36 Spruce St. “Danger Planet” I will miss thee!
Danger Planet, I miss you and you’ll always be remembered. I think back to game stores that I use to visit in Boston. Working on a gaming diorama piece I created for a kiddo at church took me back to those places I use to haunt. Fantastic Worlds, Lonestar comics, Heroes Workshop (all gone now). While in Boston I found a great little store that just opened up a month or two earlier called “Danger Planet”. It was great. Nice atmosphere, great location and parking.
It was a great place run and owned by a guy by the name of Brian Lasiewsk . Originally there were three partners in the store but as disagreements ensued he bought out the other two and ran it himself. I think what made the place so hospitable were the game tables, game nights, and wonderful terrain. Literally the best terrain I’ve seen built from scratch. The only terrain that comes close is Board and Brew Games in Houston. (https://www.boardandbrew.games/) They’re buildings are AMAZING! Danger Planet games had that wonderfully funky feel that I miss.
I liked the store so much I worked there part time for a while. My partner at the time decided working wasn’t for her. So I had to pick up the slack. (In retrospect she was kind of useless.) So I got a job there. It was interesting. I worked Saturday nights and Thursday nights. The only downside was doing intake of new stock. I HATED that part. The kids were cool Saturday night. It was almost a club house feeling. Some parents would go out, drop their kids off and come back and get them. I quickly realized I wasn’t getting paid enough. It was fun though as I was about to have my oldest one soon.
Those kids all grown now which is weird to think possibly having kids of their own. The youngest kid hanging out now would be 25, the oldest kid with never ending “Chuck Norris jokes” would be around or approaching 30. Holy crap I’m old. Brian (the store owner) use to put on events at the store that were incredible. Giant massive games. Only a few of the WW2 games were a little wonky. There were no Tigers at Dunkirk…Flames of War, Warhammer for folks who want to play 15mm WWII. (Dunkirk was 2 years earlier.)
Sadly after I moved away they closed. I read an article that they sold the building using it now for storage for the Indian market down the street. The awesome wooden doors I use to lock at night are still there but haven’t been cared for and look to be slowly aging of dry rot and the weather. You can still see the shelving walls in the store that Brian put up.
The store had an incredible terrain club. They did all sorts of cool projects. They build Ice boards, forest, swamp, you name it. All 6' x 4' boards. They looked incredible. Every Halloween he’d section off the downstairs and put in black lights and have giant neon Gene Stealer armies waiting. You’d get one champion model against the waves. The model that lasted the longest was invariably the winner. Usually a Tau. The neon glowing paint made it fun to loose none the less.
The store had an unusual energy about it. The terrain was great. The boards were fun to play on. I had a blast playing there! I really miss the folks I met there. A great macabre group of individuals from all over. I think the best thing about Brian was that he had a great way of working with kids. Some kids had their birthday parties there. Something I’ve not seen before or sense. He’d host wonderful kids focused tournaments. One was a Warhammer Tournament and each kid had a different army and a boat to lay siege to a city. Some of the boats blew me away at their artistic craft. One kids they called “Fred” played Orcs. Fred built an orc barge. Basically just popsicle sticks made to make a raft with a wooden canopy. The damn thing looked incredible. It looked ORCISH. I was amazed a nine year old could do that. As they approached the city there was a “Kraken” that came out and the kids had to do battle with. It was those fun events that I’d not seen since the days of Fantasic Worlds in Fort Worth. (That’s where I met the great “Weldon Adams”.)
The fun thing was all the gaming tables were below the store in the basement. It was super clean, lots of space and wonderfully laid out. It didn’t have the “Gamer funk” that many stores had. (Complete Strategist got funky at times before Mike Horne took over.)
The store’s terrain was so good they even got noticed by Mongoose publishing and asked to do a book for Starship Troopers game. Shortly after Brian join Mongoose Publishing as their director of Marketing. That’s where I met the co-founder of Mongoose. I heard all kinds of crazy stories about “Mongoose Matt”. He had a history of pissing off people. GAMMA one year Brian said he had to step in because all of the distributors were “Pissed” at how something or other was going. Needless to say Brian didn’t stay long. I think after that the store energy started to go down hill as the debt of buying out the store started to weigh on him. I think the store started to loose profitability and he hired a manager so he could go back to work and support his family. Below is pictured the book that was published and the terrain the “Terrain Guild” put together on Thursday nights. To be frank, I learned ALOT from watching those guys. To quote Steve Jobs, “Good artists copy, great artists steal”. I stole a lot of tips and methods. Brian was super skilled at making terrain and painting. I don’t think I saw anything he painted I didn’t like. HE COULD BUILD TERRAIN!
The next store down memory lane is Your Move Games 389 Highland Ave. Somerville, MA 02144
https://www.yourmovegames.com/
DAVIS SQUARE: is a quaint little area Sommerville MA near Cambridge right off the Red Line. The store got it’s funding from selling Magic the Gathering cards online. They had two store fronts during their time in the square. One over a little Chinese restaurant and another at it’s final resting spot. The original site was nice, weird, and very quirky. It had that game store funk that you often find when hitting stores. A smell that can only be described as shame, and guys who are too busy gaming, watching TV, and painting minis to watch. It’s a very distinctive smell you never forget. Like the smell of your pee after eating Asparagus.
The atmosphere and the staff were fun. I’d find all kinds of great out of print models in the bargain bin, old GW paints and brushes. It was a cornucopia of excited 20 somethings who would tell you about their army at the drop of their hat and mediocre slap shot terrain put together for the stores GW tournaments. I do have fond memories though. I guess because that was my store when I was getting back into painting after college.
A few years later the store moved. Probably because they were converting the building into office space. Because we don’t need smelly, fried food smelling gamers, we need “Office Space”. The new store wasn’t as much fun as the old store. It worked but it went from quaint and weird to “Meh”. The appeal though became Davis Square. Davis square back then was starting to blossom. Anna’s Taqueria was the only place I could find a decent burrito near by that was both tasty and not “Taco Bell”. There were other places but Anna’s was quite, tasty and nice. Then there was the Diesel Cafe. An LGBTQ+ friendly coffee house I liked and hung out at from time to time. Red Bones was there back in the day and had wonderful events. I still remember their “Real Cask Ale” event where you get get fully cask ale. (For a beer nerd it was a big deal!)
The comic shop Comicazi is still there to this day, as is Diesel Cafe. Comicazi was an ok comic shop but the reason you go is for the owner. He’s super sweet and at the time I was looking for something to read and he helped me find some cool titles. He’s great. If your ever in Davis Square pop in. He won’t remember who I am but he’s a nice guy none the less and has a good selection.
Pandemonium Books and Games
Originally in the “Garage” in Harvard Square. (An old parking garage they turned into a mall). It was ok. Mainly books and games. I went their only occasionally. Pandemonium moved to Central Square in Cambridge down from the Middle East. It really blossomed after that move. The owner, Tyler Stewart, nearly went bankrupt getting the building in order with all the regulations and plumbing changes. (New fire system that cost I think $20,000!) He was able to pull it all together. The new spot is like Danger Planet. He admitted the similarities. Next to a post office, two levels ect. Needless to say the store is actually pretty big. It’s where I picked up some new novels I still love. The owner helped me find them and I’m grateful for that. The Dresden Files were SOOOO fun to read.
In order to get funds he rand fundraisers. He had shirt ideas and sold them. I still have two of my campaign shirts and love them. The shirts were what was so fun about the store. The nice thing also is that the store has a lower level entirely dedicated to gaming and it’s a big spot. I loved the events and drives they held their. I always enjoyed going to the new location. Combine that with Authors readings, signings and other events I miss the store. The other was fun but the new one is much better! If you’re in Cambridge check them out and say hi to Tyler for me.
http://www.201mass.com/ :The Complete Strategist
The complete Strategist is and was a hole in the wall game shop. It’s since moved but in it’s old location across from the Christian Science Center it had a fun eclectic group of folks I met there. The “Strat” was we called it wasn’t so much a great store but the people who went there and hung out, ran events were what made it so great. I met some really wonderful folks there. One kid wrote in “You Primative Screw Heads” for R. Talslorian Games and another left the US to go home and start a mini painting business. (Navin) — He got laid off and said “F-You I’m going to go do what I love in Colombo Sri Lanka”. His company is https://www.paintedfigs.com/ I’ve got great stories from him.
It was a great store with great people. (I use to game with the old Manager Tony Karsonis. He was a great angry little guy with a HUGE miniature collection. He had a big basement and ran games out it.) There was the old manager Pete who Tony hired. He is honestly a nice guy. I can’t fault him on that. It was just that he had this stuffed whale and girls would come into the store and play with it and it got creepy. The only problem with the store though was the funk. It was pretty intense. The bathroom was a fright and the lingering funk never went away. I’m not sure how funk spreads or it’s modus oporundi but that funk was intense.
Mike Horne ran it after Pete. I knew of Mike from friends where in Texas. Mike was a nice guy and Febreze’d the hell out of the place. So the funk was replace noticeably with Febreze but it was better overall I think. Also the store became a lot more cleaner. I worked a four day shift back then and ran Shadowrun on Thursday nights in the backroom after the store closed. It was nice and we had fun. That was when Navin wanted to play a “Pimp”. There’s something funny about that to this day. A Sri-Lankan guy with kings English playing a pimp. It was “special” and fit into the game strangely well.
The store was located at 201 Mass Ave. One of the guys from the store setup a website for the store so everyone could hang out online. 201 Mass. The server ran out of his house. It was fun to argue, post, and act weird. I created an alter ego, “Edwardo Sanchez” because it wasn’t even spanish but looked like it. It was still me but I thought it was funny and odd so I went with it rather than “Dark Ninja” or “Cyber Crash”, or “Taxilotil” or other weird names. Sometimes a newbie would ask if I was Hispanic. I would respond back in my worst German, “Nein”.
STORES IN THE DFW AREA I SUGGEST
Having moved back to Dallas some of my favorite stores are stores that have community and diversity in stock and staff. There are stores like Scifi Factory but they tend not to be very LGBTQ+ friendly and I’ve had some issues with them. Some of my favorite stores in Texas are:
Common Ground games. I love stopping in here. (I wish I lived closer.) They have a great space, wonderful staff, and a huge selection. It’s not as big as biggest stores but it’s big enough were the staff is always kind and easy to find. They hold lots of events, tournements and what not. They also got me addicted to Pro Acryl paints. My new favorite paint set. Great for air brush and painting. Not as big a range as some but I love the feel and flow of the paint from their bottles. I can’t say enough good things about Common Ground Games, check them out!
CARROLLTON, TX 75006
The Texas Toy Soldier is the creation of Allen Eldridge, co-founder of Task Force games. The store was was sold off after he retired. He’s one of the creators of Star Fleet Battles, the game of “never ending spreadsheets”. His store is fun. It’s very miniatures focused which I love and the only place in Texas you can find both Pro Acryl and Scale 75 in the same store! If you like painting minis this is the place. It’s also the only place you can buy Wargames Illustrated! If your a mini person check them out!
Y2komics is that “hole in the wall” local game store. It’s a great game and comic shop and does both well. If they don’t have it the owner will order it for you and is a great guy. It’s a great community in the shop. It’s very no-frills but has a wonderful assortment of used games and books. If you want to haggle do so with the owner though. He’s who you need to deal with. I use to live by the store and we did paint nights every friday there. It’s a fun little store in South West Fort Worth. They hold tournaments regularly, free comic day, and other events in the store. It’s very kid friendly and has a nice assortment of kids comics. I like the store and it’s worth checking out! A great old school store with games and comics.
Remember support your local game or hobby store and roll some dice!
(Stores that will be missed: Hero’s Workshop (Berry) , Lone Star Comics (Abrams st. Arlington), Roll2Play (Coppell), Fantastic Worlds (Ridgmar Mall area, Lackland Rd.), Phoenix Hobbies (Massachusetts). I miss the old Lone Star Comics Warehouse sales. I found some great wooden slugs in those sales!
(Not included as I’ve only been there once, Madness Comics and Games. It’s HUGE. Overwhelming and did I say huge. Great store but really really big.)
So all in all I would say the game store will always be important. You can’t “virtualize” the game store experience. I think it’s important for game stores to find out ways to “stand out” with events, and the those who run them. For lack of a better term game stores for them to be successfull have to take on roll as community and community organizer. The best stores like Fantastic worlds and Danger planet capitalized on big showy events. Community is at the core of a good gaming store and keeping people in the store builds that community. People who feel connected to your business support it and help it grow.
