Comments on: Game Stores

By: Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:40:15 +0000

I grew up in a little town south of Sacramento, and the only thing we had was The Hobby Hut, a shop that stocked plastic models, craft supplies, and just a couple games. I’m sure I was going in there to browse or buy something from the plastic model jet selection when a small box on a side shelf caught my eye. They had Metagaming’s Microgames inside, probably a half-dozen copies. I didn’t buy one, but in 7th grade a classmate introduced me to Ogre. I loved, then went back and bought my own copy…except that I went for G.E.V. It was like Ogre, but bigger, and for just $4 instead of $3. I ended up buying quite a few microgames there, and got a friend into it, too. When high school brought us into contact with some young gamers from another part of town, we finally bought The Fantasy Trip and Traveller.

About that time our town got a new, large toy store called King Norman’s. (Was that a chain?) It had shelves and shelves of Avalon Hill Bookcase games. I window-shopped many of them, but they were too pricey for me. I remember really wanting Panzer Leader, and being curious about Napoleon (which I now own!).

Fast forward several years to college, and I’m down in SoCal. One of my old high school gaming buddies is going to UC Irvine, and he gets a job at that Gamesmanship store you’re talking about!

By: E.R. Burgess

E.R. Burgess — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:12:21 +0000

How I loved traveling down to Gamesmanship. The closing of the store was sad, too. They lost their lease (it’s not a Rainforest Cafe) and the owner got upset and deeply discounted everything immediately – and got out quickly. I never got any of the deals but sure felt the sting of the loss.

The closing of All-Star Games was the reason I recorded the Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store series. You can hear stories of the store and the terrible reasons for losing it on that first show. It was my FLGS for a long time and I still miss the folks that ran it.

Another terrific article. Thanks, Jeff.

By: Jeff Myers

Jeff Myers — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:39:42 +0000

@John: Exactly!

@Tim: I love used bookstores. In fact, I’m going to a local one soon to look for some of the old Doc Savage novels from Tor(?) You know, that publisher that always had books with a yellow spine.

FYI: An old friend from middle school told me the name of the hobby shop in Oildale. It was Riverview Hobby. Thanks to the internet, I now know that it was located on Roberts Lane and opened in 1957.

By: John Snyder

John Snyder — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:07:07 +0000

“I remember this one time when I was placing an order on Boards and Bits…”

By: Jeff Myers

Jeff Myers — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:51:41 +0000

I love talking about this stuff! I just don’t see how new gamers are going to have memories like these.

By: Tim Shea

Tim Shea — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:41:32 +0000

You are a rambler after my own heart. I’ve been all nostalgic of late these days too… glad I’m not the only one with the bug. I remember going to a small used bookstore back in the 80′s… the ones that sold books and comics with the covers ripped off and bought my own 1st edition basic and advanced set of D&D, it had the covers and was in the box still all wrapped and new. That started me on the road to visit the area comic/game stores. Many friends and good times were had.

Thanks for helping me down the ole’ memory lane and sharing your own memories.