Epic Loot Games — Attraction in Washington Township

Epic Loot Games And Comics is my go-to for Christmas and Birthday shopping. They have games for people of all ages and walks of life and are one of the few venues in the Dayton area for both serious and casual Gamers. I love that they support geeks and freaks of all sorts, from our more accepted Nerd types to our more maligned Trans and Queer individuals: though of course, one can never fully account for the customer base and those that wear their hearts on their sleeves must expect the possibility of conflict in any public venue.

The prices at Epic Loot are not as low as the one $ rating might lead you to expect, but that's the nature of the beast with stores of its type. Simply put, the products that are their stock and trade are luxury items when all is said and done, and are priced as such by the manufacturers, prices Epic Loot could easily increase, but cannot readily decrease and remain in business.

In response to those who have said that you would get better deals online: let me explain something to you; no, you can't, especially at the Holidays. Consider first the cost of what is effectively overnight shipping, better, in fact; as it is already in your hands when you leave the store; that would run you at least 50 to 100$ or so online, here it's standard. Then consider Fraud Protection, that will cost you another 30-75$ IF it's offered at all: here its un-needed, the product is in your hands already, no fraud possible. Next, let just think of signature delivery, that's going to add another 10 or 15$ to your shipping costs online, if it's even offered: again, with an actual brick-and-mortar store that cost is superfluous, you pay the money and load the package into your vehicle, no worries about careless delivery men or callous thieves ruining whatever holiday you're celebrating. Lastly, let us not forget Shipping Insurance: many sites do not offer insurance on your purchases being shipped, and those that do, the cost often scales up-and-up-and-up with your purchase's price: at a store like Epic Loot, if you have good Automotive Insurance the contents of your car are also covered should, (Heaven forfend!), you get into an accident on the way home with your purchases! So, as you can see, if you weigh the costs of buying online VS at a local store soberly and rationally, you find that your local shop is quite the savings for what it REALLY offers.

Though this review is quite long enough already there are just a few items I still want to mention. Epic Loot has a set of boards in the back hallway where people can post "Looking For Group" advertisements and such like free of charge and also offers a selection of scheduled game activities throughout the week including Magic: the Gathering, Miniatures Wargaming, Pathfinder Society, a board game night, and others. It is a fun environment for relaxing and playing a game or five to liven up our banal modern existence with friends both old and new: I would highly recommend anyone in the Dayton region who likes an open and inviting social atmosphere accepting of diversity come give...

I've had both ups and downs with Epic Loot. I love the employees who work there, and I think that they're really great people. I've been coming to the store for 6 years now, and I'll keep coming back because the people who work here are great. But when I was first coming, and the reason why I continued to come back, was the store was more family-friendly. I remember buying a box of cards for like...$120, but getting $40 in store credit to buy singles with. I also remember every time we played in an FNM tournament, we'd get a free pack of cards just for coming out. Now, they have the worst prize-payout structure in the area, and it shows by a lack of interest in the community to play here. Their sealed product prices are on the verge of being predatory towards their loyal customers. The store owner acts surprised by the lack of turnout, and blames "not bouncing back since covid" but its an easy cop-out, because the other stores are THRIVING right now. They have the worst trading card singles prices in the area too, because they use an "algorithm" one of the employees developed years ago to determine what cards are selling better, and then raising the price of them, rather than selling all cards at TCG mid prices, like the rest of the stores in the area are doing. The positives? They have a great reward system that keeps customers coming back, a wonderful layout that makes it easy to find what you're looking for, and an impressive inventory. There's room for improvement here. They need to decide what kind of store they want to be. Are they a family friendly store that wants a healthy tournament culture? Then they need to go back to the old ways they used to do things, when the store was thriving with the community. I understand that there is more to the store than MTG tournaments, and they can't bank on that alone. They also do very well running DnD events, and miniatures events, as well as several other TCG games and board game events. Those communities are doing well, and I'm glad to see the area has a place for that sort of thing. I just want to see the old epic loot come back. I miss the huge 20-30 player turnouts for events. I miss the community we used...

I stopped in at Epic Loot Gaming for the first time recently. At first glance, the shop looked great plenty of play tables, a wide selection of games, TCGs, video games, and even miniatures. The setup really gave the impression of a strong gaming community hub.

Unfortunately, what came next completely ruined the experience. I asked to see three cards in the display case: • Rainbow Pikachu VMAX (Vivid Voltage) – Current near mint value is about $150. They said it was LP and wanted $161. That’s already above near mint pricing. • Tyranitar V Alt Art – Current near mint value is about $200. They called it LP and priced it at $330. That’s more than $100 over the NM market. • Lillie (Ultra Prism) – This one had whitening on the back and a dent on the top edge. I’d grade it heavy play, they called it moderate play. NM sales are about $420, and MP iscloser to $230. They had it priced at $550 – nearly $150 more than the NM market.

The pricing wasn’t just off it was outrageous.

Then came the biggest red flag: I asked about trading in cards. I was told they don’t take slabs (fine), but that all raw Pokémon cards are automatically considered LP. That means no matter how mint or clean your card is, they’ll only pay you 60% of LP value. I clarified by asking if they’d treat a flawless NM card the same way, and the response was yes. In other words, you’ll never get fair NM value for your cards here.

Considering the massive price gaps between LP and NM often $100–$200 or more, especially on older cards this policy feels like an outright scam. They’ll never give you proper value, and they’re charging far above market on the cards they sell.

Bottom line: While the store itself looks nice, I can’t recommend Epic Loot Gaming to anyone serious about TCGs. Their pricing and trade-in policy are predatory. If you value your cards and your wallet, take your...