Merlyn's Comics and Games — Local services in Spokane

I Dunno how many characters I have here. Imma keep on til I run out since this is Advanced stuff for the inland empire and ole spookaloo. I have crippling chronic foot pain. After trying for a manual wheel chair thru the va and getting the new “chair with [tiny] wheels” I stopped in at Merlin’s for the Sunday dnd. Like I say I have severe nerve damage and so I struggle to get places by certain times and well I got there like 12:03pm and ware told that arrive by 12 noon or you don’t get to play. By the looks of things there’s a shortage of dm’s and they pushed the envelope on Two tables and that’s why there ware no Room for expansion. Highly enthusiastic about playing dnd after many years rambling and looking for a group to play the set up here has been disappointing. Like I say there’s almost no positional awareness in the northwest or really in the world these days but I Live Here so I’m talking about here. I think if one’s Hosted by Merlin’s then you just allow folks to play. And I mean an able bodied player arrived like 6” before me and played. Plus two weeks ago we ware Milling around well after 12:30 still breaking up the tables. Have a table set up for new and late players. I know this is higher level stuff, here, and Not to do Directly w Merlin’s … wait and see where I’m going with this. I grew up here and remember when aunties used books ware in this location. For this space to Not be wheel chair accessible not to have any parking lot after all the Growth with the bookstore seems excessively Grasping. I have a disabled parking plate, right? Spokane subcontracts parking meters and the meters Warn that disabled parking is Limited to 4 hours. Well to play dnd one needs to arrive well before noon and play till after 4 pm. The lore is no meter maids r men are around Sundays. Alright, however aunties is an Institution here so Why is this such a lazy kinda deal. The bars along this strip are all showing football games surely longer than 4 hours. I haven’t really investigated fully the bathroom but I cannot imagine it wheelchair accessible and the one next door is three steps down and I’m not sure if it’s accessibility. As I say, the central library after Three remodels in 20 years has no button to open the door coming from the two handicap spaces in the parking garage to the elevators into the library [with no books]. The message to the handicap is to stay home and out of sight, like women and children. All this after investing $75 in start up materials to play. It feels like an ungrateful bookstore in an ungrateful city &c. I cannot imagine How the American disabilities act ware passed. Of course I don’t Feel like I live In America anymore, so. Maybe, by my standards as crippled, Merlin’s is a mis utilized storage room and unsuitable to the handicapped. My suspicion is they will be relieved to hear it, whew avoided...

Two weeks ago I stopped here from out of town to of course give this store my business. I had thought, especially during these times that supporting a home business would be better than just going online.

When we got there the store was fairly empty with two employees working. I was looking to purchase MTG cards and immediately my brother and I got the impression they had better things to do.

Busy days, things to catch up on, I can understand that but we were basically the only ones in. I had come here to start up my MTG collection and was willing to offer a ton of business.. so you could imagine my surprise when the employee said “Sure we have those cards in the back… but we are not going to go get it.” Umm, huh?

Haha, that’s odd, but ok.. so I kept giving this place a chance, unfortunately it only got worse. In order for them to access the back I had to come another day and navigate the stores severely outdated online purchasing system in which you are unable to place orders, need to look at what they have, copy it, and send a personal email…

I was in town for a few days so I decided to go ahead with this. In a world where you can checkout online, this system was atrocious but fitting considering what would happen next. After no joke spending half an hour writing down all I wanted on paper, I re-copied it into a personal email. It was tedious but it was done.. now comes the cherry on top, I get a reply the following morning that reads as follows: “You have selected more than ten different cards, re-submit your list.”

Without any warning.. I had a limit? On top of this outdated system, another limit.. I was done at this point.

I will finish this review by saying I hardly ever make reviews, especially bad ones, but I have never had a business try as hard as Merlyn’s of Spokane to NOT get my business. Since then I’ve taken my business to eBay, better customer service, better selection and hey they actually wanted my business. It seems big web wins again, I tried Merlyns, I really did. lol.

May your experience here be far better...

Merlyn's is a great place to get your inner geek on. It is the first specialty store of it's kind that I had ever visited. From Manga, Trading Card Games, Role Playing Games, Comics, Graphic Novels, Board Games, Standard Card Games & Miniatures, this place holds something for nearly any Science Fiction or Fantasy fan. You can make special orders, when they come in you will get a phone call, if you don't answer they'll leave a voice mail.

They carefully look at any used materials and offer in store credit for them as well as charge reasonable prices for used content (I've personally never seen any used Role Playing Game book priced at more than $20). The staff has always seemed friendly enough and knowledgeable about popular and available content.

Head over on Black Friday or Free Comic Book Day for some great deals, last I checked if you spend $100 or more on standard priced materials you get a discount. The comic book store also shares a doorway with some awesome community businesses including an ice cream parlor, a Mediterranean restaurant, a bakery and 2 bars one of which is its' own brewery. Even if you don't find anything you like (which would be weird because you're reading this review) within the comic book store, the location is perfect with a plethora of restaurants, a fresh market, a small independent theater & almost anything normal people might want within walking distance. Parking is the only issue I've noticed, but the buses are nearby for those of you...