Minneapolis / St. Paul collectors

[Barracuda]

I will be in the area for 3 weeks for training for my new job and was wondering if any collectors in the area know of any good game stores. I will be staying in downtown St. Paul so any stores within walking distance would be really awesome.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Minnesotans that are near St. Paul that I know of:
InvadErGII
Bad Enough Dude
Silent Scythe
OatBob (who's close, but not in the area)

You might want to ping them for ideas.

[Silent Scythe]

Good gaming stores hmm... I don't hang around St. Paul that much but if you're willing to drive around...

With Retro games the only places I can really think of is:

Games N' Go, with locations in Brooklyn Park (close to north Minneapolis) and Roseville
Its hard to say whether or not it a good store however. The do have a large varitey of games for a wide spread of platforms but their prices kind of suck. The prices range from " a few bucks cheaper than ebay" to "how are you guys still doing buisness? ( about +$20 to an average ebay price.) They have strategy guides and old gaming mags as well but they know how popular these have become so don't expect to find many things below $5 on the book racks they have.

If you visit the MoA while you're in the area there's a cart seller called High Score Games which dabbles in selling retro games. However since they operate out of a cart and not a store front they tend to only have rare and popular titles and books for sale. A bit spendy on some items though, I ended up paying  $14 each on a copy of The Krion Conquest and Gunstar Heroes (GBA)

Although not too much of a store you may be a short drive away from Rusty Quarters A little arcade with about 15 or so arcade machines. The range from Asteroids to Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. Every play is only a quarter I believe and they do sell a small amout of retro games. The only one I remember seeing there was a Super Ghouls N' Ghosts (SNES) for $10 dollars.

Those are the only places I can think of aside from the various Pawn Shops, Disc go round, CD Warehouse and Half Price Books in the area.

[OatBob]

We've got a kickass store here in Mankato, MN... but that's about 1:30 away... a bit of a drive.

http://www.facebook.com/wegotgamestore

For being the #16 largest metro area in the US, the Twin Cities have practically nothing for indie game stores. 


Anyways, if you like Amiga and Commodore computers, there is one specialty shop just off of University avenue.  They're pretty old school and don't even have a web page!  You might want to call ahead to find out hours before visiting.

Raymond Commodore Amiga
795 Raymond Ave
St Paul, MN 55114

(651) 642-9890

[BadEnoughDude]

There's nothing within walking distance of downtown St. Paul, sadly. If you're willing to drive around:

Discland (822 W 98th Street, Minneapolis)
Cedar Cliff Collectibles (1960 Cliff Lake Road, Eagan)
Level Up Games (609 Marie Ave, South Saint Paul)
Mr. Zero's (1744 Lexington Avenue N, Roseville)
We Got Game in Mankato is fantastic, but like OatBob said, it's a haul.

As well as the 6 or 7 Half Priced Books located around the metro area.

Can't say that I'd recommend Games N Go. Unpleasant staff, bad selection, and VERY expensive.

There's not a ton to work with around here, and you really need a car to be able to get to most of them. Good luck!

[InvadErGII]

FYI - the kiosk/cart thing at MoA isn't there anymore. The High Score guys do still have locations in North St. Paul and Maplewood, and those are decent. If you end up over there, there's also a place nearby called Toyriffic that has a pretty good selection, sometimes good prices and a pretty good staff.

I'll also echo recommendations for Discland, Level Up Games, Cedar Cliff and Rusty Quarters.

If you find yourself with a ton of time and want to do some sort of RFG meetup, I would totally be down for that as well. I can even bring Silent Service.

[Barracuda]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. The only store that I've been to on the lists is Discland and I thought that was a decent enough place.

 

FYI - the kiosk/cart thing at MoA isn't there anymore. The High Score guys do still have locations in North St. Paul and Maplewood, and those are decent. If you end up over there, there's also a place nearby called Toyriffic that has a pretty good selection, sometimes good prices and a pretty good staff.

I'll also echo recommendations for Discland, Level Up Games, Cedar Cliff and Rusty Quarters.

If you find yourself with a ton of time and want to do some sort of RFG meetup, I would totally be down for that as well. I can even bring Silent Service.

I'll be in training from 8-5 Mon-Fri and going home on the weekends. After 5PM I don't have any plans any of the nights though. A meetup would be kind of cool.

[BadEnoughDude]

I'm actually going to Discland today for the first time in several years. Used to be part of my regular rotation, but now that I bus everywhere it's become a pain in the butt to get to.

Let me know if you guys end up doing a meet up!

[Silent Scythe]

Can't say that I'd recommend Games N Go. Unpleasant staff, bad selection, and VERY expensive.

Yeah I maybe just have a pair of rose colored glasses on when it comes to that place. Honestly prices other places aren't much better, and a few staff members may be a little dumb (I've helped out more customers there then some of the cashiers) but one of the higher ups is a really awesome guy. I've talked to him for hours on a slow day before.

I remember another shop out kind of by the Northtown Mall. Can't remember the name though.

[OatBob]

You can't miss the red pyramid Pawn America's all over the place.  They're worth rummaging through at times.

There used to be a Game Central in about every mall in the state, but they were super overpriced.  They had some storefronts and some kiosks.  I think they went out of business.

Also, beware of any seafood and sushi restaurants.  We're not exactly near the ocean.  Freshwater fish are great though.