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Best Hobby Shops In Los Angeles

Having a hobby or two always means building on what you have by shopping in speciality boutiques that carry the right stuff. That said, some places of this sort are much better than others, depending on your special needs. So, consider carefully your choices before you go off into the vast Southland to add to you collection or gather some extra goods you need to proceed with whatever fascinates you. That said, following are five of the best hobby shops Los Angeles has to offer.

Mega City One
7301 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 934-3373
www.megacityone.com

Whether your hobby comes in the form of vintage vinyl, comic books, board games, posters or action figures (to name just five), this Fairfax-district outpost is teeming with ways to entertain. Not only is the diverse stock impressive, but so are the chill customers who often hang around to play a game of cards or even teach a magic trick or two. You never know what is in store when you hit up this store filled with all kinds of possibilities.

Smith Brothers Hobby Center
8941 Reseda Blvd.
Northridge, CA 91324
(818) 885-8636
www.smithbrothershobbycenter.com

Many Valley boys and girls grew up while enjoying the fruits of this hobby shop, open since 1970. Well, that trend continues today, where kids of all ages enjoy the latest small scale transportation modes that can be remote controlled, up to and including helicopters and flying saucers. In addition, all kinds of materials are on offer from the Smith Brothers enterprise for projects for school and other affiliations, so if you need anything from spruce wood to laminating resins to epoxy glues, this is the place for you.

Beverly Hills Baseball Card
1137 S Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 278-4263
www.californiasportscards.com

Collectors of baseball cards will find this particular shop akin to heaven, especially if these enthusiasts are looking for something specific and hard to find. The powers that be who work here are extra helpful, especially to the uninitiated who are shopping for a loved one but don't know where to start. Nobody will be disappointed by their experience at Beverly Hills Baseball Card, even those who have no idea what a home run is all about.

Related: 5 New Shops You Won't Want To Miss

Wacko
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-0122
www.soapplant.com

Off-beat and filled to the brim, Wacko has such a unique inventory of more than two million items that your hobby will probably be enhanced after shopping this Hollywood heavyweight, located on the edge of Los Feliz. Pop culture is the name of the game here, whether that be found in novelties that could happily live in your fish tank or in books that will live on your shelf that you wouldn't even think to put on your wish list because you didn't think these volumes existed. No doubt you'll drop some bucks here, even if the goods aren't for an old hobby but rather a new one that came to you on the spot. No doubt, Wacko is spot-on for such moments.

Burbank's House of Hobbies
911 S. Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 848-3674
www.houseofhobbies.com

Trains, planes and automobiles in small scale form are all on-hand at Burbank's House of Hobbies for those who are keen on these collectibles. So are models of hard-to-find cars and other forms of transportation. Not only that, but the owners are always ready to give you friendly advice should you ask for it, a victory for hobbyists on every level.

Related: Best Shopping Centers And Malls In Los Angeles

Los Angeles freelance travel writer Jane Lasky, contributes to publications such as Travel + Leisure, Vogue and Esquire. Her weekly sojourning column ran in 40 newspapers for 20 years. Jane is anything but an accidental tourist and always travels with her pillow. Check out her articles on Examiner.com

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