Game Time Cardz — Local services in Winter Park

EDIT: 1/18/2024

Coming back to adjust this review after the launch of Prismatic Evolutions. Everything I've penned in the original review still stands, but my last two visits were less than stellar.

To be clear, the PokemonTCG is in a wild place at the time of writing this. The Prismatic Evolutions launch was insane, and to Game Time Cardz's credit, they handled the release well; they had plenty of stock, and used a ticket system to ensure that everyone who got to the shop in the morning would be able to purchase a limited number of items. Many of us in line were expecting to pay a little above MSRP due to the demand, but to our surprise and dismay they were charging the same price as scalpers ($110 per ETB). Why would I ever get up early and wait in line to pay the same price being charged by every scalper online? I go out of my way to support LGS because I like what they offer to the local card community; I've been to plenty, like Geek'd Orlando, that do their best to stay as close to MSRP as they can so college students and kids can still enjoy the hobby.

After being so excited to get this product, my friend walked away with nothing-- not because the shop had no product, but because it was so ludicrously expensive that it was untenable.

Additionally, I previously spoke about the excellent trade rates for cards. During a recent visit, I went to sell a mint $240 card (it was pulled from a pack gifted to me by a friend, and I decided to sell it so we could get more packs to rip together). Though the shop offers 70% value, I was given $115 (47% of the card's value) because the shop-keep said he "could buy it for less online". I was extremely disappointed, but went through with the sale anyway because I trusted he knew the value of the card. Now, seeing the value stay steady on TCGPlayer, I can't help but feel like I was completely ripped off. They've always gone by the market value in the past, and clearly have no problem matching it with ETB's.

The good faith I had in this place is gone, and I likely won't be returning. I know they're a shop and need to make profit, I know the TCG space is volatile right now and they have no reason to undercut the inflated market value driven by scalpers, but these experiences have left this location feeling less community/hobby focused than I'd like. However, I encourage you to give the place a try.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Love this place! Recently got into the hobby & was looking around for a local card shop to frequent. After visiting Layton Games (which, at the time of writing this, is fairly far away), I decided to try a smaller, local place. Safe to say I prefer Game Time Cardz by a mile! They have excellent, helpful, and friendly staff who are knowledgeable about One Piece, MTG, Pokemon, Sports Carts, etc. They always answer questions, and offer a fair price for selling (50% on cards worth less than $50, 70% for cards worth more than $50) and have occasionally agreed to simply trade cards. I also love the points system, and the little claw machine in the back. Plenty of fun events for the TCG community, too! Very glad this shop is in our area.

In terms of products, they have a wide range of modern cards, rare/common singles, and PSA graded cards. I'm a Pokemon fan, so I mostly look for ETBs/single pack, and the variety they offer changes frequently depending on what they've gotten in. Always something fun...

spent $300 here today, ended up paying $10 more than ungraded market for a card with horrendous centering and was refused any options. they had the same card at market, would’ve been fine swapping the two out. no help. $300 and they’re picky about $10. really sucks because they had some singles i really loved that i planned to come in for next week which would’ve been a fast $600 in their pockets but, better off taking my money elsewhere. i just recently got back into the hobby so im not good with this stuff and i really feel taken advantage of. this was supposed to be a gift for my fiance. they have a great selection of sealed and singles, would’ve been the perfect local shop, set up an account and everything planning to be a regular. i left proof so they can’t claim my review is fake too. bummer.

edit: great way to handle feedback, argue with the customer! i never came back with an ungraded card. i called the shop. if i was to swap it with my own, damage is visible, you would know if i was swapping a damaged card for one marked full price, unless you’re scalpers and not actually collectors or patrons of the hobby. the only thing that would change is centering. and you told me on the phone that you price based off condition not centering. so if i’m already paying $10 over market for 10-90 centering, where would the swap be an issue? when the card was sold to me they never let me check condition, just added it to a pile and gave me a total. but hey seeing as your response is 100% false information, clearly this isn’t the first issue you’ve had with this stuff. you want a fair review? maybe take a couple business classes at valencia. if you think you’re going to see me back with a response like that…no. i would’ve taken literally anything you had to offer to make it right. but hey, if you can afford to lose a high paying customer who just got done spending $500 at a different shop, then i guess my review and the countless other 1 star reviews you responded to as if it were a comment section argument wouldn’t really matter if they’re “fair” or not. because you want to know what’s not fair? my entire experience with this shop. don’t even worry though, you won’t have to hear another response from me, just as you won’t see another cent. good luck! lots of competition out here when it comes...

It’s pretty sad when you tell your friends you’re gonna go to a tournament somewhere and they warn you not to go and they tell you about how they always have issues with their prize support “not being available”. I called in advance to make sure the tournament was going to fire, was promise the event would be held. I arrive to find out they received their tournament kit but the winner prize card was not in the kit. This is impossible as these kits are sealed with everything needed to run the event. They passed the buck on Bandai and claimed it was their fault and then I see in another reply that they’re now claiming it was a mail issue and didn’t receive it yet they told players including me that they were still having the tournament? This doesn’t add up. Why are you running a tournament without the kits? So which one is it? Product was missing from your kits or it’s a mailing issue?

In Orlando you can play One Piece 7 days a week within 30 minutes, yet this is the only store that has hosted more than one tournament with the winner cards magically missing in them?

First and last event I show up for at this place. I will be taking the extra step to make sure Bandai sees how these are ran.

*They replied to this with a total disregard my statement. They claimed that they didn’t receive the winner card, then they claimed in a response to another player about the SAME event that they didn’t receive the kit at all, but the employee showed us the kit in person. And now they’re claiming they order winner cards for players to have it yet they didn’t do the same for ours? I know the other players personally who told me they didn’t receive anything. So why are more than one player complaining about more than one event for similar issues? Sounds like...