Our first stop on our 6-LGS extravaganza as we meandered out way down to Cape May was Red Seal Gaming, a smaller and newly founded LGS in South Amboy.
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Red Seal Gaming offers a decent selection of the most recent products for Magic, Pokémon, Warhammer, D&D, and board games. Because they opened recently, you may be hard-pressed to find anything printed in the past; however they did have every Magic set going back to Guilds and Allegiance, which recently rotated. They don't yet offer Magic singles,* but I can easily forgive this as they are a new store and said they hope to do so in the future. *See update below as this has changed.
"As a note on Warhammer selection - while Red Seal only has the bleeding edge of Warhammer models (printed last 2 years, focus on newest 9th edition pieces), the owner is willing to special order from GW to get things patrons want. They only had Citadel hobby products, but had the full range of Citadel paints, so if you are looking for a specific paint they likely carry it." -Hskae
Cleanliness
Friendliness
I regret I didn't get his name, but the owner was very friendly and personable with us. When I asked him how long he'd been there as an LGS, I was slightly taken aback when he said "6 weeks." We had a good conversation about COVID, how he had always dreamed of opening an LGS, and his opportunity to finally do so because of the recent fall in rent prices. His enthusiasm for his store was obvious and infectious. While we were browsing, however, he was not overly pushy, instead allowing us to look around freely, yet still highly engaging when we turned to the counter.
Play Space/Events
So this category will always be tricky during COVID. We're comfortable to browse and chat with people in shops for 30 minutes or so while everyone is wearing masks, but we are not comfortable to sit down to play with strangers for any extended length of time during the pandemic. Our review of Red Seal Gaming's events will have to wait until we hopefully attend one in the future, but their play space was serviceable.
They have 1 table in the front set up for war gaming (Warhammer, etc.) and 1 folding table seating 6 for card or board games. The owner confirmed that during events he adds more folding tables (taking up almost all of the floor space) to seat more players. Their space restricts them in this regard, as I don't believe they have the capacity for very large pre-releases, however I would be more than happy to attend an event at Red Seal Gaming all the same.
As we were leaving we were pleased to see two patrons, clearly known by the owner, setting up for a game of Warhammer.
Value
Warhammer, D&D books, and board games seem to be sold for MSRP. Magic packs were $4, or 3 for $10. I asked about the price of a box of Zendikar Rising Set Boosters, knowing that there have been some supply issues here and wondering what philosophy towards price Red Seal Gaming has. I was pleasantly surprised when the owner checked TCGPlayer market price for the box, and quoted us $110, especially when only a week ago a different LGS was selling them for $180. We weren't specifically looking to buy a Set Box, but the price was alluring. We said to each other how we would split it between the two of us, if it weren't for the issue of sharing the Box Topper. Well, the owner was ready for this and immediately offered us an extra Box Topper pack for just a bit more.
There's a fine line when you're looking for deals or negotiating with store owners. You never want to offend someone or suggest that their prices aren't good, but of course you want to get the best prices for yourself. I was very happy when the owner had such a great base price, then gave us an even better deal to nudge us over the edge into purchasing.
To add to this value, Red Seal clearly wants to reward repeat patrons as they have a robust loyalty program giving points towards every purchase. The points don't expire, and they can be redeemed for cash off future purchases. For example, that Set Box, a Warhammer model, a bottle of paint, and two drinks earned us over $11 off our next purchase. I won't complain about our need to swing by again on our way home now.
Final Thoughts
I'm very happy and excited for the owner of Red Seal Gaming. He seems like a good guy who is ecstatic about finally opening his LGS. Its a great little spot, extremely clean, and he is knowledgeable about his products. If this were the closest LGS to me, I don't think I would have any reservations about calling Red Seal "my" LGS.
As we were leaving, the owner gifted us custom dice with his logo, pens with his information, and stickers. He clearly has a good head for business and community, and I hope to see him succeed in the years to come.
11/01/2020 Update: We stopped back on our way back home from Cape May to spend our $11 credit. The owner's name is Dan, and he we had another excellent conversation about LGS' in general and his approach to running one. He has a Discord for his regular players to plan and organize their own time to play in store, which I think is a great and creative solution to events, both in the time of COVID and in general.
11/30/2021 Update: We've been to Red Seal a hand-full of times in the last year. We were pleasantly surprised to find they've moved locations. They are now in a strip-mall which offers them about three times the amount of store space. They now have many more tables in the back for both wargaming and TCG play.
I believe we've seen two new employees in the last few times we've visited, meaning Dan is clearly finding enough success to take a small step back, which is great. These new employees seem to have enough knowledge of the store and the product, however their customer service skills seem to be slightly lacking.
Red Seal has also begun offering Magic singles. And - wow - They certainly have an awesome selection! One of the new employees told us that Dan contributed much of his old collection to the store's stock and it really shows. There are many high-value cards from throughout Magic's history neatly organized into binders for review. Best of all, Red Seal uses TCGPlayer market prices as their guide, meaning you're almost certain to not over-pay.
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