My posts have a pattern, I know.

I typically blog about bookish things, autism parenting, and casual homesteading. That’s my life, essentially.

But this week, let’s change it up.

Let’s talk, instead, a little Valgavoth from Duskmorn: House of Horror and Dragon’s Eyes from Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

Whaaat….?

If you’re like me, you really don’t know what the hell these are.

So no, they aren’t characters or titles from some fantasy series I’m brewing up in the back of my imagination. That’s not my kind of writing, anyway.

They’re actually cards from two recent sets of the iconic Magic: The Gathering game. And I wouldn’t know a damn thing about them except, now I’m helping my husband sell them… among many other cards from these and other sets.

Yes, we’ve started a modest little side hustle. An online game shop, Mythic Moose Games, which right now features playing cards from Magic and even Pokemon.

(And oh, jeez, this Pokemon… crazy designs, multiple iterations of the same cards, and tiny numbers we have to squint to read… clearly meant for kiddos and their young, sharp eyes.)

Let me back up a bit.

My brilliant, strategic, game-loving husband has always dreamed of having his own small business (a result, I believe, of watching his brilliant mother run her own for many years). Often what comes up is a game shop because I think Jer could create an amazing one. He knows so many games, the gamer culture, has top-notch aesthetic tastes, a solid brain for business, and wonderful people skills. He could create a magical, safe “clubhouse” style atmosphere for gamer nerds the NEK over.

He’s also turning fifty in August, and I’d love to see him have something a little more tangible and creative that he could really make his own. Something beyond the abstract IT PMO work he does to earn our living.

We started discussing a game shop a couple months ago. At first, we just considered an online business, but then we learned we could get bulk discount on merchandise from Alliance if we had a brick and mortar, so we started looking at commercial spaces.

Three weeks ago, we came close to signing a lease on a huge, beautiful space here in downtown Lyndonville, on the second floor of an old building, right next to the town’s book shop.

The building’s owner, an elegant, kind lady named Lois, was ready to give us a smokin’ hot deal on a one-year lease, but we decided we just didn’t have the funds to invest effectively in such a large space, what with needing a ton of stock to fill all that square footage, plus shelving and lock-casing, tables and chairs for game nights, point of sale equipment, etc.

So, while it was wonderful to meet this lady from one of the town’s prestigious families (her grandfather bought the space from a Darling himself), signing the lease didn’t feel wise, ultimately, so we abstained. And I’m so glad we did, because it turns out we need a whole new leach field for our septic system, plus potential private school for Daphne. More about all that later.

Lois’s building was super-gorg, though. She shared how it used to be a dancehall for the youngsters, and all the boys would sit on one side, all the girls on the other. At one point, they had car shows in it and even a bowling alley in the basement. In the 20s, there was a lower-floor speakeasy, too (a lot of rum running happened here, given the proximity to Canada).

The last tenant (the wife of the local electrician) told Jer on the phone about all the ghosts she’d seen in there.

Hopefully, the right person will come along to employ such a special space. It won’t be us, though.

We pivoted back to the original plan of retailing solely online, at least to start.

It made the most sense to set up an online shop via TCG Player, and make use of their systems, shipping policies, and insurance.

So, we named our shop Mythic Moose Games–my suggestion, actually–and Jer invested in some Magic and Pokemon boxes. When they arrived, he insisted I help him open at least some of the packs so he could educate me in common, uncommon, rare, and mythic cards in the Magic world, among other things (I also now know a bit about foils, full art, showcase art, and showcase foils). We even practiced making pack-opening videos potentially for YouTube, with the appeal that I could do the opening while wearing special rings to match the sets’ themes on my manicured hands.

Then, we put our first selection of merch up for sale about two weeks ago, as just a Level One baby shop.

I’m happy to report that now, we’ve completed about 55 orders, and we’re close to cracking our first $1K (though we’re still very much in the red). We’re also now a Level Three shop. Once we hit Level Four–soon, I think– we’ll be able to add way more merch and offer free shipping. That should really crank up sales.

It’s been fun so far, and we definitely have a routine. After I get Daphne to school, I come home, do the chicken chores, and then Jer and I open up the orders. Often, he pulls the cards from the binders because he can find them much faster, while I write the thank you notes, package up the merch, address the envelopes, and print the labels for the more expensive orders to which we add tracking (we now own a label printer and postal scale).

Usually, it takes us about 60-90 minutes, and it’s quality time we spend together working on our special little passion project.

That’s the best thing about all this. We’ve added a whole new dimension to our partnership.

I’m beginning to soak up a little of the business strategy, too. Like, how we should price our cards to both gain attention in the vast array of TCG shops and account a bit for shipping costs. Jer seems to have found a sweet spot, undercutting prices just a little. It’s gotten us a lot of initial sales as gamers hunt for the best deals on particular cards. Like anything online nowadays, it’s part of a (probably temporary) strategy to get noticed. To fight for some visibility in a saturated market.

We just got our Mythic Moose t-shirts in–so fun! They’re really just for us but, hey. We figured, why not?

If you know a Magic or Pokemon player, or are one yourself, please check out our shop!

Do you have any passion projects going on right now? I’d love to hear about them!

See you next week, when I hope I’ll have some positive writing news.

XOXO,

Jenn