Generation X Games & Comics — Attraction in Bedford

I used to live down the street from this shop and visited quite regularly for Magic the Gathering products. I've since moved to Arlington, but recently took a trip back to the store with a group of friends on the hunt for singles to build new commander decks.

The experience was absolutely horrendous, start to finish. I first used the kiosk to order $100 or so of more expensive singles, and at the end it prompts you to notify the cashier that you've placed an order. When I did as prompted and I was met with a snarky "wait your turn" response (paraphrasing) and I just walked away. My friends also placed orders and I advised them to ignore the prompt and save themselves some frustration from interacting with the rude staff members.

The four of us then made our way to the filing cabinets full of cards to filter through bulk product. We each pulled a box, sat down at the table and started going through them. While doing so, we were visited by staff and lectured about "putting things back where we found them" (again paraphrasing) in a less than polite manner and without any real provocation. There were multiple times staff members would walk by the table and scoff or sigh while watching us. There was zero reason to suspect that anything was awry, other than the sheer volume of cards we were sorting through at any given time. . . but again there were 4 of us. We were doing everything we could to maintain order and were by no means being disrespectful in any way. I even found myself re-alphabetizing the boxes on the shelf if I noticed that they'd gotten out of order.

After sorting through bulk for an hour or so, I went to the counter to inquire about something I saw in the kiosk catalogue, but was unfamiliar with. It was a variant that was 8x more expensive than the original card. I asked if there was a way I could view it before agreeing to the purchase and I got a compliant, but passive aggressive response.

As this point I was growing increasingly agitated and considered just leaving without paying for the order or cards I had pulled but It was over $200 worth of singles and 4 hours of time and I didn't want to stoop to their level or prove them right. I still had a little budget left over so I made a second trip to the kiosk and ordered a few "non-necessities" for fun. I then walked up to the counter and set down my bulk buys and stated I had two kiosk orders and apologized for the multiple orders. As a parting gift, I was met with more passive aggressive snark as I was rudely asked to avoid using the kiosk until the end of my next visit and make sure that next time I only placed one singular kiosk order.

Honestly, I should have left this place in distant memory and never should have come back. I am certain, there will never be a next time, so they wont ever have to...

DO NOT ENTER THIS STORE. I am a dice goblin... I like to look at dice, have dice, roll dice, horde dice, and just exist in the same space as dice. HOWEVER , I am poor. That being said, I love to browse cool dice sets on Amazon and various stores here and there, just because I like them. I made the mistake, about 2 years ago, of entering this store... Now I go to this store for 'fun' FULLY INTENDING to just browse the wares and check out the dice... Yet every time WITHOUT FAIL, I've seen a new dice set on sale, a new cheap item, a cool d20 in their bucket of assorted d20's for a buck or so, and I couldn't help but walk out with it in my right hand, a receipt in my left, and tears in my bank account. They surely knew about my growing addiction to dice, because when I entered the store today I found that their usual little dice isle had been revamped. It now was stocked to the absolute flipping brim with dice. Cheap miniature dice for 6 bucks on one shelf, mystery bags of dice on another for 5 bucks, nice metal dice in carry cases for 40 bucks, real marble, stone, and glass dice for 120 bucks behind a locked glass case, giant dice, tiny dice, dice for pride, dice for edge lords, dice for the Jesters of the world (you know exactly what I mean), and literally everything in between... And that is just one section of this horrid store. Other things for dungeons and dragons are sold suck as books, Journels, dice bags, boxes, towers, and mats, and reference card decks. Things of other nerdy things for pokèmon, Magic the Gathering, anime, marvel, starwars, DC, funko pop, and anything else you could need. I give all you innocent young people a warning. Please take heed. If you want your children or spouse or significant other to have any sort of inheritance when you pass on... DO NOT GO INTO THIS STORE. They don't steal your money from you... Oh no... All they have to do is simply unlock the front door and suddenly you have a new miniature dice set with the last 40 minutes of your life a foggy haze you...

The Store We Like but Keep Trying to Replace

We've been here several times with both friends and family. It’s a large but otherwise typical nerd store: cards, comics, minis, dice, events. It’s all here in one crowded, slightly chaotic package. They’ve got a ton of bulk Pokémon and Magic cards in large, loosely organized drawers you can dig through for hours. You probably won’t find anything rare, but it’s a good time if you’re the type to go treasure hunting for something.

There’s a decent selection of tabletop minis, paints, tiles, TTRPG books, and board games, nothing mind-blowing, but more than enough to get a new campaign rolling or add to your collection. The manga and comic section is sizable too, though I can’t speak to the quality since that’s not my scene.

Events happen regularly, which is great in theory but a bit awkward in practice if you’re not partaking. If you need access to the back wall where the tables are, you’ll likely be squeezing past players mid-match. If it’s accessible at all. The entrance can also get pretty bottlenecked depending on how many people are milling around. The store’s clean enough for a hobby shop, but if you're a germaphobe, maybe bring hand sanitizer.

The staff are helpful when asked and otherwise leave you to browse. Every now and then one might get chatty, but not in a bad way. The whole place is welcoming with that typical nerdy vibe you expect from a place like this. It’s a very inclusive store, if that’s your thing.

We like Generation X. They’ve got the biggest selection of the stuff we’re usually hunting for. Still, I don’t know why, but we’re always looking for an alternative. Maybe it’s the clutter, maybe it’s the crowding, or the drive. Either way, it’s a reliable go-to even if it’s not...