Top 10 Hobby Stores in Las Vegas in the 80's and 90's

Brick-and-mortar Hobby Stores, and variants such as comic book, radio-control, and baseball card stores, were another industry that had its golden era in the 1980's and 1990's.  Before hand-held smartphones and app-entertainment, Hobby Stores supported a variety of hobbies such as radio-controlled cars/boats/planes, plastic models, scale model trains, role-playing games, wargames, model rockets, comic books, trading cards, collectibles, and all sorts of other ephemera.  Like many other metros, Las Vegas had its own stable of local Hobby Stores that catered to the many hobbyists and collectors.  Here then is Mechalawyer's Top Ten Hobby Stores of Las Vegas from their golden era of the 80's and 90's:

10. Asgard Games

Near the center of town in an industrial strip mall off of 4180 W. Desert Inn Road, Asgaard Games (Asgaard Hobbies) was a new type of specialist hobby store - the category killer.  Specializing in mostly Magic: The Gathering cards, this was one of the first shops in Las Vegas in the 1990's to sell single Magic cards and offer a larger game room for Magic tournaments and casual play.  Displayed in acrylic sleeves and protectors, it was one of the first times that single cards outside of sports cards were sold that way.  Although now commonplace with collectable card games such as Pokemon and others, Asgaard was one of the first to do it in Vegas.  Above is their advertisement from the April / May 1995 issue of Scrye Magazine which targeted the Magic:The Gathering crowd.  Those boxes of MTG Revised booster packs are probably going for quite the multiplier of $80.00 on eBay now.

9. Hobby Town USA

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the generalist Hobby Store or one-stop-shop for all of your hobby needs - Hobby Town USA.  From an extensive selection of radio-controlled cars, planes, and boats, Tamiya and other import plastic models, wargaming miniatures and games, model trains, and slot cars, Hobby Town USA had one of the broadest and most extensive selection of hobby products in Las Vegas.  Hobby Town USA was also one of the longest running hobby stores in Vegas but sadly, finally closed its doors in 2020 during the pandemic.

8. Dungeon Comics (1987); Alternate Reality Comics (1995)

Dungeon Comics, which continues on as Alternate Reality Comics, was the UNLV neighborhood comic and hobby store at 4800 S. Maryland Parkway.  While primarily devoted to comics, Dungeon Comics was one of those 80s and 90s comic book shops that also branched out to role playing games, superhero toys and posters, and other collectibles.  Here is a coupon for the original Dungeon Comics from UNLV's November 16, 1993 edition of the Rebel Yell newspaper. 

7. Babe's Baseball Cards & Comics (1990) and Bases Loaded

On the east side out on 765 N. Nellis Boulevard was Babe's Baseball Cards & Comics.  Originally a sports card store, Babe's expanded with the collectible card boom of the 90's from traditional baseball cards to football, basketball, and all sorts of non-sporting cards with everything from Marvel Comics cards to Desert Storm cards.  Along with the heyday of Upper Deck and holographic foil collectible cards, Babe's also expanded into comics, RPGs, and other collectibles.  Here is a flyer from the Las Vegas Sportscard Show held at the Showboat Casino in 1991 that lists Babes as one of the many sportscard dealers.

6. The Gamekeeper at Meadows Mall

The 80s and 90s also saw hobby stores go mainstream and national as The Gameskeeper expanded to shopping malls across the U.S.  Using board games as a primary entry point, The Gameskeeper gave local hobby store customers another stop along with their general mall shopping at Meadows Mall.

5. Kool Kollectibles

On the west side, near the now long-gone Red Rock movie theaters, was Kool Kollectibles at 5197 W. Charleston Blvd.  Kool Kollectibles was an eclectic mix of "Comics, Cards, Games, Posters, Jewelry & much More" and the home of the Blood Moon Social Club live action role-playing.  Here is an advertisement from the November 16, 1993 Rebel Yell Newspaper from UNLV.

4. Hobby House

Near the center of town at 2007-2011 E. Charleston Boulevard was an old school hobby store called Hobby House.  Although primarily stocked with trains, r/c, and plastic model kits, Hobby House also carried Ral Partha and other RPG miniatures in lead.  Here is a listing for Hobby House from the Dealer Directory of TrainLife Magazine in 1984.

3. Triple J Hobbies

On Sandhill Road and East Flamingo was one of the greatest hobby stores - Triple J Hobbies.  Owner Fred with his old-school pipe stocked everything from comics to RPGs to wargaming miniatures and even had wargaming table set-ups in the middle of the store.  The extensive miniatures selection included everything from trendy Dark Horse TMNT to the more obscure Gamescience Star Fleet Battle miniatures.  One of the first stores to also try its hand at toy collectibles, Triple J even carried Matchbox Robotech toys.  You never knew what hidden gem you would find in Triple J's ever-changing selection.  Here is Triple J Hobbies' listing as an official Wargames West Distribution dealer from the July 1993 issue of Dragon Magazine #195. 

2. Peterson Hobbies / Crafts

Out at the Camelot shopping center on Tropicana and 4972 S. Maryland Parkway was one of the greatest duo of hobby stores in Las Vegas history - Peterson Hobbies/Crafts.  So vast was their collection, that they had 2 separate stores in the same shopping center.  In the northeast corner was the Peterson Hobbies devoted to RPGs and wargames with the most extensive selection of Warhammer Citadel Miniatures in Las Vegas at a time when these were still somewhat-exotic British import items.  In the southeast corner of the same shopping center was the Peterson Hobbies separate R/C shop devoted to all thing radio-controlled from cars to boats to planes.  This was also in the golden era of Tamiya and Kyosho model-like R/C vehicles and more competition-oriented racers from Team Associated and Losi.  Peterson Hobbies was the undisputed king of miniatures and R/C cars when those industries came into their own.  Here is a dealer listing for Peterson Hobbies from the December 1994 Railmodel Journal magazine.

1. Page After Page

Finally, the store that everyone knew - Page After Page comics on 1235 E. Charleston near Maryland Parkway.  In the center of town, Page After Page had one of the most-extensive, if not the most-extensive, selection of comic back issues.  The era of Comics Value Monthly's price guide. this was the time when a collector could pick up a $20 copy of New Mutants #87 to see it skyrocket to $80 in a matter of months.  In addition to comics, Page After Page expanded into RPGs and carried a great selection of lead miniatures including more obscure offerings like Leading Edge Games' Aliens and Terminator licensed miniatures.  Here is an ad from Dragon Magazine #92 in April 1984 which lists Page After Page as the official Nevada retailer for Hero Games' Champion RPG system.

Here are a few more ads for Page After Page as the official distributor for Victory Games' James Bond 007 RPG in Dragon Magazine #83 from March 1984 and for FASA's Star Trek III Starship Combat Game in Dragon Magazine #86 from June 1984.