Building Community Through Cards: Why AppalachiaTCG Is More Than Just a Store

In Magoffin County where everyone, their dog, their neighbors all know each and traditions that run deep. You wouldn’t expect something like a “trading card store” to be something people would enjoy around here. Eastern Kentucky in general is very country / rural. People enjoying hunting, fishing, and sports. I myself Bigjohn (Smango or Johnathan Howard) actually enjoy fishing and sports myself. I’ve always been in the gaming scene with computers, and consoles.

Some folks around here might think its weird for people to collect and play cards for sure after a certain age, why in the world would someone want to start a trading card store in this area. But sometimes, it’s the unexpected things that spark the most interest and joy bringing people together out of the holler.

This is what AppalaciaTCG is about.

The Vision Behind AppalachiaTCG

AppalachiaTCG didn’t start off as a store or it didn’t even start off with the name AppalachiaTCG.

Initially, I had recently moved back to Magoffin County after the pandemic from Winchester. In Winchester Kentucky, there was a awesome little card store called Wizards which got me back into collecting video games, old computers, and well Magic: The Gathering. I’ve always been a big fan of Magic the Gathering the problem was, that you always had to drive out of county, to Pikeville, Morehead, etc to even get a pack of cards for a decent price. Trading cards didn’t really exist in Salyersville, KY.

Occasionally you could or still can pick up a pack of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh out of the Dollar General stores and sometimes Walgreens/RiteAid. But, it was always the sleeved packs and charging about $3-$4 more. I actually think growing up Hilltop Games use to carry some singles in a binder but that was about it. For most it was either hitting up Read more Book Store in Paintsville or Heading to Page3 in Pikeville.

So I had moved back, started talking to some old buddies about how it would be nice to start playing Magic: The Gathering around here. There was no where to really play, no stores, no one really has room, there was however a nice new Library and from researching online people had started playgroups and communities meeting at the library.

Starting the Group on Facebook

The Magoffin County Magic: The Gathering Group was created shortly after and thus began the adventure of building a community to meet-up and play games.

So far it’s been over a year the community started growing, and well it was time to expand. People don’t really search Magoffin County up for anything on google. I was already part of Appalachia Insider which started off as Magoffin County News Network, which needed the name change too to reach more people. Note: (Magoffin County comes with a negative connotation to not takes seriously in my opinion)

So Appalachia Insider started it grew, so I thought it was time for a name change to reach surrounding counties in the area. AppalachiaTCG was born, I grabbed the domain, started putting out some content.

Great the community is growing now, but there is still no where to buy cards. I’ve been asked a million times to start a Trading Card Store, but we all know that is a HUGE financial risk, personally I didn’t have the money to just drop on a building and try to buy cards and hope they sell with a full time job to go along with it. Then buying anything in Magoffin County is just nuts on the Mountain Parkway.

But, I persisted.

Physical Location

I started working with the Farmhouse Diner a lot with there podcast and helping build up their online presence and IT help. By the good gracious of Tony Allen and the Farmhouse Diner they allowed me to do stuff in the evening and throw up shelves. I then began to really look into how in the world people in get cards.

It was hard, throwing up shelves, with nothing to really put on them. Truly started from nothing but stuff in my personal collection I hadn’t opened.

Woah what an adventure.

I decided to make AppalachiaTCG a business in Salyersville KY. This gave some more fuel to put more time and effort into building the community, because I really don’t want money from people but I figured if they wanted to support the cause, they could just buy stuff they already was buying other places. Just put it into something here in Magoffin County. I/WE still fully support card stores like East Kentucky Cards and Collectibles and Southern Hobbies and direct people to go to them if I don’t have something. Great stores and dudes there as well. East KY Cards (Shout out to Dewayne and JR) actually even helped me get started a little by selling me a few boosters that me fill up the acrylic card dispenser!

All I know this has been a BIG learning experience and has taken TON of work to accomplish, nothing 1000% started over night. All I know is I couldn’t even have started with my friends and community that helped along the way to even get this far none of this exists without them. Trust me there are days when I’m like why am I even bothering, why am I working so hard to get this done.

So far it’s all been worth it.

Why Magoffin County?

Because I love this place.

Don’t get me wrong, Magoffin County is known for having nothing in it. But, really it has some of the coolest people around I’ve ever met.

It’s also a place where I live, and my kids live at now too. Really I Just want Magoffin County to have…. well something. That something happens to be something I think which is really cool, trading cards. Just the conversations and stuff I’ve already had with people hitting a big card out of a box of Sports Cards or Hitting a big Marvel from the latest Flesh and Blood set has been awesome.

People in Salyersville and Royalton shouldn’t have to drive 50+ minutes away out of their hollers to buy a pack of cards from Wal-Mart for $3-S4 dollars than trading cards store sell.

People are loving getting together, laughing, playing cards, and having a community to get behind. Trading and collecting.

The bigger picture I have for the community and store, is to help people get into these games and go compete in the larger games in RCQ at East KY Card and Collectibles.

I’m sick of Magoffin County having nothing and it takes hard work and dedication to have something here.

Breaking Stereotypes About Card Stores and Card Games

You’ve probably heard it a million times if you’ve played video games or seen it on TV that Magic: The Gathering is some sort of devil worshipping game.

Honestly, I have no idea where that came from but it sure stuck around. That couldn’t be any further from the truth from what I believe, I’m certainly no devil worshipper and wouldn’t be around people that did. There was some news channel that did a piece one Magic: The Gathering because it had a pentagram on a card and some other scary images and I guess it freaked people out. Most if not all of those cards have been removed or altered to no longer even contain them.

Having a card store and a gathering place is all about relationships and collecting. Playing games with your buddies, having laughs, and having fun.

Whenever I try to explain a card game to someone on what it’s like to play to someone that would understand more traditional games. I compare it to chess more than anything. You have game pieces (your cards) that do different things mostly whatever is written on the card. For the most part its 1 on 1 just like chess, you make decisions to take your opponents life down to 0 and win. It’s really just chess mixed in with fantasy with a collectible aspect to it. It’s almost like someone took baseball collecting and chess and through it together.

Now that is just a simple explanation of what card games are. They are fun to play, and fun to collect for.

Some people might find it a little different but really it’s no different than collecting coins, stamps, or anything else. There happens to actually just be a game built around them as well that you can play and compete in.

What AppalachiaTCG Offers

We try to offer the latest sealed products for Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-oh, Lorcana, and Flesh and Blood. As well as Sports Cards which I’m trying my best to learn more about on a daily basis. I use to collect and open Basketball kids as a kid but that world has vastly changed, some sets aren’t licensed now and sports is HARD to get, they don’t do booster boxes really either. Which is what I really like is have like 36 packs to crack open. Now it’s like a 5 pack booster collectors box for $150+ it’s just different.

We are officially an Armory for the game of Flesh and Blood, we get promos and giveaways to host tournaments every week. Armories are casual and for you to learn how to play the games, trade, and make friends. Right now we are currently focused on the commoner format to get more people enticed to join the game for basically nothing!

Don’t be a afraid to come by and ask questions we will teach you how to play the game, weather it’s Magic or FABTCG. Now you will have to teach me these other games if you want to start playing them!

We want to offer a welcoming atmosphere to anyone wanting to play these card games, weather you are selling, buying, or trading come on by.

Building a New Tradition in Eastern Kentucky

The ultimate goal to me is building up the community in Magoffin County and our neighbors if they don’t have a spot. In Pikeville the card gaming community has always been around and it’s continuing to grow! So I wouldn’t say it’s a new tradition in Eastern Kentucky but it’s never taken off in Salyersville.

Just like a fish fry or a church gathering, trading card games are about getting people together, sharing experiences, and having tons of fun with this amazing hobby. It’s a little different than other traditional probably held in Magoffin but it’s exciting to try to get this really going here.

Conclusion: An Invitation to Magoffin County

We invite everyone in Magoffin County and the surrounding counties like Morgan, Johnson, Floyd and Beyond to stop by AppalachiaTCG, or check us out online. Weather you want to learn something new, reconnect with an old hobby. Come see why we’re passionate about cards, gaming, and the community we’re building right here in Salyersville, Eastern Kentucky.

Don’t be afraid to sit down currently at the Farmhouse Diner, grab you a burger or pizza, ask for some packs to crack. We’re grateful to everyone’s whose already supported AppalachiaTCG and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this little dream.