AUBURN - In a world of make-believe cities, towns and fortresses overrun with three-dimensional villains who must be slain by game controller-wielding heroes from the comfort of the living room couch, there is a haven for those who prefer their entertainment in tangible form, rather than on their TV or computer screen.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Rich Swartwood is the owner of Analog Hobbies, a recently opened store on Grant Avenue in Auburn. Among the items carried are remote control vehicles, board and card games, and model kits.
Rich Swartwood is the owner of Analog Hobbies, a recently opened store on Grant Avenue in Auburn. Among the items carried are remote control vehicles, board and card games, and model kits.
Tucked in the four-storefront Hunter Brook Plaza on Grant Avenue is Analog Hobbies, a wonderland of tabletop games, collectible card games, board games, remote control car parts and a slew of other non-digital toys. The shop, open since August, is game-lover and owner Rich Swartwood's first business venture, one he said caters to fellow fun enthusiasts.
“It was never really a dream of mine,” Swartwood said. He went to school to fix computers and did that for a while. “Then I decided to become a big kid and sell toys.”
The store's name, Analog Hobbies, describes, in a nutshell, the store's focus - non-digital fun. A portion of one wall is dedicated to figurines and game pieces for one of Swartwood's favorite tabletop games, Warhammer. On the same wall are neat rows of wheels, gears and glue bottles for toy cars. An impressive spread of board games, ranging from classics, such as Monopoly and Scrabble, to newer favorites, such as Apples to Apples, lines the opposite side of the narrow store. A glass case holds individually marked cards for Yi-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering.
“I'm all about stuff that's fun,” Swartwood said.
At some point in his life, Swartwood has played with all the games in the store, he said. But growing up in a sleepy downstate community, the word “game” had a different meaning.
“We would take a bat and go outside or chase each other around the neighborhood,” he said. It was not until high school that Swartwood was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, a game of miniature characters and role-play - and Swartwood's portal to a lifelong love of games.
Swartwood's attraction to tabletop games is the element of imagination: “Being, for a couple of hours at a time, able to immerse myself in a completely different world,” he said.
But for most people, tabletop and card games are about socialization - friends gather to play against each other and trade cards, he said.
On Saturdays, Swartwood holds Magic and Yi-Gi-Oh! tournaments at the shop to allow players a venue to compete and trade with a larger group of collectors.
The store fills a niche in Auburn for tabletop and card games, Swartwood said, though a similar shop opened shortly before his. Still, customers tell him it is nice to not have to travel to Syracuse, Geneva or Ithaca for the items they need, he said.
But Swartwood has no desire for his business to evolve into a specialty game store.
“I'd like to be a one stop-shop,” he said. “For anybody to walk in here and find something they'd like.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
If you go
What: Analog Hobbies
When: Open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 6 p.m. Sundays
Where: 171 Grant Ave., Suite 1, Auburn
Info: Call 282-7961
“It was never really a dream of mine,” Swartwood said. He went to school to fix computers and did that for a while. “Then I decided to become a big kid and sell toys.”
The store's name, Analog Hobbies, describes, in a nutshell, the store's focus - non-digital fun. A portion of one wall is dedicated to figurines and game pieces for one of Swartwood's favorite tabletop games, Warhammer. On the same wall are neat rows of wheels, gears and glue bottles for toy cars. An impressive spread of board games, ranging from classics, such as Monopoly and Scrabble, to newer favorites, such as Apples to Apples, lines the opposite side of the narrow store. A glass case holds individually marked cards for Yi-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering.
“I'm all about stuff that's fun,” Swartwood said.
At some point in his life, Swartwood has played with all the games in the store, he said. But growing up in a sleepy downstate community, the word “game” had a different meaning.
“We would take a bat and go outside or chase each other around the neighborhood,” he said. It was not until high school that Swartwood was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, a game of miniature characters and role-play - and Swartwood's portal to a lifelong love of games.
Swartwood's attraction to tabletop games is the element of imagination: “Being, for a couple of hours at a time, able to immerse myself in a completely different world,” he said.
But for most people, tabletop and card games are about socialization - friends gather to play against each other and trade cards, he said.
On Saturdays, Swartwood holds Magic and Yi-Gi-Oh! tournaments at the shop to allow players a venue to compete and trade with a larger group of collectors.
The store fills a niche in Auburn for tabletop and card games, Swartwood said, though a similar shop opened shortly before his. Still, customers tell him it is nice to not have to travel to Syracuse, Geneva or Ithaca for the items they need, he said.
But Swartwood has no desire for his business to evolve into a specialty game store.
“I'd like to be a one stop-shop,” he said. “For anybody to walk in here and find something they'd like.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
If you go
What: Analog Hobbies
When: Open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 6 p.m. Sundays
Where: 171 Grant Ave., Suite 1, Auburn
Info: Call 282-7961
Citizen
Hot Jobs
Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.