Play the Game Read the Story — Attraction in City of Syracuse

I've been shopping here on and off since they opened a long time ago. This review is a summary of over a decade of on and off experiences I have had with them. When they opened they were decent but the experience has continually declined with every passing year. The service is acceptable on a good day and terrible on any other day. A staff member scared the hell out of my girlfriend once when they grabbed her hand after she asked them a question. I wasn't there for that but I don't think she is lying. The three worst experiences I have had here are as follows:

Way back in the day, like 10 years ago, the store was offering a promotion were if you bought a certain amount of Games Workshop products they would give you a free Games Workshop case. Turns out my friends and I all needed something that day and we all had cash so we gave it all to out friend to buy the products so he could get the case which he needed. We totaled up the cost and were a few dollars short so my friend said he would buy some Games Workshop dice to hit the required total. Upon hearing this, a staff member grabbed all the dice and took them to the back room. When we asked for them, the clerk on register said his manager was repricing them and they were not available at this time, thus denying us the promotion. Another friend went and grabbed a box of Space Marines off the shelf and threw it in the pile of stuff we were buying just to spite the clerk. They gave us the case, but had the biggest scowl on their faces when we left. It left a sour taste in my mouth but I continued to shop there and play at tournaments for a few more years.

About five years later I called looking for a rare 3 sided die and the staff member said they had plenty in stock and at a great price. Elated, I drove there after work, looked high and low and couldn't find them. I asked the guy on register for help and without looking up from his computer he told me bluntly that they didn't carry those. I told him he might want to have a word with whoever was on staff earlier in the day because I was told they carried them and was even quoted a price. He didn't respond if I remember correctly, whatever he was doing on the computer clearly took precedence. I turned around and left and then he finally said sorry in a half hearted tone. This is when I made it a point to stop shopping here.

The last time I visited I did so with a group of friends as a last ditch effort to pick up a game release we forgot to preorder. We checked all 3 locations. The first two gave us an honest "sorry we are completely out. It was so popular we sold out before lunch." The last one though, the clerk gave us the most poorly spoken answer. He contradicted himself, contradicted the staff at the other locations, and told us that maybe they had some at the main store but he thinks they sold out two weeks ago... The Game was just released that day! He clearly has no idea what he was talking about and pretty much lied to our faces.

I will never shop here ever again and I suggest you don't either when there are 3 other stores in the area that offer similar products and have much better service. Oh and there staff don't send you on wild goose chases or get all handsy with...

Wouldnt even leave 1 star. I've only been to the store twice. First time was to drop off my merchandise. To summarize a very long story-Made a deal with the store to sell my collection for $1200 + $500 store credit (a steal for what they were getting) The second time was to go back & pick up my stuff almost 2 months later after the owner of the store, CHRIS POLLICHEMI wrote me a fake cheque (after initially agreeing to cash) and then tried to extort me & gaslight me because his cowardly broke a** doesn't have money. He wasn't there of course either time. I had to go with a police officer because he committed LARCENY EXTORTION & FRAUD to which I was naive to at first. He managed to snake some things away too that he must have already sold in those 2 months but I didnt realize it until after so the police couldnt press charges at that point. If I would have noticed before they would have been able to, this scumbag would be in jail where he belongs. My CONCLUSION: Maybe the employees are friendly & helpful-Idk im not a regular there, but the person who owns these stores is absolute human garbage. I would AVOID this store at all costs but if you ever sell stuff to them believe me when I say 1. Don't EVER accept a cheque. get cash & check for counterfeits. If you get store credit use it straight away while you are there. It is not beneath the owner CHRIS at all. He is scum of the earth. If you saw some of the emails he sent me your stomach would probably turn. Unfortunately its a private owned business or else I would be exposing this piece of human garbage going over his head. He also wont communicate through telephone only email. He is a spineless coward but more so like I said not beneath him to scam customers so be very BEWARE. It's scary that he's running this business. If anything should be paying his employees a lot more for covering him & making it look like there isn't a complete scumbag in charge behind the scenes. Just the purest form of human filth is the simplest way I can describe the owner of this store without getting any angrier. Be very cautious if you go there, but ultimately I would recommend avoiding...

Selection (tabletop games): Very good, bordering on excellent. They have a lot of games in this store, and I don't really know what to compare it to in the area. If you've ever been to Enchanted Badger in Ithaca, I'd say it's on par. They have anything you could be looking for, except for things that are out-of-print or in high demand (in which case no one really has them).

Selection (comics): They have most new releases and a lot of back issues, though there are a lot of holes in their collection. If you're looking for a particular book, you have a good chance of finding it. If you're looking to buy a whole run, though, you might be out of luck. As an example, I always look early Marvel G.I. Joe comics (they have some, but missing many) and the Wally West Flash comics, of which they were missing most of the early issues. They also have a lot of older collectible issues hanging from the ceilings, but they are in relatively poor condition and look like they had them hanging in the sunlight at some point. So, there seems to be something lacking in terms of curation and care of the comics.

Prices: Full retail for tabletop games, high retail for comics. Better prices can almost certainly found elsewhere for almost anything in the store. Shop here if you want to support local business (which I do); if you're looking to get things as cheap as possible, you can do much better online.

Service: Very good, as far as I can tell. My wife was looking for some particular books and couldn't find them. One of their sales associates showed us where they were, and even went rooting around in the stockroom to find an issue that was not on the shelf. I like how we were helped promptly and with a friendly attitude. See Price--this is why you shop at...