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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 1731311" data-attributes="member: 20741">The game shops of Toronto1 - Crossed Swords (Annette & Jane St. - west end of town, *well* off the beaten path): One of the oldest and finest historical and fantasy miniatures shops in the entire world. If military or historical miniatures are your thing, this store will be the highpoint of a trip to Toronto, no question. I've been told there are 2 stores with a better selction on Planet Earth - no one has been able to identify what those 2 stores might be. The owner is hardcore and the store is a *very serious place*. If you are expecting Games Workshop kids all over the place - nope. They do sell those lines as well - but Prussian staff officers would feel at home. You can spend a few hours there just browsing. Lots of one-of-a-kind scenery for use when gaming is available here too. A treasure trove masquerading as a store.2 - The Silver Snail: a large comic book store on trendy Queen St. West, the Snail features a medium amount of miniatures as well as most mainstream RPGs. Comics? Well - if you want it - they got it. RPGs they have de-emphasized as the years have gone on but they still carry a fair bit. Collectible Toys is a biggie at the Snail - (and the Comic Book Warehouse as well -see below).3- The Hairy Tarantula: One of the largest RPG shops, this store located above street level in a hole in the wall shop on Yonge St. just north of the Eaton Centre is now probably the most "hardcore" RPG shop in town. If the Hairy T doesn't have it - well - not many others will - anywhere.4- The Grey Region (Yonge St & Wellesley) : Again a comic store which sells a lot of minatures and toys, but fewer new RPGs these days. They do have an extensive, if a tad overpriced, second hand section though. If it's OOP, Grey Region is one of the two places in town to look for it (Comic Book Warehouse is the other).5 - Comic Book Warehouse - Steeles Ave. (Brampton) The CBW is a large store with an extensive collection of just about whatever it is that you care to name - RPGs, extensive CCG, Comis and Collectible Toys, Anime. If its geeky - they carry it. CBW has a very large number of D20 products that you hardly ever see in most other shops. If the Hairy T doesn't have it - this is the other store to check. It also features something few gaming shops have: SPACE. CBW is, in terms of square footage, deserving of the name. Cramped aisles and product racked 4 feet deep is not on the menu at CBW. They have a second store less than a mile away in a local mall and they shuttle product back and forth between them.6 - Games Workshop - Several corporate stores in town, with the store at the Eaton Centre being the most visible. However - the cheapest store in town which stocks a full GW product line is not a corporate store but a computer and video game store: Gamerama on Yonge St. north of Eglinton. Gamerama is about 65% cost of GW's corporate shops. If GW products are your thing - a trip to Gamerama will make you happy. It also has the largest selction on used DVDs, PcGames and Console titles in the city. If Gamerama doesn't have it - no one does.7- 401 Convenience: Yonge St., south of College. A solid selection of mainstream D20 and WotC at usually the cheapest prices in town (for WotC at any rate) plus, without doubt, the best CCG collection of any store in the country. 401 is a CCG player's wet dream. When Magic: TG takes a vacation from Seatlle - it goes to stay here.8 - Bakka Books: A venerable institution, Bakka Books on Yonge near Wellesley is a rare shop indeed: it is a bookstore which sells only sicence fiction and fantasy titles. They also sell collectible hardcovers. In an age of massive 120,000 sq foot bookstores - Bakka remains relevant. Its selection is still large, the staff extremely knowledgeable and they carry rare titles. It does not hurt that several large used book stores are within 2 blocks of the shop either.If you are looking for that rare GRR Martin autographed first edition - Bakka is where you go to look for it.One thing of note: It is often hard to appreciate when you live in the USA, but most of us in Canada get our gaming products cheaper than Americans do. By the time you take exchange rate into account, it is ALWAYS cheaper to buy it here than in the USA if you are looking for new product. When it comes to used OOP product, we are about 30-50% cheaper. Something that goes for $20 USD will got for $15 or $20 CDN.There was a time, before Ebay was huge that some smart guys decided to invest $500-$1000 CDN at Pandemonium's Game Auction in January - buy up as much as they could - box it all up - truck it down to Gencon and resell it at higher prices in USD. The profit on the used procduct paid for their entire Gencon trip.Ebay has made the thrill of game auctions less then they once were - but the principle of "its cheaper here" remains.</blockquote>

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