Keep it Strange Comics & Collectibles — Local services in Manassas Park

Pretty bad vibe as soon as you walk in. The staff is CONSTANTLY staring you down if you don't look like a stereotypical collector/nerd. Don't worry, I can read signs that say don't touch, and I can see you hawking me down.

About the signs - sometimes the "don't touch, ask for assistance" notices make sense. Sometimes they don't. It makes for an awful experience trying to shop in the - albeit small - video game section. 90% of the games that aren't in a display case are not visible beyond the spine, so to actually get a look, you have to ask the same guy that's been staring at you for 15 minutes to hand you whatever game you want to look closer at. Even better, he's impolite and constantly uttering things under his breath! If you're gonna require me to essentially ask for supervision to get a decent look at your items, at least be nice about it.

I totally get the spirit of the rule, it's not abnormal for video game stores to have "no touch" signs near valuable items. But that's the thing, it's ALL the items at Keep It Strange. Why do I need you to hand me the inexpensive Xbox game that's not in good condition whatsoever? Why would I want to be treated like a possible thief throughout my entire time in your store? Really interesting how they weren't staring down the customers who look stereotypically "nerdy," but they couldn't take their eyes off of me and my girlfriend (who they made extremely uncomfortable) even when we weren't shopping together. It was one employee in particular but I caught a couple of the others doing it as well in the respective sections they look over.

When combing through the rest of the reviews, the biggest complaint I see is about the prices, and yeah, they're pretty hilariously exorbitant a lot of the time. But whatever, it's a business -- if they think they can sell items above market price, then great for them. If not, they won't sell them and I'm sure they'll lower the price. I wouldn't personally buy the overpriced stuff but I completely understand that they have a business to keep running. Plus, selling above market price for good condition and no shipping/fees is not that uncommon and not typically a huge deal in my eyes. It's a pretty embarrassing look, however, when I ask how much something is and they look up the market of their own inventory on Ebay and add (a pretty hefty amount of) extra price.

You might have a better experience here than I did, and overall, the selection is pretty cool. It's not something easily found around Manassas and Woodbridge. Just be careful if you don't look the same as a lot of their other clientele. I really hope that's what it was, and not because I was the only Latino man in the store. Pretty...

DO NOT GO TO THIS STORE. I wasn’t going to write a review during the first interaction I had with this place because I understand this market is a hard one to be in for owners but something i would never expect from a small business card store happened with my best friend.

First incident isn’t a big deal. They were just trying to sell the surging spark booster box for an absurd amount. Around $100 more than every other store in the DMV.

Which ties directly to the second incident. THEY ARE SCAMMERS. My best friend went to their shop to buy some yugioh cards. He found 2 he liked. Not knowing at the time what they were worth, he purchased one card for $75 and the other for $35. When he left he looked them up and realized the COMBINED value of the cards was 8… Yes 8 dollars. Giving the store the benefit of the doubt he went in and assumed they were just marked wrong and to get a refund. THEY REFUSED saying they would only give him store credit. The owner of the store started screaming at him because he didn’t like to be called a scammer. Lol. Then don’t scam. (Unfortunately don’t have his name but it’s the heavier guy with glasses.) Not even an employee. The owner. During the entire interaction, my friend never once raised his voice. The owner threatened to have him kicked out for trying to get a refund. Then proceeded to threaten to ban him from the store… I wish I could post the video of this interaction with the review. After 20 minutes of my friend just trying to get his money back all they did was give him “store credit” which at the time they forced him to take another yugioh card that still wasn’t worth the amount he paid. Card shops like this are what ruin this hobby for all of us. Don’t get scammed...

DISCLAIMER: this is a store for collectors and gamers. I think just because people see comic book and anime characters that it’s a place to just let your kids to run around - and to be fair, yes, that is a reasonable assumption if you are just passing by. However, it’s pretty apparent when you walk in from the layout and prices this is not somewhere to let your kids run around and touch things. I’ve also noticed people complain about the prices. In my opinion, the value of stores like this is the in-person experience. Yes, you can shop around online and find better deals. But if you want to get out the house and have the joy of browsing cool items, and have the immediate gratification of purchasing an item in-person, then that’s what this store is for. I think that experience of being able to see the item irl, taking to staff, avoid hassle about shipping or returns, etc., is worth the extra🤷🏾‍♂️ That aside, the items are great. Lots of nostalgia and random hidden gems. The layout is clean and organized. Merchandise is properly sealed and protected. The staff is friendly and clearly live for this stuff. The owner, Paul, is cool. Very willing to teach me about comic book grading. Heck, when I was purchasing one comic book and I expressed confusion as to the value, he inspected it and straight up told me it was cheaper bc it wasn’t officially graded, and could be worthy twice as much of it was. That seemed pretty genuine to me! Jake, Daryl, and Tony were...