Hobby stores are often small, poorly kept and with a thin range of products. This is often due to the owners (loveable as they may be) being hobby enthusiasts before business people.
Now don't get me wrong, passion for the product and the community is essential, but so is getting a grasp on what makes your business boom and believe me, Irresistible Force has this nailed.
I fell into table top miniature painting, primarily Warhammer 40k but have since expanded into many other types of mini's to satiate my desire to learn new painting techniques. I stumbled upon Irresistible Force on my way home from my first experience in an official Warhammer store, a first experience that almost saw me not taking part in the hobby. Let's find out why I have been given a new standard for expectations from my LGS and why we need to support the ones that are paying it forward to their community...
This list is no particular order because each one makes the store (Irresistible Force) the diamond in the rough it is.
6. The Paint Range
Walking into the store (Irresistible Force) I was completely blown away, sure it probably needed some tidying up and a little bit of work, but the paint range... so many paints! We are talking entire racks of paint that are actually full, everything from Vallejo, Scale 75, Citadel and everything in between (Pictured Below).
Coming back again and again over the next 12 months I was rarely disappointed due to stock issues despite even Covid. Sure, sometimes the exact colour in the right brand was missing but with weekly restocks it was always there waiting for me the very next Friday.
5. The Staff
I have since built over 21000 points of Games Workshop miniatures with the help of this team. They have helped me grow from my first Start Collecting Box with a few pots of paint right up to my pride and joy, my Iwata Air Brush & Compressor.
I didn't just get sold on the top of the range Iwata either, Liam (who you will no doubt meet if you make the trip) made sure he was free for a good 2 hours to give me a lesson and allow me to try an air brush before I made the dive. Needless to say, the customer service and the honesty with regards to the hobby absolutely had me sold.
4. The Space
These guys also have tables to come in and use for painting in a social setting as well as 11 more in a giant room for gaming, Dungeons & Dragons, board games, you name it. I have been in there on a Tuesday and seen upwards of 8 or 9 of those tables full.
3. The Community
The community is the heart of the store though, every one is so welcoming and friendly, happy to take new comers (like myself) under their wing whenever we bump into each other at the store. Irresistible Force has produced several national champions for Star Wars table top wargames as well as being home to some of the best miniature artists in the country, who regularly do painting tutorials down at the store.
2. Their Product
Irresistible Force even have their own brand of hobby supplies and tools that are significantly cheaper than branded products without losing out on the quality.
You can get everything here, clear resin for your bases or dioramas, flock, terrain, drills and bits, magnets, if you can dream it, the team at IF will help you sculpt it, paint it or convert it!
1. The Miniature Range
Wall to wall of Warhammer and a range of models from many many other games like Hordes, Warmachine, Star Wars Armada, the list goes on with others I had never heard of.
Don't even get me started on the range of Games Workshop products and store armies available (Pictured Above). The team is extremely transparent and fair with pre-orders for those tasty value boxed sets like Indomitus and Dominion, which is no doubt not easy to pull off. From Codices to Necromunda, these guys have (almost) everything.
My Final Thoughts
It's hard finding somewhere to enjoy every aspect of your hobby, it really is and I mean everything from shopping, playing right down to brainstorming army and project ideas.
So many of us return to our store of choice because it's close and probably the only one around and the guys behind the counter are super nice... but that never stops us from snagging things cheaper from the likes of Mighty Ape.
Irresistible Force is looking to change that and give us a real reason to support our Local Game Stores by really investing in their business and paying it forward first.
Everyone out there who has an LGS of this calibre in your neck of the woods, please support them and encourage them to grow and expand so that we can see these stores, one day, being a lucrative business idea and a staple in communities.
Maybe I will see you there on a Thursday night while I am playing my fluffy 40k games.
-Matt