Central Coast Collectibles — Local services in Lompoc

I’ve been in Magic: The Gathering for over a decade, and local game stores like Central Coast Collectibles in Lompoc, CA (with spots in Vandenberg and a shiny new third location opening in Santa Maria today) should be our go-to for community vibes and fair deals. But in this corner of the Central Coast, where the nearest real competition is a haul away, they’re exploiting the monopoly to jack up pre-order prices on Collector Booster boxes to absurd levels. It’s a slap in the face to loyal players who want to crack packs without feeling robbed. Take their pre-orders for the latest sets like the hotly anticipated Marvel’s Spider-Man crossover dropping next month: They snag these boxes from distributors at around $300 wholesale—the standard anchor for retailers on premium sealed product. But when it is your turn to reserve one. Bam, $850. That’s almost triple the cost, way above even the inflated secondary market flips you see on sites like TCGPlayer. Wizards of the Coast brought back MSRP guidelines this year to keep things ethical, pegging Collector Booster boxes wholesale around $250–$300 for most sets, but stores like this ignore it because they can—limited stock, no rivals, and a captive audience of us Central Coast grinders who don’t want to drive hours for alternatives. It’s pure opportunism. With no pressure to compete, they’re turning pre-orders into a cash grab, knowing we’ll pay up or miss out on those chase foils and serialized cards. The staff’s friendly enough, and the play space seems solid from what I’ve heard, but when you’re forking over nearly $600 in pure markup to get your hands on a box, it sours the whole deal. If you’re in Lompoc, Vandenberg, or Santa Maria, skip the hype and order online or hit up a shop in the next town over—it’s worth the gas money to stick it to this nonsense. One star, and I’m out. Central Coast Collectibles, fix your pricing or watch your community...

Amazing store that exceeded my expectations on what they would have. I'm not usually holding my breath when it comes to hunting singles for pokemon but this store did not disappoint. They had a good collection of packs, heavy hitting singles, accessories, and best of all, assorted singles binder by price range! It made going through cards a absolute breeze and we spent a good hour in there going through the diffrent cards. My only complaint is that when i got home and took a closer look at one of the cards I bought it was heavily bent and creesed. It was my fault since i didn't take a closer look at it before buying but oh well. Overall a...

This store has some of the best product available in the central coast! The staff is super friendly and helpful, and you can tell they want to be there. Product here is always coming in at fair prices, and I cannot recommend stopping here for hobbies enough. Pokemon and Magic The Gathering is abundant here, along with other games like One Piece and Warhammer 40k. The owner is very responsive on their discord channel and makes sure everyone who is there leaves as happy as possible. If you are into collectibles at all, it doesn’t get better...