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

MVP140: He's Doing $500k/Year In Online Sales, So Why Open A Game Store? from 2023-12-05T13:04

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 pat...

MVP139: Brendan Carrion on Lorcana Reprints, Restocks, and the Future of the Game from 2023-11-08T08:10

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...

MVP138: 2ndHandGeek.com - The Marketplace That Supports Your FLGS from 2023-10-30T15:55

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 ...

MVP137: How To Create Video Content and Why It's One of the Most Powerful Ways To Market Your Game Store from 2023-10-08T16:12

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 speciali...

MVP136: The Commander Nexus from 2023-09-12T15:42

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 th...

MVP135: The Mind Behind Mindtaker Miniatures from 2023-06-16T16:26

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 ...

MVP134: Brendan Carrion on Athoria Games and Marketing in the Modern Age from 2023-06-08T12:16

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, wha...

MVP133: Jamison Sacks On 10 Years At Common Ground Games from 2023-05-06T08:00

We've got Jamison Sacks on the podcast today. Jamison is the owner of Common Ground Games in Dallas. Founded in 2013 by Jamison Sacks & DR Hanson, Common Ground Games brings a premiere retai...

MVP132: 95 Game Center and Growing The Business Into An MTG Singles Online Powerhouse from 2023-04-21T13:06

We've got Michael McKinney on the podcast today. Michael is the logistics manager of 95 MTG and 95 Game Center in Wilmington and we dig into some really interesting aspects of the way 95 Game Ce...

MVP131: Is Wizards of the Coast Killing The Golden Goose? from 2023-04-11T15:30

Daniel Vander Kooy comes onto the Manaverse Podcast and talks about the OGL, whether Wizards of the Coast is killing the golden goose, what's happening in the hobby industry, and how game store ...

MVP130: The Return of Erik Bigglestone, Website Accessibility and ADA Lawsuits, and What Game Store Owners Need to Do To Protect Their Businesses in 2023 from 2023-04-03T12:22

Erik Bigglestone makes his return debut on the Manaverse Podcast to share his experience dealing with an ADA lawsuit last year and talk about ways for game stores to protect their businesses fro...

MVP129: The First 100 Days from 2023-03-29T13:43

Hypothesis: Customer Lifetime Value highly correlates to a high number of positive interactions within the first 100 days, and the likelihood of those interactions is highly correlated to to the...

MVP128: Cosmic Games and the Art of Selling Singles and Retro Video Games from 2023-03-29T13:34

We've got Adam Scholtz on the podcast. Adam is the owner of Cosmic Games in Bellingham. Cosmic Games is Bellingham's premier source for Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon Trading Card Game, Video Gam...

MVP127: The Game Chest Is Raising The Bar On The Tabletop Industry from 2023-03-21T15:54

We've got Maryam Al-Hammami on the podcast. Maryam is the co-owner of The Game Chest, a four location local game store business in California. Maryam and I discuss what it takes for a game store...

MVP126: How David Finn Is Building A Giga Empire - Giga-Bites Tabletop Cafe and Bridge Distribution from 2023-03-08T14:57

We've got David Finn on the podcast. David is the owner of Giga-Bites Cafe in Marietta, near Atlanta. Giga-Bites Café was founded by David Finn 14 years ago and is the host for a gaming communit...

MVP125: Modern Table Top Gaming from 2023-02-26T15:46

We've got Christopher Wood and Deon on the podcast today. Chris is the owner of Modern Table Top Gaming, a WPN Premium store in South Chesterfield, Virginia. MTTG is a fantastically executed gam...

MVP124: Breaking Down the Barriers to Entry for Your LGS with Critical Hit Games from 2023-02-14T10:52

We've got Whitman Bottiger, the owner of Critical Hit Games on the the podcast today. Critical Hit Games is a WPN Premium game store in Abingdon, Maryland carrying the classic selection of ...

MVP123: Nostos Boutique on Creating a Truly Unique Game Store Brand and Culture from 2023-01-20T11:25

We've got Krisy Viola, the owner of Nostos Boutique on the the podcast today.

Nostos is a small, well-loved, and carefully curated WPN Premium shop filled with the very best of comic book...

MVP122: Elysium Cards and Games from 2023-01-11T15:27

Today we're talking with Tyler Selee. Tyler is the owner of Elysium Cards and Games, a WPN premium retailer of tabletop games, Magic, Pokemon, and more in Fair Oaks, California, where everyone i...

MVP121: Versus Games and the Secret Sauce from 2022-12-22T12:07

I've got D from Versus Games in San Francisco with me on today and one of the most consistent threads in our conversation on what makes Versus Games successful is marketing.

We kept comin...

MVP120: Welcome to the Spellenhuis! from 2022-11-22T12:15

We're going across the pond to talk to Patrick ten Hoorn, the owner of Spellenhuis in the Netherlands! Patrick talks about his journey of taking his dream to open a stylish game cafe and turning...

MVP119: Gnome Games and The Gnoshery, Tales From the Head Gnome Pat Fuge from 2022-11-01T14:25

Today we're talking with Pat Fuge. Pat is the Head Gnome of Gnome Games, Wisconsin’s Family Game store, with locations across the Fox Valley for customers to shop and play in. Pat talks about th...

MVP118: Rob Gruber The Elf King on Good Times Games from 2022-10-24T13:09

Today we're talking with Rob Gruber, aka The Elf King. Rob is the owner of Good Times Games in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and he's built an incredible business by becoming somewhat of a loc...

MVP117: Digital Accessibility Lawsuits Are Here, What You Can Do To Protect Your Game Store from 2022-10-15T16:01

Here's what we know

If you've been active in the game store owner groups on Facebook you've probably seen the posts recently about game stores and publishers being targete...

MVP116: Magic 30th Anniversary Beta Packs, Game Cafes vs Game Stores, The Future of the Industry from 2022-10-07T16:02

New round table episode!

• Wizard's new $999 Beta booster pack product,
• The future of the friendly local game store,
• Are game cafes the natural evolution of the FLGS?<...
  Listen

MVP115: Running a Hands Off Game Store with Jason Garvin from Total Escape Games from 2022-09-20T09:56

Today we're talking with Jason Garvin. Jason is the manager of Total Escape Games, a premium retailer of...

MVP114: Is the FLGS Business Model Dead? from 2022-09-14T11:13

Hey, welcome back to the Manaverse Podcast! I'm your host Tom Traplin and this is the podcast where we explore what it takes to build a successful friendly local game store.

Before we jump...

MVP113: The Secrets of Unplugged Gaming's $14K Grand Opening Day from 2022-03-04T13:00

Jake Tanner is the owner Unplugged Gaming in Manlius New York. Jake came into the tabletop gaming business from a different angle than most of the game store owners that have been featured on th...

MVP112: How to Generate Free Traffic From Google That Turns Into Customers and Sales For Your Game Store from 2022-02-21T10:45

For most game store owners, SEO is techno jargon. Something that only the biggest ecommerce businesses need to think about. I've also heard variations of the sentiment that it’s impossible to co...

MVP111: BGE Tabletop and Dustin Staats on Launching a Game Store in 2022 from 2022-01-14T10:00

Dustin is the owner and founder of Board Gaming with Education and BGE Tabletop. He has experience teaching English as a second language to a variety of age levels – from kindergarten to univers...

MVP110: The Three Biggest Lessons of 2021 and a Look at 2022 from 2022-01-08T14:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time celebrating the arrival of 2022. One of the things I like to do at the beginning of the year is to look back a bit and see what happened over...

MVP109: The Most Important Pieces of Content Every Game Store Website Should Have from 2021-12-30T19:00

This is the second podcast in a series that I'm calling Launch Lessons, where I'll be breaking down the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing and show you just how powerful and important they are to ...

MVP108: How Much Your Email List Worth? from 2021-12-29T14:00

In the spirit of giving value up front, this is the first podcast in a series that I'm calling Launch Lessons, where I'll be breaking down the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing and show you just ...

MVP107: The Most Successful Game Stores Have Mastered Digital Marketing, Here's How Your Store Can Do The Same from 2021-12-20T13:00

If you're a game store owner, you're ridiculously busy most of the time.

You've got inventory to manage, events to organize, people to hire, and a million product...

MVP106: RPG Travel - How to Create The Ultimate Gaming Adventure from 2021-11-26T13:00

Today we are talking with Alex Thor and Jonathan Adams. Alex is the Director of Operations at RPG Travel and Jonathan is their resident gaming master. Both of these fine gentlemen were featured ...

MVP105: Athena Games, The TARDIS of Norwich from 2021-11-08T10:21

Athena Games in Norwich, UK

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we're talking with Jamie Grinstead from Athena Games. Athena Games is Norwich's premier tabletop game destination...

MVP104: The Allocation Situation from 2021-09-02T16:00

Let's have a quick chat about the allocation situation and how distribution can help support game stores that spend years building the communities that create the demand for the products in the ...

MVP103: Marketing Strategies That Move The Needle In 2021 from 2021-08-17T06:00

Jess Carrier is the featured guest on the Manaverse Podcast today. Jess is the Head of Marketing and Events at Noble Knight Games in Wisconsin and we're going to dig into my favourite topic, whi...

MVP102: 7 Ways To Avoid The Supply Chain Problems of 2021 from 2021-08-08T00:15

The 2nd LGS Success Summit is scheduled for September 7th to 9th, 2021 and we're going bigger and better for this one.

Just like last time, this summit is a virtual event so you don't hav...

MVP101: Is SEO Worth It For Your Game Store? from 2021-07-21T12:50

Does Your Game Store Need an SEO Specialist?

If you've been in business for any length of time you've probably been pitched SEO services at least a few times by people promising to get y...

MVP100: The Road To WPN Premium Status from 2021-06-30T06:00

In today's episode we are going straight to the source and exploring what makes the WPN program tick, how to achieve that coveted Premium status for your game store, and how to make the most it....

MVP099: Curt Covert From Smirk and Dagger Games on Publishing Games and What We Can Learn From Other Industries from 2021-06-26T08:00

Curt Covert is the founder, creative force and jack-of-all-trades at Smirk & Dagger. He’s worn all the hats including art director, copywriter, marketer and concept director, and in a past l...

MVP098: Wizards Announces the End of Professional Level Play from 2021-05-14T12:08

On May 13th, 2021, Wizards of the Coast announced plans to move aw...

MVP097: Molly Zeff on Flying Leap Games, Wing It, and What She Learned By Visiting 250+ Game Stores from 2021-04-28T08:00

Molly Zeff, the cofounder of Flying Leap Games is on the Manaverse Podcast to talk about getting into the game publishing business and what she learned by visiting over 250 game stores all over ...

MVP096: Dized - How To Automate Your Board Game Demo Table and Sell More Board Games from 2021-04-13T10:30

Jouni Jussilla is on the Manaverse Podcast to talk about Dized, a digital companion designed to be used next to physical tabletop games. We all know that one of the biggest obstacles to picking ...

MVP095: GAMA EXPO 2021 Review from 2021-04-08T10:50

GAMA EXPO 2021 has come and gone so let's talk about what went well and what could be improved on. Today, I'm breaking down my experience with the Expo and some of the difficulties I ran into wh...

MVP094: Hold The Line! One Star Reviews, Speculators, and Pricing To The Market from 2021-03-11T14:56

If you’ve been open for any length of time in this business you’ve probably run into someone who thinks they deserve a special deal.

Maybe they’ve been a long time customer, maybe they’ve...

MVP093: Grow Your RPG Community with StartPlaying.Games from 2021-03-03T12:00

Devon Chulick is the Founder and COO of Start Playing Games, a service that helps connect tabletop RPG gamers and professional game masters together to create amazing gaming experiences.

...

MVP092: How To Run Magic Tournaments Online With Melee.gg from 2021-01-06T14:52

Steve Port joins me on the podcast to discuss his latest project, Melee.gg and the future of Magic tournaments, online and offline. Learn how Melee.gg can allow your game store to run Magic tour...

MVP091: How I Would Improve Star City Games Marketing from 2020-11-04T14:15

Join me as I tell the story of interviewing for the position of marketing manager for Star City Games and my plan for improving the marketing strategy of one of the biggest Magic: the Gathering ...

MVP090: Knight Watch Games on the New Gamer Demographic of 2021 and Beyond from 2020-10-07T13:55

Brenda and Paraic Mulgrew are the owners of the incredibly thematic Knight Watch Games in San Antonio. Knight Watch Games is a full service gaming center that s...

MVP089: How Games Unlimited Raised $11,085 in Under 24 Hours from 2020-08-06T16:15

Kylie Prymus has been the owner of Games Unlimited in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since 2015 but Games Unlimited is one of the original founding game stores in North America. Opening their doors fo...

MVP088: The Mana Boardgame Tavern is Open For Business from 2020-07-28T15:40

Shannon Ebbitt is the co-owner with husband Vince, of the Mana Boardgame Tavern in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a steampunk inspired venue offering a variety of adult beverages combined with a ...

MVP087: Three Major Changes for Qualifying as a WPN Premium Store from 2020-07-11T20:43

Wizards of the Coast made an announcement recently on the WPN site detailing the changes to the program and what it takes for local game stores to qualify for WPN Premium status.

So let's ...

MVP086: Now Is Not The Time To Open a Game Store, Do This Instead from 2020-04-12T10:28

If you're in the planning stages of your future game store or were about to launch, you should put everything on hiatus right now.

Hold off on opening your doors or making any major purch...

MVP085: Resources and Advice For Staying In Business During The Covid-19 Pandemic from 2020-04-03T12:27

The situation is changing day by day and for many game store owners, business is anything but the usual.

Social distancing and isolation have made the traditional model for local game stor...

MVP084: Get In Front of More Customers with WeTabletop from 2020-03-29T16:54

Joe Masilotti is on the show to talk about how WeTabletop can help game store owners get in front of more customers and fill up their events more consistently.

WeTabletop allows players l...

Coronavirus Is Here, Now What? from 2020-03-11T19:41

Is coronavirus worse than the flu? At this point it doesn't matter, the panic and fear is real.

Governments are taking this seriously.

Coronavirus is going to affect all retail but ...

MVP083: Justice Has Been Served from 2019-04-22T19:54:02

For those who haven’t heard the tale, Pat’s Games was robbed a little over three years ago and the bad guys made off with over $60,000 worth of high value Magic cards. The story of the burglary ...

MVP082: Pete Hoefling on Star City Games from 2019-02-19T22:25:38

Since the day I started the Manaverse Podcast I've wanted to interview certain people in particular. John Coviello and Gordan Johansen were high on my list, as well as Pat Johnson and Kelly Acke...

MVP081: Chatbots: What They Are And Why You Should Care from 2019-01-20T16:14:25

Over the course of the last year, Chatbots have been making a lot of noise in the industry. They are either the cutting edge in marketing technology, poised to change the way people interact wit...

MVP080: How Gordon Johansen Sold $36,000 Worth Of Product In One Day from 2019-01-14T03:51:25

  Gordon Johansen is back on the Manaverse Podcast along with John Coviello and Wayne Mittlesteadt to talk about holiday sales and driving big numbers during the holiday season. Black Friday, Sm...

MVP079: The State Of The Games Industry from 2019-01-06T17:23:49

2018 has been an interesting year for the games industry. We've seen a glut of excellent board games hit the market and more mainstream adoption of the gaming hobby by the 'mundanes' as John Cov...

MVP078: The Death Of Magic Online from 2018-12-06T17:32:14

The days of Magic Online are numbered, at least in its current form. The question we explore today is "Will Wizard's of the Coast shut down Magic Online?" and how will this affect local game sto...

MVP077: Are Your Building A Business Or Are You Building A Community from 2018-11-22T09:08:59

In this super short episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we ask the question "are you focusing on the right things?" Specifically, are you building a business, or are you building a community? I'm ...

MVP076: Marketing Strategies That Drive Sales from 2018-11-12T15:21:37

Matthew Vercant has worked for three game stores, done shipping fulfillment for various Kickstarters, managed shipping for Minion Games, and now owns Just Games Rochester. His background before ...

MVP075: Starting A Movement from 2018-10-13T19:07:40

Do you know what it takes to start a movement in your local game community? That's the essence of this episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Darcy and Daniel Leech, the owners of Mind Sculpt Games i...

MVP074: When To Give Up And When To Push Through from 2018-09-10T01:49:30

Sometimes you reach a point in your business where you begin to question whether or not the whole endeavor is worth the effort. You face a crossroads where you can either choose to quit and walk...

MVP073: Round Table – The Rise Of D&D And The Impending Doom Of Magic from 2018-08-22T12:30:19

The first episode of the Round Table is back after 8 months. The whole gang returns to discuss the recent developments in the industry including the rise of D&D. Roleplaying popularity is surgin...

MVP072: The Gamer’s Paradox And Dealing With Burnout from 2018-08-18T16:01:32

Everyone gets burnt out every once in a while. The question is what to do about it when it happens. Even gaming can become exhausting and stressful once you make it your profession, and that's t...

MVP071: Round Table – Distribution… It’s Not Just The Games That Are Analog, It’s The Industry from 2017-12-14T19:41:46

John Coviello (Little Shop of Magic) and Gary Sproul (The Haunted Game Cafe) join me to discuss every retailer's favorite topic: dealing with distributors and figuring out your supply chain.  If...

MVP070: Round Table – MTG Arena And Counterfeit Games from 2017-09-20T08:47:18

The round table is back.  John Coviello (Little Shop of Magic), Wayne Mittlesteadt (Dueling Grounds), and Gary Sproul (The Haunted Game Cafe) join me to discuss two things: Wotc's new digital of...

MVP069: 3 Growth Hacks For Your Game Store That You Can Implement Today from 2017-09-14T15:49:25

Learn about the three growth hacks that you can implement in your game business today that can potentially lead to exponential growth. Discover how to build in a viral component into your events...

MVP068: The Future Of MTG E-Commerce from 2017-09-05T16:05:45

Nate Petersen is the owner of Backstage Hobbies and Games, West Michigan's premier vintage Video Game, Board Game, and Trading Card Game store. This episode isn't just a feature on Nate's game s...

MVP067: The New Dueling Grounds from 2017-08-27T16:23:28

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Wayne Mittelstaedt is back on the podcast for a one on one interview and we're going deep into the trials and tribulations of a major busines...

MVP066: How To Build A Winning Team from 2017-08-16T18:14:02

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. We've got a great show for you today because today the whole round table is here to talk about finding and hiring the right people so you can...

MVP065: Personal Development And Tools For Success from 2017-08-08T15:09:03

This is the third episode in the series where we're exploring the question "If a game store wants to grow their game store business today, what should they do?"    If you haven't listened to the...

MVP064: Round Table – The Games Industry Is Changing from 2017-07-22T21:19:11

The round table is back! John Coviello and Gary Sproul join me to discuss the recent changes in the gaming industry and their impact on the business. We go over Game Workshop changing their poli...

MVP063: How To Craft An Exceptional Experience from 2017-07-01T08:08:41

One of the most common threads among the game stores that have been featured on this podcast is that they provide their customers with an exceptional experience. Each transaction in your busines...

MVP062: Marketing Your Game Store from 2017-05-29T08:55:24

How would you like to wake up every day, knowing that your game store is steadily growing. Events are pulling in larger and larger numbers of people. The number of sales is going up, along with ...

MVP061: Building Mind Sculpt Games From The Ground Up from 2017-05-16T07:56:43

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast we're talking about Great Bend's newest game store, Mind Sculpt Games. So new it doesn't exist yet. Usually, I interview game store owners that have b...

MVP060: The GameBoard – How To Make Your Customer The Hero With Lynn Potyen from 2017-05-01T08:00:34

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, our special guest is the most excellent Lynn Potyen. Lynn is the owner of the The GameBoard in Sheboygan, WI and in the words of the Geek and Sundry ...

MVP059: Guardian Games and Fostering a Magic Community with Gene Joo from 2017-04-18T22:16:25

Guardian Games, the Grandest Game Store in Portland is the subject of this episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Gene Joo is the special guest today, he's the Magic Department Manager of Guardian Ga...

MVP058: Business is War – Mark Koh on MegaCorp from 2017-01-30T06:51:43

Megacorp was created and designed by Mark G. Koh, a serial tech founder with a lifelong love of card games and business. Growing up in Singapore, southeast Asia, Mark discovered tabletop games a...

MVP057: Round Table – Breakout Games, Surprise Winners, Unexpected Stinkers, And The Lessons Of 2016 Round Table from 2017-01-09T08:00:49

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, the hosts of the show look back on 2016 and do a postmortem report. It's always a good idea to look back on what went right and what went wrong. You can...

MVP056: November In Review, Plus A Special Announcement from 2016-12-14T09:59:09

The round table hosts of the Manaverse Podcast come together to discuss the past month. We live in exciting times and November has been an interesting for the guys. John Coviello, Wayne Mittlest...

MVP055: Round Table – How To Move/Renovate Your Local Game Store Without Going Insane from 2016-12-06T06:55:47

  Every owner of a profitable game store will eventually face a difficult decision. Do you move your store or do you expand? Well, lucky for you this episode of the Manaverse Podcast covers both...

MVP054: Round Table – Why Game Stores Fail from 2016-10-17T19:04:11

In today's show the hosts of the Manaverse Podcast discuss the reasons why game stores fail. Some percentage of businesses fail. The question is how do you make sure that your game store isn't o...

MVP053: The Problem With Pucatrade from 2016-10-03T08:00:03

  The problems with Pucatrade are the subject of the show today, specifically the release of the Future Site update and the effects of its crumbling economy. After a fundraising campaign and man...

MVP052: Optimizing Your Product Mix from 2016-09-28T03:44:09

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast Wayne hosts John and I at Dueling Grounds in Toronto and we discuss the variety of ways a game store owner can build their shop's inventory. We go ove...

MVP051: Round Table – Top 5 Favourite Games from 2016-09-09T18:22:23

Tom's Top 5 Magic Settlers of Catan Betrayal at House on the Hill Hearthstone DBZ Card Game John's Top 5 Shadows Over Brimstone Takenoko Malifaux the Miniatures GameMansions of Madness Call of C...

MVP050: Ecommerce for Game Store Owners from 2016-08-12T19:53:16

According to an article by Bloomberg last year, ecommerce sales beat out traditional brick and mortar sales during Black Friday. The trend is now obvious and ecommerce sales are going to become ...

MVP049: Gary Sproul on the Haunted Game Cafe from 2016-08-06T08:30:57

Gary Sproul describes the terrifying history of the Haunted Game Cafe Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast involves a deep dive into the murky fog and buried past of Gary Sproul. Gary is the...

MVP048: Round Table – Does your game store need a website? from 2016-07-26T18:46:17

Many game store owners think their Facebook page is all they need to compete online and reach new customers. Tom Traplin, John Coviello, and Gary Sproul come together on this episode of the Mana...

MVP047: GeekyGami’s with Allen Hicks // Nerdish Haven has evolved! from 2016-07-18T18:33:47

GeekyGami's has appeared! The story continues. Allen Hicks comes onto the Manaverse Podcast today to share with us the latest update to the tale of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville, Kansas. Nerdish ...

MVP046: Round Table – Game Cafes from 2016-07-08T11:00:50

The game cafe and how to build one from scratch In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I'm joined by my co-hosts John Coviello and Wayne Mittlesteadt as well as a special guest, Gary Sproul. ...

MVP045: Round Table – Creating a Business Plan That Works from 2016-06-22T09:00:40

  Have you written a business plan for your game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the importance of planning out your business. Sometimes t...

MVP044: Round Table – Will Magic Digital Next Make Magic an E-Sport from 2016-06-14T16:12:48

Is Magic Digital Next Wizard's Answer To Hearthstone? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the future of Magic: the Gathering. We also discuss how it ...

MVP043: Round Table – Will Local Game Stores Survive? from 2016-05-11T00:50:59

  The end of the local game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss an article recently written by past guest of the show, Gary Ray. You can find ...

MVP042: Round Table – Wizards of the Coast Sued By MTG Judges from 2016-05-01T15:41:21

The Wizards Lawsuit In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the details and ramifications of the recent announcement that WotC is being sued by four judges in Cal...

MVP041: Travis Parry and The Nerd Store from 2016-04-22T06:00:23

Travis Parry and the tale of The Nerd Store Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Travis Parry, someone you may recognize from the round table editions of the show. As the only co-ho...

MVP040: Round Table – How To Run Great Events That Grow Your Game Store from 2016-04-15T15:53:25

How to run great events that grow your game store Running events is one of the most effective ways to grow the community for your game store. If you do a good job organizing each one and provide...

MVP039: MiniWarGaming.com – From LGS To YouTube from 2016-04-10T16:13:08

In the grim darkness of the deep internet, there is only war… The featured guest for today’s episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Matthew Glanfield. Matt is the co-owner of the popular YouTube ch...

MVP038: Round Table – The GAMA Trade Show from 2016-04-01T06:00:06

Welcome to the first edition of the Manaverse Podcast round table! In addition to the usual one on one interviews that you know and love, I've brought on a cavalcade of courageous co-hosts, a to...

MVP037: Tom Traplin and the Manaverse Podcast are back! from 2016-04-01T06:00:04

The triumphant return of the Manaverse Podcast is here! No, this isn't a cruel April's Fools joke. The Manaverse Podcast is back! This episode of podcast is a short bite size update, a way for m...

MVP036: Checkmate with Black Knight Games from 2015-10-30T17:30:54

The featured guest on today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Jay Mason-Grant. Jay is the owner of Black Knight Games in Hamilton, Ontario.  Jay has a pretty interesting origin story for how...

MVP035: Player 2 Press Start – KW Vintage Games from 2015-10-23T17:15:42

KW Vintage Games - from retro to cardboard Joaquim Mendes is quite the character.  Our guest today is the owner of one of the most unique shops in Kitchener, Ontario. Within the walls of his rel...

MVP034: The Nerd Haven Update – 5x The Haven from 2015-10-17T06:11:14

Nerd Haven v2.0 Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of the Manaverse Podcast. Today’s podcast is an update with a previous guest. Roughly six months ago Aaron Tillman started up Nerd Haven wit...

MVP033: Face To Face Toronto – How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Part 2 from 2015-10-09T08:15:15

Face to Face Toronto - The Duelist Welcome to part 2 of the Kelly Ackerman/Face To Face Toronto interview. Today Kelly and I talk about the big mistakes, the big wins, and a bunch of tools and r...

MVP032: How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Of Face To Face Toronto Part 1 from 2015-10-02T08:21:02

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. We’re continuing the Face To Face Games series today, this time we’re back in Toronto with Kelly Ackerman. Kelly is the co-owner of the newes...

MVP031: Captain Canada Talks Being On The Pro Tour, Content Creation, And Building ManaDeprived.com from 2015-09-25T07:56:55

In this edition of the Manaverse Podcast and over the next few weeks, I am excited feature one of the most well known names in Canadian Magic. This particular episode our guest has competed on t...

MVP030: The Methods Card Kingdom and Mox Boarding House Use To Reach Hundreds Of Customers Each Week from 2015-09-18T08:00:13

Welcome to the 30th episode of the Manaverse Podcast. I’ve got a great show for you today, our featured guest is the creative content manager for one of the premier LGSs in North America. Perhap...

MVP029: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 2 from 2015-09-11T08:41:10

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is part two of the Steve Ellis interview and yes, that's a time travelling DeLorean in the feature image. Steve is the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Alo...

MVP028: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 1 from 2015-09-04T08:00

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Steve Ellis, the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon. Steve had so much insight into the world of game store ownership that I once agai...

MVP027: Meeples Games, Welcome To The Thunderdome! from 2015-08-28T08:13:21

Today on the Manaverse Podcast we're talking to Laura Schneider. Laura's the co-owner of Meeples Games and she's going to walk us through how she built her awesome game store /cafe/thunderdome. ...

MVP026: Derium’s CCGs Part Two from 2015-08-21T08:00:05

This week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is part two of the Derium's CCGs interview. If you haven't checked out part one, you should do that first. I'll wait. Hey, glad you're back. This is ...

MVP025: Derium’s CCGs Part One from 2015-08-14T08:36:47

This week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is a special one. Not only is it the 25th episode, it's also a two parter. The featured business for the next two episodes of the podcast has a popul...

MVP024: Bampot Tea, The Trendiest Board Game Cafe In Toronto from 2015-08-07T08:31:51

Today’s show features Alex Moore. Alex is the chef and board game manager at Bampot, a board game cafe in Toronto. Bampot, or the full version: Bampot: Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games is a...

MVP023: Nerdish Haven – The Story Of How To Start An LGS With $500 And A Laptop from 2015-07-31T08:08:34

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Aaron Tillman. He’s the proud owner of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville Kansas. In this episode we explore an LGS in the very first days of it’s exi...

MVP022: How Your LGS Can Crush It With Player Progression from 2015-07-24T08:17:44

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is a little different from the usual show. In this shorter than average episode I talk about the different stages in a Magic player's career and how each...

MVP021: The Crazy Squirrel Game Store Is Plotting World Domination from 2015-07-17T06:15:19

Jennifer Ward comes onto the Manaverse Podcast this week to share with us the future: A world dominated by crazy squirrels. Ok, that's not true, but she has come to share with everybody what mak...

MVP020: Black Diamond Games, Gary Ray, and the Magic Bubble from 2015-07-10T05:00:11

Gary Ray on the Magic: the Gathering bubble   On today's episode, my featured guest is Gary Ray, the store owner of Black Diamond Games in Concord, California. Gary is a purveyor of board games,...

MVP019: Games of Berkeley, California’s Premier FLGS from 2015-07-03T04:38:25

Erik Bigglestone and Games of Berkeley are the focus of this week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Erik shares his experience as part of a gaming family and the story of how he came to be the...

MVP018: Pat’s Games And The Castle That Magic Built from 2015-06-26T04:00:03

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features a woman whose store is literally a castle. Pat Johnson comes on the show to talk about her aptly named store Pat's Games. Pat has a fairly uniqu...

MVP017: Pistols at Dawn! Wayne Mittlestead on Dueling Grounds from 2015-06-19T05:00:58

Wayne Mittlestead comes onto the Manaverse Podcast today to talk about life, love, and happiness as an entrepreneur... sort of. Wayne built Dueling Grounds in Toronto, Ontario from the ground up...

MVP016: Redcap’s Corner with Benn Roe and Adam Friedman from 2015-06-12T04:10:06

Have you ever wondered what might happen if you opened a friendly local game store with a $20 000 credit card limit? Benn Roe and Adam Friedman come on to the Manaverse Podcast and share how it ...

MVP015: Exploring The Little Shop Of Magic With John Coviello from 2015-06-05T04:00:56

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MVP014: How To Get Your Game Idea Published While Playing Magic On The High Seas from 2015-05-29T04:08:07

The featured guest on today's podcast is Steve Port, perhaps you've heard of him? If not him, chances are one of his products has certainly crossed your path. Here's a brief list of the things S...

MVP013: Metal Galaxy, A Ninja Star In Space from 2015-05-22T04:00:56

Pascal Espinosa joins us on the Manaverse Podcast today. Pascal is the owner of Metal Galaxy in Calgary, Alberta where Magic is currently thriving. Not only does Metal Galaxy have a past podcast...

MVP012: Building a Massive Magic Community at the Dragon’s Lair from 2015-05-15T04:00:40

Chris Fedor comes onto the Manaverse Podcast to talk about the pinnacle of geek culture in Austin, Texas, the Dragon's Lair. We chat briefly about the history of the Dragon's Lair and how it gre...

MVP011: The Advantage Of Selling Magic Cards Over The Internet With CardAdvantage.ca from 2015-05-08T00:22:52

The 11th episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Peter Sonegra, one of two owners of cardadvantage.ca. Card Advantage is a rapidly growing online retailer of everybody's favourite game, Magic:...

MVP010: Battling the Minotaur Inside Labyrinth Games from 2015-05-01T05:17:42

The double digit episode of the Manaverse Podcast is here. Today I talk with Kathleen Donahue and Judy Thomas. Kathleen owns Labyrinth Games & Puzzles in Washington, DC and Judy handles the Magi...

MVP009: Rock The Dragon With Jenn Haines from 2015-04-23T05:00:35

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MVP008: Gordon Johansen Talks About Building The 13 000 Square Foot Mecca Of Gaming from 2015-04-17T00:30:29

Gordon Johansen is one of the old guards in gaming, with 35 years of experience in the games business Gordon has seen it all. Gordon and his store, the Sentry Box has seen fads come and go, weat...

MVP007: How Perseverance And Determination Can Build The Foundation For A Successful LGS With Gabe Escobedo and Game Haven STL from 2015-04-10T05:30:37

Game Haven STL takes the G in LGS very seriously. In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I talk with our featured guest Gabe Escobedo about Game Haven STL. Gabe is a study in conviction. W...

MVP006: The Power Of The Acronym, JBC And Just By Chance Games from 2015-04-03T00:30:34

In today's episode, we have a conversation with Larissa Loomes. Larissa is one of three owners of my friendly local game shop Just by Chance Games (or JBC as I know it) in Waterloo, Ontario. We ...

MVP005: The 411 On 401 Games from 2015-03-27T05:45:21

In this episode, we talk with Zoran Dobrijevic. He's the general manager of 401 Games in Toronto, Ontario. Zoran is the Magic specialist for one of the largest game stores in Ontario. Using a un...

MVP004.5: Special PucaTrade Edition from 2015-03-22T05:45:44

In this special edition of the Manaverse Podcast we talk with Eric Freytag, the visionary behind PucaTrade.com. PucaTrade is the premier online trading platform for Magic: the Gathering cards. P...

MVP004: Michael Russo Introduces The Universe Of Universe Games from 2015-03-20T05:45:46

Michael has a history with games, an affinity you could say. From game design to retail to publishing, Michael has had experience with nearly every aspect of the industry and offers his insights...

MVP003: Adventurer’s Wanted, Quarter Available from 2015-03-13T06:00:46

In this episode, we chat with Jacob Alden Stanley. He's the owner of Adventurer's Quarter in Denver, Colorado. We chat about what makes AQ a solid business. Hint: listening to what your customer...

MVP002: Meet Dan Hoffman, the Canton of Canton Games from 2015-03-04T03:00:15

In this episode, we chat with Dan Hoffman. He's the owner of Canton Games in Baltimore, Maryland. If you are working in a job that you don't like, this episode may just convince you to try your ...

MVP001: A World Far, Far Away With Brad Ashton Haiste from 2015-03-04T02:00:18

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we talk with Brad Ashton Haiste. He's the owner of Worlds Away in London, Ontario. Worlds Away is the premier LGS in London and has a thriving, passiona...

MVP000: Welcome to the Manaverse Podcast! from 2015-03-04T01:00:47

The inaugural episode of the Manaverse Podcast. It's been a long time coming. In this short session you will learn a little about myself and my history with Magic and why I'm going through the e...