Historical Wargaming stores in Canada?

[Deadeye]

Hello guys, I'm fairly new to the hobby and trying to build up some armies, but I have limited knowledge on where to buy things. Any Canadians on here want to brag about their favorite LGS ( or online equivalent)

[Pattus Magnus]

I haven’t found many that have a great selection of historical figures or games. Some carry a few books or boxes of figures by Warlord Games (usually for Bolt Action and maybe some of the other titles).

The exception is the Sentry Box in Calgary, AB. They have a large section dedicated to historical games. They carry many books and figures by Warlord Games and Flames of War, as well as products by smaller outfits. They also stock nearly every Osprey title and a bunch of other books that are good for reference material. They buy some second hand stuff when people sell off collections, so they sometimes have things available that are now out of production. I’m not sure about online sales (I have lived close enough for 25 years to buy in person), but they used to do mail order and probably still do.

[Deadeye]

Thanks, Large Pat. The sentry box looks grand. I'll have to swing by the next time I'm out west.

[Will Bailie]

Sentry Box is amazing.  It's the reason I got into wargaming after supporting my DnD and RPG habit all through junior and senior high school.  https://www.sentrybox.com/

Out here on the wet coast, Imperial Hobbies in Richmond has a great selection and feeds my wargaming addiction. https://www.imperialhobbies.ca/

In Ontario, North Bay Games and Hobbies has great mail order (I live out west, but even when I lived in Ontario, North Bay was still kinda out of the way...)

What part of the country are you in, Deadeye?

[Deadeye]

Thanks for the tips!

I'm as far East as you can get without drowning. St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. There are a couple game stores in the area, but they're not big on historical stuff. Just looking to add some online stores to my arsenal. I'll check your suggestions out!

[Will Bailie]

Best wishes for you gaming on the Rock! 

When it comes to mail order, I will happily order directly from the manufacturer for many items.  A Canadian store may not have what I want in stock, in which case I might need to wait for them to order the product, collect it at their warehouse in wherever, and then ship to me, which adds weeks or months to the order.  It is a bit random whether Canada Post will add a fee for collecting GST and other taxes, but the process is usually pretty smooth. 

[FramFramson]

https://www.meeplemart.com/ has a large downtown location in Toronto and stocks a ton of miniatures, including a lot most B&M sites don't typically carry. They started as a mostly-online distributor which later expanded into B&M so its all available online.

[Deadeye]

Thanks, Fram! I'm looking at MeepleMart now, but it seems they are pretty low on Blood and Plunder stuff . Hopefully there's a restock soon.

[Fred Mills]

Greetings, fellow Newfoundlander!

In Canada, I'll second:

Sentry Box (amazing store and service; frustrating website; sales tax savings because of Alberta site; terrific range of product)

Imperial Hobbies (second-biggest store; great service; ok website; higher prices on average than SB; but very near Vancouver airport if you travel that way)

Meeplemart (solid board game collection; plenty of PSC and 28mm historicals and some 15mm, but mostly non-historical; good website and very good, cheap mail order)

I'd add the US-based Noble Knight, which has tons, but you'll pay for shipping through the proverbial nose.

Roll high!
F.

[Ran The Cid]

https://www.relicminiatures.com/  Canada based miniature producer.  They have a very distinctive look to their Ancient figures.

[Wirelizard]

Also, don't be afraid of overseas mail ordering into our dear oversized Frozen North, especially from the UK.

UK->Canada mail is still pretty cheap, the Royal Mail -> Canada Post pipeline is really fast, and even with S&H being higher it can often be cheaper or basically identical in price to ordering from Canadian stores for stuff that's make in the UK anyway!

Oh, and UK businesses just seem way, way better at this mail order thing than most North American outfits. Next day dispatch isn't unusual, for example.

The US is a bit more hit and miss, USPS has been making it increasingly expensive for Yanks to ship outside their own country, and so-called couriers like UPS suck rocks and tend to dump their Canadian packets into the regular postage system as soon as they can anyway.

[v_lazy_dragon]

On Wirelizard's note... Some UK shipping is actually *cheaper* than buying in Canada.
Gripping Beast (also inc. Front Rank) have an optional Flat Rate £5 (~C$8.60) rate option. It's not the fastest, but I got stuff within the month.
Westwind Productions base rate starts at £4 ($6.90), and is good for a couple of packs.

Fairly sure there are other companies out there with low rates, just don't know 'em!

(Also, quite a few US eBay retailers  have 'buy it now' + shipping prices that total in at about the Canadian pre-tax price - so it'll save you a few bucks if you're lucky enough to find what you want/shop around)

[Pattus Magnus]

Another thing to consider when ordering from UK to Canada is that list prices are often VAT included, and VAT is (usually) removed from international orders. The VAT refund doesn’t quite cancel the postage, but it does take some of the sting out.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Sadly, not all stores prices include VAT. Most smaller vendors are below the revenue limit where it has to be collected (or some such - cant remember the details).

[Will Bailie]

Another thing to consider when ordering from UK to Canada is that list prices are often VAT included, and VAT is (usually) removed from international orders. The VAT refund doesn’t quite cancel the postage, but it does take some of the sting out.

That's an excellent point, as the 20% VAT reduction can really offset a 25% S&H charge.  But expanding on the lazy dragon's comment, you should check the invoice before paying as some vendors (not just small ones) may not refund the VAT.

One of the things I will do is load up a virtual shopping cart and check all charges (including S&H, taxes etc) before committing to payment, bearing in mind that I could still be hit up by a Canada Post handling charge once the package arrives at my local post office.