A Jaunt to Scranton

So, I was blessed with a half-day at work Friday. I decided to hunt down the new location of The Unknown Comics and Games, as well as finding the elusive Comics on the Green.

The original location of The Unknown was on N. Adams St. Downtown Scranton. It was small, compact, but managed to pull off a good selection and a fair-sized gaming area. They promoted GW, Magic, and a little D&D.

A new guy took over ownership a few months ago. I met the enthusiastic guy once (they all start out that way...) and then *poof* the storefront was empty with no followup info. A few months later and this little thing called the internet revealed to me that they had move a block down and over right on courthouse square, ironically three doors down from the courthouse.

After a search for a decent metered parking spot, I had to weave my way through reporters from WBRE, WNEP, and WILK camped out on the courthouse steps. Here I happened to show up during the sentencing of former Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepanak for federal bribery charges. Despite multiple media outlets on every inch of the sidewalk, I was one of the first five people outside the courtroom who found out that he got two years.

Anyway, the new shop still doesn't a real sign, but the giant inflatible Hulk should be noticeable enought. I don't want to sound disapproving, but my first impression was dirty Encounter. While I didn't see any refuse, the far back area, with it's unclean Gauntlets: Legacy machine and a pile of boxes, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

The store had it's open gaming down the middle of the room; comics then GW on the left wall, RPGs, board games, and the counter full of CCGs comign back up to the front.

Comic selection was standard DC/Marvel/tiny independent of week. No trades at all. I haven't actively read comics in over three years, but I realized there was nothing catching my interested at all, except an old issue of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam.

I'm not a GW person, I'm even less when a blister packs with 2 figures are selling for $13, but I did notice three interesting things (1) They had one lone pack of Pegasus Hobbies Museum Quality rail fences, which means the did try to work with non-GW accessories. Hopefully, they can try again. (2)The Warhamer Fantasy Battles templates for blast radius and flamethrower are gold ornate things, not the clear plastic ones I'm used to. I didn't even check a price, but it probably required selling a kidney on the black market. (3) Their WFB campaign. They had a very detailed map with 200 different territories, multiple armies, and an active use of pushpins. Any store campaign that looks like it's being well-run is a plus in my book.

The RPG and Board Game selection looked comprehensive but not overly extensive. The CCG selection at the counter was a bit suprising: Chinese 11th edition Magic, all the normal stuff, and then... a Time Twister, and most of the popular early edition cards. It was nice to see a place with inventory, rather than, " I know a friend of a friend of a friend who can get one for ya," that I'm normally used to.

The absolute high point was after I checked out, I peered into the little Coke fridge and there I spied it: an entire shelf of A-Treat soda! One Big Blue later, and I was back to dodging reporters, and getting to my car before the meter ran out.

Oh yeah, I still haven't found Comics on the Green. It must be across the bridge away from the downtown, but with my lack of comics excitement, I have plenty of time to re-examine my want list to fill out a few runs.