Today, I was thinking about some of the stores I use to frequent years ago. Any of you guys have any favorite stores or stories of years past?
Well, when I first decided to check out this D&D thing I went to a place called Simulations (Perth, Western Australia). It was down a little alley and up a flight of stairs that weren't for the infirm or elderly.
Barry, who wore shorts with a belt and long socks (this was 1980), talked me out of buying the brown box and sold me the blue book version instead. As he predicted, I was in about a week later buying the Monster Manual.
I saw a lot of Simulations over the next few years, because I used to go there Saturday afternoons to play. It was a place that was extremely friendly to wargamers and roleplayers and the cross-over types.
Unfortunately, Barry and the other partner Doug fell out somehow, and Barry disappeared. I still don't know what he did afterwards, but Simulations fell upon evil times. A couple of other RPG-focused stores sprang up in Perth when the Vampire thing happened, and eventually Doug sold the business and it moved into a plastic and glass storefront in a swish arcade.
I'd kind of given up going into game stores at the time, as I was playing exclusively from games I already had everything for. But every so often I would go sadly into Tactics, the #2 store. I rarely went into Simulations, but whenever I did they didn't seem to be doing very good business. Finally Simulations closed up and Tactics was the only game in town.
Several years later, I was going down the street when I saw a new storefront: Valhalla Games. I went in and lo and behold, there was old Doug, large as life behind the counter with a benign, vague smile. And there was his wife Coralie and his two daughters who I'd last seen as toddlers (and one was looking pretty cute too). Coralie actually recognised me and said in a voice cracking with emotion "Look, Doug. It's one of the old...."
So there you go. As far as I know Valhalla Games is still going strong. It offers a wide variety of stuff and doesn't put all its eggs in the RPG basket.
The San Francisco Bay Area had some really great stores in the 70's and 80's. You had Gambit Games in Berkeley and San Francisco. Another store on Geary st that had these dinner booths that you could sit and game all day in. The original Games of Berkeley with it's circular class counter showcasing all their figures. But by far the coolest game store ever was Multiuniversal Trading Co. in Concord, Ca, run by none other then Mr.Arduin himself.
Damm, I really miss those days at times...
My FLGS when I lived in Los Angeles was the Last Grenadier. The used to have two locations, one in Burbank and one in Northridge. I lived in Glendale, so the Burbank store was close and my primary one. Every once in a while I would make the drive out to Northridge because they had different stock and vibe. The Burbank location has gone through three or four moves that I have seen. It's heyday was when it was in the Burbank open mall, before they opened it up to the street.
Occasionally, I would make the drive out to Aero Hobbies in Santa Monica, CA. There were a couple of stores in Eagle Rock, CA. on Colorado Blvd. One of them eventually closed down, but one remains. It's closer to Rosemead, and further up Colorado past the Eagle Rock Community College. I cannot remember the name of it right now. Sometimes, I would drive up to Eagle Rock and that store.
I don't have a FLGS near me, or at least none that I have found. There is a used books and record store called the Black & Read in Arvada, CO. They have a large used RPG section, which satisfies my cheapness and collecting urges.
I too liked The Last Grenadier when they had the store next to the mall. Their open gaming room that was down in the basement and was just the coolest.
Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL. Now THAT'S a game store.
Lord Hobie
Quote from: mrk;293738I too liked The Last Grenadier when they had the store next to the mall. Their open gaming room that was down in the basement and was just the coolest.
Right on! You know the Last Grenadier too. :) Some of my fondest gaming memories are at that store. I ran my 1st AD&D DragonLance game from that basement. I used to work across the way at the used bookstore Book City.
I bought my first D&D stuff (for myself) at a head shop they had in a mall in Valley Stream New York. They had like.. stereo parts, turntables needles, bongs, velvet posters, black lights, macrame, incense, and .. (wait for it) Basic D&D boxed sets, and some of the monochrome cover AD&D modules. This was the late 70s-1980.
I also got some Judges Guild stuff from back when Kevin Siembieda was doing art for them, because when I started playing Palladium in 1990 or so, I wrote him a letter and he mentioned it, and I went back and looked and there it was.. I can't remember what it was, but it was supposed to be a picture of Stirges, and they had re-named them as blood birds or something. I remember that.
When I moved to Texas I didn't see any head shops for a while but the D&D stuff was behind the hobby counter at Michaels. Michaels is a craft store. There was a guy that worked there with one crippled leg and he knew everything there was to know about building plastic tank and rocket models.. and they also had D&D stuff for sale. I mostly got adventures there. I remember buying SPI's Dragonquest and Universe when they came out, and getting some Ral Partha miniatures.
I bought Gamma World and Boot Hill there as well, and we used to run Gamma World during the summers.
I bought my first set of dice beyond the crap set you get with the boxed set there as well.
Quote from: mrk;293727... Multiuniversal Trading Co. in Concord, Ca, run by none other then Mr.Arduin himself....
Dang! My grandmother use to live in Concord and I would visit her every other summer or so. Wish I know about this store then!
The venerable Game Preserve in Fresno, CA.
Serving gamers for nearly three decades. There is so much stuff in there that you occasionaly come across an old gem that has long been out of print.
The Source in Minneapolis is awesome. Great store, open gaming area, comics, memorabilia. Well worth the stop.
When I was a kid back in the 80s, we lived about 1/2 hour from Akron, OH and there was a story in downtown Akron that we went to sometimes called "The Little Shop of War". I haven't been back to Akron in a long time, so I don't know whether its still there.
Bonnie Brae, In Englewood, Colorado. In the early days when we drove up for Ghengis Con (back when they held it at the University of Denver) in Denver every year it was a mandatory shopping stop. Still going strong...
Sadly, none of the hobby shops, or comic book stores, from the early days, survived in Colorado Springs.
I've been visiting Attactix in Aurora, Colorado for over a decade now. Great shop. No specific memories surrounding it - other than discovering, much to my joy, that I lived just blocks away from a great shop.
Seanchai
Quote from: GameDaddy;293822Bonnie Brae, In Englewood, Colorado. In the early days when we drove up for Ghengis Con (back when they held it at the University of Denver) in Denver every year it was a mandatory shopping stop. Still going strong...
Yes! Although I think it's more organized these days, last time I visited, there wasn't as much awesome out of print stuff. I used to go there every once and a while just to see what treasures I could find...
Quote from: GameDaddy;293822Sadly, none of the hobby shops, or comic book stores, from the early days, survived in Colorado Springs.
When I lived out in the country, there was one downtown that I visited. Had a chess piece in the logo, I think.
Seanchai
Quote from: Seanchai;293844I've been visiting Attactix in Aurora, Colorado for over a decade now. Great shop. No specific memories surrounding it - other than discovering, much to my joy, that I lived just blocks away from a great shop.
Seanchai
Attactix rings a bell, I think I visited there shortly after it opened. Shadowrun comes back to me for some reason with that. I remember the dice pools and the apartments where we played near by. Only thing I remembered about the game though was it seemed their was too much arcane magic and not enough
Gibson/Sterling style cyberpunk for my tastes.
The shop on Tejon street in Colorado Springs you are referring too opened in 85 I think. At first it wasn't even an RPG store. They sold board games there. I did score Twilight 2000 there around 92-93, but the other downtown FLGS store on Pikes Peak Ave. had already closed by that time, and that was the only shop that carried games in that area. I was pleasantly surprised that they had started carrying RPGs. Don't know if they are still open now though.
Quote from: GameDaddy;293822Bonnie Brae, In Englewood, Colorado. In the early days when we drove up for Ghengis Con (back when they held it at the University of Denver) in Denver every year it was a mandatory shopping stop. Still going strong...
Sadly, none of the hobby shops, or comic book stores, from the early days, survived in Colorado Springs.
I was also going to mention Bonnie Brae Hobbies. It was one of those terrific old shops (just down from the Bonnie Brae Tavern--terrific pizza) with material jammed in every nook and cranny of the store. That dusty, old-paper, used-bin smell. I miss that smell. Shops don't often have that anymore. Bonnie Brae has moved since then, but it still has that smell. I still have a lot of my favorite old stuff I bought there.
Colorado Springs has a number of stores, and a couple of them are great. But none of them are classic old stores. None of them smell right.
The chess piece logo shop is Compleat Games and Hobbies. They opened in 89 or 90. They had rpgs. But they have always tried to maintain a variety of stock. Lots of non-game stuff as well. They are still open, but across the street.
Was the old one on Pikes Peak Levine's? I don't remember exactly where Levine's was. It was a great old classic shop (the right smell) but I never got to visit it much.
hmmm.... I am going to have to work out a deal with the wife so that I can take a day trip to Colorado Springs, LOL! Sounds like its jammed with shops.
The Last Grenadier in Northridge, CA was the first gaming shop I ever walked into... my first sight of D&D... but I was too young to get there on my own so I never got to hang out there.
Here in Vegas I spent lots of time at the Triple J Hobbies stores... which eventually got whittled down to just one shop. It was the last of the local stores that had any air of mystery about it... the owner was always trying out new stuff so you never knew what you'd find.
Not a huge place but it had a lot of variety.
The best store we've got going these days is a Hobbitown USA shop... which really doesn't satisfy.
Quote from: Drohem;293763Right on! You know the Last Grenadier too. :) Some of my fondest gaming memories are at that store. I ran my 1st AD&D DragonLance game from that basement. I used to work across the way at the used bookstore Book City.
I really wish those guys could of kept that location because It had everything you wanted from a gaming room: a row of big tables, a shelf full of old figures and gaming props, an old coke machine in the corner. I even liked how the stares spiraled down into the room itself. Do they still have their Northridge store?
Quote from: enelson;293783Dang! My grandmother use to live in Concord and I would visit her every other summer or so. Wish I know about this store then!
It was a very small place. There was even a sign with the title of Multversal Trading with an image of a Phraint on it. Dave would of kept it going except that the city decided to shut down the entire street for renovations and put him out of business. Nice to see your local government giving a helping hand :(
I generally buy my books from the Hairy Tarantula in Toronto. They've got a yank trans girl there who really knows her stuff and who provides good customer service, even though the owner's a bit of a nut. Good selection of stuff - It's the first place I look for anything I need. The prices are OK - they've got a high base prices, but frequent sales (this month it was 30% off everything) so you've just got to know when the sales are going on and you can save a whack of cash.
Back when I lived in Kingston during university, I used to go to Nexus, which was run by a guy named Mike. It was great, and I think he was doing pretty well, because the last time I saw the place, he'd moved into a huge new location in the basement of some storefronts. It's the largest game store I've ever been in - it was easily 100 ft by 60 ft. It had tons of room to move around in, which I prefer to the narrow, cluttered feel of many game stores. It was also very clean, and everything was a really well displayed. Kingston was sort of a hobbyist's dream though. Two universities, one college, an army base, somewhere around 20 prisons and jails in the county, etc.
Quote from: stu2000;293887Was the one on Pikes Peak Levine's? I don't remember exactly where Levine's was. It was a great old classic shop (the right smell) but I never got to visit it much.
Yup. That was it. It was a toy store. They also sold the Estes model rockets before they sold RPG's, but they had wargames (SPI & Avalon Hill), The General, and Strategy & Tactics from the time I first started shopping there in early 77' or so.
Mig Killers from Lou Zocchi I picked up in the nameless comic book store near where i lived.... . Wish I had that game now.
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;293946I generally buy my books from the Hairy Tarantula in Toronto. They've got a yank trans girl there who really knows her stuff and who provides good customer service, even though the owner's a bit of a nut. Good selection of stuff - It's the first place I look for anything I need. The prices are OK - they've got a high base prices, but frequent sales (this month it was 30% off everything) so you've just got to know when the sales are going on and you can save a whack of cash.
Weird, I wasn't expecting to have actually been to any of the stores people mentioned in this thread, but I've been to Hairy Tarantula a few times on my various trips to Toronto for other things. Pretty cool place, but has never had what I've been looking for at the time :/
The store in my old hometown, "Not Just Stamps", is/was a bit of a local legend. I'm still friends with the longest-served member of staff, who ended up being the last manager. People would come to the shop, and the Gaming club, from miles around, and everyone was really sad to hear that the shop had closed. There was a hobby/models store that closed around the same time for the same reasons; they didn't earn enough profits to be able to take the rise in rates the council had put up to support the big new shopping centre they were building. -_-;
In a way, the store I'm saddest about is the one I used to work at; It was a bookstore which also sold CCGs and a small selection of RPGs, and they hired me to expand that side of things, which I did. A friend of mine ran a games night there every Thursday, I slowly expanded the range of RPGs we stocked as best I could, considering they only let me use one supplier. One of the regional managers had a big thing for "Roleplaying games" despite knowing little about them, which also included CCGs, board games, Tabletop minis etc, since one of the other stores the company owned was basically the only place on one of the Channel Islands that sold comics, RPGs, and other nerdy things. Unfortunately, the friend who was running the games nights left, though someone else stepped up. However, shortly after this I left the store to move to Japan for a while. As soon as I left, they fired my boss and replaced her with someone who didn't care for the gaming side of things, and they did a big sale, selling off most of the games, and transferring the rest of the stock to the other store I mentioned. It was a bit of a surprise when I went back to see how the place was doing last year; I'd heard from my old boss that she'd been fired, but I didn't know they were dropping RPGs entirely, made me sad.
Which location did you go to? The Hairy T out by Keele and Bloor is more collectibles and whatnot. The Yonge and Elm location is the better one for RPGs. But sometimes they split their stock, and it's worth it to ask if the other location has something if you can't see it on their floor.
For example when MongTrav was first released, the Yonge location didn't have any copies, but the Keele one did, so I dropped by there and bought it from them.
The biggest game shops in Austin in my youth were King's Hobby and The Game Player. The Game Player was a pretty typical mall-based game store at the height of the hobby's popularity in the 80s. I think that is the place where I got my first D&D book (The 1st ed Monster Manual).
In high school I discovered King's Hobby, which had an amazing selection of games in the day. In my mind's eye I still see all my favorites stuffed in spinning racks. I ended up working there throughout college during the boom times of M:TG, but over the years since then the selection of games withered as the market weakened and another local store, Dragon's Lair, took over the position as Austin's largest game store. I like Dragon's lair, but I just have such good memories of King's as seen through the rose-colored glasses of my geek childhood.
TGA
Quote from: The Good Assyrian;293984The biggest game shops in Austin in my youth were King's Hobby and The Game Player. The Game Player was a pretty typical mall-based game store at the height of the hobby's popularity in the 80s. I think that is the place where I got my first D&D book (The 1st ed Monster Manual).
In high school I discovered King's Hobby, which had an amazing selection of games in the day. In my mind's eye I still see all my favorites stuffed in spinning racks. I ended up working there throughout college during the boom times of M:TG, but over the years since then the selection of games withered as the market weakened and another local store, Dragon's Lair, took over the position as Austin's largest game store. I like Dragon's lair, but I just have such good memories of King's as seen through the rose-colored glasses of my geek childhood.
TGA
I've been to Kings Hobby several times when I was in college, even though I lived in Lubbock.
The big gaming stores in Lubbock were Star Books and Comics, and then later on, Mad Hatter's.
An interesting fact about Mad Hatters is I think I stole the Hatter's girlfriend when we were both college freshmen. Back before he legally changed his name to "Mad Hatter" (no lie), his name was Robert, and we were all three kinda friends.
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;293983Which location did you go to? The Hairy T out by Keele and Bloor is more collectibles and whatnot. The Yonge and Elm location is the better one for RPGs. But sometimes they split their stock, and it's worth it to ask if the other location has something if you can't see it on their floor.
It was the Yonge/Elm one IIRC, but this was way back in 2007 so my memory's a bit fuzzy. :) In fairness, at the time I was looking for Mekton Zeta, which is a pain in the butt to get through any means other than going direct to R. Tal. Weirdly, and related to the thread, I found the other books I wanted a week later in Vancouver, in a little toy store on the "other" side of the bay, which had a whole load of older RPGs and board games. They didn't have MZ but I did pick up a sealed copy of Ghostbusters 1E, and the Bubblegum Crisis books I was missing. I wish I could remember the name so I could share it with anyone Canadian who'd be interested.
Quote from: Abyssal Maw;293987I've been to Kings Hobby several times when I was in college, even though I lived in Lubbock.
The big gaming stores in Lubbock were Star Books and Comics, and then later on, Mad Hatter's.
An interesting fact about Mad Hatters is I think I stole the Hatter's girlfriend when we were both college freshmen. Back before he legally changed his name to "Mad Hatter" (no lie), his name was Robert, and we were all three kinda friends.
Dude, I remember that guy! He ran a M:TG tournament for us at the first convention my friend and I ran back in 97 I think. He had legally changed his name by that point as I recall. He was an interesting character...
TGA
I found out that the Gaming store I had been going to, Game Towne, may be months away from closing it's doors. They're staying open until their 30th anniversary, than closing down. They always had a good selection of non D&D games there (and, everything D&D of course) including some incredibly oddball stuff (Ralph Bakshi's Wizards RPG is probably the strangest thing I've purchased there). I remeber buying my first RPG book there, Toon (my brother bought his first D&D stuff there too). The staff was incredibly nerdy and incredbly friendly. John, in particular, was incredibly knowledgable about absolutely everything they carried there.
They also had a great board game selection and a whole wall of paper chit wargames (which I never played). I hope they pull through this recession because I would hate to see them go!
This last year, though, marks the first time I'd ever purchased a .pdf. I guess that would be the new store for me :D
Quote from: KrakaJak;294061I found out that the Gaming store I had been going to, Game Towne, may be months away from closing it's doors. They're staying open until their 30th anniversary, than closing down. They always had a good selection of non D&D games there (and, everything D&D of course) including some incredibly oddball stuff (Ralph Bakshi's Wizards RPG is probably the strangest thing I've purchased there). I remeber buying my first RPG book there, Toon (my brother bought his first D&D stuff there too). The staff was incredibly nerdy and incredbly friendly. John, in particular, was incredibly knowledgable about absolutely everything they carried there.
They also had a great board game selection and a whole wall of paper chit wargames (which I never played). I hope they pull through this recession because I would hate to see them go!
This last year, though, marks the first time I'd ever purchased a .pdf. I guess that would be the new store for me :D
That's in San Dimas right? I lived in Pamona for a while, right off the Indian Hills exit on the 10. It was a crazy time, but I would ride my motorcycle to Glendale Community College daily, and pass the Old Towne mall all the time. I frequented that shop while I lived in Pamona.
Quote from: Drohem;294143That's in San Dimas right? I lived in Pamona for a while, right off the Indian Hills exit on the 10. It was a crazy time, but I would ride my motorcycle to Glendale Community College daily, and pass the Old Towne mall all the time. I frequented that shop while I lived in Pamona.
Actually, it here in Old Towne San Diego, just off the 8.
Quote from: KrakaJak;294151Actually, it here in Old Towne San Diego, just off the 8.
Hehehehe...yeah, I am sure there are thousands of Old Towne districts in cities across the nation.
The stores of my youth were The War Club in LCF and The Last Grenadier in Burbank - the latter's still around, I'm told.
I also frequented The Game Keeper in the Glendale Galleria, but they didn't have gaming tables, so the cachet wasn't quite the same.
Quote from: The Shaman;294342The stores of my youth were The War Club in LCF and The Last Grenadier in Burbank - the latter's still around, I'm told.
I also frequented The Game Keeper in the Glendale Galleria, but they didn't have gaming tables, so the cachet wasn't quite the same.
Right on! I used to go to the Game Keeper in the Glendale Galleria all the time myself. I grew up in Glendale. The Last Grenadier is still in Burbank. It's on Hollywood Way now, close to Magnolia Blvd. It's a small shop and easy to pass up on the street now. It's nothing like it used to be in heyday when it was in the Golden Mall, and before they re-opened San Fernando Blvd. to car traffic again.
Quote from: Drohem;294395Right on! I used to go to the Game Keeper in the Glendale Galleria all the time myself. I grew up in Glendale.
:D
La Crescenta, back in the day.
I think I went to Game Keeper once. Kinda small as I remember and didn't have much. there was another Store in East Glendale that I thought was better. Kinda funky like the Last Grenadier. Anyone remember that place?
Quote from: mrk;295285I think I went to Game Keeper once. Kinda small as I remember and didn't have much. there was another Store in East Glendale that I thought was better. Kinda funky like the Last Grenadier. Anyone remember that place?
Wow, this is freaky that I'd find so many people on a random forum that know the same area. :)
Yeah, the RPG section at the Game Keeper was small. Another store in east Glendale you say? Hmmm... it doesn't spark my memory right away. Do you remember anything about the location, where in east Glendale it was located? Any big landmarks or stores nearby that might get some old memory cylinders firing?
We went to one in Philidephai New York when I was in my early teens. I have no recollection of the name- if it even had a name. The town was tiny and given the average age of the fanbase at the time, and the fact that we were all acttered across the extremely rural landscape, the store was nearly inaccessible for most of us. My friends and I might make the bike ride out twice a summer. I can remember getting a ride from a friend's dad one time, and it seemed like magic (the bike ride was an all day affair, which required a packed lunch, because there was literally nothing between the Watertown and Philidelphia. It went out of business after a few years; I was told it was due to shoplifting- but I always thought shoplifting required, you know, shoppers.
Later, we had a one in my town, but it was run by guys that should never, ever have gone into business (mix white trash/rednecks and extreme gamers geeks for a sorry, depressing debacle). It lasted about two years, changed hands (one of my old DMs bought it I think) and eventually vanished a couple more years down the line.