I was amazed when I wrote a recent review of Sword in the Stone Games' new location in the Laurel Mall, Hazleton, PA.: Despite writing reviews of the previous locations and iterations of the store, I had never given a review of their most recent move to the flagship store's location in the Wyoming Valley Mall, Wilkes-Barre, PA.
This post should fix that.
After going through a number of names, owners, and locations throughout the greater Wilkes-Barre area, Sword in the Stone got a sweet deal Post-COVID covering a large amount of area, with different operating hours and use of the rear entrance during after hours events, as well as a series of other impressive things that as a former mall store manager, were pretty much impossible to get in a mall's heyday.
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| The tiniest of demerits: The tiniest of signs compared to the frontage. |
Greeting: This is has been my sore point with a lot of stores, and I need to be honest. I'm one of many regulars and I did not as much as nod from the multiple, one of which I consider a friend. I've seen foot traffic go unnoticed, wander a few feet, and unless there's a Pokemon kid attached, they wander out. The entire staff is pleasant as punch and helpful, but... not a good start on this visit.
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| I'm at the big entrance and the staff is waaaay over there. |
Cleanliness: I'm not sure why the classic "Piso Mojado" floor sign is there. While not wet or even recently mopped, the store is clean and well organized. The far back playroom is subject to the whims of excess inventory and cards, but those stay in their own area.
One demerit I'll mention is the lighting in certain sections of the store is a bit dark. I've been told that will be fixed, hopefully before the upcoming holiday season, but we'll see.
CCGs: Magic, Pokemon (with singles dominating the cases), with support for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Lorcana, Gundam, Riftbound, One Piece anda host of others. Plenty of CCGs supplies and accessories.
Minor quibble for the casual shopper: While many of the cards in the cases are labelled for condition (lightly played, moderately played, etc...) There are no prices. Obviously you can load the data into your favorite web site for pricing, but I'm not demographic.
Board Games: A constant and growing and evolving board game selection, covering the strata classic modern board games, with a fun few surprises.
RPGs: D&D and Pathfiner/Starfinder heavy, but they're not afraid of expanding their horizons.
Miniatures: You're met at the entrance to the store with the long wall of Reaper Bones (and the various stuffed animals). The back wall of the retail space has Games Workshop (40k, Sigmar, Blood Bowl), with a small side for Battletech, and a section for Heroclix.
Other: The one thing I shall say positively about every iteration of the store, up to the present, is that they're always experimenting with new product lines. Many have come and gone, but in the end, it appears they've at least broken even, if not profited outright, and moved on.. Be it coffee, or incenses, different custom RPG bags and satchels, and a host of stuffed animal/toy lines.
One item that continue to fill a retail footprint, and maintains, is a selection of Gundam models and official accessories.
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| Some new gaming bags |
And another pet peeve/focus of mine, dice, is fully satiated with a giant table of cheap loose dice, as well as a full variety of inexpensive and pricey dice sets.
Amenities/Events: The large open gaming area is largely for CCG and tournament based games, with Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Lorcana, Star Wars Unlimited, Gundam, Heroclix, Riftbound as events on the calendar. The far gaming area behind the wall has the wargaming tables and space to run RPG events, including a "Teen" D&D game. They're very supportive of their board game clientele, running TWO board game nights each week! Heck, they've even hosted a CATAN national qualifier!
And I guess the biggest plus I can provide, I've actually participated in a number of pre-release tournaments, some casual format play, and even an RPG or two, so I can recommend what they sponsor and how it's run!
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