The new comic store offers a variety of toys, statues and VHS tapes

This weekend I visited BAMF! Comics & Collectibles in Maitland. It was my first visit to the shop and to that area of town in general. I went on a Sunday around noon. The store is open 11-5 on Sundays. The store sign was easy to spot, and the parking lot was easy to get into from the main road. When we pulled in, the parking lot was empty. The store is in the middle of a quaint L shaped shopping center.

The store is separated into clear sections: figures, VHS tapes, seating area, tea window, comics, and books. The employee working greeted us upon entering. The store has only been open a few months and a new store smell still strongly fills the building.  As soon as you step inside, it is clear to see the store is clean and well organized. The entire space is well lit from the large front windows.

Funko pops, action figures and statues

We started by heading to the action figures. The store had a great supply of 6-inch Marvel Legends. They had various other figures from different franchises grouped together. They had a decent, but not overwhelming selection of the ever popular FUNKO pops.  They had some higher end action figures such as Play Arts Kai, but not many. They have a few displays cases of loose figures for the different franchises as well, including Build-A-Figure pieces which is nice. On the ends of the two action figure aisles, they had a couple of small cases with statues from mostly Marvel and DC. The entire section made up about half the store. It was about 3 small aisles with front and back displays. I imagine they will build up this section more the longer they are open.

Blockbuster-like VHS rental station

The area with the VHS tapes was somewhat confusing. It looked like a classic mini Blockbuster store. There wasn’t a huge section, but it was more VHS tapes in one place then I’ve seen in 10 years. I believe this section was for renting titles, but I didn’t see any signage to confirm. There were some neat movie posters and props around this area adding to the strange intrigue. I did notice they had a specific section for superhero films, which was appropriate and convenient.

Connected to this area is an open seating section. There are about four tables with fun, homemade superhero theme seats. There is a Super Nintendo here, which looked to be available for anyone to play. I believe this seating area is for the tea window that is located in the wall nearby. The window was closed, but there was a sign for tea and cookies posted out front. Since the store is new, I imagine this is a work in progress. It will be a neat special feature of the store to have a working snack and drink walkup window. Theming the concessions to superheroes or having themed specials sounds like fun. Nearby, there is a small display of board games that look to be for rent to play at the tables as well.

Superhero shirts for sale

Next over there is a small area with t-shirts for sale. There were about 6-8 to choose from, clearly displayed on the wall above the actual shirts. This is important to mention as not all stores offer comic shirts, but many shoppers are solely looking for them.

There is another seating area nearby with a large TV. In this area, there are only a couple of lounge type seats. While we were there, Signs was playing on the TV. If the TV wasn’t distracting, these seats could also be used to sit down and read in as they are next to the books section.

Great Trade Paperback and Book area

There is a large selection of trade paperbacks and other related books. There seemed to be a little bit of everything. There are superhero trades, art books, manga, and even a children’s section. I thought the book area was well-organized, and the best area of the store.

Bagged and Boarded Comic book back Issues

There are maybe 20- 30 long boxes full of bagged and boarded comics. There looked to be a few older books mixed in with the newer, but not a large selection overall. I checked the back issues to try to find a couple of titles on my list. I didn’t find any of the specific ones I went searching for, but I did see some great books.

A wide variety of comic titles and publishers

The new comics wall is impressive. There are a lot of titles represented in this area. The employee said there would be a focus on providing as wide of a variety as possible across all publishers. There also appeared to be local comics for sale as well, which is an added feature that not all shops provide. I wasn’t currently looking for any new books, but there was a little bit of everything. The new comics are behind a plastic board display apparatus, so it took me a minute to figure out if there were any issues left or not for the title that I checked. Above the new comics, are the graded, high end and key comics. There are two rows of about 40 comics total on this wall. These are all clearly priced. There were some interesting choices here, such as a high-graded, Raiders of the Lost Ark comic alongside the usual classics.

Comics subscription available

The store does offer subscription services for the new comics. The employee let me know when I checked out; he was friendly and informative. At the front of the store, there are more mixed statues located within the checkout counter. There are some bagged snacks and a cooler here too.

Verdict

Overall, I would rate BAMF! Comics & Collectibles 4 out of 5 stars. The store had a little bit of everything, but not too much. It accomplishes a lot in a fairly small space. I would definitely like to return once the store has the tea window up and running and the rental situation more clearly detailed. BAMF! Comics & Collectibles seems like a friendly atmosphere, that wants to build a strong geek and comics-related community.