Moving to Seattle... Need some nerdhelp!

Obi_LAN_Kenobi

So, I'm moving to Seattle from Anchorage Alaska. Great. I'm fine with that, and actually looking forward to it a little bit. There's only one problem that I need some help with, and it's a problem uniquely suited to the PA crowd.

I need a good comic/games store.

Now I don't need just *A* comic/games store, I need an awesome one. Anchorage has Bosco's, which is pretty much the best comic/games store I've ever seen. Now before you go saying "Yeah... but you're from Alaska, wtf do you know!!" I have lived in the lower 48 on an off before and travelled quite a lot. Bosco's has a huge selection of comics, new and back issues. They let you flip through the comics on the shelf (I like browse before I buy a new title) and they ALSO have a really large selection of RPGs and a fantastic selection of boardgames. Add in the toys/swords/busts and the dedicated gaming room and the used rpg section and everything else... and it's pretty awesome. Where can I find the greatest shop like this is Seattle??

Slider

The only store I know about is at Pike Place.

admanb

You can't, really.

Nothing against Anchorage, but real estate in Seattle proper is far pricier and game stores require a lot of floor space. Throw in the fact that game and comic stores already work in a niche market with tiny margins and uhhh yeah, you're fucked. The game store in Seattle that I hear good things about is Gamma Ray Games. Fire and Sword also seems alright. Ooutside Seattle you have Genesis Games & Gizmos in Redmond. I'm not a comics guy (mainly because I'm broke) but I hear good things about Zanadu Comics.

Esh

There used to be a gaming store in the U. District, but that's all I ever knew of. There's an okay comic shop in Pike's Place and there's one downtown as well (Zanadu), but honestly it's slim pickings. Portland has a much, much, much better selection for those sorts of things.

Granted, I haven't lived there for four years, but still...

admanb

Esh wrote: »

There used to be a gaming store in the U. District, but that's all I ever knew of. There's an okay comic shop in Pike's Place and there's one downtown as well (Zanadu), but honestly it's slim pickings. Portland has a much, much, much better selection for those sorts of things.

Granted, I haven't lived there for four years, but still...

I doubt you're wrong. Portland also has the advantage of cheaper real estate. I wish I didn't have such good friends up here... I would move to Portland in a heartbeat (where a heartbeat=time it takes to get a job. :P)

Thanatos

There are actually quite a few gaming and comic stores around, but none are really going to have the type of real estate the OP is looking for.

Where I'm going to recommend is going to depend upon where you're going to live; what neighborhood are you going to be in? Or do you know yet?

Seattle Thread

Zanadu is the oldest comic shop in Seattle, and overall the best. They specialize in comics, though--aside from a few action figures and t-shirts, and maybe a handful of Watchmen DVDs, their volume is completely invested in graphic novels. Nothing beats their selection, though, out of all the comic shops I've been to.

But as far as gaming stores go, my answers are all going to be of the "there used to be this place..." variety. A lot of 'em have closed down over the years, for reasons admanb mentioned, and not many crop up to take their places.

grungebox

Yeah it depends where you live. There are quite a few game stores around. I'm a board game guy and live in Capitol Hill, so I like Gamma Ray Games since it's nearby. Fire and Sword is pretty far away in Lake City and primarily a 40K sort of place, though they do have a small board game selection and a pretty big store. Blue Highway in Queen Anne also has much more in the way of board games, less RPGs and toys and such. Gary's in Greenwood has a back room with used RPG books and such, I think.

However....none of those are comic book stores. Zanadu in the U-District has most current comics, but limited back issues. There's this place in Wallingford, Comics Dungeon maybe? I don't buy all that many comics nowadays, anyway, so take my opinion for it's worth. You have a lot of options, but there's no "catch-all" store like you're asking about. I think that's a good thing, personally.

PotatoNinja

Best comic shop to find an egregious amount of comic book busts, pictures, artwork, toys, dolls, action figures, etc.: Zanadu (downtown)

Best comic shop for tabletop gaming in Capitol Hill with an upstairs play area: Gamma Ray Games. Also best business cards.

Best comic shop for overhearing actual industry gossip or for discovering the release date of GODZILLA VS. MECHA GODZILLA PART 4: The Dreaming (U-District).

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As other posters mentioned, there are less sprawling comic shops in Seattle because real estate isn't that cheap. Still plenty of good spots to get your geek on.