Love of trading card games kept alive at World's End Gaming

MIDDLEBORO — A new deck of cards is dealt at World’s End Gaming, where the Middleboro shop sells a myriad of trading card games and hosts weekly events and leagues for enthusiasts.

The store replaced a previous card shop at the same location — Bulldog Sports Cards — and although there’s a similar array of trading cards and community events, the current business focuses on Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and Bandai — a popular Japanese brand — trading card games. 

Co-owners and fiances Connor Foisy and Riley Nee opened the business in October 2024. Foisy said the shop at 321 W. Grove St. fights to keep products affordable amidst a trading-card-game boom that has snowballed after a rise in popularity during the Covid pandemic.

“We really value the community approach right now, especially since trading card games have a spotlight on it. Prices have been really, really high,” Foisy said.

Foisy said his business is a game store for players. 

Similar to sports trading cards, players purchase card packs full of random cards to both collect and play with. While the specific rules of each game vary, players use the abilities, characteristics and statistics of each card to compete against others.

The business also offers video games, miniature figurines, DVDs and collectible items.

Foisy said social media has spurred a wide interest in some of these games in recent years. With the boom came a hike in prices, but he said the shop prides itself on keeping prices low since they buy directly from game distributors.

“If you or I were to go into a Target store, we probably wouldn't be able to buy Pokémon products, because people would camp out and buy everything to resell,” he said. “It's a weird thing going on right now.”

Since Foisy purchases the store’s stock directly from suppliers, he has more control over pricing. He said he sells packs for around $5, while many resellers charge double or triple that price.  

“The community needs places to come and get things for the actual prices, to just be able to hang out and enjoy the games — that's what we try to be,” he said.

He said some coveted, unopened card packs are only sold on specific days or during their Pokémon League Night, giving more people a better chance at getting ahold of products.

Foisy said the shop comes to life during the community events and league nights where players compete against each other, often bringing dog-eared binders full of their card collections.

Trading card game players can often be seen in the shop, sitting at small tables and facing off with their cards throughout the evening and until the closing time, some days until 11 p.m. 

For Foisy, running the shop is all about community. He finds himself playing with customers as they come through the shop, and also living vicariously through customers while they excitedly open card packs.

“Regardless of the game, I love meeting up with people and just playing. It could be someone I know really well, or someone I just met. That's always what it's been about,” he said.

On the day-to-day, customers come through the shop to buy and “rip” packs, the term for opening packs and seeing what random cards are inside. 

Foisy said ripping packs is an exciting part of the trading-card passion, since players don’t know whether they’ll receive rare or common cards.

“[Customers] come in to rip packs to try to pull something cool,” he said. “The majority of them are very invested in playing the actual game. Even if they're not coming in to rip packs, they'll come in with a deck and we'll just hang out and play a couple games for an hour.”

Foisy previously worked as an executive chef in restaurants for nearly a decade, and said before he toyed with the idea of owning a trading card store, he always imagined opening a restaurant of his own.

He first started selling video games and DVDS part-time with Nee so they could save money to buy a house. He said the two began selling trading cards about three years ago, rekindling their love for Pokémon. They soon set their sights on opening a trading card shop of their own.

“This was always the end goal for sure,” Foisy said. “We quickly started going to local card shops around us when we got into the community, and we loved the atmosphere.”

As the store enters its second year of operations, Foisy said business and community events have been doing well, in large part due to the cards’ recent surge in popularity.

Although they always keep an eye out for cheaters and unsportsmanlike conduct during their gaming events, he said they’ve continued to build a supportive and friendly environment since 2024.

“We've really worked hard to have a great community that just wants to have a good time and really help each other. You know, that's what we care about,” Foisy said.

Find information on daily and upcoming trading card leagues and free learn-to-play events held at the store on the World’s End Gaming Facebook page.