Mid-South Hobbies — Local services in Memphis

They are the only remaining true hobby shop in Memphis, they are generally well stocked (more on that in a bit), and cover a good variety of different interests.

They have a HUGE assortment of model RR stuff, particularly O and G gauge, including a bunch of NOS LGB parts if you need them.

I'm not an RC guy, but they have a really good variety of 'copters, fixed wing, and vehicles, along with the parts, batteries, etc.

One star gets knocked off because of their almost total lack of organization in the place. They've made some attempts over the past few years to clean up the place, but there are still boxes of stuff laying all over the place. Some of it is just pure junk, they could stand to just gather all of this stuff up and sell it super cheap or throw it in the dumpster just to de-clutter the place. It sometimes makes it difficult to find things, and if I can't find it, that means they probably can't either, which leads me to the next issue.

Going hand in hand with their organizational issues, they will run out of an item, and it may be months before it is restocked, if at all. Some of it may be slow moving items, but there are basic supply type items that I've noticed go unstocked for quite some time. On the other hand, a couple of the guys that work there usually do know if it is something that they carry at all. If you have a specific need, it pays to call them and ask, it may save you a trip. I have tried having them order things on a couple of occasions, and on both attempts, never got a call telling me it was in. Tried calling them once, but they had no record of it. Went into the store a few weeks later, and found what I ordered hanging on the shelf. This was a while ago, so maybe they've gotten better about it.

Don't let those couple of issues dissuade you from checking it out, it is worth the trip. I'm just offering what will hopefully be a little...

As for trains....MSH probably has as much or more inventory than any hs I have visited. The train Dept is large with much variety including scenery / kits, rolling stock, engines of most eras, and even used stock, unfortunately, the single Dept employee / "expert" / service tech / sales rep, is, to be polite, less than entusiastic about any type of organization of the merchandise, so the vast space is, by and large, depressingly cluttered with random stock crammed into old cardboard boxes scattered along every isle, and a surprisingly large separate area filled with antiquated, dust covered old used displays of stock & scenery that appear untouched & unwanted since Moses. I'd Love to see that area cleaned out and used to neatly display the awesome amount of inventory that can't otherwise be seen without dedicating a weekend to sorting thru it. Don't expect to ask and be greatly enlightened of all things DCC, or find a great deal of DCC equipment / supplies, beyond starter equipment, if that. There are a few random Digitrax modules ect, but I highly recommend making a call before driving a great distance expecting to find a particular component. There is a decent selection of engines, all of which you Will pay 100% retail for, and rest assured all have been thru at least several quality inspections by other customers before you, some for years. I do not believe that I have seen a single engine that would require removing the factory seal, including both Lionel starter sets I purchased for Christmas gifts. All that said, I still visit almost weekly and have invested nearly $3000 in the last 4 mos, purchasing inventory for a new ho railroad and am grateful to have access to the resource, so as long as you do your homework and have a decent knowledge of what you need, it can be exactly...

By this place being the only hobby shop in the area you would expect great customer service right? ...wrong..very disappointed in this place..really wish Nitro RC was still around..This past weekend I stopped by this shop to pick up some 6s batteries for my trucks.. Went into the store walked to the rc sales counter no one came to assist us. There were two people working in the department one guy in the back area and one guy was just staring at the computer trying his best to ignore me and my wife. We made eye contact with the guy at the PC and he looked away. We were standing there looking at the battery tray for about 6min until I asked the guy Hey! Could you help me with your battery selection.. he rolled his eyes and said " yea what" I told the guy what I was looking for 2x 5000mah 6s batteries. He proceeded to pick up and toss the wrong batteries on the counter like he was annoyed with my presence. So when I told him these are not the right batteries and not what I was looking for he seemed to get annoyed at this point that's when I told the guy..you know what nevermind you can keep it and we walked out. idk if he couldn't read or what but the customer service is hot trash in this place I would not recommend this place to any black hobbyist in the RC hobby..find a rc group on FB for help and when making purchases just pay the extra bucks and buy your supplies online cause this place obviously doesnt need your service...now keep in mind the shop wasnt really busy meaning there were no customers in the RC area as it was mid afternoon when I stopped by. I've been in the hobby for about 12 years and this was a very disappointing experience the guy at the counter seemed to not have much knowledge of the hobby. They dont have to worry about me coming back..they...