Bushwhacking through Jersey!
Whew! This week has been a crazy one at Black Labrador Creations, as artistic lead and trusted vizier Jason Grossman and CEO and designer Daniel Lessin sallied forth and travelled the length and breadth of New Jersey to hawk our goods, namely our newest Wargaming LCG, ”Loyalty or Liberty?”
After a spectacular repast at Englewood, NJ's unbeatable Akai Lounge, Jason Grossman and I began our expedition on turf familiar to me, as I am from Northern New Jersey originally. We stated by poking around Tier One games, a lovely little card shop in River Edge, NJ catering principally to Magic: The Gathering with a small board game library besides. Unfortunately, while the proprietor was a spiffing dude with an utterly badass beard (and while the area brought back memories of numerous reenactment battles I fought in the surrounding area), he was also kind of busy, going about his duties solo hosting a Magic tournament. Nonetheless, we broke down for him some of the basics, though, in my panic and efforts to be as quick as possible, I neglected to tell some of the most important parts. I felt a tad remorseful about that.
Conquering my embarrassment, we tried again at Time Warp Comics and Games, a messy, but very cozy, super geeky store in Cedar Grove, NJ. There, the Jason and I joined the store owner and a salesperson in griping about Games Workshop's unorthodox selling of their material to client stores for a bit before getting down to business. After I nailed the pitch, with Jason making several artfully-placed side remarks that only excited the duo further, we were treated to a glorious tour of the ancient and excellent store, slowly recovering from COVID and possessed of a pleasant Magic: The Gathering gang playing in the background. The store had a lot of cool items, including lots of Marvel Crisis Protocol and Warhammer figurines. Exhausted by the drive around North Jersey, especially having come from South Jersey, Jason decided to (rightfully)) call it a day. We proceeded to withdraw and decided to meet up Monday.
This we did, and as Monday came along, I ubered down to Jason's wife Kim Leong's family home to meet him. From there, we sallied, first to Kumo, a very strong Asian fusion restaurant with beautiful fish in tanks all over the place, then to "The Only Game in Town" in Somerville, NJ.
Though a small store, this fine establishment held a great variety of excellent board games and card games of all sorts. The owner was a gem of a fellow, too, who delighted in my board game idea, being a huge "Command and Colors" fan, as well as a great study of history. We bantered for quite some time after I again brilliantly executed my pitch, talking about World War One aviation, the American War of Independence from the British side, and classical culture, namely how the Celtic British (according to him, a classics and medieval history major) did NOT actually sacrifice people to their gods, contrary to many misunderstandings and to what Caesar claimed as a propaganda stunt to get people angry at the Brits. We had a good laugh at those who took such ancient claims at face value, which were similar to the far fetched beliefs of Herodotus (giant ant island guy) and co. Eventually, Jason, who had peeled off to further inspire the surrounding gamers separated us and the owner of the store and I wished each other a good day.
At this point, we went to Jason's friend Rob's game store in Hamilton, NJ. Though a tad small and narrow, Family Fun Hobbies had it all! Helpful employees, Magic: the Gathering, D&D, board games galore, even a vast number of model kits for everything from Roman Empire scorpion artillery weapons to British World War 2 Matilda Tanks. I was tempted to get one of the latter for Steven Henry, considering our adventures together aboard the "Africa Queen," but in the end purchased a Fokker D.VII and Sopwith Camel, one for each of my nephews, so they could build them together with my brother, Samuel W. Lessin. After an animated discussion with the esteemed "Mira," the charismatic and chill employee at the front desk, I worked my magick once more and showed what my game design genius could do! :) Interest ensued.
We concluded with a rousing encore at Greg's Games, also in Hamilton. Another absolutely spiffing store, complete with many models and a wide variety of MTG cards and a packed schedule of a great many activities! Though small, the store was also rapidly expanding into a former podiatry practice, which was super cool as well! Greg himself was there for the demonstration of my card game, along with one of his faithful "cronies," fresh from beginning a Digimon Card Game tourney, and both seemed impressed and excited to learn about the game. Greg himself had an ancestor who was a founding father on behalf of New Jersey, so he was especially psyched to express interest in backing the material, and wasn't even that bummed to hear I was a Loyalist, expressing the belief alongside the proprietor at "The Only Game in Town" that "both sides had some good points and some bad."
That I could agree with.
Following this, Jason and I stopped for pizza, which we ate at his wife's family home with the gang. This took time, however, and I missed my train from Metropark back to Seacaucus Junction, which was to be followed by an uber back to my base of operations in Englewood. After doubletaking at the outrageous sum demanded of me for a direct uber back, Jason extremely graciously offered me a ride home, or at the very least company while I waited for my next train, but I "outniced" him by sending him back to his beloved ladywife.
And so I waited a good two hours for my next train, during which time I passed the tedium with an animated conference chat on the phone alongside Carleton College buddies Brian Lambert and Björn Linder. At 10% battery on my cell, I called it quits, waited for my train, hopped on it, traveled back to Seacaucus in a glorious victory loop, and managed to hail an uber and ride it home to glory with my remaining battery!
Tada!
Super awesome guinea pig thanks to Jason Grossman for the amazing transportation and wingmanship, as well as the artistic assistance and general advice he rendered, and an enormous HURRAY! to Kim Leong and her family for their remarkable hospitality!
A great deal of thanks also to Carl Duff, because his contribution to the board game art, as well, really helped draw the store owners in!
Awesomesauce!
We would also like to offer an enormous shout out to the store owners who took the time out of their busy day to speak with us. Your hospitality and patience was legendary and it was wonderful to meet with you!
If any anyone is interested in having one of our representatives come by and show off Loyalty or Liberty, you can message us on Facebook or Instagram. In the meantime, here are some of our favorite stores that we visited this week.
Tier One Games
https://www.facebook.com/tieronegamesnj/
The Only Game in Town
Somerville, New Jersey
https://www.togit.com
@togitnj
Greg's Games
https://www.gregsgames.com
@gregsgamesllc
Family Fun Hobbies
https://www.shopfamilyfunhobbies.com
@familyfunhobbies
Time Warp Comics & Games
http://www.timewarpcomics.com
https://www.facebook.com/pg/timewarpcomicsandgames/photos/
Art by @jlg_illustration
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