BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY February 9, 2020 10
Highbridge-raised comedian stars in CBS crime show
Throggs Neck’s Hobby Heroes to shutter after 45 years
BY JASON COHEN
For more than four decades
Hobby Heroes, aka Bruckner Hobbies,
has been a fi xture in Throggs
Neck. Sadly, next month it will
shutter its doors.
Started 45 years ago by Tom
Baffer, it grew into a unique place
that people could fi nd that perfect
adult toy.
Alas, with increasing competition
from the Internet and Amazon,
it slowly lost its longtime customers.
The store, located at 3587
E. Tremont Avenue, will offi cially
close at the end of February.
“Honestly, people just buy everything
online,” said Dan Baffer,
who runs the store with his
dad. “It’s becoming harder to pay
the bills. My dad has had to pull
money from his own pockets to
sustain the business.”
Tom, who grew up in
Parkchester, loved U-control airplanes
and as a kid and young
adult purchased them at a local
hobby shop.
When he complained that the
store’s prices were too high, “The
guy said if you don’t like it you can
start your own hobby shop,” Baffer
said.
“So, the fi rst thing he did was
make our prices cheap. My dad did
this because he loved the hobby,”
Dan said.
So, he and eight friends opened
up a store at 2908 Bruckner and
eventually Baffer and his friend
Larry Efrom remained as the owners.
After many people got parking
tickets due to them being in the
store for so long, they relocated to
its current location about 20 years
ago.
Tom Baffer held down a fulltime
job as a salesman to realize
his dream.
He sold cookies and wine and
today, is president of the union for
Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits,
which represents the largest
wine distributor in the country.
The hobby shop became a second
home for the Baffer family.
Tom’s three sons, Tommy, 47,
Brian, 43 and Dan, 40, each began
working there around the age of
10.
“As a kid it was a lot of fun, but I
always worked,” Baffer said.
They used to host events at
schools and in the community and
the store was always fi lled with
customers.
In fact, he and his brothers
even raced remote control cars in
competitions throughout the country
and worldwide.
But after the Internet boom the
customer base dwindled.
“We didn’t actively use the Internet
as much as we should have,”
he said.
What really hurt the business
was a fi re in 2014 that tore through
the storeroom, causing the store
to shutter for nearly a year.
That fi re changed the projectory
of the business. Many of the
shop’s previous customers had
found other means to satisfy their
hobby needs.
“I fi gured some of the people
that were loyal would have come
back, but not everyone did,” Baffer
said.
He began to see the writing on
the wall six months ago as less
people came into the store.
While it was quite upsetting to
announce the closure, Dan Baffer
realized it was time for a new
chapter in his life.
For 30 years he has dedicated
his life to the business and now
he hopefully can spend more time
with his 1-year-old daughter Samantha.
“People supported me and my
family for 45 years,” Dan said.
“My dad taught me how to work
and be a good person.”
BY KYLE VUILLE
A local comedian with Highbridge
roots will be fl ooding television
screens everywhere as he appeared
on the CBS show ‘Tommy.’
Vladmir Caamano will be
playing the role of ‘Abner Diaz’ a
New York City transplant and a
fi ll-in detective to main character
Tommy played by Edie Falco while
she herself becomes involved in
solving cases as chief of police for
Los Angeles.
However, Caamano, despite
landing the role of a lifetime, still
fancies himself a stand-up comedian
who shares the humor he remembers
while growing up in a
Dominican home in a bustling, hijinx
fi lled Bronx apartment building
.C
aamano’s father was the superintendent
of the building he
grew up in, a building his family
still calls home.
“I grew up around the building’s
stories, the dramas,” Caamano
said. “I knew about everything
going on because my father
was basically the mayor.”
He spent his grammar school
days trying to get himself by with
extracurricular activities like being
a part of the environmental
science program and was a member
of a bird-watching club.
“I was the only kid wearing Jordan
11’s in Central Park looking
for blue jays,” Caamano joked.
Caamano then attended
Wesleyevan University in Middletown,
CT and graduated with a degree
in psychology.
“It was fi rst time I saw a deer,
real houses and mowed lawns,” he
joked.
Caamano said he then spent
the next seven or eight years helping
kids get into good schools for a
company called ‘Liberty Partnership
Program’.
However, Caamano said comedy
brings him joy and always relieves
him of the stresses of life.
“I use comedy as a remedy for
anxiety, depression, all that,” Caamano
said.
He looked up to comedic legends
Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy,
David Chappelle and John
Hughes.
“I always go back and watch all
his (Hughes) stuff because he captures
the teenage angst so well,”
Caamano said.
In 2015, Caamano created a pilot
based on his life in the borough
called ‘A Bronx Life,’ which was
rejected by NBC, but created other
opportunities for him.
He has also starred in several
television sitcoms such as ‘Brooklyn
Nine-Nine’, ‘Superstore’ and
‘Runaways,’ and has made appearances
on multiple stand-up
specials such as ‘Jimmy Kimmel
Live.’
Caamano has now found himself
in one of his more serious
roles on the show, ‘Tommy’.
As Abner Diaz Caamano plays
the main character’s confi dant
as they navigate the Los Angeles’
crime scene.
The 12-episode season kicks off
Thursday, February 6 at 10 p.m. on
CBS with episodes running every
Thursday.
For more information on Caamano
including upcoming standup
performances, visit www.
laughingvlad.com
Vladimir Caamano stars as Abner Diaz stands next her to “Abigail “Tommy” Thomas, played by Edie Falco in the show
‘Tommy’. The new season of ‘Tommy’ starts Feb. 6 on CBS at 10 P.M. Photo by Jojo Whilden
Owner of Hobby Heroes Dan Baffer. Schneps Media Jason Cohen
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