>> NEWS AND EVENTS > WHAT TO DO IN PORTLAND

Part I - Shopping the Geek Life in Portland.

Being the first part in the ongoing adventures of Aaron, Geek in the City! Okay, so maybe I shouldn't make this sound so epic, but enough of you fine folks have asked me which Geek oriented shops I think are the best in the great city of Portland. Instead of naming which is "the best" (as that is a relative term when it comes to where a Geek drops their credits) I will take it upon myself to hit each and every comic, game, and toy shop in the greater Portland Metro area over the coming weeks. Yea, I know, it's a rough life but somebody has to do it. What better place to start then in my own backyard, and so I present to you...

Geeking out in the Hollywood District.

Things From Another World - 4133 NE Sandy Blvd. - 503.284.4693

The closest Portland has to a comic book chain store, Things From Another World (or Things as the locals call it, or simply TFAW), has been in Portland for as long as Dark Horse Comics has been in Portland (technically, Milwaukie, but you get the point). As a pure comic book shop, the Hollywood Things has strayed a bit as they now include all forms of pop culture items. As can be expected by a store that is partially banked by Dark Horse Comics, they have a disproportionally large amounts of DK swag, but that also means they are your go to store if you are looking for Hellboy or Star Wars gear. Like most comic book stores they have a good supply of new issues and their buying power allows them to order more copies of books that the smaller stores and they are able to call other stores within the Things network to find items for you. So, if you are looking for a good “catch all” Geeky store for that relative that likes pop culture items the Hollywood Things From Another World is a good place to start.

Bridgetown Hobbies & Games, Inc. - 3350 NE Sandy Blvd. - 503.234.1881

Mentioned many times on this very site, Bridgetown Hobbies is my personal go to store when I am shopping for dice tossing. While not a dedicated game store, they are within walking distance and so get most of my gaming dollar. It also helps that they have a very knowledgeable staff who will go out of their way to get you what you are looking for. If they don’t have it in stock, they will order it for you. Even out of print books are not out of the realm of possibility as is evidenced by my pristine copy of Savage Worlds, (now if only they can hunt down a copy of the Star Wars Revised and Expanded Core Book). Their game selection is not as complete as other game stores as half of their building is dedicated to scale modeling of all kinds as well as those great Estes Rockets that used to get me in so much trouble back in the day. Like Things, Bridgetown Hobbies and Games is a great “general” store for the Geek in your life that likes to toss the dice or paint little pewter figures!

Tune in next weekend when I go East side and West side with Cosmic Monkey Comics and Rainy Day Games!