Elite Cardboard Gaming — Local services in Durham

I decided to try this store at least 3 times but honestly, each experience just got worse and worse for me. I was originally excited as it would be another promising LGS nearby that I could buy cards and play (the other 2 being Atomic Empire and Toy Factory which I highly recommend both).

1st Time (July 2025) - Just a walk-in to take a look at the size of the store and it's stock. Shelves were decently stocked with both sealed and singles. Prices on average are above market (it's fine it's not MSRP, market is the market. Completely understand as these shops need to make money with limited supply from their suppliers/distributors). Tried to small talk with whom I believe was the owner and ask if they did pre-orders for EoE collector boxes. Gave me a look and said it was not for pre-order and it would be only available to players who participate in the pre-release. Again, completely understand but he just gave me a bad vibe with how he told me. Decided not to follow up and ask if there was an available spot for the pre-release.

2nd Time (August 2025) - Ordered online from their website for a Destined Rivals booster box which said it was in stock. Placed the order, got the order confirmation, and even a "Ready For Pickup" e-mail. Went to the store, owner said my order was voided since they didn't have any in stock. Never received an email of its cancellation. Was told it was a problem with their website. Though I was annoyed of the wasted time to go there when I received the "Ready for Pickup," felt like it was just an honest technical error.

3rd Time (October 2025) - Decided to try placing another order online, this time for a Mega Evolutions booster box. Same thing, it shows it was in stock, placed the order, said it was "Ready for Pickup" but this time, I decided to call the store first before I drove. Immediately told me it was voided due to none available. I asked him why was it showing available on his website and was told that he had removed it but it was problem with their website (again). He then asked if I ever came by the store before (which I have) and then said that "for these hot items, it's best to call ahead before ordering." Makes no sense to me but that's how he wants to do it. Though I can believe he would be out of stock, I do not believe at all it was a website error at this point as there are other items that clearly show "out of stock."

Overall Review: The person I believe to be the owner pretty much gave me the vibe that I was a possible scalper/flipper. I can only imagine the frustration of having to deal with those kind of problems regularly but it doesn't change the fact that I did try several times, and each time he just kept giving me the vibe that I was...

Well, I hate to do this, but I could not be more disappointed with this store...

It's far closer to my house than pretty much any other shop, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to support this place.

I joined their discord server to get some additional info about events after it was introduced to me by one of my friends that I play with, and after seeing very little helpful information there or no their website, I took a ride in to check the place out myself (approximately 2 weeks ago).

Arrived at the shop, and there was not an employee to be found... There were a few players playing commander, so I waited around for about 15 minutes, just browsing what they had available in their case, but never saw a single person who seemed to work there, and thus, was unable to get any of my questions answered. (prices for most of what was in stock seemed significantly above market pricing, but that's fine, I understand a store has an overhead)

Asked a few times about events on discord server when noticing activity, but unfortunately never got any direct answers from anyone - every question was either half-answered or ignored completely.

This week, there was an announcement about an upcoming event, so I followed up immediately with some questions about the event (especially interested in the format since the pricing seemed a bit high) - instead of getting any type of answer, I was banned from their server.

A simple answer would probably have been sufficient...

This unprofessional behavior is extremely disappointing... I'll be sure to share my experience with the rest of the local gaming community... Very very...

First experience today with this store. I called the day before to know if a product would be in stock the next day and the price. I'm told yes and the price is $160. Since I haven't gotten my hands on this, I decided to show up early (2hrs30 min) before opening. Line got up to about 10 people,store opened. The dude with the cap (owner maybe) saw the line, inquired if it was the that specific product to which we nodded. He then quickly googled up the price on that product and decided to set it at $200 instead of the $160 as previously mentioned.He then quickly typed in the register as custom price as this wasn't preset.

If I wanted to buy it at $200 I wouldnt have wasted my time waiting hours. I would have bought it online. Also there is a weird $5 "surcharge" for buying a product. Really feel scammy and scalper type of vibe over there.

I tried to ask questions regarding other product potentially available and I was met with rudeness.

This person is straight up disrespectful and treat his customers in bad faith. Some places do it right (such as Atomic Empire) and some don't (like this place)

I have 0 intentions of going back and I hope I save you the trip too. If you want to feed scalpers find one that isn't rude like...