Taunton Tour: Krackers Games Shop

So on with the tour of my town again. This shop is about a 3 minute walk from my front door these days in the quiet "street" that is Bath Place. Oddly enough, now that I live closer to it than I ever have before, I actually visit it less often than I used too. Back in my college days it was a rare day that went by without me finding myself in the shop.

I've been a frequent customer at this shop for the past 18 years roughly. In all that time the store really hasn't changed all that much. Ohh sure stuff has moved around inside the shop (I've lost count of how many times the counter has shifted position) and the roleplaying games have moved from where they used to be just inside the door to the back of the shop, their old place now taken by comic books and graphic novels, but by and large the store has remained very much the same.

I'd say the biggest change is that the old arcade games have gone. There used to be anything up to a half dozen arcade games in the back half of the store when I first started visiting it. Many a visit into town as a teenager would be spent slotting £1 coins in the big four player game they always had one off (especially the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game or the X-Men one). Ahh memories!

It was a friend called Ashley Waters who got me started on RPG's though, introducing me to Dungeons & Dragons, a hobby that still holds my interest nearly 2 decades later. I shudder to think how much money I've spent on that game over the years. I'm a lot more picky in what I buy nowadays though. As Krackers was the only store that sold the game books back then (and for the most part still is the only store that does), it immediately became one of my favourite places in Taunton.

I've been a customer long enough now that I'm well known there. There is something comforting in that. I think the theme tune to the old TV show Cheers says it best when it describes "a place where everybody knows your name". That is exactly what Krackers is to me. I've known Tony Peach (who owns the store) longer than any of my current circle of friends. I went to school (albeit briefly) with Jason who works there. I actually miss Herman who used to work there, a friendly (if gruff) Turk. I've worked in this store before now, both on work experience and helping out for a day here and there, usually when a massive delivery arrives.

The photo above doesn't really do the shop justice. Inside it is floored in red carpet, with shelves that groan under the weight of action figures, movie memorabilia, comics, miniatures, books and card games. There is another store in the nearby city of Exeter (though I have heard that it is being closed soon) which I have visited a couple times but it doesn't hold the attraction of this one.