Hobby Bunker

Hobby Bunker is a toy and hobby shop that has been open since 1998, known for hand-painted metal toy soldiers and also home to a Magic: The Gathering community with two casual play nights a week. The facts block puts the address at 33 Exchange St in Malden, Massachusetts, while the store's own materials give 103 Albion Street in Wakefield, so confirm the location before making the trip. It suits toy soldier collectors, model builders, wargamers and Magic players who want a full hobby shop with plenty of table space.

What's on the shelves

Toy soldiers are the core of the stock. The store carries hand-painted metal figures from makers around the world in 1/30, 1/32 and 54mm scales, mostly in a matte finish with some traditional glossy ones. Plastic soldiers run mostly in 1/32, 60mm and 1/72 scale, with a few larger figures up to 6 inches tall. The store owns the Paragon Scenics and Miniatures brand, and the family has a long record of offering Marx and MPC reissues. Brands on the shelves include King & Country, W. Britain, John Jenkins Designs, Thomas Gunn Miniatures and Forces of Valor, among more than 200 in total.

Beyond soldiers, the range covers:

• Model kits, die-cast vehicles, tanks and planes
• Tamiya, Verlinden and Gundam kits
• Model-building tools, paints and hobby supplies
• Scenery, diorama accessories and foam
• Wargames and miniatures, including Games Workshop, Reaper Fantasy Miniatures, Victrix and Wargames Atlantic
• Role-playing games, board games and collectable card games
• Books, magazines, action figures and collectables

The store buys and sells collections, and a recent run of toy soldier acquisitions included large King & Country lots. It can also special order thousands of items it does not stock.

Weekly play

Magic: The Gathering is the card game on the calendar, with Commander on Thursdays and Standard on Fridays.

Everyone is welcome at both nights, and the Magic community that gathers there is a large one.

Space and other gaming

The shop has over 2,000 square feet of retail space and nearly 1,500 square feet of gaming tables available during business hours. Miniatures wargaming shares those tables, and a recent evening had a full lineup of games in progress, Bolt Action among them. The store also holds toy soldier shows, including a Burlington, Massachusetts show held at the Hilton Garden Inn, now run once a year after a successful recent edition with higher attendance and more dealers. The West Coast Toy Soldier Show and Sale is scheduled for March 14, 2027.

Store policies

Items can be returned within 30 days if they are unopened and undamaged, and sale items cannot be returned. The store matches competitors' prices. It accepts MasterCard, VISA, Discover, American Express, money orders, checks, cash and PayPal. Inventory is not tracked in real time, so some items take a week or two to arrive. Tariff surcharges or price increases may apply to new toy soldier items and restocks without notice. Orders ship worldwide, with a flat domestic rate of $9.99 and free shipping on domestic orders over $129.99.

Hours

Hours run from 10 AM or noon to early evening, closing earliest on Sunday and latest on Thursday. The store is closed on major holidays and is open at other times by chance or by appointment.

History

The business was incorporated in 1997 and opened to the public in 1998. It is family run, with an owner who has collected toy soldiers, built models and dioramas and played wargames for most of his life, and a full-time staff.

The local scene

Two comic shops, Zenith Comics and New England Comics, sit about 0.1 miles away in Malden, and Thecomic.com in Somerville is about 2.8 miles out. Magic Castle and Newbury Comics are both in Saugus, about 3.2 and 3.4 miles away. For card shows, the Rockland Card Show is about 20 miles away with dates on November 7 and November 28, 2026. The Salem Derry Monthly Card Show follows on November 8, and Lot of Cards' Thursday Night Show and the Third Thursday of the Month Sports Card Show both run on November 19.