Large hobby / model shops just aren't found as frequently as they were when I was a kid. This store…read moreis large and has it all: small / large/ huge models (plastic and R/C), trains, paints, hobby tools and more. Staff was ever-present and knowledgeable.

This store has been here as long as I can remember. I don't understand the connection between…read moreelectric shavers and model airplanes, but whatever. They have a good selection of hobby supplies covering model railroad, plastic models and R/C aircraft. I would say about a third of the store is dedicated to model kits of carious types, and the rest of the store is various other hobby supplies (paints, track, styrene sheets, etc). Overall, they have a lot of different stuff, and if they don't have it, just ask and they are probably just sold out. The staff is pretty helpful when I have questions about new stock, or painting techniques. When I asked a question about a new air compressor, the guy wasted no time in taking it out of the box so we could both have a look at it. Anyway, the staff is generaly knowledgable but not condescending. Always a plus.

Came in here randomly on a walk down Oak Bay ave. I'm a pretty minimalistic parent and normally…read moreget a bit skeptical of specialty toy stores.... But was pleasantly surprised! High quality brands of toys for reasonable prices. Lots of crafts for various ages. Large selection of dollhouses and accessories. Small book selection, mostly featuring Canadian topics. I even spotted a few gems that I used to play with when I was a kid.

My family and I were eating next door at MexiGo and my 2 daughters really wanted to go in and look…read morearound. My children were waiting patiently for me to clean up our table and were against the window looking in the store. I went to walk in with them and buy them some toys for being good all day. A younger person came and opened the door as I approached and I thought they were going to open the door for us but quite the opposite happened. The person came outside and angrily told my children that they were too close to the glass and needed to back away from the store. I have never seen such terrible treatment of children at a toy store. Seriously? I don't know why anyone would want to buy anything from a place that treats children so poorly.

Enter at own risk! Serious warning after a terrifying experience…read more I've gone to Triple Play for Magic cards for a while. One employee, a large pale man with dark circles under his eyes, has always been unnerving and creepy. He'd always stare at me as soon as I entered the store and follow me uncomfortably close. When visiting the store with friends, they confirmed seeing the behaviour, but hadn't themselves experienced this degree of scrutiny, nor did they see this directed towards most other customers. The only visual difference between myself and my friends, and the customers he didn't leer at, as much as it pains me to say, seems to be that I have dark skin, and they do not. Recently, I visited Triple Play because a friend wanted to buy a card for me. I removed the card from a binder and held it carefully in one hand. I bent over to look at some other merchandise and suddenly, the creepy employee asked me, in front of everyone in the store and quite loudly, if I had stolen something. I said no, then he demanded that I show him my pockets. I thought maybe my phone looked suspicious, so I took that out and he just demanded that I show him my pockets again. I removed the contents of my pocket and he repeated himself, so I awkwardly held everything in my hand while trying to expose the actual pocket. He wanted me to do the same with the other pocket; due to my hands being full and trying to fulfil his request, I accidentally dropped everything on to the floor. I managed to gather my items, show him my other pocket, and handed him the contents and the card my friend was going to buy (the one from my hand). The whole time, I was terrified. The last time I'd been accused of stealing was in the United States, which resulted in a hospital stay after the police got involved (even though they admitted I didn't steal anything afterwards). After that experience, all I wanted to do was get out of the store safely; I didn't dare to try and risk explaining anything to him, as I know what can happen if you try and speak up. Smugly, he said that two of the cards had Triple Play's price stickers on them and asked me to leave the store. It's obvious that the card my friend was going to buy for me had a price sticker on it; I was holding it to buy. My friend had given the other card to me after trading earlier in the day. It was an inexpensive card still in the original sleeve because she hadn't used it after buying a while ago. So, Triple Play essentially stole what she bought from them. It's also worth mentioning that there was a white couple in the store at the same time as me going through dozens of cards, taking them out of binders, holding them, sorting, stacking them, and the creepy employee never leered at them or hovered, just with me. My friend was extremely confused during the encounter and says she saw the card that she was going to buy for me in my hand while the employee was accusing me (she was in the best position to see it). She just didn't know that he was accusing me of taking that specific card until later. It's awful having people judge you because of your appearance. I thought it was a good idea to buy local whenever possible, even though Magic products online are much cheaper, and all it got me was the ire of a bigoted employee. Shame on me for trying to support local businesses, I guess. Initially, I wasn't going to say anything about my experience, as I was too scared to make an issue out of the situation; it was at my friends' urging that I do so. I'm sure many 5-star reviews around the web for this store are genuine, but that'd make sense considering that most customers are white, in combination with the other employees, who seem to be decent. However, I suggest finding somewhere else to shop, like the other game store in the city. I like to believe most people wouldn't support a store that hires employees who take pleasure in hurting others. But, if that's something you agree with, then you've certainly found the right place to shop.

This was a great find. Smallish game store, but it is packed full of options…read more When you walk in, there are two full rows of games to the left, a bit of models for gaming, and a small area to the right for sports memorabilia and collectibles. In the back half of the store there were tables set up for people to come in and game. In fact, there were a couple of people there when we came in. The gentleman behind the counter was very friendly and happy to look up games for us. Prices were reasonable and felt like they were comparable to other games stores I've been to. This is the only game store I went to in Victoria, so I can't compare with other shops, but this one was a good one.

Very much the modern axiom of a comic shop, with a wide variety of pop culture items in addition to…read morecomics, floppy and collected. Worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood. The first time I came to Victoria, there were three comic shops in this stretch, and I remakes that if you put them together you still wouldn't get a good one. Now there's two, and each is a good shop for its own kind.

7/1/19 I haven't been to a number of coming shops in a…read morewhile, but today I visited two in less than 10 minutes. Turns out there are three comic shops on the same block that have all been around since the 90's. Today I learned about Batman Red Death. Comic book 52 seems to revolve around a multi universe. I will looking into this and see what else I can learn about it. "The game is a foot" as Sherlock Holmes would say. More adventures to come on Canada Day.

This is my go to store for Weiss Schwarz and other cards. Gotten so many hits and the owner and…read morestaff are absolutely brilliant. I drive over an hour and a half to come here I love it so much. Thanks for being a slick store!

Only had good and helpful experiences here. They had exactly what I was looking for every time I…read morewent in (and upsold me on Star Realms and Pandemic Legacy, both of which I love!) Knowledgeable staff, decent prices and I always prefer to buy from the little guy. Gotta keep these specialty shops going!

Been doing business with Ron for over 10 years, that says it all. He is honest, knows his "stuff",…read moreand goes 100% with the market. Highly recommended.

I have done business with Ron 4-5 times over the last 12-15 years and have never had any bad…read moreexperiences at Van Isle the likes of which the complaining customer who wasn't spending any money, not that one haas to spend to expect a little polite service, however, be that as it may, this person's story sounds more like that of one coming from a new buyer who doesn't know their ass from their elbow and was looking for someone to hold their hand and if they were lucking maybe this good samaritan would save them from themselves and undo the purchase they had made and pleeeze buy all this ag & au from me. Some people just have no business being in the business, ya know? And then the nightmare in your store is huffy because the owner who probably wishes he hadn't come in this day, suggests that the deeply affronted, dumb money buyer do the little bit of research they could have done BEFORE they made a purchase that was to big for them to handle, so then some of them start pointing the finger while apparently expecting to be rescued, and when it doesn't look like that's going to happen, to show your cherry on top of a string of bad conclussions,you say..."so then I went and talked with the guy in the store down the street", say no more. Frank D.

I'll never go back to Michaels for framing. I brought in a very special print to be framed, and…read morethey damaged the front of my print - which was ridiculously obvious, and they used improper tape to hold my print into place, which almost ripped the corners of the print. I have now been waiting two months for them to address the insurance claim I had to make. Today I brought that print to a small, local company, and their rate was over $100 less than Michaels. Needless to say, I won't be going to Michaels again.

I have been going to this Micheals for a few years. Whether it be buying items for baking,…read moreChristmas decorating, halloween, costume making etc. This past Friday however left me feeling really at odds I'd I'll go back. At this particular time (2pmiah) there were only a handful of customers shopping. I was literally stalked by a early 50ish female employee. She was following me around and asking me over and over if I needed help. I'd turn down an aisle and boom there she was again lurking. She'd look at me like I was a thief or something. Finally I got what a wanted and headed to check out. I glanced over towards the entrance while I was paying and there she was again looking at me. Like a bad horror movie. Very creepy.

Yes, the guys running the store WERE great…read more Then the big corporate beast that is Games Workshop decided to fire them all, except one. Oh, and just coincidentally the store is open just below the number of hours required to pay the poor guy a full time salary with benefits. He seems to do his best, but I'm done with GW. GW, slashing and burning its way to financial health.

Since the new manager took over, things have gotten better in the shop. To start with, it seems…read moremuch more organized than before. The shop is small, even by GW standards. It has two gaming tables. The manager is friendly and helpful, and seems to know most of his customers by name. He is enthusiastic about the hobby, but not to the point of being "pushy". He is open to simply talking about the game, and helps out people painting. He seems to be the only employee working there. This means that the shop is only open 5 days a week, and it has to close for half an hour in the middle of the day so that the manager can have his lunch break. I attribute this to the fact that Victoria is a small market for GW, and this store is probably marginal at best. There are other businesses downtown that are only open 5 or 6 days a week, but if you come from a place where everything is open 7 days a week, you might be surprised. Having said that, it isn't that big of a deal to schedule your visits for one of the days the shop is open. Despite it's small size, I have never visited it where there weren't at least 3 or 4 other people in there shopping/gaming/painting/whatever. Overall, this is a great GW being run by a great guy.

Hi I loved this place until the new owner took over…read more She is rude and money hungry. You feel like your getting ripped of immediately. The old owners were friendly and had better antiques at reasonable prices. (Now there is a lot of costume jewelry and junk) It's too bad the the new owner ruined the business. Very disappointed!

Whether you're looking for an inexpensive trinket, retro kitchen wares, furniture, or that one of a…read morekind gift, Vanity Fair is the place to be. Rows and rows of glass cabinets hold some of the neatest little pieces you'll find anywhere in Victoria. The staff are friendly enough, if not a little suspicious if you look out of the ordinary (they will follow you until they get that you aren't planning on stealing anything). Definitely check out Vanity Fair.