The Inner Geek

Pullman Square's book-and-hobby hybrid, where Pokemon singles and sealed sit alongside manga, back-issue comics and a wall of Funko Pops in downtown Huntington.

Walk into 30 Pullman Square and the first thing you notice is that this is not a single-category store. The Inner Geek runs new and used books, graphic novels, manga, vintage toys and Funko shelves through the front of the space, and the trading card business lives in and around the counter — sealed Pokemon product behind glass, singles binders you can ask to flip through, and sleeves, toploaders and binders stocked for people who just started collecting last week.

Pokemon is the anchor. Regulars name Devon, the shop's card guy, as the reason their collections grew; the pattern in review after review is someone coming in for one card, not finding it that day, and having it tracked down and held within a few days. Magic: The Gathering gets real shelf space too, and the manga wall means Japanese-language and import interest is not an afterthought here the way it is at a general bookstore.

The hours are the practical advantage. Most of Huntington's card inventory sits in shops that close at 5 or 6 and take Sundays off. The Inner Geek runs 10AM to 9PM Monday through Thursday, stretches to 10PM on Friday and Saturday, and still opens noon to 6 on Sunday — so it is the one place in town you can hit after work or after dinner. Downtown parking around Pullman Square is metered street parking plus the Pullman garage, both a short walk.

It is worth going in with the right expectation: this is a Huntington card shop inside a bookstore, not a tournament hall. There are no rows of play tables and no weekly FNM here — for organized play, Hometown Hobbies a few blocks over is the destination. What The Inner Geek offers instead is steady restocking, a staff that will special-order, and the ability to browse Pokemon cards, a new release novel and a $12 vinyl figure in the same trip. That combination is why it pulls 4.6 stars across more than 500 Google reviews, easily the most-reviewed hobby destination in the city.

If you are visiting Huntington and only have time for one stop, this is the safe one — central, open late, and stocked with something for whoever you dragged along.