The Match Slip

Treasure Coast Magic is a local game store in Port St. Lucie, Florida, owned by Don and Jen.While the store focuses on Magic: The Gathering, they've also added Pokémon, Warhammer 40,000, Dungeons & Dragons books, and paints for painting miniatures.In this mini documentary, we talk with Don, a former IT professional who now loves what he does - working at a game store, which, for him, doesn't feel like work.

We are checking out Meta-Games Unlimited. The store has been around since 1997. They are more than a Magic: The Gathering store, dealing in Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40,000, and board games. Most of all, as store manager, Carl says, the community "is the glue" that holds it all together.

In this mini-documentary, we visit Final Boss Games in Springdale, Arkansas, and learn how co-owner Bennett helped save his Magic: The Gathering community, which almost had nowhere to go.

A note from The Match Slip's founder, Frank Angelone:

The Match Slip podcast has released 63 interview episodes. During that time, there have also been mini-documentaries produced for YouTube (with more in the queue) in which we visit stores featured on the podcast. While the interviews have taught me a lot about the game store industry, I hope they also provided the same look behind the curtain for listeners. I've been very grateful to the game store owners who have taken the time out of their busy days to come on the show and have me visit their stores. That said, producing these mini-documentaries has been very fulfilling and coincides with my passion for videography and photography. It's also the directional focus I will be taking The Match Slip on moving forward.

These mini-documentaries will still have the interview component, but also provide visuals to give those watching a better idea of the location being covered. I appreciate those listeners and viewers who have checked out my interviews and corresponded with me over email, and I hope you'll enjoy this new direction. While there will be longer gaps between new mini-documentaries, for these videos I work with a professional editor to enhance the production value.

I 'm looking forward to sharing this next chapter of The Match Slip beyond just YouTube with you.

Vladimir, owner of Venture Trade Co. in Mansfield, MA, runs a game store, but it's so much more than that. He doesn't consider himself in competition with other game stores. Rather, he considers his store more of a Five Below or Newbury Comics. In his words, they're "...kind of a 'stuff' store."From attending conventions to Sundays at the Raynham Flea Market, Vladimir is always looking for new verticals to enter. Whether that be video games, books, scented candles, or fishing gear. He's looking to be a store that people want to come back to.

What are the realities faced when running a game store? Even for someone like Jamison, who's been in the industry for over 30 years, getting product is one of those difficult realities. So, how does he deal with it, and what are some of his thoughts on how to improve upon it?

In this interview, we discuss the "dream" of creating a space where you never have to "play hungry" and how a store owner's lifelong dream was realized, if not for some unexpected costs along the way.

Pokémon is experiencing high demand; the issue is that the supply does not match the demand. For Card N All Gaming store owner, Mason, Pokémon is his favorite game, but he's seeing a shift at his store. The shift? Customers aren't buying sealed products to open packs and trade in cards, as the latter yields the highest margins. When he wants to purchase sealed products for events like pre-releases, his favorite, he's unable to obtain the amount he needs. If that weren't frustrating enough, he has nobody he can talk to at the Pokémon Company to share the problems he's experiencing.

This is the story of Underhill Gaming and how its store owner, Jason, overcame adversity with the support of his wife to build a community of players who bring him much joy.

Selling at MSRP is always a goal of Joe's, the owner of Cardboard Chaos Games. Having a smaller store allows him the flexibility to offer products at said price. That said, sorting cards is a challenge, especially when you're operating solo and a collection of 25,000 cards comes into the store.

Herbie, owner of Reality A Games, is a lover of games, with MTG Commander and video games being his favorite. Owning a game store, which has always been a dream of his, says every day is different at the shop. The most recent example: a customer offering boxes of MTG Revised at $11,000 per box. Not only is Herbie a game store owner, he is also a game developer, having built an RPG called Reality A. Moreover, he's now working on his own TCG.