Sore Thumb Retro Games — Local services in Great Britain

I recently visited Sore Thumb after buying from a stall of theirs at an event near me. I noticed their import games at the event (of which I bought "Mario Party 3") and went to York to further inquire.

In the shop, I found an even greater variety than I was expecting. For one, the shop is neatly divided into sections based on system manufacturer (e.g: Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft) with a further section for other collectibles. Games in these sections are divided by system and region. It can be haphazard, but not to a fault; it feels human, not so sterilised like larger chains.

The condition of the games varies, as is to be expected with any shop selling used items, but unlike most, Sore Thumb goes above and beyond in being transparent about the condition of their items. For example, some boxed games are missing their instruction booklet, and this is very clearly labeled on the box, or on the plastic bag covering the box in some cases, and the items are discounted accordingly.

The staff were incredibly knowledgeable about each item, and were happy to answer inqueries if I had any, not to mention pointing me to particular items I had inquired about. They made me feel welcome in their establishment; despite us never really meeting before, they spoke to me as if we had been lifelong friends.

I would argue this shop's strongest point is its incredibly wide variety of Japanese import games. I spotted walls of just imports: incredibly impressive! As per the nature of these things, special Japanese consoles are needed to play these imported games in most cases, but the shop had at least one of each Japanese system in stock. These are clearly labeled as being Japanese, and the price label explicitly states if anything else required for function, such as a stepdown converter, is not included.

Furthermore, I found that the import product, due to their specialised & niche nature, were at lower prices than their English counterparts, resulting in a number of bargains; the aforementioned Japanese "Mario Party 3" was sold to me for £15 complete in box, albeit with a damaged instruction booklet which was explicitly labeled on the box protector. The English version in a similar condition goes for more than 10 times that amount at CeX; I got an absolute bargain!

Furthermore, some consoles come with bundles, and some systems are modded (mods are stated on label) to ensure better function. I purchased a Japanese "Famicom" (NES) from this shop, in a bundle with five games (one of which happened to be "Tetris") for a cheaper price than a bare-minimum, discounted NES from CeX. The system had also been modified for UK power & television standards. I am glad to report that the system works an absolute treat! I am very happy with my purchase; I got more value than what I paid for, I feel.

Overall, it is my opinion that Sore Thumb Retro Games has a good claim to the title of the best retro game shop in all of Britain. I shall be returning to this shop once I have more money to spare, and I simply cannot wait to explore its selection once...

First visit I loved the place and thought it was great, enjoyed browsing and was pleased with my purchases so much that I made a 60 mile round trip just to come visit again. Only problem I had last time was I spent £5 on a cable which was actually cheaper on ebay, just to get it home and find out it didn't work. Couldn't bring it with me due to circumstances so had to pass on that this time, and hoped on good terms that maybe he'd refund me on it or knock the money off what I purchase. Certainly wasn't the case...

Had to wait 25 minutes to be served, then got told that "they're pretty busy" so couldn't go in the back for the items I was interested in. Waited another 10 minutes or so to finally get to have a look, then picked out 4 PS2 boxes in conditions ranging from battered to hell to fairly decent. These were £10 each last time I came in around 4 weeks ago. The bloke at the counter told me it would be "the same as last time chief, but you better not be haggling over cardboard this time!" when I came in lol.

He went for a smoke break and then served 2 more people, before finally coming back to me after over an hour of standing around. I was then told he'd have to give the manager a ring as they spoke about boxes earlier in the morning, so he comes back 5 minutes later and tells me they're now £25 - £30 a piece. Not as I was told at the beginning. I'd wasted over an hour and deep down I reckon he knew all along and just fancied wasting my time. The only reason this isn't a 1 star review is because I had a good experience on my first visit.

Overall, I came in wanting to buy 4 boxes which should've been £40, a game that CEX sell for a quid and a wireless PS2 controller. What should have been £47 at the prices we did last time, was now going to be £109. Utter joke to do this to someone who's been waiting over an hour. Ended up walking out with a 6 quid controller and trading them a memory card for 2 quid voucher.

I won't be coming back thanks to this, it's an utter joke. Practically everything in the shop is ridiculously overpriced, makes CEX look cheap for once. One game was 50p at CEX, and they wanted £3 for it with no manual. 6 times their price!

The bloke seemed to find it quite amusing wasting my time, and didn't have a care in the world over the situation. Very disappointed.

I recommend potential customers look elsewhere on Ebay, CEX, etc. The chances are you'll find the items you want, at less than the prices they charge here and likely in better condition too!

EDIT - REGARDING REPLY Due to it being too long including the original review, I've had to copy and paste into Memo and take screenshots of...

A fantastic store to visit in person or buy from online. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and, assuming they're not swept off their feet dealing with sales, they're more than happy to discuss the games and other paraphernalia on offer with you, and even the life and times of The Best Bout Machine: Kenny Omega!

Whilst the nature of the retro games business is always at the whim of what people are willing to trade in to the store owner, Sore Thumb always makes sure to have an incredible range of games and consoles at their disposal to meet your needs and exceed your loftiest expectations. I never dreamed that I'd be able to even play a Virtual Boy, let alone OWN one, but this past year they managed to procure several of these beasts in PRISTINE condition from an excursion to the Land of the Rising Sun and suddenly, the boyhood dream had come true!

Sadly, I moved down south, so I am no longer local to the store, but I always make sure to pop in when in York on business. And, thanks to both their website and Facebook page, I am still able to engage in the same excellent customer service that I am used to receiving in person. Recently I was able to procure several rare items that I had been searching for for some time thanks to having a chat via their official Messenger account, having seen the items on their most recent social media update.

The process was extremely quick and simple and store manager Liam even stayed behind late from work to ensure the package was dealt with - and I can confirm that it arrived safely and that he had gone above and beyond the Call of Duty to ensure that the games were very well protected in transit. You honestly could not ask for more from your local merchant.

Stay safe, support independent game stores, and get some Sore Thumbs...