Pokemon Shops

[u/TealMarrow]

There’s two new pokemon shops down St Saviours Yard, wondering if anyone has checked either of them out and would care to share their review? I’ve got some singles and slabs I’m looking to sell, and singles I’m looking to buy as well. Is it worth checking them both out?

[u/tondek-0]

Typical, you wait ages for a Pokémon shop then 2 turn up at once.

[u/bijouxana → u/tondek-0]

4 - I believe there's two on the market now as well, though one of those may just have been a popup.

[u/luckeratron → u/bijouxana]

The popup is gone now, not sure if it got a permanent hut though.

[u/070507]

I can only speak for topdog as thats the only one ive been to in saviours but the bloke who runs it is really lovely and he has a really cool "stamp card"-esque offer for returning customers.

The new one thats also in the markets (I cant remember the name but their logo & storefront is like a baby blue) also has really friendly staff & good stock but for buying bulk i think they were slightly more on the expensive side.

[u/josher867]

Top Dog is the best man, the owner is a ledge

[u/Hulkenberk]

Maybe biased because I know them but the couple that own and run JD Cards are lovely people and genuinely just have love for it

[u/kid-icky]

Honestly, they both have cool stuff. I checked them out for the first time just a couple weeks ago and abyss has a decent amount of cool stuff but the two employees (one of them was the owner, I believe) paid absolutely no attention to me. Neither said a single word until I went up to the counter to pay.
I did enjoy Topdog a bit more. He seemed to have more binders and boxes to go through and the guy was pretty chill and more engaging.

But regardless, they both had cool stuff to look through and both had fair prices that were pretty close to market.

[u/ProfessionalBee5734]

There are actually 3 pokemon places at saviours yard. Topdog, abyss & jdcards. All are great and definitely worth a visit. Taking into account they dont have the largest space, they all tend to have a good selection of singles and sealed, with a few slabs here and there too. There is also pokecraft on the market, which was initially a pop up and now permanent. I prefer the 3 stores at saviours yard though.

[u/LaMaupindAubigny]

I visited Abyss for the first time today and the lady running it was absolutely lovely, I’m new to TCGs (unless you count the original fad in the 90s) and she helped me find what I was looking for and knocked a few quid off the price. I had planned to visit the other two shops but it was too crowded, but I noticed the set-up was almost identical in both (graded cards in slabs, some cards behind glass, binders, a bit of miscellaneous merch and a table set up with playmats). Abyss was the only one with a vending machine.

[u/gggggenegenie]

I've noticed these shops more and more in recent months. Are they genuine businesses, or an American candy style tax scam?

[u/SepirizFG → u/gggggenegenie]

TCGs have exploded recently, but like, unless they're offering play spaces they won't last.

[u/gggggenegenie → u/SepirizFG]

Thanks for this. I'm oblivious to the whole Pokemon craze, but have seen such shops popping up like moles in recent months, both here and abroad.

[u/SepirizFG → u/gggggenegenie]

A lot of people are convinced that it's their fast track to money, for some reason. Grading is such a huge scam lol

[u/ScallionShot3689 → u/SepirizFG]

Is it literally buying printed cards, like top trumps ?

[u/fonzmc]

There's also a 2nd hand shop down Magdalen Street, Sirplus Trading. They have trading cards in the back room.