Sleeved Up Collectibles brings comics, cards, community

John Kohler spent a lot of time in his stepfather’s comic book store as a child, and for years he dreamed of having a shop of his own.

That dream recently became a reality when he and his wife, Brittany, opened Sleeved Up Collectibles at 114 S. Main St. in Drexel.

The store, which held its grand opening June 27, offers trading cards, comics, collectibles, and a variety of other items. And to this point, the Kohlers have been impressed with the support they have received from the community.

“It’s been pretty great,” John said. “We’ve had some super busy days, some days during the week it’s a little bit slower, but we’re still getting our name out there to a lot of people. Facebook has been one of the biggest things for us with getting people in. We make a post about something new with Pokémon that we’ve got and then people are coming 30 minutes later looking for it.”

The Kohlers are Marion natives who met through Brittany’s older sister. They now live in Drexel, where they plan to raise their 18-month-old daughter, Charlotte.

“We’ve been together nine years, and we moved to Drexel when we were looking for a house about four years ago,” John said. “We just absolutely fell in love with the area. It’s a great little community, not a big town by any means, but right in between a lot of different things, so it works out great. And we hear good things about the (elementary) school here, too, so with a little one, we’re looking for that in the future.”

“This place opened up, it was perfect,” he added of Sleeved Up Collectibles’ location. “The landlord, he’s great to work with, and a lot more stuff is coming down on Main Street, so we’re looking forward to that.”

In addition to an assortment of singles and packs from such trading card games as Pokémon, Disney Lorcana, Magic: The Gathering, and Riftbound: League of Legends, Sleeved Up Collectibles also carries Warhammer 40,000 game pieces and accessories. Notably, Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop game in which players assemble armies of miniature figures that they build and paint themselves to battle other armies using dice, measuring tools, and data cards.

Other items available at Sleeved Up Collectibles include LEGO sets, plushies, novels, T-shirts, and sports cards.

“We try to be as competitively priced as possible,” John said. “With Pokémon specifically it’s just so hard to get right now, and we try to give people fair prices. Sometimes we have to limit some items, that way we can make sure one person doesn’t come in here and buy everything, but we try to stay about 20% below the market for whatever the product is so that people get a fair price and we can keep some stuff on the shelves still. But the community is a big thing, we’re here to help whoever with whatever hobby they have to come hang out and have a good time.”

The store also buys and trades select trading cards, comics, sealed products, graded cards, and collectibles, although those with larger collections to review are asked to reserve a time by contacting the store at SleevedUpCollectibles@gmail.com or 828-391-9066. Questions can also be submitted through an online form at sleevedupcollectibles.com or via the store’s Facebook page.

Several items are also available for purchase at the aforementioned website, and the store offers both ship-to-home and in-store pickup options.

“We sell a lot of our single cards online, probably over half of them,” John said. “We take in trades, we’ll list them online or in the store, and that definitely helps out with fitting the demand.”

Sleeved Up Collectibles has also hosted several game nights, with more planned for the future. According to John, official play is currently offered for Magic: The Gathering and Riftbound: League of Legends.

“We also do Warhammer nights, there’s a lot of people that love that,” John said. “And the painting part is honestly pretty enjoyable, it’s relaxing.”

“We try to be as inclusive as possible,” he added, noting that they’re hoping to start holding official play for Pokémon and Disney Lorcana soon as well. “So, anything that anyone asks us about, we’re always looking into.”