A Half-Century of Hobbies: Saying Goodbye to Viking

 I spose I've been lucky here in NoVa that we still have a pair of regional chain stores (Your Hobby Place) and an independent (Huzzah Hobbies) FLGS still in operation that continues to carry de riguer (safe and trendy) lines of historical miniatures. Add in HMGS conventions, which are within a relatively short driving distance, and I can get a lot of the newer, flashier offerings quite readily. 

In Carmichael - a suburb of Sacramento, CA, historical tabletop gamers likely have it much worse, and much worse all of a sudden, as retirement comes at last for the proprietors of Viking Hobby. Ken and Jessica Mosbaugh have announced that their five decades of operating the store are coming to an end this year, in late summer/early fall. 

When Eagle and Empire closed up here, a staple in the Virginia/DC area, their remaining inventory helped seed the Alexandria location of the West Virginia-based Your Hobby Place. The ginormous Game Parlor, another local legend, had closed a couple of years prior. New York-based Compleat Strategist also closed down its Falls Church location, though when I saw it last had been given entirely over to Warhammer and RPG titles. So it appears with Viking Hobby that it, too, will just disappear forever. 

I just so happened to be in California last week for family stuff, and I made it a priority to get in there one last time.

Viking Hobby (Viking) opened in 1974, Gemini tells me. I began visiting not too long after. I think I began routinely going in the early to mid-eighties. It started with Airfix HO Scale models. There was the Toy Shop in Arden Fair Mall, and Games People Play as well. Dungeons and Dragons miniatures were likely my first 25mm metal miniatures, but Viking also had Ral Partha, RAFM, 15mm Minifigs, later Geo-Hex, Old Glory, etc, all kinds of enticing offerings. Riverside Hobbies was another that came later, but all are long gone now. leaving Viking as the best and the last.

I've talked about Stuart MacDonald here before, my erstwhile English pal from Hartlepool. When he was old enough, he began working at Viking as a staffer and would be a familiar face there for a certain generation. I seem to have a more English sensibility to my gaming preferences, likely due to him, but also to the fact that Viking carried Miniature Wargames, and Wargames Illustrated, two journals, both at one time or another edited by Duncan McFarlane. Offhand I'd say the English practice differs from the American one by drawing on its own rich and older historical tradition - more Horse and Musket, more Napoleonics, more Colonials, more Medievals, less vehicles, tanks, planes and ships. 

The mags I preferred were English in sensibility, but the store itself was thoroughly American, as my final photos will attest. 

Alas! Jessica had already gone home by the time I arrived. I had a short window, so I was not able to return. This was the view that greeted me as I entered. This is a small shop if you haven't gathered, and I don't notice any changes since I was there six years ago. Apart from product selection, it's looked roughly like this since the 70s!

They are selling down at this point, and inventory is as light as I've ever seen it. These spinners have seen it all over the years. My first serious wargame purchases were 15mm Minifigs French Foreign Legion, then 15mm Essex ACW, but I got the bulk of my 15mm ACW stuff here too. Each generation of hot stuff filled these completely. 

These are the very racks where I picked up Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated, the journal that prescribed how I would hobby forever. I really was in it for the eye candy, the spectacle. 

I'm certain many of these mags have been there for a few decades by now, Courier, Tradition, Military Modeling? 

Ken used to be a common sight when Stuart and I had to be driven there, but he preferred to let Jessica be the customer-facing one. To both Stuart and me, Jessica was a friend as well as an amazing retailer: customer-focused, knowledgeable, and always willing to mail-order stuff for you. Mail-order remains a big part of this hobby even now. She hooked me up with all my Napoleonette Russian and French armies, as I recall it, the vast majority unpainted, but still in my possession!

This "surfboard" model has also been there for as long as I remember. 

Ken himself was an exquisite modeler in his own right. I don't have the best images of these, but they hold their own against contemporary work. 

In his own way, his work set a painting standard for us to aspire for too, though we focused on gaming models instead of those intended for display.  

My photo butchered these amazing flats, but I think you get the idea. Honestly, these shelves contain about the same mix of models that have always been there. I spose the kids think this all might be a bit stale, old models, old magazines, but I, for one, appreciate the continuity and the bridging of the past to the present, which has value in and of itself. Especially when it's gone. 

The old Viking Ship remains iconic to the spot! Seriously, very little has changed here in many, many years. 

The back wall left has seen an expansion in Osprey titles; before moving out of the state and the arrival of Amazon, I got most of mine here. 

The back wall right and corner

Heading back toward the front, the left wall was entirely model kits. This isn't my hobby, so I can't tell you much about it other than it was the section where I picked up Matchbox, Atlantic, Esci, and Airfix (then sold under the MPC name) HO scale models. 

  

This final shot is the view I had before I turned to go. More spinners would have been to my right, the model kits at my back, and fifty years of history lining the walls around me. It’s weird to think that the next time I visit, this space will be something entirely different. The old models, the classic magazines, and the iconic Viking ship belong to the ages now. It’s the end of an era for this Sacramento legend, and for those of us who grew up in these aisles. Farewell, Viking Hobby. It was a spectacular and unforgettable run.

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