Laughing Dragon MTG — Local services in Issaquah

We went in to check out the store as we will be staying at Issaquah for quite some time and wanted to see what the store had. We were a bit nervous as they have MTG in their name and weren't sure if they had other TCG items but we were happy to see that they had Pokemon, Lorcana, One Piece, and other goodies! They had desk mats, card sleeves, and even art supplies for figure painting. Their space is huge with big tables and several chairs for people to hang out at. It is also well lit too! They have a small section in the far back of the store that people can set their bulk and you are more than welcome to take what you want as they will throw it away at the end of the day. They even provide a small paper bag to put in what you take! My boyfriend and I got a Azurite Sea booster for the each of us and my pack had a legendary so that was neat! The prices for the booster were fair as well, not overpriced like some other card stores.

They are not dog friendly due to one of the employees having dog allergies (totally understandable, I just like asking as we love bringing our dogs to card shops to play) but they mentioned that we can bring dogs on Wednesdays as that employee doesn't work on those days. Additionally, they have quite the in store events ranging from weekly meet ups for different TCGs, Warhammer and more. Their website is...

Stopped by this afternoon (Sunday, 27 Oct 2024) to check out Warhammer Old World and see what the miniatures scene is...I used to play miniature games at Heroic Knight*, which was a couple doors next to this new place Laughing Dragon. The interaction with the staff guy on duty was less than positive (middle age, beard, tats). He said he wasnt a miniatures guy and referred me to the Discord group. The door to the back-room was opened and I saw box sets of Old World Orcs? on a table about 50ft away. I asked about it and he said those are someone's order. I said yeah but just wanted to see...then he responded, "that's someone order and I'm not going to get it". That tells me everything I need to know about the vibe of this place, at least with miniatures. That was definitely an opportunity to generate interest and enthusiasm with someone thinking about playing the game. Maybe show me the box and get me excited to order my own box set! Opportunity missed and won't be spending my money on the Old World here.

*Paul, the owner of Heroic Knight, was great at building community with his positive attitude and vibe. Heck, he even talked a few of us into playing a mini naval game we never heard of "Cruel Seas". I miss...

I have seen a trend of predatory buying practices with many smaller games stores. It’s a shame the Laughing Dragon has fallen into the same trap. By removing the ability of a customer to come into the store to sell cards same day and making you send them in they remove the human contact aspect. It’s much easier to rip someone off if you don’t have to look them in the eye. I would hope that a business that relies so heavily on fostering community would actually want to do that. Instead it seems they are turning into Corpo Karens like so many other shops that do most of their own selling on places like TCG player.

I would like to comment on how knowledgeable or kind the staff is, but as they just want you to send your cards in, I had no actual interaction with the staff. Just their automated system.

Also if you are going to remove the conversation factor then you should also start detail why a card was given a certain condition when sending over the written offer. Transparency is imperative if you aren’t going to have the courage to face...