Fordham Comics

Four decades on Fordham Road, this Bronx card shop pairs deep Magic singles with Pokemon packs, dollar-box comics and a Friday tournament crowd.

Fordham Comics has been a fixture near the Fordham Road shopping strip for the better part of four decades, and it still runs the way the best neighborhood shops do — on the owner's memory of what you collect. Customers who first came in as kids now bring their own, and the store's standing in the borough rests on that continuity rather than on slick retail presentation.

The Magic: The Gathering selection is the anchor. Singles are sorted for real deck-building rather than for display, and the Friday tournaments pull a consistent crowd into the play space at the back. Prices on both sealed product and older singles run noticeably below what the same cards fetch in Manhattan, which is a large part of why players ride the D train up here instead. Pokemon has grown into the second pillar, with booster packs, singles and the occasional collection lot moving quickly.

Comics remain a genuine part of the business rather than an afterthought. Back issues fill long boxes along the walls, and the shop has a reputation for not overcharging on older runs — a rarity in a market where speculation has pushed back-issue prices sharply upward. Alongside the books sit action figures, statues, playmats, sleeves and posters.

What makes this Bronx card shop worth the trip is the mix. It is one of the few places in the borough where you can pick up Pokemon cards, dig through a discount comic box and enter a Magic tournament on the same visit. The hours help too: 1PM to 9PM every single day of the week, Sunday included, so there is no schedule to check before stopping in after work or school.

If you have never been, come on a Friday evening while the tournament is running — it is the fastest way to read both the community and the inventory at once. Regulars will tell you the real trick is simply to ask. A good deal of the deeper stock never makes it to the floor, and the owner will pull things from the back once he knows what you are chasing.