Whistle Stop Hobby & Toy Inc — Attraction in Saint Clair Shores

I have been going to this store for a few years now for my Lionel train needs. I love this place! Staff are friendly, professional and helpful. But the owner Richard, he is the best. In February last year I bought a 1979 Lionel 'Virginian' dual motor diesel. It ran OK for about 6 months, then the rear gear assembly stripped out. I called the store and told Richard what happened and he said to bring it in and we could work something out. I found a 1950 Lionel 'Berkshire' steamer that seemed like a suitable replacement. To my surprise he credited me the full amount for my broken down locomotive towards the other, the difference in price being $100 more for the Berkshire, which I paid him for. Perhaps I would have noticed sooner if I had run it more, but it took me about 3 months before I noticed that the Berkshire didn't run as well as my other 2 Lionel steamers from the 50's. The difference being that the Berkshire uses a rear mounted, side spinning ac motor with a large worm gear, while my Hudson and 2037 use mid mounted front to back spinning motors with conventional gears. I called the store and spoke to the owner again, saying I was not happy with the Berkshire because it wouldn't run at a consistent speed, no matter what track it ran on. Again he told me to bring it in and we could work something out. I found a beautiful 1999 Lionel "New Haven". I was very skeptical at first because it was so much newer than what I was used to. It uses a rear mounted dc can motor and rubber around the rear drive wheels for traction instead of magnetraction, and it was made in Korea. It seemed however, like the most logical choice considering my other options. He said to try it out and if I didn't like it I could bring it back and trade it in for another! Plus he refunded the price difference of $50, the Berkshire being $325 and the New Haven being $275. How can you get any more fair than that? So far I am very pleased with the performance of the New Haven, the digital whistle and bell sounds are cool and to my surprise it runs as smoothly and consistently as my 2 post war steamers, but quieter. And it sure is nice to know that I can trade it in within the next 6 months if it breaks down or doesn't work out for whatever reason. I certainly wouldn't expect this level of care or service from any...

Cool place to find toys and crafts for my kids.

They have stuff for kids of all ages.

They have a wide selection of model cars, boats, planes and motorcycles. Every type of model is available. Iconic ships from major countries throughout history. They also have model air planes from history. They have some old classic car models along with new cars and Chip Foose designed models. They have paint and glue for models but I would say that they are geared towards models associated with train sets.

The model trains are really where they have an extensive knowledge and extensive inventory. Whenever I have been there, there is a guy near the train section that really knows a lot about trains and can answer just about any question related to model trains.

They also have a lot of sketching and drawing materials.

The other big item of note is electronic experiment kits and chemistry kits. They have single experiment projects all the way up to full size chemistry kits. They are not really cheap and may be slightly over priced but I would not say extremely over priced. Everything they have is basic beginner level up to probably stuff kids would learn in high school. There are also telescopes and other crafts.

One of my daughter's got a paint by number set and another got a cement square kit.

The cement square is basically a 12 inch by 12 inch square that they can decorate how they choose. My daughter decorated her square with the 5 shiney rocks provided, and some other rocks she has collected up north and a hockey pin. If you get one of these kits, have some extra stuff to add to it because what they provide is not much.

All-in-all, great trip and fun...

I have been going to this store since I was a child. Well over 25 years. Today will be the last time I ever visit this store. I came across a small bin of Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars with a tag attached to the bin "All Hot Wheels Cars & Matchbox Cars $.50 cents each." When looking through the bin of roughly 40 cars, about all but 5 had individual prices on them of $8 each and up. I brought the basket to the front counter and asked if they were $.50 cents like the tag on the bin stated. The manager told me "Oh no sorry someone put those in there." She sorted the whole bin on the counter top and roughly 10% of the bin was "supposed" to be $.50 cents. And the few remaining cars that she claimed were supposed to be in the bin were all broken and half missing.. Even after telling her I was trying to purchase the majority of the bin she remained silent. "Sorry!". I understand people make mistakes. She claimed they were not supposed to be in the bin. So 90% of the bin was someone's mistake? Very poor customer service. Did absolutely nothing to make it right. And the employees were smirking and disrespectful. Don't waste your time. This store has always been overpriced. Now even the staff is disrespectful and incompetent. Will never...