Once upon a time in CR if you wanted games and cards like this you had to go to separate hobby…read morestores or comic shops and you had better know exactly what you were were looking for because while the shop keeps might know their main products- games, table top figures and trading cards were not usually in their repertoire. But for the last 11 years Steve and his motley crew have been changing that in this this brightly lit well stocked gaming shop. The selection here here is well varied and fairly priced. There is a nice selection of vintage pinball machine. One nice thing about this shop is if you are looking for a gift for someone but don't know the gaming field yourself - Steve has some very approachable and knowledgeable staff that are willing and able to help get what you need and want. Especially the main store manager who is sort of like Mel Brooks Character from Spaceballs - Yogurt, the wise and powerful keeper of the "up-side" of the Schwartz. He will guide you to the up-side and right side of whatever game you want to explore.

Great staff and the prices are almost always cheaper than online. Can't recommend them enough!read more

This store is amazing with a variety of products for scrapbooking and stamp making. There are other…read morecrafts, too, but my mind focused on those two. It is so nice to shop for scrapbooking at a retail outlet specifically for the paper arts. I live three hours away and I know I will make another trip back.

Absolutely an amazing find while I was in the Cedar Rapids area. They have a beautiful array of…read morestamps, dies, paper, ephemera, bling, and more. The person on duty was very helpful in finding items I wanted, despite the fact that I bothered her many times with lots of questions. The inventory is well arranged and I loved all the samples they displayed for inspiration. I will visit every time I find myself in Cedar Rapids.

Mr. Tim Stolba is patient, kind, and has an approachable warm demeanor that made our Scout event at…read morethe Iowa Magic Shop so much fun. He held their attention, and every scout and parent was mesmerized by his instruction (and magic, too!) and did their best to learn the tricks he was teaching us. Tim provided one-on-one instruction to each scout, lots of encouragement, and tons of positive reinforcement. After, he stayed late to allow those that wanted to buy tricks to purchase them and taught each scout one-on-one how use the trick. I recommend this for all local scout leaders and all youth leaders looking for something cool and unique for their group.. We had a blast! For all parents, bring your children and let them discover a new passion, and shop local to support their new love of magic. You won't regret visiting the Iowa Magic Shop.

Was passing through on national tour: lovely folks with a lifetime of expertise to guide you,…read morewhether beginner or expert.

This is the first place I visit when I am in need of a book. Over the years, I have purchased books…read moreof many different genres from this independently-owned bookstore, novels ranging from popular fiction, historic fiction, mystery, fantasy, classics, romance, young adult, parenting books and children books. They sometime carry newer books, but the majority of their selection is used books. Therefore, their selection is largely dependent on what people bring in to sell. However, when they have the book I am look for or have been wanting to read it feels like I won the lottery. They can also order a copy of most books they don't have in stock. The staff is always friendly and helpful. I usually talk with the owner for 10 minutes every time I pop in, either about books he recommends or what I have recently read. I am particular fond of their two sweet dogs that are usually "working". I find the prices reasonable compared to other used bookstores. I also enjoy selling back my more popular books to them so I can get in-store credit for my next read and someone else can enjoy the book. I recommend checking out this bookstore.

Great inventory and very helpful staff. I wish this store was in my town!…read more They had a little bit of everything, but a lot of classic sci-fi and mysteries.

I have checked around and Alex has the best payout if you are selling Silver or gold. The following…read moreis in response to the negative review I just read. His dog (behind the counter) has never growled or hardly looked up all the times I've been in his shop. If I had that type of business, I would definitly have a dog in the shop. Paul M

Have been to 5 different coin shops in the Cedar Rapids area since 2009 and Alex at AAB and Coin is…read morethe best to work with. Best prices and best sell back offers.

Prices were steep. I like to support local businesses, especially record stores, but I know what…read morethose records go for and what online wholesalers sell them for. If you're higher than other stores by an unacceptable amount I'll support the online wholesaler instead. It doesn't give me that warm feeling I get holding a record, looking at it, and deciding to buy it, and it's putting small business out of business, but if I know you got that on millions of records for $4-10 and you're trying to get 25-30 bucks I can't support you. The used records were priced what the new records should have cost. If it's not rare, I'm not paying $15 for something I can get for $2-5 at a record show back in Chicago... So I'm too spoiled to buy anything here but they had a decent collection, staff seemed nice, plenty of inventory. I wouldn't go back, but it might work for this town/people.

5 stars for the atmosphere, 3 stars for the lack of organization…read more Always love shopping at local stores. Especially, local record stores. The staff was very friendly and the environment of the store is incredibly welcoming and cozy. While they don't have the largest selection in the area, I was pleasantly surprised to find numerous records which I had not seen anywhere else. One of the other cool things about the store is that they provide perfectly sized shopping bags while you are making your selection. These bags come in incredibly handy to hold on to whatever records you are planning on purchasing so that you don't need to set them on the floor or on top of the records. This perk is wonderful. Plus there are little hooks around the store which you can then hang the bags on in order to have both hands available to browse their selection. If there is one thing which I will complain about, and it is the reason I did not give the store five stars, it is the organization of the records. Within the genre of records, there appears to be no organizational structure whatsoever for the vinyl. This makes trying to find a particular record almost impossible without having to flip through hundreds of records which you simply don't care about. While I can imagine that it is a nice way to possibly find albums you didn't know you wanted, it was very frustrating and after about 30 minutes of looking through the albums, I simply gave up because I did not have the patience to go through every album in the store looking for a particular one. I will certainly return to the store anytime I am in the area but if you are looking for someplace that you can pop in, look for a specific record, and then leave, this is not it. If you are looking for a store in which you will spend an hour simply browsing through a selection, look no further, this is your place.

Greeting cards galore and great selection of gifts. Best place to save money when shopping,read more

Recently changed the name to 143 Expressions…read more They have a solid variety of cards, all at half price. And these are not cheap quality cards, they are good materials. Also stock a nice variety of gifts, and knick knacks. Plenty of parking close to the store, and the women who work there are very cordial.

I bought my first gold Eagle coin from Hilltop. Nicely…read moremanaged store, friendly knowledgeable owner.

Great service and helpful advice along with fair prices whether buying or selling. Silver and Gold…read moreis really starting to take off. This is a good time to add to your collection.