Joyful Toad TCG — Attraction in Anaheim

This is one of the more recent gaming stores of Orange County. And they do a good job of not making any particular CCG player feel out of place. There are a lot of stores that seem to draw a particular crowd. This store* (when I say "this store" I'm using it in the generic term, as I am do not want to name any particular store in this statement or series of statements), is good for Pokemon, while that store is good for match the gathering, and that store over there is good for Yu-Gi-Oh and then the other store is good for One Piece, and so forth. What that does is separates gamers and segregates fandoms. Joyful Toad goes out of their way to make sure we are not segregated, but brings us together as we all should celebrate our nerdom together, our shared love of gaming with cards and collecting cards.

I will say there is a bit of a division between Magic The Gathering and the other games, but that's because magic is so immense. The north side of the shop, or the left as you are walking in, is mostly dedicated to magic to Gathering and supplemental product, with some product also there for just card cases and card boxes. The other side, the side you see when you first enter, which is also on the right aka the south side, is there for other card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece and Pokemon. I am sure other TCGs are played their, but as it's not my jam, I'm not aware of them.

The owners and employees are all very educated and kind to the customers, always going out of their way to help. Even if they are sitting down and in their own game, they will stop what they're doing and immediately help. You are not given sighs, eye-rolls, or sideways glances.

When you were given trade credit, the credit is explained to you based on condition of the card and the market value. If you question the amount given, they will calmly explain it to you, and point out the reasons why. You are not forced into doing any sale to them, so you are free to always pull back any part of the trade and they will not be offended, as they should not be regardless.

Another perk is their hours. Some shops like to close up between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Joyful Toad, on the other hand, stays open to midnight. A nice perk that not...

Update 3/22/25: I appreciate the fast response and offer to amend the situation. They took the creased card back and let me choose cards of equal value. Overall really nice and helpful people. I'll definitely be coming back to trade and buy singles in the future from here.

I made a trade at the shop and didn't realize the card I traded for was heavily damaged. I should have taken a closer look before I made the trade but I feel like they should've at least confirmed with me that the card I was trading for was heavily damaged. I never got any notice from the staff that the card was damaged and I proceeded to trade for the full price of the desired card, not at a moderately played or heavily damaged holofoil price. Again it's still my fault for not taking a closer look but if a card is this badly damaged you should at least confirm with the customer if they're okay with the condition of the card before making the sale/trade. I felt like not confirming with me and still charging me for full price...

I’ve visited The Joyful Toad a few times and have always appreciated the community vibe and Jaime, the owner, who’s a great guy and clearly passionate about Magic. That said, I’ve consistently had issues with the staff’s communication and follow-through.

Today I called ahead and was told to message a card list to their Instagram so they could pull it before I arrived; fair enough. I did exactly that, but when I got there after a 25 minute drive, the person I spoke to acted like they had no idea who I was or what I was talking about. He eventually remembered but still didn’t have anything pulled and asked me to resend the list and wait.

At that point, I was just too frustrated and didn’t have time to start over. This isn’t the first time I’ve run into issues like this at the shop either small things like asking for a pen and being told no, it’s just not a great customer experience. I really want to support local shops like this, but consistency and communication are key. I hope things improve...