Red Seal Gaming — Attraction in Old Bridge Township

Posted a brief review a long time back, when I'd started coming here. Updating it to say that it's something truly special, and that the community here is unmatched. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make an LGS as vibrant as this one, with games running every night of the week at darn-near-full capacity.

The store has very fair pricing, and a friendly, funny, and knowledgeable owner. You'll never get ripped off, here -- something that is sadly common, especially in the post-COVID LGS world. Members of the community will run demos and give you ample help when trying new games, too. Basically, you'll never need to buy something just to try it -- in fact, you'll be encouraged to figure out what you enjoy.

Another thing that makes RSG stand out is the product selection, which is out of this world. I mainly play MTG and X-Wing TMG, and the amount of product they carry for both is rivaled only by world-famous stores like the Compleat Strategist (in X-Wing's case, I've heard this is the biggest carrier on the East Coast? Iunno for sure, but I'd believe it...). Again, all of it is sold for MSRP/TCGPlayer Market Price, even before their rewards program, which comes out to being something like a 10-15% discount via eventual store credit. They even take orders, direct from publisher, when they don't have something in-store. Barring niche singles I need for specific decks, RSG is a pretty good one-stop shop for every tabletop game I play.

However, it is the community that makes this place special. You'll find regulars for almost any game -- always friendly and inviting, with a lively discord to boot. The family that runs this store is always helpful and goes out of their way to make you feel at home. Commander games ranging from precons to cEDH are running almost 24/7, and everyone is pretty laid back (a relief, if you've played MTG -- you know what I mean). Most importantly, staff handles the occasional disputes really well (i.e. something comes up in draft, that kinda thing), and has done a lot of great work making sure the space is inclusive to everyone.

All in all, the best game store I've been...

This is the best LGS around, hands down! Dan, the owner is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly and is doing a phenomenal job growing a great community both in person and through his store's own discord server. He's got all the tools in place to succeed. Best of luck Dan!

Edit - 2/4/22

I just want to take a moment to update my review, something I've never done before. The place still gets 5 stars, no questions asked but I just want to touch a little more from my original review. Fast forward to the store now being open for about 17 months, I can't say enough good things about the owner Dan and his family who run the store. They spread that familial vibe with the rest of the community. At RSG, you are never treated like just a customer, you are an extended part of the family. They've got a discord community approaching 1000 members and it is active 24 hours a day. A lot of people are involved in multiple games so there is a lot of interaction between groups of different games and so far everyone I've met has fostered the same attitude as Dan and the boys. It starts at the top and he's certainly set a high bar. I'm a numbers nerd and just this Wednesday I was in the store for X-Wing and after my games Dan and I were just talking for about 2 hours about some of the things he's been able to accomplish. From opening up a small store in South Amboy and trying to fill the shelves to outgrowing that place faster than he though and finding a new spot and all the trials and tribulations that came along the way. It was so interesting to hear his side of things.

There are always great conversations to be had and fun times to be enjoyed. I really can't say enough good things about the place. I'm so glad I found RSG and the community that comes...

They claim that they are LCS for the community but they are far from it. They used to sell TCG at MSRP or slightly less until they got greedy when Prismatic Evolutions came out. They now claim that they sell it at market price and it’s a “supply and demand” issue even though they’re not paying anything higher than MSRP. The employee I spoke with yesterday said that they go based off of TCG player prices, but their prices are HIGHER than TCG Player! When I asked about the ridiculous prices for Prismatic, an employee said “you’re not going to find it cheaper anywhere else”.

There are a ton of card stores that still care about their community and collectors who sell for MSRP and limit one item per customer. Secondly, I’d rather buy it from ANYWHERE else at scalper prices than buy from RSG after being talked down to in the store.

When I asked one employee how they felt about paying those prices, they said that they get discounts. So they reward the employees with buying at retail and screw the customers. I’d even pay slightly over MSRP as I understand they’re a business who needs to make money. I used to buy from them weekly and tell everyone about how they were a great shop, but they unfortunately changed when they moved into a bigger storefront.

FYI Prices for recent Pokemon sets: Prismatic ~ ETB $150, Binder $80, Poster Collection $50, $45 Stickers Collection

Journey Together ~ ETB $115, Booster Box $260 LOL, Bundles $60, Hops Zacian Box $45

Don’t support scalper prices - force them to sit on inventory until they fix their...