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On a recent Friday evening, Jaquell McQueen and Shawn Kelly met up at a store in Melrose to unwind from the stresses of the work week by fighting a battle to the death.
They were at Collectibles by Armada, a store that specializes in comics, manga, action figures and games to play Yu-gi-oh, the Japanese trading card game based on a comic book and cartoon of the same name. The cards represent monsters, spells and traps, and the goal is to use them to subdue the opponent.
Before they started the match, Kelly carefully rolled out his lucky suede playmate, obtained as a tournament prize, while McQueen set up a new deck of cards to practice with. When it was time to start they rolled a six-sided die to decide who was going first. Kelly won the toss. They wished each other good luck and began the Duel.
Collectibles by Armada serves as a clubhouse for people as old as McQueen, 24, and Kelly, 26 and as young as 10- or 11. Street slang and card game jargon competed with the sounds of Hip-Hop radio station Hot 97 as players of all shapes and sizes came together.
As the match wore on, with McQueen’s winged beast cards were proving ineffective against Kelly’s gladiator warrior cards, friends walked over to watch, bumping fists as salutes.
The two men traded tales of their girlfriends’ jealousy of the store. “Oh she was, like, ‘You playing the game too much, putting it before me,’” said McQueen.
“I just told my girl, ‘Would you rather me be out smoking, drinking, getting in trouble?’” responded Kelly, a regular who has been coming to the store since it first opened three years ago.
Collectibles by Armada is the invention of Rob Armada, who opened his store on Third Avenue in June 2008. The shop is lined with collectible toys old and new, including Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, a Scarface doll and countless action figures. It stocks the latest comics and just-released packs of trading cards as well as rare toys, some valued at thousands of dollars.
“We have a Batmobile that’s worth $1,500, and that Spiderman hanging from the ceiling is worth about $3,000-$4,000, said Armada, pointing to his treasures. The Spiderman outfit “was a replica a theater got during the first Spiderman movie,” Amarda said. “The suit is built to fit Tobey Maguire.”
Armada, who was born and raised in the Bronx, says he was impressed with the way the Melrose neighborhood has changed for the better. He points to the new apartment buildings nearby and the opening of the clothing store Forman Mills as examples.
The store offers memberships for $15 a month, which gives customers access to tournaments, in-house storage bins to hold cards and a place to play after school. The store also holds events for Pokémon Cards and Magic the Gathering.
More than 300 people have signed up for memberships. Armada says part of his success is making kids feel at home and treating them like family.
“Rob is an awesome dude–mad respect,” said McQueen of Armada.
About a year ago, an 11-year-old member underwent open heart surgery. The youngster had no health insurance. Armada placed a box in his shop with the boy’s picture and asked customers for donations. The drive raised $1,000. In addition, young customers donated Yu-gi-oh cards.
Armada contends that schools need to incorporate activities that interest children, such as Yu-gi-oh, into their lesson plans.
“We have to educate kids in things they like,” he said. “They say kids can’t read and do math, but they know how play a card game with elements of both,” he pointed out.
In the future Armada would like to partner with a non-profit to provide computer graphic arts classes at the store.
Basheen Soto, 29, from Castle Hill, also known as KYO, is the local registered Yu-gi-oh judge, security guy, and jack-of-all-trades at the shop. He said the store means the difference between peace and trouble for some young people.
“Some of these kids here could have been out selling drugs now,” he said. “Instead they are here playing.”
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