|
Post by jeffb on Oct 3, 2016 4:31:16 GMT -6
In the late 70s I got my few books through my friend who mail ordered I assume from TSR. Then it was Crown Books for D&D/TSR stuff 1980-1982-ish. Also the Sears Wish Book at XMAS time What's Your Game? In Fair Oaks Mall (Fairfax, Va) made a small mint off me. They carried everything else...popular through obscure. I bought dozens of books and boxes there. I don't recall names but there was a cool store in the Baltimore Harbor area (dont think it was The Armory), and also in Va Beach that I visited.
|
|
tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
|
Post by tog on Oct 3, 2016 15:27:11 GMT -6
Also the Sears Wish Book at XMAS time You could also get Star Fleet Battles from Sears:
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Oct 3, 2016 17:34:56 GMT -6
My favorite game store from the 1970's was probably the Judges Guild shoppe in Decatur. They had a lot of JG products, of course, but also a regular selection of other gaming materials as well. I typically got to visit there once a year or so, after collecting lawnmowing money all summer. Another favorite was the Dungeon Hobby Store in Lake Geneva, but I only got to visit that one once. That's where I bought my copy of Metamorphosis Alpha. You're from Central Illinois? Grew up in Charleston, roughly 45 minutes south of Champaign. There were also a couple of nice game stores in Champaign, one not far from Ill-57 and another a couple of blocks from the U of I campus. Sadly, the one near campus has closed its doors. No idea about the other one. I also remember a great store in Bloomington, IN, called "25th Century Five and Dime" which was below street level in a basement. They carried a bunch of older and used games for sale, which was so cool. I love those hole-in-the-wall type stores that sometimes have all sorts of hidden treasures long forgotten by others. They remind me of the store in the Leiber story "Bazaar of the Bizarre."
|
|
darien
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 135
|
Post by darien on Oct 3, 2016 18:37:42 GMT -6
My first gaming store was Cavalier Comics in Wise, VA. It is still around to this day and it is where I first picked up D&D when my dad and I bought the 3.5 Players Handbook in February of 2007. Before I got into D&D, I frequented Cavalier Comics to purchase anime and manga memorabilia as well as Yu-Gi-Oh! cards back when that was a fad in the early 2000's.
Other key gaming stores from my teenage gaming years were Xtremes and Cosmic Castle, both in Roanoke, VA. And both defunct, sadly.
Cavalier Comics is still going strong, with a heavy focus on Pathfinder and Magic: The Gathering. Whenever I'm in Wise, I try to visit the place.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Oct 3, 2016 22:05:46 GMT -6
Mostly, I haunted various bookstores, which had started carrying rpg stuff, and the one game store that lasted in the area: the Game Keeper which was in our local mall. I bought my copies of Call of Cthulhu (2nd edition) and Deluxe Traveller there. They carried quite a few of the hex and counter bookcase games from Avalon Hill as well. I still remember wanting a copy of the Dune game that they had. There was a Game Keeper in the Arcade in Providence, RI that I spent much of my allowance in as a young lad. I loved that place. I also remember having an anxiety attack in the Brown University book store trying to decide if I wanted to buy their last copy of the whitebox or the shiny new Basic box (Holmes). I ended up getting the Holmes set (complete with cardboard chits instead of dice!). I never saw another copy of the whitebox again.
|
|
|
Post by jeffb on Oct 4, 2016 6:24:49 GMT -6
Awesome pic of the wishbook, tog. That one is from a few years later than when I was "wishing". I distinctly recall one year Deities and Demigods and Q1 as being new along with the color cover reprints...G1-3, D1-3 etc.
I used to have that Sears catalog website bookmarked.
|
|
|
Post by vladtolenkov on Oct 4, 2016 10:07:06 GMT -6
While I mentioned that the Game Keeper (in Palm Desert, CA) was a place I went to most often to buy rpgs, I think the first place I think I ever saw D&D stuff was several years prior at the Browse-A-Round bookstore in the Crystal Point Mall in Crystal Lake, IL. This would have been in late 1981 or so. There were boxes there that were full of D&D stuff, and as I recall they had tons of AD&D modules (including the original versions of the G series), the three core AD&D books, Holmes Basic, the White Box, Eldritch Wizardry, and I even remember puzzling over a copy of Chainmail that was shoved in with the White boxes. I was confused because I had already seen the Moldvay set in the Sears catalog and desperately wanted to get it, but what the hell was all this other stuff? I was both confused and excited by the sheer volume of material for this game. The Dungeon Master's Guide was particularly alluring as it was so big and arcane looking (all those charts!!).
I still dream about that store sometimes.
|
|
|
Post by ritt on Oct 4, 2016 15:42:59 GMT -6
This is an awesome thread!
Slightly jealous that I never got to see these places.
|
|
|
Post by welleran on Oct 5, 2016 6:59:35 GMT -6
My first really good one was Busy Bee in the Inland Empire Mall, San Bernardino, CA. There was a smaller, but still nice, one in Apple Valley, CA that was my usual source as it was much, much closer than the former. Later, after finishing Boot Camp, I discovered NCC 1701 in Orlando, FL which was probably the best one I ever frequented.
|
|
|
Post by ffilz on Oct 5, 2016 10:10:49 GMT -6
My first really good one was Busy Bee in the Inland Empire Mall, San Bernardino, CA. There was a smaller, but still nice, one in Apple Valley, CA that was my usual source as it was much, much closer than the former. Later, after finishing Boot Camp, I discovered NCC 1701 in Orlando, FL which was probably the best one I ever frequented. Hmm,was Busy Bee a chain? Googling finds one store in PA, but seeing this, I'm think the toy store I mentioned above in the Albany/Schenectady NY area was a Busy Bee. Frank
|
|
|
Post by welleran on Oct 5, 2016 10:43:10 GMT -6
Hmm,was Busy Bee a chain? Googling finds one store in PA, but seeing this, I'm think the toy store I mentioned above in the Albany/Schenectady NY area was a Busy Bee. Frank I'm not sure, to be honest. I did a quick google search and it still exists.
|
|
|
Post by llenlleawg on Oct 5, 2016 14:03:08 GMT -6
In the late 70s I got my few books through my friend who mail ordered I assume from TSR. Then it was Crown Books for D&D/TSR stuff 1980-1982-ish. Also the Sears Wish Book at XMAS time What's Your Game? In Fair Oaks Mall (Fairfax, Va) made a small mint off me. They carried everything else...popular through obscure. I bought dozens of books and boxes there. I don't recall names but there was a cool store in the Baltimore Harbor area (dont think it was The Armory), and also in Va Beach that I visited. I think we must have seen each other while shopping, since I recall all of these (Crown Books, What's Your Game? both at Fair Oaks and eventually at the Baltimore Harbor), but my first favorite gaming store was Strategy & Fantasy World (now Compleat Strategist) in Falls Church, VA. One thing I remember about the earliest days (before TSR started to get their game material in toy and book stores) was finding D&D and other games and miniatures at hobby and craft stores, which made an adventure out of just finding where to buy the stuff. I loved when places like What's Your Game came around, but the memories of poring over the little gaming nook in a hobby/craft store are golden!
|
|
tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
|
Post by tog on Oct 5, 2016 18:17:33 GMT -6
One thing I remember about the earliest days (before TSR started to get their game material in toy and book stores) was finding D&D and other games and miniatures at hobby and craft stores, which made an adventure out of just finding where to buy the stuff. EXACTLY. And nobody really knew what to order, so there was always the possibility of running into something really obscure and cool. (Like the early days of MTV, when they had to struggle to find stuff to play, and ended up with everything from Ronnie James Dio and The Police to Echo & The Bunnymen and Gary Newman.)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2016 18:31:14 GMT -6
I bought my Red Box at Oregon Trail Hobbies in Gering Nebraska. Model trains were focus of the store, but it still was packed full of wargames, model kits, paints, minis, dice, remote control cars and planes. I loved the place. Walking into that store as a kid was mind blowing.
Sadly, as the 80s drew to a close, the small businesses in our community were crushed by a Walmart and the mall attached to it. While Oregon Trail Hobbies outlasted the Hobbytown that came in with the mall, the decline of downtown damaged the local business. I think it finally closed about 10-12 years ago, a shell of what it once was.
|
|
|
Post by archersix on Oct 5, 2016 20:45:43 GMT -6
Sadly, as the 80s drew to a close, the small businesses in our community were crushed by a Walmart and the mall attached to it. While Oregon Trail Hobbies outlasted the Hobbytown that came in with the mall, the decline of downtown damaged the local business. I think it finally closed about 10-12 years ago, a shell of what it once was. All the more reason to support our FLGSs. I'm really lucky that there are 2 pretty good game stores in Springfield, IL and 2 comic shops that also stock some games. I really doubt anyone 20 or 30 years from now will have fuzzy feelings about getting stuff from Amazon or Kickstarter.
|
|
|
Post by simrion on Oct 6, 2016 12:56:12 GMT -6
Sadly, as the 80s drew to a close, the small businesses in our community were crushed by a Walmart and the mall attached to it. While Oregon Trail Hobbies outlasted the Hobbytown that came in with the mall, the decline of downtown damaged the local business. I think it finally closed about 10-12 years ago, a shell of what it once was. Your mention of Walmart is bittersweet. There was a declining strip mall where a Walmart now stands. In that strip mall was a used bookstore that also sold some new product. The Manager at the time had the forethought to carry TSR products. I remember Gamma World (bought that one there,) Dungeon, Wizards and Warriors (I think?) and the various pocket boardgames they put out. That same Manager left the store and opened his own in my hometown, a short walk from home. I spent countless hours and dollars there on books (scifi, fantasy) and RPG remnants he fortuitously came across. Bought my White Box Collectors Edition and countless second hand D&D, AD&D, 2E, 3E and other RPGs from him. Sadly he sold the store just this past year and it's just not the same anymore.
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Oct 6, 2016 13:58:19 GMT -6
Some bookstores carried game products. I bought the 2E Forgotten Realms box at Waldenbooks. I miss olb bookstores like Waldenbooks, Borders, and Brentano's. IIRC, the Barnes & Noble carries some D&D books, but only the latest edition.
|
|
|
Post by scalydemon on Oct 6, 2016 18:07:56 GMT -6
Sadly, as the 80s drew to a close, the small businesses in our community were crushed by a Walmart and the mall attached to it. While Oregon Trail Hobbies outlasted the Hobbytown that came in with the mall, the decline of downtown damaged the local business. I think it finally closed about 10-12 years ago, a shell of what it once was. All the more reason to support our FLGSs. I'm really lucky that there are 2 pretty good game stores in Springfield, IL and 2 comic shops that also stock some games. I really doubt anyone 20 or 30 years from now will have fuzzy feelings about getting stuff from Amazon or Kickstarter. I agree with this. I go out of my way to support the FLGS I like locally. I am gaming there tomorrow eve actually (and will be spending $$ there on beer, and always browse new product they get in)
|
|
lige
Level 2 Seer
Posts: 42
|
Post by lige on Oct 6, 2016 19:14:47 GMT -6
I got my first D&D boxed sets at Toy R Us in Champaign-Urbana - both the Moldvay and Menntzer basic sets were on the shelves and since I didn't know which one to get so my Grandma got me both! Back home in Oregon I got most of my stuff at the Hobby Habit in La Grande (still in business!) and the Book Nook a local new and used bookstore. When we would go to Portland I'd always get a lot of stuff (especially Dragon Magazines) from Powells.
|
|
|
Post by archersix on Oct 6, 2016 19:15:59 GMT -6
They have a liquor license?!?
|
|
|
Post by scalydemon on Oct 6, 2016 19:24:12 GMT -6
They have a liquor license?!? Yes, most do in the Seattle area these days. That is the new business model that seems to be working . This is the one I frequent www.rttgamepub.com/
|
|
|
Post by vladtolenkov on Oct 6, 2016 20:29:13 GMT -6
My local store is the War house in Long Beach, CA. It's a store that I've been patronizing for about twenty years now, but it's one of the true hobby originals that started in the mid-1970s. The store is listed in an ad for stores that carry products by The Armory in my Best of Dragon vol.1. The owner even formed the Balboa Game company which published Warlock (an early OD&D variant game) as well as a few supplements. I think they still have copies! I bought one about five or six years ago that cost me less than 10 bucks and I've seen copies go for quite a bit of money.
So here's a shout out to the War House! Still going strong I guess. My most recent purchase there was Call of Cthulhu 7th edition.
|
|
|
Post by Zenopus on Oct 6, 2016 22:03:43 GMT -6
My local store is the War house in Long Beach, CA. It's a store that I've been patronizing for about twenty years now, but it's one of the true hobby originals that started in the mid-1970s. The store is listed in an ad for stores that carry products by The Armory in my Best of Dragon vol.1. The owner even formed the Balboa Game company which published Warlock (an early OD&D variant game) as well as a few supplements. I think they still have copies! I bought one about five or six years ago that cost me less than 10 bucks and I've seen copies go for quite a bit of money. So here's a shout out to the War House! Still going strong I guess. My most recent purchase there was Call of Cthulhu 7th edition. Here's a video of the War House that Hawklord posted in a comment to my blog once. www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0H2LytGCEE#t=1m11sthewarhouselongbeach.com/ - they are celebrating their 40th anniversary on Oct 15th! zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2013/10/1978-ap-d-article.htmlAwesome to hear they may still have Warlock in stock!
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Oct 11, 2016 2:29:53 GMT -6
When we would go to Portland I'd always get a lot of stuff (especially Dragon Magazines) from Powells. Ha! I love Powells! I live right down the road from the one in Beaverton. I'm hoping one of these days I'll walk into one and there will be a Whitebox in decent condition...
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Oct 11, 2016 2:32:40 GMT -6
They have a liquor license?!? Yes, most do in the Seattle area these days. That is the new business model that seems to be working . This is the one I frequent www.rttgamepub.com/Great. Like I need more relaxing of inhibitions... in a game store! My wife would kill me in my sleep. My kinda place tho...
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Oct 11, 2016 2:33:09 GMT -6
I'm glad I've kept my Dragon magazines. I still find some old ones at Gator Games once in a while.
|
|
|
Post by ffilz on Oct 11, 2016 8:17:54 GMT -6
When we would go to Portland I'd always get a lot of stuff (especially Dragon Magazines) from Powells. Ha! I love Powells! I live right down the road from the one in Beaverton. I'm hoping one of these days I'll walk into one and there will be a Whitebox in decent condition... Hey, another Portlander here... I'm in Southwest in the Burlingame area... I love browsing Powells, though they have much less stuff than they used to. As to Dragon Magazine, I love my CD-ROM, has everything I need... Frank
|
|
|
Post by ritt on Oct 11, 2016 15:41:06 GMT -6
They have a liquor license?!? Beer and role-playing. Truly a match made in Heaven if there ever was one!
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Oct 12, 2016 1:39:40 GMT -6
I prefer any eating and drinking take place after the game is done. Too many games I played in died in mid-session because of food coma after the dinner break.
|
|
|
Post by Starbeard on Oct 12, 2016 17:37:27 GMT -6
My local store is the War house in Long Beach, CA. It's a store that I've been patronizing for about twenty years now, but it's one of the true hobby originals that started in the mid-1970s. The store is listed in an ad for stores that carry products by The Armory in my Best of Dragon vol.1. The owner even formed the Balboa Game company which published Warlock (an early OD&D variant game) as well as a few supplements. I think they still have copies! I bought one about five or six years ago that cost me less than 10 bucks and I've seen copies go for quite a bit of money. So here's a shout out to the War House! Still going strong I guess. My most recent purchase there was Call of Cthulhu 7th edition. Another Southlander with a shout out for the War House! Whenever we fly back home to see family I take a few trips there. When I last went in 2013/14, they were still selling Warlock and shrink wrapped Judges Guild modules out of the back room. I didn't start going there until I could drive, though. Before that it was Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, a quick walk from my grandparents' house. They were the US distributor for Peter Pig, and it was there that I learned about historical wargaming in hex and miniature. Up until they did a massive inventory shift in the mid-2000s, they also kept a really nice collection of old RPG stock at great prices. I always drop by there whenever I go home, too. My first experience was at a shop called Rusty's RPGs and Cards (or was it Comics?), in Buena Park, CA. My mom took me to buy Star Wars after my friend showed me his copy, and I was mesmerized by what seemed like rows and rows of books with games in them. I only went a few times, but I remember there was always a table with people playing, and a wall by the door had handwritten wanted & classified ads for people's game groups pinned to it. I have no idea how long Rusty had been there, but I think he closed up shop about a year or two after I first went. One of these days I'll run into another Orange County person who remembers Rusty's RPGs, and I'll know I didn't dream it up and feel really vindicated. I also spent a lot of time loitering in the model kit aisle at Sav-On Drugs.
|
|