Metro Entertainment

Hands down a must-​stop when I am in Santa Barbara! This comic book store is stocked up and has a big selection. None of the comic book shops in San Luis Obispo or Santa Maria carried a variant cover of the new Power Rangers, but Metro carried it! The owners and workers are super friendly and helpful.

Whenever you find yourself in Santa Barbara and in need of a comic, there is only one place to visit. Don’t mind the generic name, Metro Entertainment is a cool little store for comic book, wargaming, trading card and toy fans.
Great selection, nice people and fellow geeks to converse with. The clerks are knowledgeable and go out of their way to help you. They have a good selection of older comics and trades, although a little bit safe. Looking for something out of the ordinary? This is not the place.
Mainstream wishes are easily fulfilled here though. In store, you can play Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, Yu-​Gi-​Oh and many more. Next to the counter there is a spinner rack with all ages comics, so you can bring the little ones.

Staff is super friendly and very helpful. The past couple times I’ve been in there they were out of stock of the comics I was looking for but they were more then happy to order them for me and they always give a courtesy call when your order comes in. I always have a good experience when I go in there. Very informative staff, great service, and I’m in and out in no time.

Love this place. I’m so glad we have a great comic book store in town. Staff is super helpful and friendly. Great selection and they are more than happy to order you what you want if it’s not in stock. The only thing I would like to see different is to have gift cards that are actually cards. Easier to give than the paper certificates they currently hand out. Also it would be nice to have a better sitting area for those of us who need to relax while their boyfriend is doing their tenth lap through the place.

I spent a nice hour here looking around at comics and games. There is a good selection of new comics, old comics, trades and games. The store is laid out well and uses it’s space well.
Sorry I can’t remember the guy’s name that helped me out but he was spot on in recommending a couple of games to me.
If you are in the neighborhood and like comics and/​or games I highly recommend Metro.

My son is getting into comics. Every single time we’ve gone to Metro, the staff has been just incredibly helpful and engaged, and sweet with him. It’s like having a store full of geek-​positive role models!

Apparently both of the asshats I dealt with in a previous review have been fired and started their own comic store called Avalon (avoid them). So for now this is the best in town!

Metro is awesome. The people who work here are awesome. Please note that the one star reviews are from over a year ago and that they have a different staff of really approachable and knowledgable employees.
The guys here (John, Joe, and Mack) are always exceedingly helpful– and the owner (Bob) [I seriously frequent this place] is very welcoming and clearly cares a lot about his business and customers. I’m one of those people who is relatively new to comics and frankly knowing everything about them is not a priority to me. I have never once felt self-​conscious about asking a question here and am always helped by someone who is actually enthusiastic about their job. The environment that they have all created is ideal if you are interested in learning about comics or are purchasing for someone else. I don’t take advantage of their other wares: cards, etc. but I imagine just from having overheard other customers inquiries that they’re equally as helpful in that arena.
Also for whatever it’s worth: in response to the review left by the individual who mentioned basically being told it’s not a library… it’s not. It’s a business within which you trade currency for goods– and I don’t think salespeople should be faulted for encouraging that. I can’t think of a business, except for the aforementioned library, where you get to use it’s products for free as long as you’re inside it’s walls. Nor would I expect people to go through junk that I wasn’t willing to despite the fact there may be something of value in it, especially when they’ve already stated twice what they’re looking for. I think you have misunderstood the services offered here– as someone who wants to support this *local* business, I hate to see it misrepresented.

Shout out to Mack for being a total gem and saving my life today. I came in to pick up my pull and didn’t even bother checking what was in it. I headed off to dinner, and while checking out my sweet haul, realized that I was missing two key books. I ran back over right as the poor guy was closing up shop and he let me bulldoze him and grab the comics I so impatiently insisted on having right that moment. Just another reason to love this place.

Great variety! Nice location in the Downtown Shopping area.

So I’ve visited almost all the comic shops south/s.east of the 105 fwy down to Orange County. Here’s my rundown on my visit…
My travels brought me up to Santa Barbara for a weekend. (A great trip to make.) Walking along State St. I found the Metro comic shop on a side street having a sidewalk sale. First walking into the store there R.P. game going on.
The store is average size but they have a great amount of inventory and it is all well placed.
They have plenty titles on their new release shelves. And a so so amount of back issues. Lots of trades and other books. A great place to get gaming supplies as well.
There’s a counter with some key issues to look at and very reasonably priced.
This is a great little store in a wonderful town. Definitely worth a visit.

Great comic stop.
Not the greatest for MTG.

Comics, magic cards, manga. Win.

I don’t buy or read comics. When I went to UCSB I went here for Friday Night Magic.
Being a small town, this was the only store in Goleta/​Santa Barbara that hosted Magic: the Gathering events. I came from San Jose, which has one of the largest Magic: the Gathering stores in the US, so it was a shift to a completely different type of store. That said, the store is very lacking when it comes to a stock of Magic card singles. Order online at other places or talk to players who go there.
Some of the employees here weren’t very friendly, but they were friendly enough that it didn’t turn me off from the store. Some of them are very nice and participated in events on occasion.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I came to this cozy shop. The first time I came here, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I won the first tournament I played in, showing them that I was a pretty experienced player. I started coming back pretty frequently and saw many of the same faces each time. Unlike in a big store atmosphere, everyone was very friendly and willing to talk. We could share cards and most of the time no one was trying to rip anyone else off. There were a few awkward people, as there usually are in a nerdy hobby such as MTG, but people here were not judgmental.
Some people played seriously, some played casually, but no one was a jerk. There were some new players who started playing here and from what I saw, they were welcomed and everyone helped them.
Honestly, I miss the environment a lot. Meeting and playing with a local group of people who are friendly and not stuck up is a rarity in the world.
Also, I always found it funny playing a card game on Friday night when people are out drinking and partying. Not that I don’t love drinking and partying, but the look on people’s faces as their drunken asses walked past the store window and they saw a bunch of nerds sitting at tables playing card games: priceless. Some would stop to point and laugh.
Alls I gotta say is, keep your judgment to yourself you two-​bit hos cruising State St. looking for some dick.

I’ve been using Metro as my main card shop for about 5 months now, and I think I’m finally ready to write a review.
Space:
Sadly this is the one area that’s lacking a Metro. They have a large space but much of it is taken up by the graphic novels, trade paperbacks, or comic books. They usually have a small play area set up in the corner of the store, but it’s literally only 4 seats so not much you could do there. Luckily in their back room they have some extra tables that they’ll pull out and set up for events like their Gamers Social. Once again though as most space is taken up by the books the shop gets very crowded even with just 3 foldable tables set out.
Products & Pricing:
The shop has an amazing collection of all cards, from baseball to redakai. Their RPG section is great for (almost) any big games you’d want: Pathfinder, Dresden, Conan, all the big names are there but does leave something lacking for supplements on most systems and some of the big systems are MIA (GURPS for instance). Their board games is an average section, but I think everyone in Santa Barbara knows they can’t compete with Game Seeker down the street in this area. Comics, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels is where they truly shine. As stated above, that section takes up ²⁄₃ of the shop. Figurines (for miniature war-​games and RPGs) is another area they have a great selection. Plus they’re constantly adding to their selection of board games, RPGs, comics, and card games. The pricing is MSRP or better and they’re typically having sales.
Customer Service:
Customer service is one area that they do amazingly. Everyone that works there is friendly and will help you out with anything. They’ll typically try to strike up conversation about what products you’re purchasing and inform you of the events they hold.
Friday Night Magic, Tournaments, Gamers Social, Etc.:
As I’m no longer into FNM I can’t attest to how they do but I can say that all the people I’ve met through this stores other events are amazing. It may take some time to break into the atmosphere, about 2 times attending their gamers social for me but once you’ve really started to talk to people (and not shy away from them and then be disappointed no one talked to you the whole night when you were the one standing in the corner on your smartphone and looking like you just really wanted to go home) you’ll see how nice of an atmosphere it is when it’s just some regulars (not many) hanging out for something like a Saturday night and playing Pathfinder or a board game.
Conclusion: All together this is my go to store. I’ve been to better, but not by much. The real problem with the place is the lack of space dedicated to actual gaming. If they could fix that and get people in the store constantly playing board games, card games, or RPGs and just generally having a good time it’d easily be 5 stars.

What do you want from a comic book store?
The most recent comics and a good backorder selection. Check, they got that here and more. A knowledgeable staff? That too. Shirts? You know like the geeks on Big Bang Theory? They have those and more, You can really find some obscure stuff to wear here. Toys? Thay have action figures galore. I do miss the days when you could get a nice Wolverine for 6.99 instead of the 18 dollars they cost today.
Truth be told I have recently given up the comic book habit. It was cheaper to start collecting wine as comic books prices are about 4 dollars a book. I was spending about 30 bucks a week (don’t tell the wife, she thinks it was only about 10). Nowadays if I want to read a particular story line I will go the graphic novel route. Which brings us back to Metro they have an awesome selection of graphic novels.

Coming from a land of amazing comic book stores up in the Bay Area, I consider this Metro Entertainment essentially perfect. Knocked off a star because I didn’t see any local or indy stuff prominently displayed, but their selection of new issues, trades, and hardbacks is way amazing. Like so much. I wish I lived in Santa Barbara just because of this store.
Go forth and geek. Now.

During my college years in Santa Barbara this always a fun stop during our trips downtown. They have a big selection of books to look at and choose from. They have a ton of collected editions, as well as game pieces for various board games. They even have lots of cool collectors toys and trading cards.
On top of all of their great products, they also have some cool arcade games in the front, which reminded me of visiting comic shops as a kid, back when they were more abundant. The staff was always super friendly and didn’t act like comic snobs when you asked a question. They also helped organize cool events at their store, one of which got me an autographed copy of Radioactive Man #1.

I went with a friend this past Sunday to this shop. The sales people were friendly & helpful, the store was neatly organized, and it didn’t smell funny like other comic stores I’ve been in. They even had the goth comics I so love!
Really, a good experience.

I do not read comics (or graphic novels, excuse me). I tried, I really did. But the fascinate me. We walked in the store to check out their toys and browsed for just a few minutes before walking out. I do not know much about comic shops but the clerk was really nice to us, not pretentious like some L.A. stores. I have been seized up many times before, but this guy was really chill and offered his help.
If I attempt to read anything other than Stardust anytime soon, I will go here.