Thieves hit two game stores on Cape Cod within a week, CBS News reports, and the two burglaries have a lot in common. On Thanksgiving night, a burglar wearing a beanie, face mask, and goggles smashed the door at Darkwater Games in Mashpee and filled a duffle bag with about $40,000 worth of Pokemon cards. In Hyannis, about 20 minutes away, another burglar in a mask and beanie broke into Vanguard Tabletop Games and made off with Star Wars and Magic: The Gathering cards, getting in and out of the store in under two minutes while the alarm blared. Two other Massachusetts game stores, Otaku Sekai in Worcester and 1st Edition Collectibles in New Bedford, have also been hit in recent months (see “Thief Steals ‘Pokémon’ Cards Worth $100K”); CBS reports that an arrest was made in the latter case.
Meanwhile, in Louisville, KY, a thief went in for second helpings, breaking into both Pop’s Comics and Comic World, as well as two other local businesses. In this case, though, the burglar who smashed in doors at both shops stole the cash registers and did some damage but left the inventory alone, WLKY reports. Pop’s responded with humor, posting a video addressed to the thief on their Facebook and turning stills from the security video into memes.
Two men allegedly stole $1,700 worth of comics and action figures from Doc’s Basement Comics, Toys, and Games of Belmont, NC, on November 24. The store posted photos of the stolen comics on their Facebook. Owner Sam “Doc” Wilcox told WBTV that he hopes the community will report any sightings of the stolen merch to police. There’s precedent for this: In 2024, the store’s neighbors rallied round to clean up racist graffiti that was painted on the store (see “Community Cleans Up Vandalism at Doc’s Comics”).
Matt Fantastic, owner of Elm City Games in New Haven, CT, offered some concrete examples of the impact tariffs are having on his store when he hosted a press conference with U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro. The price of Ravensburger’s Horrified, for instance, went up from $20 to $28. And Fantastic, who is on the GAMA Board of Directors, told the New Haven Independent that some suppliers are raising prices on items he knows are not subject to tariffs. DeLauro will introduce the NO GOUGE (which stands for NO Gratuitous Overcharging for Ubiquitous Global Exports) Act to prevent this. While he emphasized that his store is doing well, Fantastic noted that the average Black Friday spend was down from last year, which he attributed to a “chilling effect”: “[If] people are forced to choose between groceries and games,” he said, “games effectively become a luxury good.”
Larry Reid, longtime manager of the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Georgetown, WA, talked to the Seattle Times about the difference between a comic store and a bookstore that focuses on comics, the delights that lurk within the store’s fabled “Damaged Room,” and what customers are reading lately.
Kevin Drennan, owner of Big Adventure Comics in Santa Fe, NM, talks to the Santa Fe Reporter about how he got into the business almost 20 years ago and how it has evolved over the years: “Over the last 10 years, the comics specialty business in the US has been moving more and more to a bookstore model—more graphic novels, more manga, more things that aren’t magazines. And I love that, so we’ve been pulling that string. We’re selling a ton more manga. We’re selling a ton more graphic novels, because comics, like the monthly serialized magazines, they’re very flat right now. We have them, and we have a big customer base for it, but it’s fairly flat with some bumps. Stuff still happens there, but you know, we become more and more of a bookstore each year.”
Coachella Valley gamers chose the Dragon’s Den in Palm Desert, CA, as the Best Comics/Games Shop in a recent poll. Owner Mindy Conant told the Coachella Valley Independent that she got the idea for the store after her son explained Dungeons & Dragons to her. “Jake said, ‘Mom, it’s not 1980. People don’t go to people’s houses; libraries are quiet; parks are sketchy; and you can’t be in a pizza place for four hours and play D&D,’ so I was like, ‘Well, I’ll open a shop,’” Conant said. “I’ve always wanted to own my own business. The concept was so foreign to me that I thought I invented it, and then my son’s like, ‘No, these places actually exist.’ But there wasn’t one out here, so I’d never seen it. It took us two years from that conversation to when we got the keys to open the door, and it was a long, hard trip. We opened in February 2024, and as of now, we have 150 members, and they’re here every month.” The store is welcoming to newcomers and particularly to people on the autism spectrum and with ADHD.
Salida, CO’s Salida Game Shop opened its doors on November 22 in a converted hostel. Owner Aaron Kaluta, a longtime tabletop game fan, told the Mountain Mail that he decided to use the ground floor and basement as a place where people can gather to play games, while continuing to use the upper floors as a guest house. “The whole idea is traditional tabletop games where you’re playing with other people in person, being social,” he said. “I like the traditional environment … just with your friends together.” Since there is a board game store in nearby Buena Vista, Kaluta focuses on tabletop games and accessories, including miniatures, paints, and books, and he plans to host trading card and Warhammer League events.
Hot Comics and Collectibles will close its Minneapolis store on December 31, but its stores in Richfield and Jordan, MN, will remain open, Bring Me The News reports.
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