JD Hobbies

Mr. B, working on his Masters in Modelling (jk), heard of this place though a grapevine of hard core, historically correct modelers.
There is this guy, Louis, aka Lou, who defies description. He owns this magnificent hobby store. Friendly, animated, impassioned, he loves to talk to anyone who will listen. And he has lots to say.
Now, did I say «magnificent…store»? For a person who is just a supporter and not really into modeling, I had a rude awakening. This place really got me going. Really interesting stuff on his massive shelves, walls, and hanging from his ceiling. Everywhere, model trains, ships, airplanes, tanks, comics, toys, cars, military uniforms, pictures, books, out of production kits, paints, tools. His memorabilia/​collectibles will make you stop and gander for long periods of time. He has a small museum of sorts. Befitting for the aging, art deco building he is in, in old town Lomita. My kind of place. Expect to spend some good time here.
He will also has a workshop where qualified staff help restore or repair those things that hopeful folks bring in. He even fabricates parts.
Just as impressive is his resource library upstairs. Tons of books, some old, out of print, most all for sale. You are also allowed to sit and read to your hearts delight on a cozy couch or at a large table. Sorry, not like a public library. No temporary check outs.
Also upstairs, a vast collection of finished military and aerospace models he inherited from a Nasa exec. It is huge. You must take the time to trudge up the stairs just to look. I believe a lot of the collection is for sale. Mr. B… if you are reading this, don’t get any ideas.
You will get a real thrill out of this place, even though the disorganization and clutter could possibly lead to a mental breakdown for the OCD’s of this world. Lou, of course, knows where to find everything.

This is not like other so called hobby shops that are really toy stores. This is a real honest to goodness hobby shop with massive selection of balsa and plastic models. There is even a giant selection of arts and crafts stuff. They even have really hard to get kits from the USA. Limited run kits from Japan. They even have more books than your local library.

It’s a nice place but they are way to expensive. Was there 2 weeks ago gave us a price on something came back with the money and the same person who told us the other price basically said he didn’t say that and raised the price on us like 20 bucks. And it didn’t even have the box for it so it should have been discounted anyways cause it wasn’t complete.

Let’s begin with the fact that I do not like model cars, trucks, or anything that requires working with my hands on small anything for extended periods of time… and I had to come on here and write about my experience at a place that is centered around these kind of meticulous activities.
This place is for anyone who has a passion for history, sports, music, and/​or hobby trains, cars, or action figures. It has EVERYTHING. It is better than a Michael’s or any other independent hobby shop you could think of. The fact that this place does not have a 5 star review is astounding.
The owner, Louis Lee, is a passionate, down-​to-​earth person who clearly enjoys working with any type of hobby repair, building, and collecting. He is very knowledgable and helpful. He can answer almost any question about any of the above and if he is unable to, he knows someone who can.
If you are ever near South Bay, drop in this place. It is one of a kind and a rare gem.

Where to start? I went to Target looking to get a model, and they laughed at my request. Then I went to Unilocal and searched for a hobby store, and up came JD Hobbies.
I walked into the store and was immediately greeted by Louis Lee, whom I presumed to be the owner. Let me tell you, he LOVES what he does. His store can address any number of hobbies you might have. For me, it was models, and he has several options, cars, planes, etc., and varying skill levels.
I was overwhelmed with the store, over 10,000 sq. feet of ‘stuff.’ Louis spent a good 20 minutes with me walking me around the store, explaining my options and being an amazing tour guide.
I loved the store and the personal approach that Louis took — I’LL BE BACK!

Went here for a Cub Scout meeting and thought the store was cool so I went back to buy a gift (Helicopter) when I got home I noticed the remote did not have an antenna, so I brought the Helicopter back and the owner told me «It is not his problem, I should have looked at it before I bought it.» There store policy is no refunds just store credit. They are not even honoring that. I will never go here again and would not recommend this place to anyone either.

Took my train in to get some advice. Owner says he doesn’t have time to fix it before Xmas, offers to buy it from for $ 50 as is (for a $ 275 train that’s nearly new). Turns out it was only the contacts in the 2^nd car, which he could have advised me. Crook.
Reply: You told me it was $$ to look at it, you could have made suggestions. I cleaned it myself (and yes: I’M A GIRL AND EVEN I FIGURED IT OUT, THANKS MODEL TRAIN FORUM !). took a few minutes. Sold it on Craig’s List for $ 180. NOT RETAIL .
RE your reply– I hand it in my had., so that’s a total lie that I «would’t allow you to open it.» You didn’t even offer. I agree re the retail prices, but I wasn’t offering to sell it, YOU offered to buy when you probably knew it was some small thing that could be fixed.

Love it! So many ideas floating around… Wonderful chaos. Sometimes model are being built on site by hobbyists, collections of all sorts of stuff around. Owner /​Operators are super friendly and helpful.

I stopped by this Hobby shop a few days ago while working in the neighborhood. What an old school hobby shop with an owner who knows models. Hugh selection of models and hobby crafts. I definitely plan on stopping by again to buy some models. It is awesome to see this type of store, we need to encourage more of them. Our children would be better off playing with models and learning how to build things than to be out causing trouble.

Simply incredible. Old school hobby store. Highly recommend. It is absolutely incredible. If you get a chance, on a slow day, perhaps a Sunday, strike up a conversation with Mr Lee. Simply incredible.

This store has moved to 471 W 6^th Street, San Pedro. Next door to where they were. Lot larger location, with lots more merchandise. Fun place to shop!

Amazing old world hobby ship with more stock than you can shakes a stick at. I found some rare hard to find items and was amazed at the scale of the inventory. Friendly, genuine, old school. Highly recommend

Disclaimer: There is no sex in this review*
Everyone should have a hobby and lordy knows, San Pedro needs an outlet… one that doesn’t involve angry longshoremen, surf Nazis or baby-​faced gangsters with guns, knives and/​or grenades… an outlet for something like models of ships, trains, cars, airplanes, that sort of thing.
Hobbies take our minds off the daily grind and grist of urban life. They put your thought processing into constructing, building, gluing, painting and displaying beautiful miniaturized objects and it’s easy to put the kids, spouses or exes, politics and the boss onto the back burner for something calming and enjoyable. Hobbies are relaxing and fun and put you into a higher plane of reasoning. Sounds heavy, huh? But it’s not. They’re miniatures.
JD Hobbies is a large store chock full of memories of when you were a kid and after your brother called you a bad name, you went over to his train set and destroyed the Lionel and Bachmann Limited, killing hundreds of imaginary commuters in your fiery, angry retribution. (just kidding). But, seriously, this place is a wonderful escape as you meander through the amazingly lifelike models of cityscapes, ship models and dozens of aircraft hung from the ceiling. It’s a place to let your day-​to-​day worries disappear as you allow your imagination to conjure the sailing of a fast sloop through azure seas or engineering a train through snowy mountain peaks or flying a British Lancaster bomber over German fortifications along the French Normandy coast. Imagination is an awesome thing.
*For sex, please see my other reviews.
(Oopsie, I just noticed… this is my 69^th «1^st review». C’est la vie)