Santa Ana California

[coreyclark]

I will be traveling to Santa Ana California on business and may have some free time. Any gaming shops in the area to checkout?

Thanks.

Corey

 

[LeapingShark]

You should go to Disneyland!

 

[The Sigil]

You should go to Disneyland!

True dat.

If you're in Santa Ana, you'll be next-door to Garden Grove. You might check out Brookhurst Hobbies (www.brookhursthobbies.com) - over half the shop is devoted to models (especially model war games) but their RPG selection is quite good and they have gone to GAMA before as exhibitors (I know at one point they were a US distributor for a miniatures line). Depending on what part of Santa Ana you're in, it will be a 15-30 minute drive on surface streets. They're nice and pretty knowledgeable (though a couple employees will talk your ear off if you let 'em).

If you are willing to go a little further afield, there's a shop in Fullerton called Game Castle (about 30 min north of Santa Ana via the 55 Freeway), and one in Long Beach called "The War House" (about 25 min west-northwest of Santa Ana via the 405 Freeway) - google them by name and city to get directions. If you want mainstream games, they're the place to go.

Game Castle tends to have all the newest stuff and is a genuine RPG shop (instead of brookhurst hobbies, which splits its attention), and has a pretty extensive collection of Dragon (and possibly Dungeon) magazines, as well as carrying most of the popular RPG lines (WW, Palladium, GURPS, etc.).

The War House is a step back in time... while they have a lot of the "new stuff" in their front room, they have a back room with boxes and boxes of old stuff - I'm talking Mayfair Games, Flying Buffalo supplements galore, old 1e and 2e stuff, etc. It's a little tricky to get into their parking lot, but for a vintage gamer, I can't think of a better place in the area. The owner and his buddies tend to game in the back room, and they have some REALLY old stuff that "ain't for sale" but is cool to look at.

Hope that helps. Also, if you want anything I happen to have for sale (see my sig) - I live in Garden Grove, and I would be more than happy to sell or trade stuff to ya; you can pick it up or I can drop it off... and you'll get it for much less than MSRP. E-mail me if you're interested... the_sigil (at) hotmail.com

--The Sigil

 

[coreyclark]

I will pass on Disney for now... Have a wife, a 4 year old and a 6 month old that will want to go in the "near" future... Happy joy...

The hotel we are staying at is the Doubletree on MacArthur Blvd. With that in mind, which is closer?

Thanks.

Corey

 

[The Sigil]

I will pass on Disney for now... Have a wife, a 4 year old and a 6 month old that will want to go in the "near" future... Happy joy...

The hotel we are staying at is the Doubletree on MacArthur Blvd. With that in mind, which is closer?

I've linked mapquest with driving directions with each store name.

Brookhurst Hobbies is roughly 12 miles from your present location. They are open until 8 pm most days. Mapquest suggest your drive time will be 17 minutes; I'd suggest closer to 25. Phone Number: (714) 636-3580

Game Castle is a little farther away as the crow flies, but takes about the same amount of time to drive to. It's roughly 15 miles from your present location. While Mapquest says it should be a 16 minute drive, I'd double that - the 55/5/22/57 merge is one of the most frequently congested freeway areas in Orange County (called "the Orange Crush"). IIRC, they are open until 7 pm or so. Phone Number: (714) 871-5800

The War House is about 25 miles from your present location. It will probably take close to 40 minutes to get there, not the 26 Mapquest suggests. Can't remember their hours, but I suspect it's 6 or 6:30-ish that they close. If you want to look at vintage RPG stuff, it's worth the extra time and miles, but if you want to look at the "latest and greatest" you don't need to bother going that far. Phone number (562) 424-3180.

Sadly, there used to be a supernal gaming store - Gamesmanship - located about 2 miles north of your present location, but it closed down about 8 years ago. Still the best FLGS I've ever been to - had EVERYTHING in stock (could still get new copies of the Fiend Folio and 1e PHBs, as well as every TSR module ever produced - as late as 1992).

Hope that helps!

--The Sigil

 

[MacMathan]

Man, I miss Gamesmanship it was my first FLGS.

 

[Fenris]

One consideration, Game Castle is only about a mile off the freeway, easy off and on.