SARATOGA SPRINGS — Born out of the passion of a Saratoga Springs collector, the Card Shack, LLC opened its doors in March, offering a wide variety of Pokémon and Magic the Gathering cards and collections.
Owner Thomas MacDonald said he initially began collecting cards as a kid before resuming the hobby after graduating from college in 2017. His collection grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually leading to the opening of the Card Shack, located at 7 Wells St., Suite 203D.
MacDonald said the Card Shack carries roughly 40-plus sets of Pokémon cards and a variety of Magic the Gathering sets. The store’s Pokémon offerings include Elite Trainer boxes and Premium collections, among a variety of other sets and cards. MacDonald said they also carry “a lot of older product.”
“I want to say we’re a collectible card game store, but we’re more of a specialty store, for sure,” said MacDonald. “Just a lot of things that you wouldn’t normally find out in different stores.”
The Card Shack also sells single cards, offering a chance for collectors to complete a specific collection or secure a certain card.
“We sell a lot of singles that collectors like to see. High-end, mid-range, small stuff,” MacDonald said. “Really things, if people are looking to finish sets, collect certain cards, just anything that they really want to collect, we have available for them.”
MacDonald said the store has seen several rare and unique cards, including Crystal Ho-Oh, Shining Tyranitar, and Rosa Full Art Trainer from Cosmic Eclipse, among others.
“There’s been just a lot of cool cards that have either been pulled or come through the shop,” said MacDonald. “We’ve got a lot of high-end collectors that will come in too, and really just sit down and will talk about cards for hours. We’ve seen the Poncho Pikachus, the Poncho Eevees, a lot of cool Japanese promos. It just really is a plethora of things that just come through here.”
He said that in the future, he hopes to expand the Card Shack’s offerings, mentioning his goal of adding sports and Yu-Gi-Oh cards to the store.
“I’d like to grow my knowledge on sports. I know there’s a lot of sports collectors in the area, too, that would love for a local shop to be in here,” MacDonald said. “I know I’ve been asked about Yu-Gi-Oh, I’m working on that. It’s a process.”
MacDonald said his experience since opening the Card Shack has been “really great,” noting he has attended local card shows and enjoyed the community aspect of card-collecting.
“Obviously, as a business, you buy and sell. But with (collectors), it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m trying to finish Astral Radiance, or Lost Origin. Do you have this, this, and this?’,” said MacDonald. “You get to see the accomplishment of them completing a set, or them finding a card that they’ve been looking for for a while. And then having them come back here and just kind of sit and talk with me about what they’re doing next. … It’s really great. It comes full-circle.”
