A1 Trading

Retro game shop on 23rd Street that doubles as a Pokemon stop — walls of classic cartridges, sealed packs, and buy prices pegged to PriceCharting.

A1 Trading is filed under video game store on Google, and that is accurate as far as it goes. Walk in and the first thing you register is nostalgia by the linear foot: cartridges and discs from the NES era through the PS3 and beyond, consoles, GameCube controllers, accessories, and what one regular calls a gigantic assortment of different games. It is a small, owner-run suite in a 23rd Street strip center with surface parking, not a showroom.

The reason it belongs on a card shop list is the counter. A1 keeps real Pokemon inventory — sealed packs, singles, and older WOTC-era material — plus some sports cards, and the staff will actually walk a newcomer through which pack is worth buying rather than just ringing it up. A dad shopping for his daughter's first pack is a review archetype here, and the answers he got were straight.

Pricing is the shop's calling card. Buy and sell numbers track PriceCharting at the time of pricing, which is about as transparent a policy as the used-game trade offers, and reviewers who have shopped every store in the Kansas City metro rank this one at the top for it. One current caveat worth knowing: they stopped selling on eBay, so their buylist appetite has narrowed and they take in less than they used to. Call before hauling in a large lot.

There is no play space and no event schedule — do not come expecting league night. This is a browse-and-buy shop, and the browsing is the point.

Hours are tight: closed Sunday and Monday, open noon to 7PM Tuesday through Saturday. Sources split on whether Saturday is open, so a quick call to 816-879-3744 saves a wasted trip. At 4.8 across a hundred-plus reviews, it is one of the highest-rated retail stops in Independence of any category, and the wait at the register is rarely long.