Genuinely a great place. The only reason it's unkempt is because Mike has so many regulars and pre-orders from calls and emails, that keeping up with cleaning is a hassle. His employees are busy trying to keep up with the pre-orders and walk-ins as well, very rarely do you find them doing nothing. If you want to buy or sell, you can haggle with the owner, Mike, and he won't get snarky unless you really give him a hard time. Otherwise, he's very agreeable and I've seen him be patient with dozens of people, even if they didn't deserve his patience. His employees like to work there, I like sticking around and helping sort cards. People play Magic there and can hang out, no worries at all. A bunch of my fiancé's family members have worked there part time, and her brother plays Magic there from time to time. It's sweet. My main issue isn't even anyone's fault who works there, or Mike's fault: There's a group of low-lives who keep breaking in at night, trashing the place, putting holes in the walls, breaking doors down, it's unreal. Genuinely, I can't imagine how twisted of a junkie you'd have to be, to want to steal from Mike. He's just a kind old man running a small business. Leave him alone.
Not sure why people are praising this place as one of the best, it smells god awful in there, idk if they’re nose blind here or just don’t give a shit but it’s made worse by how stuffy it is. The employees here can be rude, I tried making convo with one once and she proceeded to bash my job. Another bigger guy was acting very weird and was making my friend and I uncomfortable, we couldn’t look at the card we wanted in peace without him standing over us. And I don’t know which store owner Mike everyone is praising but Store Owner Mike can be rude as well and is extremely conservative from some of the conversations I’ve heard him having with customers. He clearly doesn’t know the value of some of his cards as well lol. There are so many other card shops in Fresno like Evolution in the Sierra Vista mall that have way better customer service, and a way better atmosphere and smell lol
About a year ago I inherited a large MTG collection and had sold about 1/4 of the cards here and there online... Done enough research to know there was value in what was left .. and recently when I found myself in a pinch I went to Bullpen to sell what I could. I had two cards I know together on TCG low price was about $80 but I also understand the shop has to turn a profit too so I wasn't too suspicious of a low offer. The owner went through about 300 cards taking out what he wanted and laid them face down on the counter .. offered me $50 for one pile and $120 for the other. In haste, I accepted and that was my mistake. I was stupidly honest and mentioned I didn't play MTG or know much about the cards besides from a collectors eye I recognized they had value. I had 4 older Nether Shadow cards and about 9 older Lightning Bolt cards ... Some 4th and the rest 5th editions. I didn't think to look until I got home but he took all of them and paid me peanuts ... I trusted he was being fair and didn't examine his piles ... I see now that he did what he did on purpose .. the laying them face down .. going through them quickly .. quick offer .. he took advantage of my naievety and trusting nature. Between my older cards and the Stoneforge Mystic and Sphere of Resistance the value on TCG alone would have been near what he paid me .. he received over 60 cards. It is completely my fault for being so dumb to trust a stranger ... But it is also messed up to take advantage of someone who willingly gives you their trust and respect... who took you at your face value as an expert in your craft and as an elder. I just wanted to share this so that others are aware underneath the awesomeness that is found at Bullpen there is a little bit of dishonesty and comeuppance at the heart of it all.
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