lolcow. Noun. (plural lolcows) (Internet, slang, derogatory) A person whose eccentric or foolish behavior can be exploited to amuse onlookers.
This shop has possibly set the Guiness World Record for the fastest transformation from a shop I would recommend to anyone to a local laughing stock and a joke that no one takes seriously. When you're the butt of everyone's joke in a majority of the card community of Sacramento, you know something went horrifically wrong along the way. Or, in the case of this shop, 75 things.
At first, the shop was the go-to place for many people of many different card games. Vanguard, Yugioh, Pokemon, and Magic players all comfortably played and attended the weekly/bi-weekly tournaments that the owner, Josh, hosted in his shop. It was convenient for everyone; right off the I-5, near a large Community College, and easily accessible. Now, every shop has it's rules, and this shop's rules are clearly stated on the wall for everyone to see. I would recommend this shop to everyone; out-of-towners, my friends who were looking to get into card games, and even my family. Truly, this shop was a shining beacon of Card Shops. Oh, how everything changes.
The owner showed his true colors multiple times. From accusing one of his bigger customers of ripping people in the community off to calling 2 prominent members of the Vanguard community "snakes", despite these two individuals contributing to the shaping of the game in Sacramento and dropping hundreds of dollars at the shop, the owner showed his ugly side really quick. The days Pao, Paul, and Evan worked there were considered the "glory days", in my opinion. A time when everyone wanted to come play at this shop. The owner would ask his employees to spy on the people in the parking lot to make sure a cash transaction wouldn't happen. It usually never did. The owner also goes out of his way to follow people outside to their car(s) to make sure no money is changing hands. Which is incredibly ironic, since the parking lot is shared by 3 businesses, yet he acts like he owns the parking lot. On one occasion, the owner even followed two people all the way to a convenience store while pretending to take a phone call, which was incredibly creepy and unnecessary. If you are someone who is even remotely associated with the two "snake" individuals, prepare to be under a microscope the second you set foot into his shop. If you so much as mention a dollar value in his shop and you are associated with them, you are asked to leave. Very black and white, but he allows other people to discuss values of cards ad-nauseum with no repercussions whatsoever. He picks and chooses who gets the ban hammer and who doesn't. Which is fine, it's his shop. That, however, is an incredibly quick way to lose your customer base. So is throwing a hissy fit whenever a dollar amount is mentioned (he yelled an expletive and threw a pen in frustration on multiple occasions. Doesn't promote a family-friendly environment.)
When the owner bought stolen cards, he did little to help the person out other than offer to sell them back at the rates he bought them at, and even then, not everything was there that was stolen. He kind of shrugged about it and said "Oh well". If you play Vanguard and you aren't one of his favored customers, you might as well not even bother coming in. If you play Yu-Gi-Oh, expect the same treatment. Only really likes MTG, and even then, he has his favored customer base. There are accusations of the owner weighing booster boxes/packs, but they are merely rumors. Owner often tries to guilt customers into buying stuff, too. And he throws hissy fits if someone mentions a dollar amount or talks about stuff they sold outside his shop (i.e. if you talk about a deck you sold or something, he becomes uneasy and acts as if you're doing it to rub it in his face, far from the truth).
The owner has so much paranoia that people sell stuff in his shop or that competing businesses are out to get him. It's gotten incredibly uncomfortable to even walk into his shop. It's not a surprise much of his customer base doesn't come here anymore. The paranoid man-child of an owner willingly shoots himself in the foot over and over for every toe he has and complains about lack of business. There's probably a correlation with his declining business and the rise of other card shops, like Davis Cards and Games, A and B, and California Comic Company, to name a few. Yet, his delusions of grandeur haven't left; a king of a rotting empire on a rotting throne, reflecting on the glory days. This shop has effectively become a lolcow.
There is little to no way I can recommend this shop. The owner makes the experience incredibly uncomfortable. The singles, which are nice, pale in comparison to other shops. The shop owner is incredibly black and white on rules of his choosing, and if he doesn't like you, good luck staying a part of this community. read more