In the past our website has been hosted remotely and did not have access to our live inventory data. Programming of the site was also under the control and schedule of the ISP and as a result, possiblities for development of the site were limited. Our new website is still remotely hosted, however we have full control over its functionality and will be able to add more features as time permits.
Many of you have been commenting in your feedback on our website that you would like to see stock status displayed. Although we do not have access to live data, we have developed a system that should work well and give a pretty fair indication of what is currently in stock at Great Hobbies. Data is combined from our two locations and uploaded to the site on an hourly basis.
The method that we have chosen to display product status is a series of six color icons. These icons will be displayed with the product search results as well as on each product information page. The significance of each color is described below. We have a brief summary of the meaning of each icon in our Inventory Status Legend. This legend is available by clicking any colored icon wherever it appears on the search results or product information pages.
For those that are color blind . . .
Yes, we realize that this is an issue for some of you. We have developed a work around that should help out here. When you hover your mouse over a dot, you will get a written indication of the color and status of the item in a small box just below your mouse pointer. Try it on the dots below! . . .
Normally Stocked Items 
All items marked with the above color icons are the products we normally stock. These items are replenished as needed and we try to keep them in stock as much as possible.
In Stock
All items with this green icon were in stock during the last upload of data to the website. This means that at least one unit of the product was available in at least one of our two locations. Please note that it does not mean it was necessarily available in both locations, nor does it give an indication that there is quantity of the item in question. Do not use this as a guide for checking inventory before visiting one of the locations and expecting it to be available. If you need to know definite status in a particular location, call ahead. You can even reserve the product at that time.
Important: Showing a green icon does not guarantee that the product will be available when we process your order. When you place your order in the shopping cart it does not reserve inventory at that time. Inventory is reserved when one of our operators processes your web order by entering it into our system. Depending on when you place your order, it may be several hours before your order actually gets placed in our system and the inventory is reserved. For instance, no orders are processed at night or on Sundays. Orders are processed in the order they are received and inventory allotted accordingly.
Normally Stocked but Currently Out
Since these items are normal stock, they will be replenished through normal orders to our suppliers. Although turnaround time may vary depending on the source of the product, most items are available through our major suppliers with which we place orders about twice weekly. Turnaround on these orders may be as fast as one to two days for local suppliers to 7 to 10 days for suppliers stateside. This is providing our supplier has stock. We currently do not have the technical facility to display a date of arrival for the product.
Normally Stocked but Currently Out and on Backorder with Vendor
Items marked with the orange icon are similar to those marked in amber as above with the exception that we have had confirmation that our supplier was out of stock and was not able to ship to us with our latest order. Receipt of these products will depend completely on when our supplier receives product.
New Release, Not Yet Available
Items marked with the pink icon are new releases that we have not yet received. For the most part, these will be normal stock once product flow commences.
Clearance Items 
These are items that are currently in stock but we plan not to restock once they are sold. This may include items that have been discontinued by the manufacturer, discontinued by our vendor, or products we simply choose not to carry as normal stock in the future. Quantities will be limited on these items and generally will not be able to be backordered once gone. These items cannot be returned.
Special Order Items 
Items marked with the red icon are those that we can easily obtain for you but are not normally kept as stock. Turnaround will be virtually the same as those marked with an amber icon as noted above. These are special order items and cannot be returned. Some special orders may require a deposit.
Please Note: We reserve the right to change the status of any item at any time without notice.