Location - MEC (Bristol) is located 31 6th St in downtown Bristol. Parking is usually available on the street, even on a saturday. B+
Atmosphere- MEC (Bristol) is a story of two stores within one. The front consists of new releases, high end back issues, select toys and game pieces. This area is bright, clean, well organized, easy to access and a pleasure to shop. The back is an unorganized wasteland of beat up back issues, bargain bin throwaways and comics that should have been used for kindling long ago. I can't believe I spent two hours of my Saturday sorting through this haphazard unmarked mess. Once finished I did find a few bargains including a copy of Nick Fury: AOS #4 and Strange Tales#178. Both were reasonably priced and graded, but not worth the time invested.
Grade:D+
Knowledge/Customer Service- On both occasions, the owner was kind and helpful. Just like the JCT location, the Bristol store ranks high on customer service. No one else within 200 miles can compare. However if you are looking to have a lengthy conversation about Mark Millar or Neil Gaiman, go to Atomik or Comic Envy. Things move slow at MEC. This is a business first and foremost, not a place to hang out and talk with fellow nerds. The salespeople aren't going to know much about your favorite artists or writers. They just sell comics, but they do it with a smile and a lot of love for their customers.
Grade B+
Quality/Selection- Much like the JCT store, this one has a large selection of new indie and mainstream titles, one of the best around. But unless you want to search for hours through endless unmarked rows of poor quality back issues, get your filler issues someplace else. This store is not user friendly and hardly any back issues are in collector condition.
Grade: D
Overall: This is a small town comic store, plain and simple. Don't expect to find high quality back issues, weekend gamers, toys, posters, organization or even a straight answer about their stock. Do expect friendly customer service, a large selection of new issues and an occasional surprise in the dollar bin.
Overall Grade: D+ read more