Wiser’s Wide World of Collectibles

I recently fell heir to an eclectic collection of sports memorabilia that ranged from cards to a seat from an old hockey arena. Being a fan but not a collector, I knew that I some of this stuff — that I didn’t want — had some value and that some of it was junk. I also knew that, with my total lack of knowledge of the market, I was an easy mark for someone who wanted to cheat me. Enter Chris and his staff at Wisers. I visited the store twice and, on both occasions, was treated courteously and fairly. All members of the team were considerate and patient answering my many questions and I never was blown off or made to feel stupid. Chris went out of his way to explain how he arrived at the values that he did and I left feeling that I had received fair value for the goods that I sold.
We’re I a collector or trader of either sports cards or gaming materials and games themselves, this would be my go-​to place. They have a massive inventory but they are in a huge space, and their selection is organized and very well presented. I have nothing but positive thoughts about Wisers and recommend it strongly!

Great selection and knowledgable friendly staff. They have been expanding their in-​house gaming including an additional magic night and a family game night. The store may not look pretty… but it’s quite functional and full of goodness!

As a geek at heart, I was pretty excited to check out Wiser’s Wide World of Collectibles. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed.
I’ll start with the positives. My husband has been getting back into Magic the Gathering and was told that the selection of Magic cards here was the largest in the lower mainland. I am happy to report that their selection of Magic cards is huge. They have boxes upon boxes upon boxes. If you are looking for a card, chances are they have it in stock, and for much cheaper than Ebay! This is also true for hockey cards, dungeons and dragons books, warhammer, comic books, and other card games. If you’re driving here, it’s pretty easy to find once you exit off of Highway 1, and there’s a decent amount of parking outside the building.
Now, the negatives. The store itself feels like a small warehouse or garage (one half of the store has a giant garage door to outside they keep shut). This probably works great for the store, but it felt really dingy, as if it needed a good scrub down. Also, even though their selection of cards is massive, you can’t really look through them. The majority of the cards are kept in boxes behind the counter. I’ve been to many other card stores that have all of their cards in binders to make it easy to find what you’re looking for. It’s one thing for the staff to know their stock inside out, but if you haven’t done your research before entering the store it makes it tough. With this said, prepare to wait if the store is busy, since the staff can really only help one or two people at a time. On the note of the staff, while they are extremely knowledgeable about what they sell, their social skills are a bit lacking. They weren’t unfriendly by any means, but I just felt awkward, and this is coming from someone who’s been going to stores like this for years.
If you’re on the hunt for new Magic cards or hockey cards, I recommend this place since their stock is great. It’s just not the best collectible store out there.