Boss Robot Hobby

Johnny is great. Patient and knowledgeable. Sold me all the part and pieces for my rc sail plane. Im a complete newbie and he got me sorted out and working. I did all the research online and he steered me in the right direction. Gave me deals on new/​used stock way below online pricing. I love a shop keeper like Johnny. They are few and far between. Support your local business guy and reap the rewards of instant customer service from someone who cares and knows. BTW so much cool stuff in his tiny shop. Not just RC. A true hobbie shop for everyone.

I am a beginner Rc airplane pilot. After my Birthday I wen’t to buy an Rc airplane and it flew really well. The workers were really nice and knew a lot about Rc and showed me many different options. He also let me fly on a flight simulator connected to a computer witch he hooked up with a Remote control so it would be easier to see what plane fit me. I could have spent hours there. If you are thinking of getting any Rc thing definitely go to Boss Robot.

Small does equal big. This is a small store that has great products. They have drones, to remote control cars, to robots. They provide quality customer service. They answered all my questions and provided me with information for other locations that can help me.
You have to search around because of limited parking space, but, even if you have to walk, it’s good, because there are several nice businesses in that area. I thought I would have a hard time finding the Boss Robot, but their sign is clearly visible.

My son had been saving up all of his money for almost 18 months to purchase a remote controlled car. He finally saved up enough, so I took him down to Boss Robot to browse their selection. Although the store is small, they have a nice range of entry-​level and higher-​end R/​C vehicles. With some guidance from the owner, he ended up purchasing a Arrma Fury truck. Needless to say, the car is a ton of fun to drive. Very happy with our experience at Boss Robot, and we’ll definitely be back again once my son has saved up enough money for what he wants next — a quadcopter!

I popped in to buy a RC helicopter as a Christmas present for the kids. The store itself has a terrible layout, and despite it’s small size, it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. No assistance was offered by the guy working the counter. I left without buying anything.
A few days later, I decided to give Boss Robot Hobby another try. So, I researched the item I wanted and gave the store a call to make sure they had it in stock before making the drive over. Despite it being the middle of the afternoon during business hours, no one picked up the phone and there is no voicemail working on the line.
So here’s the thing. If you can’t be bothered to pick up the phone in the middle of the day or have the courtesy to enable your customers to leave a message when they call, I can’t imagine you are a good retailer to do business with.

I went in. Saw the tokidoki. The owner noticed I was interested and asked the guy hanging out to move so that my kids and I would have access to what we wanted.
My 6 year old went in, picked up the pinball machine, started playing with it. I told her to be gentle. The owner didn’t seem phased at all. He was very mellow.
I had a great experience. Then we bought 3 of the tokidoki mystery figurines. unfortunately, we didn’t get the one we wanted. The one we wanted was on display. The owner noticed our disappointment and said «I will let you trade for it.» AWESOME. My kids were too greedy, so I had to buy it. But I got the one I wanted withOUT having to buy MORE or all of them — only to find it wasn’t there…
so really nice owner! Will definitely come here again and again.
Oh! and he noticed I loved tokidoki, so he pointed out they have tokidoki stickers too. $ 3/​each.

About 6 months ago, I became a radio controlled quadcopter (drone) addict. I was reading everything I could online, trying to get clarity on what I should be doing and how I should proceed. Then I found Boss Robot. Suddenly, the fog of all the internet misinformation was instantly blown away, and I had somebody who could answer my questions in complete sentences and smile while he was doing so. It’s a small shop, but the inventory goes very deep into the core of the RC hobby galaxy. The advice I’ve gotten and the purchases I’ve made there have allowed me to rapidly advance as a quadcopter pilot. I only wish I had more money to spend there.

Johnny is always helpful when my 11 year old brings his RC car in for some help. He take his time, and explains things to my son, evaluating and testing all the different options. His patience is key in making my son feel he can return — often — to ask questions, knowing he will always get an answer.
Great robots and RC options.

My husband and my son both love RC toys. The owners are always friendly and helpful and steer me in the right direction when I need to buy a gift. It is very compact but they know their inventory and do a great job in terms of figuring out age appropriate options for my son, and fun gadgets for my husband. Its also nice to find a place that is independently-​owned and has a nice neighborly vibe. Thanks for your help over the years Boss Robot!!!

Wow, I was kicked out of this store!
I walked in holding a small RC Plane and my 13 month old daughter in a stroller. 20 min later the owner was yelling at me to get out without letting me purchase the battery and charger I came in to buy.
Looks like I’m not the first to be kicked out or treated like this. I’ve never been kicked out of any anything… Especially a hobby store. This guy is as ridiculous as the other reviews suggest. I strongly recommend avoiding this place.
If you care to hear what happened, read my entertaining story below:
I just inherited 12 airworthy RC planes (all recently flown), but needed to buy 2 batteries and a battery charger to get them airborne… and probably buckets of parts to repair them after I crashed. I’ve never flown an RC plane before so wanted to also ask which plane I should start out with and get a little advice on the hobby. So I decided to drive over to this hobby shop in the middle of a rainy Friday, along with my 13 month old daughter and brought one of the planes to start the conversation.
When I got to the store, it was empty and the owner and clerk were just hanging out shooting the breeze, so I started in with my story. When I finished, and showed the owner the plane I thought looked to be the best starter, he told me there was no way I could fly the plane and said I should buy one of his planes to fly first because it would be easier. Fair enough, but I explain that one of the 12 inherited planes in my garage was identical to what he was showing me (high wing Cessna). He didn’t seem to understand this and so his only response soon became «You aren’t listening to me!». After we finally got through this extremely awkward discussion, I asked him if he could just help me find the right battery and charger I needed. His response was that I needed to first replace all the FM receivers of each plane (12 planes) with newer 2.4ghz receivers, and buy a new $ 500 radio to use them. When I questioned this, and suggested I test out the hobby by first just purchasing the minimal battery and charger, he said «so it sounds like you’re the expert», and turned his back to me. After several odd seconds he turned back around to resume the conversation. Then, after a few more weird exchanges he said «You obviously just came into the store to argue». At this point, he was obviously irritated with me, so I tried, unsuccessfully, to calm him down. I asked a few questions to try to understand his reasoning, but his only response soon became «you’re the expert, why are you here?» … louder and louder each time. This went on for a little while until he became red in the face and was shaking and said «this isn’t working out», «this just isn’t working out!» At this point, it had become the oddest interaction with a human being I’d ever had.
I’m a very level headed guy, standing in a hobby shop on my day off with my little girl and a plane, and this guy was apparently about to punch me in the face.
I’ll note that I never raised my voice or was angry at him. I just calmly tried to understand what he was saying and was trying to have a conversation. The other clerk in the store finally came over and I thought he was going to help, but instead he stood between both of us and put his hand up to the owner’s face, then turned to me and said in a stern voice «I think it’s time for you to leave». I thought I was on candid camera or something. It was so weird. I protested for a moment saying there was a massive miss-​communication going on, but they persisted and aggressively ushered me, my daughter, and my plane out of the store. I walked out with my head down not knowing what had just happened. The situation reminded me of the soup Nazi from that Seinfeld episode.
This story was too good not to share, and I hope it discourages people from going to the store. Somebody open a new one next to it please!

Minimal product knowledge, buy at your own risk. This guy has no idea what he’s talking about, prices are outrageous

After just a brief phone call asking for help with a quadcopter I got as a gift and saying that I wanted to also buy a larger one, Johnnie, the owner, told me that he’d look at my current copter «for 45 seconds» and if it went longer than that, he’d have to charge me $ 10! Not the best way to entice new customers. I surely would NOT drive across town to see this guy! I’d rather take my money elsewhere.

Bought a quad copter for a co-​worker and it got banged around and one of the motors stopped working. Brought it in, the clerk and owner tested it and looked it over, offered a quick fix and now it works great. Terrific store and service.

After reading some of the other comments I can see I am not the only one to find the man working here, maybe the owner maybe not, extremely rude.
I had been in looking for a Christmas gift a few weeks before but wasn’t ready to commit to anything, just seeing my options. Later I went in to see if, on the total off chance, what I wanted was still there the day before Christmas Eve. He informed me it had been sold. Totally understandable. But then he goes on to guilt trip me saying I should have bought it and didn’t he warn me and I will never find anything like that here in Berkeley and I shouldn’t wait last min to do my shopping. Wow guy, I’ll find a different gift! Who are you to lecture me on my procrastination?!
Such a strange attitude and I will not be back. It’s sad to say, but he is making a solid case for online shopping. No one needs to be hassled by rude, righteous business owners/​employees.

I’ve been a part of the Elmwood community for years, and love how the neighborhood has so many local shops. So when i had to replace my son’s RC battery I immediately thought of Boss Robot. After a second visit in as many days upon my suggestion of returning the battery for a different solution (new charger) to the owner who was mild and helpful when selling me the part, became agitated and aggressive I was taken aback.
If you go, be warned: the owner might snap if you do anything other than buy more products.

Dunno if it was the owner or just a clerk but he was rude, pre-​occupied and seemed like he couldn’t be bothered with a customer. I saw all the parts I needed in his display case, which was kind of a mess. I thought I would come by in spite of a friend saying the dude was super rude. Wrong move. Ordering this stuff online somewhere else, it is cheaper even with shipping.

I was there today, had been there a couple of other times. Dunno why, but I had this bad sense about being there. So, the minute the guy (dunno if he was the owner) finally showed up at 12:30pm, I got this immediate feeling of stress — that this guy was uptight. Then I remembered, this is exactly what he was like on my last visits. Rude.
I was just researching R.C. technologies for autonomous flight, FPV and other such stuff. He obviously either can’t, or just doesn’t want to discuss this stuff. At one point he blurts out «you don’t get it, do you, you just don’t listen», and he holds his hands in front of his face in a little square «you just don’t understand!», squinting his eyes as if looking through a little hole «I don’t do that stuff!!». WOW, how can someone running a hobby shop be so conceited, I have no idea.
Well, whether he was an expert in R.C. technology, I dunno. Was he TOTALLY rude and an all around close-​minded numbskull, absolutely. Would I ever step foot in there? Hell no. You can get his stuff, and anything in there online with 2 day shipping in a second.
Here’s to hoping that guy goes out of business ASAP. Anyone I meet from this point forward will get my full attention as I steer them away from this joint.

Hobby shops are a dying breed. Boss Robot Hobby has been around as long as I can remember and is a great resource for RC gear & equipment along with an ok selection of model kits and random geek and animé toys. On the upside, the guys who were there are really cool and helpful. On the downside, the store is tiny. If there are more than 6 people in there and you have a real hard time to get around. I’ve shopped there in the past and will do again when I happen to be in the neighborhood but the selection isn’t amazing so it may not be for everyone.

I have ridden past Boss Robot for years but had not noticed it was there until this past year. Yes, it is a small place and things a packed in, but if you ask for what you’re looking for, Johnny (the owner) will be more than glad to help you out with what you’re looking for, a recommendation, or even a special order that will usually arrive within a few days.
Sure, you may pay a few more dollars here than you may online, but I’d rather support a local shop that I can walk into and get most of what I need right away.
There was a little bit of confusion when I purchased a Spektrum transmitter and then found out when I got home that there was a rebate that would have saved me over $ 150. I went back in and Johnny gladly made things right and kept another customer satisfied.

Really fun place to peruse for work buddies for your desk. My sister took me here years ago and it’s where I picked up my first Mega Kong. I’ve got three of them now and one of my original two is all the way on the east coast with one of my friends.
It’s a pretty tiny store, but I could spend a lot of time looking at all the items and trying to decipher who is who. At times, it can be a bit claustrophobic, but it’s all worth the effort.
In my opinion, everyone needs a Kong to protect them from bullies at work.