CLOSET HOBBY SHOP - ORIGIN STORY
I always thought having a hobby shop was an unreachable pipe dream.
I've been into collecting since I was a small kid and got back into collecting seriously once I was an adult, with my own hard earned money. Because of my strong and what some might say "unhealthy" attachment to my collections I always felt uneasy about moving my collections to a brick and mortar storefront, especially seeing all the unfortunate theft that can and does happen, unfortunately! Although I'm not strong enough to lean into this fear and face it (not quite yet, anyway) I didn't want this to fully get in the way of actually starting my HOBBY SHOP!
The Room Before
I already had a home-office which I work in doing my day job, it was going to be the first time I actually had space to put out my collectibles and LEGO sets- they've been packed away for a while now. My day job had slowed down a lot which allowed me the space to have an EPIPHANY - instead of using the rest of my office for my collectibles I COULD USE IT TO START MY HOBBY SHOP!
The Build
NOW, came the hard part - how was I going to use this tiny space to set up and run a hobby shop WHILE also using part of it for my day job?! I may not have thought it through enough but no ragerts! We pulled up our sleeves, moved everything out of the office and started the tiny hobby shop renos!
The Great Delay
We finally got the room together when TRAGEDY STRIKES- we had a small water leak coming in from the ceiling (no product was in the room yet or harmed, PHEW). It felt like fate saying "you aren't ready, this isn't the right time". The kicker was we had to wait UNTIL ALL THE SNOW MELTED before we could get repairs done! That felt like it took forever...well it did, we were delayed for several months!
The Silver Lining
When all was finally fixed up, we got to start to rebuild again, and this time it turned out EVEN BETTER! With a bit of reconfiguration (which was a pain to try to move large pieces of furniture in such a small space) I figured out the PERFECT ORDER to position the room within 127 square feet! This meant the product shelves would be stuffed in an open closet area rather than right out in the open *ENTER*...THE CLOSET HOBBY SHOP! This worked out well as the packing table/photo studio could be right beside the product shelves so we can pack with ease. That's the heart of the operation — where every order gets inspected, bubble wrapped with care, boxed up and sent off to its new home. As collectors ourselves we know the feeling of waiting for a package to arrive. We know the anxiety of wondering if it survived the journey. Every single order gets packed like it's something we'd want to receive ourselves!
What 127 Sq Feet Looks Like Now
Organized chaos... in the best possible way! I was able to create sections of the shop for my minifigure collection, vintage toys, some LEGO areas, and a kick-ass Garbage Pail Kid display of some of my most prized GPK collectibles! Balanced with just enough space to hold collectibles we can't wait to share with you! It wasn't until this moment I was able to visualize that this tiny closet hobby shop COULD ACTUALLY WORK!
Why Small Doesn't Mean Small Dreams
People ask us — why not wait until you have a bigger space?
My response is because collectors don't wait... We chase! We hunt! We grab the thing when we see it because it might not be there tomorrow! And Rebel Blast was built the same way. We started with what we had — 127 square feet an open closet, loads of collectibles stashed away and a family who believed we could actually make something BIG out of this TINY SPACE.
This room is where it all started. And we can't wait to show you where it goes from here!
Follow along — the best drops are just getting started.
— Nyx & the Gang