{"id":5651,"date":"2021-07-30T11:23:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T17:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/?p=5651"},"modified":"2021-07-30T11:27:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T17:27:42","slug":"game-changer-follows-customers-into-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/game-changer-follows-customers-into-comics\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Changer follows customers into comics"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

By Kerri Rempp<\/strong><\/p>

Discover Northwest Nebraska<\/strong><\/p>

The last thing one might expect when entering Game Changer is an extensive comic book collection that features 40,000 titles, including four variants with covers produced exclusively for the mom-and-pop shop with artwork by some of the biggest names in the industry.<\/p>

But that is exactly what you\u2019ll find at this unique Northwest Nebraska business.<\/p>

Adam Stone opened Game Changer on Main Street in Chadron in 2014, focusing primarily on video games, gaming consoles, movies and music after learning the business hands-on at a shop in Lincoln.<\/p>

Stone, who spent much of his childhood in Chadron, eventually returned to the area to attend Chadron State College, where he ran the planetarium. In 2008, he set out for Lincoln and became the first employee at a video game store there. Six years later, the million-dollar business boasted 45 employees, two stores and a warehouse of inventory.<\/p>

\u201cI learned the ins and outs of everything,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>

After a divorce, he started looking for a fresh start and wanted to return to the mom-and-pop style of business.<\/p>

\u201cI really wanted to take a step back, slow down and do it on a smaller scale,\u201d he said. He purchased the building in Chadron\u2019s downtown historic district, secured a loan through Northwest Nebraska Development Corporation and opened his doors Feb. 17, 2014.<\/p>

\u201cIt was a big feat,\u201d he said, adding that he originally lived in the building as well, just to save money. He stocked the store mostly from his own personal collection of games and equipment, starting small with an eye to the future.<\/p>

\u201cI put everything I owned in the store. I had to learn to let go.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Adam Stone, right, Megan Sokolowski, left, pose with a copy of \u201cThe Bunny Mask\u201d and the original hand-drawn artwork by artist Andrea Mutti. Stone owns and operates Game Changer in Chadron with Sokolowski, with whom he has two children, Zelda and Coraline. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Game Changer \u2013 with its mission to buy, sell and trade video games, movies and music \u2013 entered the market at an interesting time. According to Stone, right before he opened, he read that 90% of businesses like his had gone under. While that was daunting, he chose to view it as an opportunity; it left little competition, after all.<\/p>

An expert on video game consoles, Stone also bought and sold gaming systems from the beginning, going so far as to purchase broken ones he could repair and sell. Knowing he would need to stay nimble to keep his business successful he was always on the lookout for his next idea.<\/p>

\u201cAnytime I see an opening I go for it,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>

For a time, he owned and operated retro arcade games in roughly 15 businesses in Chadron, but the comic books have taken on a life of their own.<\/p>

\u201cThe customers brought the comics to the store,\u201d he said.<\/p>

What started as a small collection of comic in a box has grown to take over much of the store\u2019s footprint. Stone noticed a growing interest in industry and began acquiring additional titles, selling them in his store and on E-bay.<\/p>

\u201cIt was fascinating to me,\u201d said Chadron resident Karen Pope after visiting the store for the first time recently to sell her sons\u2019 old gaming consoles.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
The Game Changer, located in downtown Chadron, buys sells and trades video games, movies, music and comic books. Adam Stone, owner and operator, has also produced exclusive Game Changer cover variants for four comic books, including \u201cThe Bunny Mask,\u201d pictured here. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

One of Stone\u2019s friends in Denver, who also owns a comic book store, purchases titles from Game Changer for re-sale and introduced Stone to comic artist Neal Adams. Stone worked with Adams, who is known for his work on DC Comics and as an artist-advocate, at the Denver Pop Culture Con in 2018 and 2019, and that relationship put him on the path to becoming a comic producer.<\/p>

With the publication of \u201cTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 100,\u201d Stone pitched an idea for the cover art to Adams, who worked with Stone to create an exclusive variant of the comic book cover. Stone funded the publication of 800 copies of the comic book with the Game Changer cover paying homage to the first Ninja Turtle game by Nintendo. Adams and Stone each took half of the production run, and Adams signed 300 of Stone\u2019s copies.<\/p>

Dan Connor, the coloring artist on Tim Burton\u2019s \u201cNightmare Before Christmas,\u201d agreed to design the back cover of the book.<\/p>

To date, he\u2019s now produced Game Changer variants for the covers of four comic books, including \u201cThe Bunny Mask,\u201d with artwork by Andrea Mutti, whose work appears in the Marvel comics. Stone has given local artists the opportunity to create the back covers on his subsequent works.<\/p>

\u201cIt was a very big learning process,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>

He doesn\u2019t know where the market will take him next but said he\u2019ll continue to pay attention to its demands.<\/p>

\u201cThere\u2019s a big resurgence on retro, like vinyl records and comics, but I\u2019ll adapt to what the customers want.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kerri Rempp Discover Northwest Nebraska The last thing one might expect when entering Game Changer is an extensive comic book collection that features 40,000 titles, including four variants with covers produced exclusively for the mom-and-pop shop with artwork by some of the biggest names in the industry. But that is exactly what you\u2019ll find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[352,246,348,350,353,349,351,55],"class_list":["post-5651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-andrea-mutti","tag-chadron","tag-comic-books","tag-dc-comics","tag-game-changer","tag-marvel","tag-neal-adams","tag-northwest-nebraska"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_3620.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgf0HI-1t9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5651"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5658,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651\/revisions\/5658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}