The Manaverse Podcast: Magic: the Gathering Business / Game Store Entrepreneurship / LGS Professionals

May 15 2024 41

The Manaverse Podcast: Magic: the Gathering Business / Game Store Entrepreneurship / LGS Professionals artwork

The Manaverse Podcast is a podcast created for you, the gamer with aspirations of building your own local game store (LGS), the entrepreneur running an LGS who wants to grow their business, and the player who wants a behind the scenes look into their favourite hobby. If you’re looking for inspiration, new ideas, and interesting perspectives then Tom Traplin has you covered. Learn the business of selling some of the best games in the world including Mtg, Warhammer, Warmachine, Dungeons and Dragons, board games and Euro games from some of the best retailers in the industry. Once a week, Tom talks with some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the game industry and pulls out the strategies, tactics, and systems that make their businesses so effective. With a special focus on Magic: the Gathering, you will learn how to level up your LGS and build a better community with Tom Traplin and the Manaverse Podcast.

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MVP146: Millennium Games - Building the Biggest Game Store in the USA

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Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast! In this episode, I sit down with Travis Severance, the co-owner of Millennium Games in Rochester, New York. Join us as we dive into Travis's incredible journey in the gaming industry, exploring the challenges he's faced and the strategies that have made Millennium Games the largest game store in the USA.In this interview, we cove

MVP145: Manapool.com - The Marketplace for Magic Cards

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Andrew Johnson comes onto the podcast to talk about creating Manapool.com, a marketplace just for Magic cards. Learn about the hottest new marketplace for Magic players and local game store owners to buy and sell Magic singles, and how Andrew and his team of co-founders and building a great solution for the Magic community.Sign up for a Manapool.com account and get 0% seller fees f

MVP144: Michael Bahr on Selling Your Game Store

Mar 01 2024 71 mins

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast! My name is Tom Traplin and I am your host and this is the podcast where we talk about building successful friendly local game stores. Today, we’re talking with Michael Bahr, the mind behind the LGS Net Income newsletter and former owner of Desert Sky Games in Arizona. Michael relatively recently sold DSG to another game st

MVP143: Behind the Scenes of Altered TCG: A Conversation with Game Designer Marcus Kearsey

Jan 30 2024 62 mins

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I interview Marcus Kearsey, a game designer for the Altered TCG team. We discuss the unique aspects of Altered TCG, including its non-combat focus, digital integration, and innovative deck-building mechanics. Kearsey shares his journey into game design, the challenges and rewards of developing a new TCG, and how player feedback shapes the g

MVP142: The Deck Box - Josh Pyle-Carter on 10 Years of Building Halifax's Premier Local Game Store

Jan 20 2024 125 mins

Welcome to another exciting episode of our podcast! Today, we dive deep into the world of gaming retail with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box. Joshua shares his incredible journey of building a successful gaming store from scratch. We explore how The Deck Box has created a community-centric environment, offering a personalized client service that goes beyond just selling produc

MVP142: Part 4 - The Deck Box: Pros and Cons of Online Card Sales, and How To Win With a Local First Approach

Jan 19 2024 36 mins

In Part 4 of my interview, Joshua Pyle-Carter digs into the future plans for The Deck Box, with their 10-year anniversary quickly approaching this summer. Josh talks about the balance between online and in-store sales, stressing that each requires a vastly different approach and business model, and why he favours the local first approach for his community. Book a 30 minute strategy

MVP142: Part 3 - Innovative Inventory and Pricing Strategies in Games Retail - Learn from The Deck Box

Jan 18 2024 34 mins

This is Part 3 of my interview with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box, Halifax's Premier local games store. We delve into inventory management, pricing strategies, and how Josh empowers his staff to make good decisions without requiring his input as the owner. Joshua talks about balancing pricing for different card rarities, adapting to market changes, and setting prices appropr

MVP142: Part 2 - Unlocking Retail Success With Personalized Client Service - Insights from The Deck Box

Jan 17 2024 26 mins

This is Part 2 of my interview with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box where we focus on personalized client service as a key factor in his success. Understanding individual customer preferences, especially in complex games like Magic: The Gathering, is crucial and so is guiding customers based on their interests and experience levels, rather than pushing sales. He discusses the

MVP142: Part 1 - Joshua Pyle-Carter on The Deck Box, Clients vs Customers, Being Profitable From Day One, and Building Halifax's Premier Local Game Store

Jan 16 2024 35 mins

This is part 1 of a 4 part interview I did with Josh Pyle-Carter. He’s the owner of The Deck Box, a massively successful and tremendously cool tabletop game store in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In this part of our interview, Josh tells the story of starting his first game store in PEI on a shoestring budget and how being profitable from day 1 was basically his and his partner Rachel’

MVP141: Altered - The Game Aiming To Change the TCG Industry

Jan 04 2024 41 mins

This episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Eric Dieulangard, the CMO of Equinox. Today we're discussing "Altered," a new trading card game scheduled for release in the summer of 2024, and diving into how the game's innovations fit into the business model of your friendly local game store. Eric elaborates on Altered's unique features, including its integration of digital element