Collector Haven

Pros: There is a good selection of comics and other toys despite it’s small size. They have a huge section of marvels and the comics are reasonably priced. I found a few boxes of $ 1 and 30 cent comics which is always a thrill to look for hidden gems! The guy running the store was really nice and let me do my searching with no hindrance.
Cons: The location is a bit difficult to find as it is upstairs and smashed between two other stores. Overall the place is probably the smallest comic store I’ve ever been to so with that comes certain limitations.

Got there at 5:30 and the sign said open till 6. It looks like you have to walk up a sketchy staircase hallway to get to it but it was locked. I guess I will go somewhere else.

I really want this place to do well. It is in a great little micro-​hood in uptown Oakland. Oakland and the bay area have such great local artists who produce independently, and I wish this store would tap into that population. I wish they had more zines or prints. It is a great place for gifts and more mass produced comics. They staff is very helpful in finding what I am looking for.

Ok.
In all fairness, I was ready to rate this place a solid 4-​stars after my first visit. The excitement of finding a cool little shop two blocks from my work as fantastic. They had an odd selection of back issues, tending toward multiple copies of recent issues. Appears to be a shop that was opened because someone’s personal collection got too big. Found some solid ASM books on my first visit. The guy behind the counter didn’t bother with any sort of customer service, but I let that slide.
Second visit was not so great. Ho-​hum, didn’t buy anything.
Third visit I found six books I wanted, took them up to the register and the guy literally took 7 minutes to scan/​key in the necessary info into the register. Literally seven minutes. For six books. I was watching my watch the whole time because I was on a 15 minute break from work and time was running out… fast.
Then, after the SEVEN minutes was up, he tells me my total is $ 21.64. I hand him 2 $ 20 bills. He looks at them as though he has never seen anything like them before. Then he reaches in his pocket and pulls out some cash. Then he puts it back in his pocket. Then he looks in the register and then under the cash drawer and then he tells me, «I only have ones.»
«So you’re going to give me eighteen ones?»
«Yeah.»
“Why don’t you just give me back the two twenties,” I answered. And I left.
Seven minutes to scan six books and then they have only ones in the register.
One other mark against them: the new books are in a shelving unit that goes halfway up the book, so most of their new books have been bent in half by people rifling through them. If you care about such things, you will be buying damaged goods on many occasions.
This guys are, frankly, kind of half-​assing it.
Genuinely surprised they are still in business…

I went in to check this place out and end up buying some comic book. I was impress how much stuff they have here i can spent days here great addition to downtown oakland

While it’s a nice looking store, it’s a little unorganized and has a lot of figures rather than comics. It didn’t seem like they had any variants, or maybe I just missed it. I may give it another if I have time during work.

For a place that advertises itself as a «comic and sports card» store, the sports side of that is incredibly lacking.
Were I coming here for comics, I’d probably be in pretty good shape, but their selection of sports cards is downright laughable. The vast majority of their cards are from that terrible 80’s-90’s era that no one wants. Things are moderately priced and once I dug a little bit, I found a TINY bit of cards worth looking into, but I’m talking maybe 1 – 2 boxes out of 50. And since I picked them up, it’s pretty much all just filler now.
If you’re going to have that little of a focus on sports cards, just take it out of your name and focus on what you do well.

Great selection of hard to find cool stuff. Very cool to see family oriented businesses coming back to this neighborhood in Oakland.

Nostalgia in Downtown Oakland.
If you blink while walking down 17^th, you will miss the door leading you up a staircase to younger years. Don’t let the Staircase deter you! (unless you can’t do stairs)
Downtown Oakland is a busy and buzzing place, full of professionals… Some are still collectors, gamers, casual comic readers and trading card game players.
If you are none of the above, how about your kids? You could pick up a really cool superhero, comic or action toy for them that line the walls here.
This shop has only been open for 3 weeks, and the owners are nice. Go check it out! They will be doing a lot of events too if you are into the gaming/​trading card scene.
I will definitely be back. Thanks to the guy walking around in the sign advertising this spot for piquing my interest/​curiosity.
What they have:
Comics
Sports Memorablia and cards
Trading Cards
Other Cards
Comic Toys, Superhero Toys, other Action Figures — Wide Range
Probably a lot more I didn’t see. (maybe board games? not sure?)
Very clean shop with a good layout, and sounds like they have additional space for events. A step above most of the comic shops I’ve been to in Oakland, San Leandro, Castro Valley and Union City.

What a great comic shop!
My staple shops in the Bay Area have always been The Comic Shop here in San Leandro, Alameda Cards and Comics, and Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland, but it looks like I’ve added another one to my list (and another great business to Oakland)!
When turning onto 17^th, you have to keep your eyes peeled for Collector’s Haven; it’s tucked away next to a psychic’s shop and the doorway is really narrow. Going up the steep flight of stairs to the shop on an upper floor, you’ll notice the walls are covered in posters of comic and video game characters and series. It’s a really neat entrance.
The store itself has a blend of comics, graphic novels, collectible toys from the 90s, and sports memorabilia, as well as a decent offering of trading cards (Magic, Yu-​Gi-​Oh, Pokemon). Prices are pretty reasonable, and on the weekends they offer tournaments for UFC and Street Fighter IV that you can compete in.
This establishment is very new, so the owners are still getting product in, so if you go and there’s a book you’d like but aren’t seeing, drop a suggestion into the suggestion box they have; they look at what customers are asking for and want to buy so they know what to order and stock.
Since I was one of the first 50 people to like their facebook page, I got a $ 10 gift card in the mail, and when I went yesterday I entered a raffle they were having and won another $ 10 card! Pretty great incentive to return.
Check out Collector’s Haven. It was a great first impression.