A Storied Site

If websites could talk, gamersgambit.com would have some amusing tales to tell. This site started out as what it has always been: showcasing the latest tabletop games, collectible card games, role-playing games, and miniature skirmish games, along with comic books and the latest popular collectibles. When we obtained the site in 2007, it operated on an archaic platform, but we were still able to implement the early Google Analytics to track visits, and we encouraged call-ins to the store specifically for special orders. This led to some fun encounters and great memories for the website and the stores whose events it promoted every week.

Steve Jackson of Munchkin fame, Smirk & Dagger Games’ Kurt Covert, comic book illustrators Herb Trimpe and Mark Texeira, authors J. M. DeMatteis, Scott Lobdell and R. A. Salvatore, The 501st Legion, and the stars of Ghost Hunters are among the many talents that made appearances at our brick & mortar stores over the years. But our most famous customer? While he never actually walked into the store, his assistant made two calls for a custom purchase of comic books he planned to give as a gift. Think E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark; I will not say more, but the Golden Age Batman issues that caught their attention were featured on this site.

Our fastest sellout? The DC Comics Futures End 3D Lenticular Covers is a serious contender. Forty-one comics shipped in four installments throughout September 2014. We offered them as a bundle on our site for $124.99, and they sold out before we received the second installment in-store! The customer list for those orders was spread out throughout the continental United States. Our Comics Manager, Scott, had a fit over the order process, but at its conclusion, we were happy to achieve 100% fulfillment for all our customers.

The best browsing experience we witnessed came astoundingly from out of this world. Someone on the International Space Station was either a geek, a tabletop game fan, or both. It is hardly a stretch that most folks who dream of journeying to the stars would also be geeks or gamers or both. As it turns out, they can browse the internet out there. At first, we could hardly believe it, even though it transpired multiple times. We in our home office would stare mesmerized at the desktop screen, fascinated, as their marker went around and around the globe on our real-time traffic analytics page. By that year, the site was hosting a full-featured e-commerce selection of products and in-store event registrations. But it is just as well our astronaut visitor never purchased anything–fulfillment would have been a nightmare.

I believe the best is yet to be for gamer’s gambit. Someone with bigger ideas needs to take this site to the next level. So gamersgambit.com, gamersgambit.net, and twitter.com/gamersgambit (@gamersgambit) is up for offer. Facebook is holding our /gamersgambit page hostage, so they will need a talking-to. Interested? Drop us a note to attract our interest. Just know that, if it’s all the same to you, we’ll keep these memories, and the many others not mentioned here, close to our hearts.