Trading Card Recollections Part 4

    Just like my foray into traditional trading cards, I kept my purchases down to a few locations. In fact, the overwhelming majority of them come from just two stores.

• Page 3 Game Zone, Pikeville:  I didn't just get my first packs here, which included "Leviathan," but almost every pack and box for about a decade. I would get at least a deck and a few packs, before getting a whole box instead. After the 2003 flood, I would generally stop getting boxes. With the advent of specialty decks, I would stop getting those as well. I don't remember getting any packs there in over a decade. Strangely enough, the store started getting TCGs back before they started getting comic books after the 2025 flood that closed the store for months.
• Walmart, Pikeville:  I hate to say this, but I've been getting my occasional single pack of each expansion here for around ten years. I even once got a collector's box for a set that really intrigued me. It has been easier to just get that lone pack or two here, without the guilt of never playing the game in public whenever I go to Page 3.  It is somewhat cheaper at times as well.

    I also got a pack or two at other places, such as collectibles kiosks at the Huntington Mall and Fayette Mall. (Both locations have been out of business for a long time.) If I bought a pack elsewhere, I can't remember. I know BAM has them, but I don't remember buying any there, although I have looked for them.

    As for the various accessories, the ones I got the most were the magazines. The first one I got was The Duelist, which was the in-house magazine from Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of M:tG. It featured articles on the background for new sets, previews of rules and cards, and the general TCG scene. It covered all the games WOTC made, with the occasional tip into other companies. The final issue covered their new Pokémon game, which has since switched publishers. The mag I got the most was InQuest. While TCGs were the prime focus, it also covered RPGs and computer games as well. It lasted a few more years longer. Since then, I remember getting a few guides, but the market dried up years ago. Almost everything is online now. Still, I got these magazines at quite a few locations.

• Page 3 Game Zone, Pikeville:  Of course I got most the magazines here. In fact, I found my first two issues of Duelist here, including a free bonus issue that got put out at the last second to highlight a new set. I would wind up getting almost all of them here, as well as InQuest, before they got cancelled. 
• Readmore, both Prestonsburg and Coal Run: I remember getting an issue or two at these places. Mostly, I got a third party mag that tried to cash in on the budding TCG market, spun off from a publisher of similar products. Most didn't last.
• Kroger, South Williamson:  I remember getting an issue of Conjure here one time just before Easter. It was one of the weirdest magazines I got. They had a multi-part story involving someone getting a wish from a genie that ended up so wrong. The magazine actually lasted over a year, but I never got every issue.
• Babbages/GameStop, Huntington Mall: Page 3 didn't always get everything on my pull all the time. They missed an issue of Duelist, that was going to preview a major new set. Fortunately, they had it, even though the new issue was already out. In fact, I may have gotten it at Waldenbooks or Borders that same day. 
• Waldenbooks, Fayette Mall:  One summer trip, I managed to get a huge haul of M:tG stuff here, including an issue of Duelist. Still a great memory of finding so much at one time. I may have also gotten something at Joseph-Beth Booksellers as well over the years, but those memories aren't as sure.
• BAM, Huntington Mall:  I got my last TCG/trading card guide here years ago. It was mostly a collectors' price guide, but it also featured listing of cards for various games, including Magic. I think it was from Beckett. The last time I can remember even seeing such a magazine.

    That is all for this fall's capsule series. Come back next week for my usual blogcast.