Inside Troll Trader’s new Truro gaming cafe on Calenick Street

The sign above the door reads TT Gaming Cafe. Through the glass, Warhammer scenery lines the window cabinets, and further in there are tables, a lot of them, already set up for battle.

Troll Trader has moved its Truro shop from the Leats to a new, much roomier home at the top of Calenick Street, in the unit that was previously the British Heart Foundation charity shop.

📷Credit: Truro BID

A tabletop gaming cafe from Pokémon to Warhammer

Troll Trader describes the Truro site as a tabletop gaming cafe, and the range runs from Pokémon to Warhammer. Photos from inside show walls of illuminated cabinets packed with individually displayed trading cards, glass cases of sealed Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering products, and racks of TTCombat’s Rumbleslam wrestling game.

There is even a bright orange Pokémon vending machine. £1 a go gets you two cards, with holos, reverses and a mystery slab promised among the stock.

📷Credit: Truro BID

Room to play

The extra space is where the move really shows. One section of the new shop is given over to rows of tables draped in black, each one dressed with a gaming mat and ruined gothic buildings, shipping containers and pipework, ready for tabletop wargames. Another area has long tables and chairs for card games.

The front windows carry a message for anyone with a collection gathering dust: the shop buys Magic, Warhammer and Pokémon.

📷Credit: Truro BID

Who are Troll Trader?

Troll Trader began trading in 2007 and is based at Moorland Road Business Park in Indian Queens. It describes itself as the largest trader of second-hand Warhammer in the world, and its staff as active hobbyists who have worked across the wargames industry, from painting and testing to design, retail and distribution.

Online, it sells Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, The Horus Heresy, The Old World, Middle Earth and Specialist Games such as Blood Bowl and Necromunda, along with paints, scenery and rulebooks. TTCombat, which has its own branding over the Truro shopfront next door to the cafe sign, is its own range of games, paints and hobby supplies.

Hobbyists looking to clear space can sell old models to Troll Trader for cash or trade them in for a credit bonus, and the company also auctions bits bags every week. Selling enquiries go to [email protected].

📷Credit: Truro BID

A warm welcome from the city

Truro BID shared the news of the move, wishing the team good luck and congratulating everyone involved.

“The new premises looks amazing,” it said.

📷Credit: Truro BID

📷Credit: Truro BID

📷Credit: Truro BID