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!
MVP142: Part 2 – Unlocking Retail Success With Personalized Client Service – Insights from The Deck Box
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...
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
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...
MVP141: Altered – The Game Aiming To Change the TCG Industry
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...
MVP140: He’s Doing $500k/Year In Online Sales, So Why Open A Game Store?
Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse podcast! I’m your host, Tom Traplin, and today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tyler Brotton, an ambitious entrepreneur charting a unique path in the gaming industry. From starting as an online card trader during...
MVP139: Brendan Carrion on Lorcana Reprints, Restocks, and the Future of the Game
The launch of Lorcana has been a roller coaster for game stores. The absurdly high demand combined with a very limited supply of product has created a perfect storm for game store owners looking to sell, as well as consumers and collectors looking to buy. Online...
MVP138: 2ndHandGeek.com – The Marketplace That Supports Your FLGS
Alan Blakeborough, Founder and CEO of 2ndHandGeek.com, talks about the new online marketplace that supports friendly local game stores. Alan and his team are creating a new competitor to the $9 billion marketplace of eBay, where the fees are competitive and 1% of each...
MVP137: How To Create Video Content and Why It’s One of the Most Powerful Ways To Market Your Game Store
Frank Rossi and Jordan Shankman are the featured guests for today's episode of the podcast. Frank and Jordan are the owners of Petrichor Productions in the Greater Atlanta area and they specialize in video production and helping businesses bring their brand story to...
MVP136: The Commander Nexus
Commander players are the ultimate casual Magic player for game stores. Having a thriving and vibrant Commander community is a huge asset since Commander players often spend the most money on the hobby and buy all sorts of cards that conventional Standard or Modern...
MVP135: The Mind Behind Mindtaker Miniatures
Robyn Lowy, the owner of Mindtaker Miniatures in Vancouver, Washington, talks about how she built a truly unique take on the friendly local game store. Find out how Robyn started by buying and selling miniatures online and expanded the business into a fully fledged...
MVP134: Brendan Carrion on Athoria Games and Marketing in the Modern Age
Brendan Carrion, email marketer/game designer/podcaster with Athoria Games in Arizona, is on the podcast to talk about the nuts and bolts of marketing a game store and getting new customers, what makes Athoria Games tick, and discuss the state of the gaming industry...