My last stop on a whirlwind trip of game store through most of the Albany area was the oddly named Flights 2 Games Store and Hobbies, and it might be the one I spent the most time in searching around.
Greeting: This one is a bit of a journey... starting with a sign of the door.
The first thing I stepped into was a combination lounge, gaming area, and remote control hobby area. Messy? Yes. Disorganized? A little. What I've come to expect at any place that sells RC products? Absolutely.
I wandered through to an open doorway that led into a little slice of heaven. Shelves, racks, cases, filled with product that I don't normally see in stores anymore, much of it because the new product was heavily intermixed with stuff from the the last 35 years. D&D 5e down the row from a healthy selection of WotC's Chainmail launch from the early 2000s. Back issues of Scrye, new Magic sets, and ACTUAL POWER NINE CARDS in the display case. Color me intrigued.
And yes... even though there were other customers the staff was talking to, I was sufficiently acknowledged.
Cleanliness: Unfiltered stream of consciousness here. I'm not sure whether the store continually finds bargains in older product to line the shelves, or they've had such an inventory over the years that they've just realized what they had and priced the items accordingly to the modern market. It's got that slightly cluttered used book store vibe, mixed with a fully functioning CCG shop.
CCGs: Magic and Riftbound were on the events calendar, but this is the first place in long time that had any variety in more vintage (pre-2000) Magic. Betas, Power Nines, a few random packs, with a burned Juzum Djinn as a conversation piece.
And while shelves of binders only indicate that a store has invested in binders... and nine-pocket pages, it's a decent indication of accessible (versus the 2-4 weeks I've experienced at other places
for commons.
Board Games: It's not massive, but there are enough card and board games (and a few vintage ones) to whet most people's appetites.
RPGs: I was initially a bit depressed to see just D&D and D&D-adjacent titles, but digging deeper into the store, I found the paperback books...
Opposite a decent mix of older and newer gaming. It was my last stop on my game-store expedition, and I had a three-plus hour drive home, so I didn't go down on my knees to peruse everything... but I probably should have.
Miniatures: Beyond the odd amount of Chainmail (priced for collectors, not for clearance... it is 25 years old or so...) they do stock a good amount of the D&D Wizkids figures, and I did spy some Battletech books... and classic blisters on a spinner rack.
Other: The back room with the RPGs and paperbacks, and some vintage stuff hanging on the wall. I will need to go back and peruse some more.
Amenities/Events: The open gaming space sees a pretty active Magic scene, one night for Riftbound, and a healthy dose
I had a good conversation with the manager, and I realized after the fact, the owner. They seemed to hit some of the demographics that I rarely see in stores. In my research, I've discovered they might rub folks the wrong way. In the grand scheme of things, if I were to rate the complaints on a scale of 1-10 (10 being most heinous), everything is around a 2 or 3, which I heard about every game stores, including the newer, more modern ones.
That all being said, I did enjoy my visit to Flights 2, do not remember buying anything, but am willing to give them a four-out-of-five-gnomes rating.
Flights certainly doesn't have the "Warhammer Mom" aesthetic, but I'll probably visit this one before the other stores in Albany with the potential of items that hit my demographic... then a quick drive over to Zombie Planet.
The best part about my visit to Albany is that there is a wealth of good game stores in the area, especially for one with over 900,000 people in the region. Good thing I'll be coming up repeatedly for awhile.
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