Throgs Neck hobby shop set to close after nearly 45 years in business

A Throgs Neck staple hobby shop is gearing up to close for good after nearly 45 years in business.
Hobby Heroes is a business that came from the passion of Tom Baffer.
Baffer’s son Daniel grew up at the original shop, Bruckner Hobbies, and started working at the shop when he was 10 years old.

"It's a lot to take in. The fact that I won't be coming to work here anymore," says Daniel Baffer, manager.

After 44 years of selling radio control cars, planes, helicopters, boats planes, trains and more, Baffer says it is time to close.

"We have a couple buyers, but whether we sell or close, we're done by end of February," says Baffer.

The turning point happened after a fire forced them to close for almost a year in 2014. Baffer says sales were never the same since, especially as online shopping changed the game.

"You know Amazon, online retailers, really starting to put small businesses out of business and I guess we're one of them," says Baffer.

The family run Hobby Heroes created an extended family over the years. Especially for a close-knit group of RC car enthusiasts and friends who say they don't know what they'll do when the shop closes.

For now, they say they are taking in the last month at Hobby Heroes around the track, tweaking their cars and savoring the memories.