Herrick Games and Hobbies: The Painting Masterclasses on Pine Street
A hobby shop in a redwood town of a few thousand people should not be flying in Golden Demon winners. Herrick Games and Hobbies does. Its masterclass roster reads like the podium at an international painting competition, because that's what it is: World Model Expo gold medalists, Crystal Brush finalists, Monte San Savino champions, and a painter who took Golden Demon Gold at AdeptiCon this year. People drive over the hill and fly across the country to spend two days at 13111 Pine Street learning to weather a Knight Titan.
It's a family business. Brothers Skye and Christian Herrick started it with Skye's spouse Jade, first in Virginia, and it's been here since 2020. Local reporting puts the first Boulder Creek storefront above Jenna Sue's Cafe in October 2021, with the move up to Pine Street in 2024.
What's on the shelves
The core of it is Games Workshop, and the range is deeper than the square footage suggests: Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, The Old World, and Horus Heresy, plus the specialist boxes that smaller shops skip. Kill Team, Necromunda, Blood Bowl, Warcry, Warhammer Underworlds, Adeptus Titanicus, Legions Imperialis. Black Library novels and Lord of the Rings sit alongside them.
Then there's the paint wall, which is the real reason a painter drives here rather than ordering online. Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Scale75, Tamiya, Kimera Kolors, AK Interactive, Abteilung 502, Coat d'Arms, Dirty Down, Colour Forge, plus brushes, glues, tools, spray, and terrain. If you paint, you already know how rare it is to see those ranges in one room.
Beyond Games Workshop, the shop stocks miniatures from Bushido, Moonstone, Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Wargames Atlantic, Relicblade, Big Child Creatives, and Star Wars, along with board games. The store describes itself as a hobby shop built around high-end products that are hard to find anywhere else, all in one place, and the shelf list backs it up.
There's a special order form on the site for anything not in stock, and the shop ships nationally at a flat $10 under $100 and free above it, going out Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The painting classes
This is what makes the shop unusual for the valley. Herrick hosts multi-day masterclasses taught by competition painters, on subjects like airbrush intensives, large-scale mechanical weathering, non-metallic metal, and color composition on resin busts. One visiting artist designed the class model herself and based it on the redwoods.
The store says spaces fill fast and classes regularly sell out, and it passes 95 percent of class revenue to the teaching artist. Dates aren't posted on the artist page, so text the store to find out what's coming.
Adopt-a-Gamer
In August 2020, Skye Herrick evacuated a house he'd owned for two days, ahead of the CZU fire. He left his entire gaming collection behind, and while he was displaced, other gamers sent him models, paints, and tools so he'd have something to do with his hands.
Adopt-a-Gamer came out of that. If someone loses a collection to a fire, an illness, a job loss, the store takes an email at adoptagamer@herrickgames.com, works out quietly what was lost, and puts a replacement army together from donated product and community purchases. Anyone with unbuilt models sitting in a closet can send them in.
The shop also commits every February and September profit to charity, sponsors the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation, and has run auctions for Doctors Without Borders. For more on the fire that started this, see six years after the CZU fire.
Getting hold of them
The address is 13111 Pine Street, a short walk off Central Avenue. The store publishes the number (479)-HERRICK and says it prefers texts, so that's the way to reach them, about class dates or anything else. There's also support@herrickgames.com if you'd rather write.
Store hours aren't published anywhere on the site, so message ahead before making a special trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Herrick Games and Hobbies?
13111 Pine Street, Boulder Creek, CA 95006, just off Central Avenue downtown.
What are the store hours?
The shop doesn't publish hours on its website. Text (479)-HERRICK before a trip. If you know the current hours, tell us and we'll add them.
What does it sell?
Games Workshop's full range including the specialist games, hobby paints and brushes across a dozen brands, terrain, tools, board games, and miniatures from Bushido, Moonstone, Perry, Victrix, and others.
Does it run painting classes?
Yes. Multi-day masterclasses taught by international competition painters, including Golden Demon winners. Dates aren't posted online, so text the store to ask.
Is there open gaming?
The shop's own event page refers to open gaming nights, but no current schedule is published and two different patterns are in circulation, so ask before you turn up with an army.
Who owns it?
Brothers Skye and Christian Herrick, with Skye's spouse Jade.
Last reviewed August 6, 2026. Address, stock, and program details come from the store's own site. It publishes no opening hours, so contact the shop before a special trip.
For more downtown, see the essential shops guide and fun things to do in Boulder Creek. Looking for something for a kid who's into this? Try kids activities. Browse the business directory. Something out of date? Tell us.
