It's been a long time since I've done a game store review, and a run down with my daughter Maja to visit my Mother allowed me a tiny window to check out some game stores. As is always the case, the window grew even smaller, but I managed one on the way back, for nostalgia's sake.
Stuck in an odd little strip mall, a half block off the main drag (PA 512) in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania is Bushkill Cards and Games. It's a tiny little store whose dominant focus is Magic: The Gathering, with a little linked X-Box gameplay on the side.
I'm no longer a Magic player, but a) a small store with a single focus is easy to review and b) it's in the same strip mall that Griffon Games, the last gaming store I managed, once resided. A little nostalgia and a little hope that the Slate Belt of PA is served by a decent game store.
As we walked in during this dreadful Fall heat wave, I was not surprised nor taken aback by the fans running and a few light being turned off. A Sunday with a small crew of locals for a tournament was a nice, relaxed setting. Save the AC for the Pre-Release that was later that afternoon.
With a quick word from a regular/fellow employee, the woman behind the counter looked up from the mind-numbing work of sorting Magic cards and was extremely pleasant, answering a ton of my daughter's random questions with prompt answer and a smile.
I'm out of the loop, but unlike a number of FLGS in my area, they had stock AND variety. I'll take a gamble and say they had every set from the last few years, available in boosters, the crazily priced Modern Masters, the promotional decks, and a more than adequate stock of card supplies (binder pages/deck sleeves/boxes/etc).
In other words, stuff that a common Modern (Type II for us old folks) Magic player wants. The singles were neat, but not priced (no one seems to do it anymore, even for high value cards), and thanks to Maja persistent questioning, we discovered that some of the singles held a dual role, inventory in the display case, as well as a spot on their eBay store. Once the nice woman took the time to explain to Maja, the next customer did buy such a card, and she was forced to adjust the online inventory before helping us. As a man who thinks inventory control at an FLGS is sexy, I have a great appreciation for that.
Other than that, they had reasonably priced snacks, and the best thing that puts them leaps and bounds past my old store, they take credit cards!
We snagged two packs of cards and left, pleased with the state of affairs.
As I really have three criteria for a game store nowadays (cleanliness, friendliness, and inventory), on the Gaming With the Gnomies Five-Gnome Rating Scale, i'll give Bushkill Cards and Games four out of five gnomes.
I would definitely bring both my daughters to the store next time. It's clean (active open gaming is always a trial), the stock, for what they focus on, is plentiful and well positioned, and I received a phenomenally better greeting than the last ten visits from my two FLGS's combined. I didn't get a chance to see the player base in all its glory, but if I lived around the Wind Gap area, I would strongly think about venturing into Magic again.
My wife appreciates that it's a little under an hour away.
Bushkill Cards and Games is located at 31 W 1st St, Ste 2 (Between the Magistrate and the Uniform Supply Store)
Stuck in an odd little strip mall, a half block off the main drag (PA 512) in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania is Bushkill Cards and Games. It's a tiny little store whose dominant focus is Magic: The Gathering, with a little linked X-Box gameplay on the side.
I'm no longer a Magic player, but a) a small store with a single focus is easy to review and b) it's in the same strip mall that Griffon Games, the last gaming store I managed, once resided. A little nostalgia and a little hope that the Slate Belt of PA is served by a decent game store.
As we walked in during this dreadful Fall heat wave, I was not surprised nor taken aback by the fans running and a few light being turned off. A Sunday with a small crew of locals for a tournament was a nice, relaxed setting. Save the AC for the Pre-Release that was later that afternoon.
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| Picture from their Facebook page. |
I'm out of the loop, but unlike a number of FLGS in my area, they had stock AND variety. I'll take a gamble and say they had every set from the last few years, available in boosters, the crazily priced Modern Masters, the promotional decks, and a more than adequate stock of card supplies (binder pages/deck sleeves/boxes/etc).
In other words, stuff that a common Modern (Type II for us old folks) Magic player wants. The singles were neat, but not priced (no one seems to do it anymore, even for high value cards), and thanks to Maja persistent questioning, we discovered that some of the singles held a dual role, inventory in the display case, as well as a spot on their eBay store. Once the nice woman took the time to explain to Maja, the next customer did buy such a card, and she was forced to adjust the online inventory before helping us. As a man who thinks inventory control at an FLGS is sexy, I have a great appreciation for that.
Other than that, they had reasonably priced snacks, and the best thing that puts them leaps and bounds past my old store, they take credit cards!
We snagged two packs of cards and left, pleased with the state of affairs.
As I really have three criteria for a game store nowadays (cleanliness, friendliness, and inventory), on the Gaming With the Gnomies Five-Gnome Rating Scale, i'll give Bushkill Cards and Games four out of five gnomes.
My wife appreciates that it's a little under an hour away.
Bushkill Cards and Games is located at 31 W 1st St, Ste 2 (Between the Magistrate and the Uniform Supply Store)
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