General News
23 February, 2026
Model shop to open up
A NEW attraction about to open in Dimboola is John & Sam's Diecast Model and Hobby Shop, ready to keep the attention of anybody interested in cars (and more!) for every visit.
Owner John Harding said his passion just kept growing, and one thing led to another.
“I've been collecting models for a number of years, and thought I'd have a go at opening up a hobby shop,” he said.
“Just always liked them. Never really had them when I was a kid. There was six kids in our family, we didn't have a lot of model toys back then.
“One day, I was going through a mate’s shed, and he said, ‘I've got this for sale, that for sale.’
“And that's where it started.”
John said the shop’s stock reflected his range of interests, with a significant variation in size and categories.
“I sell everything from one in 18 scale right down to one in 64 scale, which is a matchbox size,” he said.
“Then I sell various motorcycle models and brick building kits, Lego kits, interactive motors with little battery-operated motors that actually work when you finish building them.
“Diecast models, plastic model kits, all the different Holden cars and Ford cars, stuff that they sell.
Still working out the finer points with some of his suppliers, he hoped his passion would rub off on others with people coming in to have a look – and the early signs were good with people dropping in, even though he wasn’t yet officially open.
“If that's anything to go by today, I've had (about) 30 people in the shop,” John said on Friday.
“They talk about their nostalgia of their old cars that they had, or if I can get specific brand cars for them, and I’ve got a friend of mine in Horsham that'll strip down cars and paint them to the same colours of what people had them back in the day and all that type of stuff.
“(It was) old people and young people coming in the door today, all talking about all the different cars they had and all the different options I've got here for displaying cars in.
“A lot of people are amazed (at) the amount of building brick kits that I've got for the young kids, right from little kids – three, four-year-olds – right up to adult-size building brick kits.
“And I've got a few girl toys and stuff like that, (so if) somebody wants a birthday present they (can) nick in and grab something.
“But the majority of the shop is diecast models and hobby stuff.”
John & Sam's Diecast Model and Hobby Shop is at 88 Lloyd St, Dimboola and had its official opening on Friday, February 20.