Games, apps, galore spoke with Travis the owner of Kingslayer Games
about what he is up to at his shop and what he is doing to take care of Kingslayer's community of tabletop gamers.
1)Tell me a little bit about
Kingslayer and how you got started.
Kingslayer Games is first and
foremost a community for tabletop gamers. It took quite a few iterations for us
to figure that out. It isn’t a very elegant story but I can share how
Kingslayer Games got to this point.
In the summer of 2014 I was
essentially bored with my day job (regional sales). I had an interest in
collectible comics and used video games, so I looked in to ways of acquiring
and selling on the third party market (eBay, Amazon etc.). I did that for a few
months, going to swap meets and buying on Craigslist to acquire inventory. That
was successful but also took way too much time. There was no efficient way to
ramp purchasing used collectibles out of my apartment. I then decided to build
a vendor network and started purchasing new toys and comics from a dozen
vendors. I was doing this out of my 2 bedroom apartment. I’m married and at
that time there was four of us; my wife, Yesenia and our two boys Logan and
Ryan. By December of 2014, I was receiving pallets of inventory at my upstairs
apartment. It’s fair to say the UPS driver didn’t love my delivery location.
The boys bedroom had essentially turned into pseudo-warehouse and the living
room was covered in cardboard.
And to be clear, I wasn’t making
great money. If anything I was only making 5-10% net off of this start. But I
had a system for acquiring inventory and I felt that I could scale it. So right
before the first of the year, I took out a loan and found a commercial real
estate location right next to our apartment. That is basically how it got
started. We didn’t go retail for another year and there is more to the story
but that is the genesis of it.
2) How did you come up with the name
Kingslayer?
I am an avid Anaheim
Ducks
fan. I
had a job with the Ducks in college in Marketing as well. Anyone that knows
SoCal hockey is aware of the Ducks rivalry with the cross town Los Angeles
Kings. I absolutely hate the kings, so Kingslayer seemed fitting. It works as a
double reference with Game of Thrones too.
3) You offer a wide array of board
games, comics, and card games, but your specialty is Magic the Gathering. What
do you think Kingslayer's presence has had on the local MTG community?
Since we really focus on the players first I feel
our presence has been positive. Other stores do it differently. They may focus
on preorders or making sure they have every card in stock all the time. We just
focus on hosting consistent events and actually caring about our players. They
take time out of their day each week to play here and that means more than
spending money because they are investing in the store just by playing here.
4) Kingslayer offers a lot of
opportunities for players to meet up and play together. (Almost every day) What
type of games/events do you offer?
We offer daily
Magic: The Gathering
in a variety of formats. In addition to that, we do Pokemon every Wednesday and
we have play groups for board games and Role-Playing games.
5) You were at the last MTG grand
prix in San Jose, what was that like?
It
was very eye opening. Most Magic players know that there are some 30 million
worldwide that play the game. To see a convention center with 3,000+ players
all there for one game is really exciting.
6) Will you be attending more
tournaments/conventions in the future?
Absolutely.
I will likely go to a Grand Prix at least 4 times a year.
7) Lastly, what is your favorite way
to play Magic? (Aggro, control, etc) Why?
Aggro is great. I play Elves in Modern and it’s
just great when you can play so many creatures on turn 2 and flood the board.
Check out what Kingslayer Games has to offer at their site Kingslayer Games. Or visit them in house at their shop in Fountain Valley, CA. Travis and the staff are super cool and willing to teach you or tell you about their latest board games and what is happening in the Magic scene.
Follow the author of this post around
on the internet. Mike can be found on these sites. He can also be found teaching
young children and getting beat down mercilessly by a Chillwind Yeti.
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