts as a child. As I got older, my interest in the hobby waned and it all went into boxes in the attic.
So, we’ve actually got the room *gasp* to start building a decent train layout in Chicago. I brought all of my stuff home, went to Chicagoland Hobby, and dropped about $ 400 on track and track supplies for my O-​Scale layout. (Easy to do.) I got going on my layout, then did some more homework on the advancements in the hobby in the past twenty years. Long story short, I just feel priced out of the hobby and wanted to switch back to a smaller scale. I called them, explained what my problem was, and they said «No problem… just bring the stuff back.» I thought that was pretty awesome, as it had been probably a year since I purchased that stuff, and I didn’t have a receipt.
It’s a hobby shop for train hobbyists, mostly. Sure, they sell all of the other stuff and can tell you all about it, (rockets, planes, boat kits, scouting stuff etc, etc.), but the specialty and real enthusiasm here seems to be for trains. The folks at the counter aren’t terribly gregarious, but most serious hobbyists I know aren’t. If you ask them a question, they’ll give you a good answer and some options. (Re: I asked about some ideas on a complex layout wiring problem, and the guys took the time to draw it out and provide me with some options. Sold me the stuff I needed, told me if it didn’t work to bring it back.) I like coming on weeknights when it’s a little less busy. As with any shop, the guys are more willing to «talk shop» with you, let you know what’s coming from your favorite manufacturers, etc.
The prices are fair, but Chicago prices nonetheless. Sure, you can get it online cheaper, but where do you go to talk to somebody about it when you want a tip or a trick which can save you time or money? Definitely beats the pants off of Des Plaines hobbies, «The Home of Full Retail.»
The selection, especially for O scale, is wonderful. They do a lot of consignment stuff too, so you can catch some really good deals if you hit it at the right time. I thought the O-​Scale stuff, specifically the locomotives, were more competitively priced than the N-​Scale stuff. Some of it is actually even cheaper than you can get it online, believe it or not.
In sum, it’s a good local hobby shop and I’m glad we have it. I highly recommend them and hope that you check them out.

It proved a challenge for me to hold my tongue when I walked into Chicagoland Hobby. See, I started out flying an E-​flite mCX helicopter that I purchased about a year ago from HobbyTown USA in Orland Park. Seeing as it was time to upgrade to something a little more advanced, I did my requisite research online, and was almost ready to order something from
when I thought, «nah, any hobby shop in the Chicago area should carry a selection of E-​flite that would suit my needs.»
I walked in there on Saturday, October 24 2009 and wasn’t greeted at all. Maybe a cursory glance, but that was about it. And you’d think, «hey, maybe they’re busy with the trade show that’s in town,» or «hey, maybe they have a lot of customers that they need to help.» And… you’d be wrong. There were 2 people working in the front of the store: a teenager that was trying his best to grown a scraggly beard, and an older man that looked like Santa Claus. They were REALLY busy because they couldn’t figure out how to save a picture to the hard drive or something like that (presumably for upload to their «awesome» website.) That should have been my first hint that this experience was going to be TURRRRRRRRRIBLE.
Another sales person was working in the back, and I think that for the 10 minutes I was there, I saw one customer come in. Ratio’s looking pretty good right? WRONG. I noticed a sparse collection of heli’s, but I decided to be proactive so I walked up to the counter and asked Santa Claus, «Do you have any other 4 channel co-​ax helicopters here?» And he looked at me like I was squawking at him in Chinese or something. And for those of you who know me, you’ll know that my English is the stereotypical flat midwestern drawl. So I said it again. And maybe Santa Claus might have been hard of hearing, but it was probably just because he was incompetent.
Finally, teen werewolf understand what I’m trying to say and says, «Oh, most of our heli’s are at the trade show, but the ones that we have are sitting up there.» Thanks buddy — maybe if I were blind I would not have noticed that «the ones you had were sitting up there…» No offer to explain the differences, no offer to even talk to me about anything else. Presumptively, he was still having a hard time figuring out how to save photos to the hard drive. Which is astonishing because you’d think that a teen werewolf working in a HOBBY SHOP would have LOTS of experience saving pictures to the hard drive when he’s at home. If you catch my drift.
So I went back downtown for a little, had lunch in Skokie, and then drove up to HobbyTown USA in Northbrook. And get this — the heli I ended up getting was sitting right there in Chicagoland Hobby all along. It’s just that no one bothered to try to sell it to me.
Across multiple media and end user, this place is WORSE than Gilbertson Clybourn, which for a long time I thought would be the worst customer service I’d ever experienced.
Good job, Chicagoland Hobby — when the recession kicks your ass and you lose your lease on the place, Santa Claus will have to apply for a job as a, well, Santa Claus at the local mall. But honestly, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass as to what happens to this shop. I hope that the flooring company across the street gets the space so they can expand.