Local Player Program

Play Games 

Putting the Play in Collectibles

With the rising popularity of collectibles, it has become more and more difficult for players to gain access to highly sought after items.  Product intended to be enjoyed by the game's community are being traded in the broader market like stocks or other commodities.  While Collectors and other enthusiasts are an important and valued part of the hobby experience, as a game shoppe, we wanted to find a way to refocus our attention on our players.  The Local Player Program (LPP) was designed to recognize guests who play in our events by giving them priority access to limited collectible products during supply shortages.

Over time, many of our guests have enjoyed being recognized as a Local Player, irrespective of product shortages.  With that in mind, beginning in February of 2025, we have expanded the program to cover all trading card games, having increased the number of levels available from two to three, and will be adding additional Discord roles and flair to highlight our most consistent players.  Additionally, we have simplified the program to make it easier for everyone to understand their current level.

In July of 2025 we've further updated the program to support up to six levels for each game, and have made it less punitive if a player misses a single month.

Beginning in September of 2025, we've further expanded the program to provide Local Players early-registration for events when permitted by the publisher.  Early event links will be advertised in our Discord Server in the appropriate Local Player channel, allowing those guests the opportunity to sign up for the event before general seating is made available.

Getting Started

The first step for eligible guests to participate in the LPP is to create an account at our register.  Once you (or your parent) establish an account, you're automatically signed up.  Just attend our events to earn and maintain your status.

For each trading card game, there are multiple Local Player Levels. Earning a level is simple – just attend two scheduled events in the same month, and you’ll earn one level for the rest of that month and the next. For example, if you attend two Pokémon League nights in January, you’ll be a Stage 1 Local Player for the remainder of January and all of February.

For each consecutive month you attend two events, you earn an additional level. Continuing the example above, if you attended two events in January, February, and March, you would be at Level 3 of the program for the remainder of April and all of May.

For each full month that passes where you haven't attended two events, your status level is reduced at an accelerated rate. If you miss one month, you lose one level.  If you miss a second month in a row, you lose two more levels (for a total of three levels).  If you miss three months in a row, your level is  essentially reset to 0, and you'll start earning levels as soon as you return to play.

Status updates are performed each Sunday.  Updates to Discord roles and other digital perks may take up to a week.

Qualifying events include any published in-shoppe experiences.  They can be our weekly events, or special events like prereleases.  Once you've participated in your second event, you'll gain your level.

For single round events, players must play the entire round of play with good sporting behavior. For multi-round events players must play through the penultimate round of play with good sporting behavior. Guests who drop earlier or demonstrate poor behavior will not earn credit for attendance.

For drop-in and other unstructured events, players are responsible for ensuring they are checked into the event to earn their Local Player point for the evening.

Players can earn levels in multiple card games by attending events for each of them. When product shortages exist, we will allocate product to players based on the level they've achieved in that game when the product is released.

For new TCGs that don't yet have a history of events with us, we will look at our overall TCG player population, and offer limited product to our highest Local Players first.

Eligibility

To ensure the integrity of the program, participants must meet a few basic requirements:

Functional Game Knowledge – Players must  be able to play the game in a casual tournament setting.

Point of Contact – Players must provide a  point of contact (Phone or Email) that the shoppe may use to notify the player of product status updates.  While announcements via Discord and other social media posts will often be used, for items held in the shoppe, we need either a phone number or email address on file.

Discord Account – To fully participate in the program, players must have access to our Discord server.  The LPP uses Discord to perform polls and confirm interest in products.

Ineligibility

Penalized Players – If you have been penalized at one of our events, you may lose your eligiblity depending on the infraction in question.  Players penalized by the game publisher for tournaments or other issues outside of our shoppe may also lose their eligibility.

Program Abusers – While you are free to do what you want with your product, anyone abusing this program in bad faith is subject to removal from the program.  This includes soliciting other members to buy product for flipping, paying for other member's entry fees in exchange for limited product, and other such abuses.  This also includes any employees of game stores that are utilizing our program to stock their store shelves.

How it Works

Priority Access

If we receive enough product to provide one copy to each Local Player for a game, this will be done automatically. They will be contacted and offered the product. Excess product is handled slightly differently for each game, so check out those details below.

If we do not receive enough product to provide one copy to each Local Player, we will randomize the list of highest level players and select as many as possible to receive the limited copies. We will work down each of the program levels in similar fashion until as many players have been given the opportunity to purchase one of a product.

For example, imagine we have 21 Pokémon Local Players – 10 Stage 1, 5 Stage 2, and 6 Stage 3.  If we receive 20 Elite Trainer boxes for a new release, the 6 Stage 3 and 5 Stage 2 Local Players would all receive an offer to purchase a box.  Of the 10 Stage 1 players, we would randomize that list, and offer Elite Trainer Boxes to the top nine.  If, along the way, any Local Player declines to take a box, it will be rolled down to cover as many Local Players as possible.

Once all local players have accepted or declined an offer, any remaining product will be put out for general sale (see Excess Product Handling below) 

MSRP and MIRP

You may see us refer to two different prices:

MSRP – The Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price.  This is an official price set by the Manufacturer.  As an example, Pokémon trading card booster packs have an MSRP of $4.25.

MIRP – The Manufacturers Implied Retail Price.  This is an unoffiical price that we calculate based on how much we have to pay for an item from our distributors.  We use the same formula used to calculate MSRP, but it can be applied if a vendor has stopped publishing MSRP, or if the costs of the items have risen significantly without a change to the official MSRP.

Program Highlights

Priority Access Products

All limited products.

Price Protection

All Product is priced at the MSRP or MIRP while in print.  Products out of print for more than one year may be priced at MSRP or up to 85% of Market, whichever is higher.

Excess Product Handling

After all players in the program have been offered one copy of a newly released product, remaining product will either be vaulted for future use, or offered for general sale at roughly 85% of the current market value.

A Bit of Our Philosophy

Why not just sell at Market?

Ultimately, we believe we're a game shoppe selling games that, in some cases, happen to be collectible.   We are not really a collectible shoppe.

We have experimented with selling at market for some new releases.  While the additional profit was helpful, in talking with our staff about the experience, we realized none of us enjoyed the idea of selling a hot new product that way.

We understand that market prices on certain items will eventually rise over time, but the hype-on-release pricing is really not who we are, nor who we want to be. We’re comfortable selling Rare Finds and other treasures we’ve collected over the years at closer to market value (things that have been out of print for over a year), but we realize we’re just not really a market-price-mentality shoppe.