Welcome to the Manaverse Podcast
The Manaverse Podcast is where we explore what it takes to build a successful friendly local game store! Since 2015, I’ve been interviewing a wide variety of game store owners and industry professionals doing some really interesting things in the world of trading cards, minis, games, and more.
If you want to learn how some of the best game retailers in North America have built their businesses and local communities up from the ground floor, you’ve come to the right place!
MVP156: SortSwift – The Ultimate TCG Ecosystem
Mikah, the founder of SortSwift and MTech Cave, comes onto the Manaverse Podcast to talk about his journey from running a phone repair shop to building cutting-edge tools for the collectible card game industry. Mikah shares how his business evolved from selling Magic:...
MVP155: eBay, TCGplayer & the Syracuse Union Showdown
In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, Douglas Johnson (DJ) and I discuss the recent turmoil surrounding TCG Player and eBay. TCG Player recently announced the closure of it's Syracuse authentication center and the firing of 220 employees, right as the union was...
MVP154: 23 Budget Friendly Marketing Strategies For Your LGS
In this episode of the Manaverse podcast, we explore a variety of low-cost yet highly effective marketing strategies to help you increase the visibility and customer base of your friendly local game store. Inspired by a question from the Opening a Table Game Store...
MVP153: Unlocking Media Coverage For Your Local Game Store
In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we sit down with Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases and expert in small business PR, to dive deep into how local game stores can harness the power of press releases and media outreach to grow their customer base and boost...
MVP152: What Board Game Retail Really Looks Like in 2025
In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I’m joined once again by Kylie Prymus, the owner of Games Unlimited in Pittsburgh — one of the oldest game stores in the U.S. We dig into the current state of the board game industry, the tension between CCGs and board games,...
MVP149: The Future of 2nd Hand Geek: Updates, Features, and Benefits for Game Stores
In this special update episode of the Manaverse Podcast, host Tom Traplin sits down with Blake Hawkey, one of the co-founders of 2nd Hand Geek. Together, they discuss the evolution of the platform since its inception, the exciting new features available, and how the...
MVP148: Local Game Stores Can Save The World
How Game Stores Can Change Lives and Build Community In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I dive deep into a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately: the growing loneliness and division many of us are experiencing in the modern world. With nearly a third of...
MVP147: Category One Games and How Scott Church Built a Business on “Dead” TCG’s
This interview that you’re about to hear with Scott Church is fascinating. Scott is the owner of Category One Games, an online only store he started way back in the mists of time, also known as 2004. A 20 year old online only store is interesting enough, but Category...
MVP146: Millennium Games – The Biggest Game Store in the USA
We dive into Travis Severance’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.
MVP145: Manapool.com – The Marketplace for Magic Cards
Andrew Johnson comes onto the podcast to talk about creating Manapool.com, a marketplace just for Magic cards.