Time Tunnel Comics

Time Tunnel Comics is a comic shop in Hickory, North Carolina, that also carries Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! singles and packs. It has been in business since 2001 and sells everything from current-week comics to decades-old back issues, which suits collectors who like to dig through bins, parents shopping for a kid who plays cards, and anyone chasing a vintage toy or an out-of-print pack.

What's on the shelves

Comics are the core. The store keeps a large supply of new releases, sorted back stock, and a board of key and desirable issues. Hundreds of trade paperbacks and other collected editions fill the shelves, and subscriptions are available for readers who want an ongoing series held for them.

Collectible figures take a lot of space: Pop figures, Marvel Legends and Selects, and DC Direct and Multiverse lines. The store also deals in old toys and vintage Star Wars items.

On the card side, the store sells Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! singles and packs, along with accessories and dice, and comic supplies for protecting a collection. Older cards and packs that have been out of print for years turn up here too. The shop sells online as well.

History

The shop opened in 2001 in a 500 square foot space in a strip mall on Springs Road, started by a father and son who wanted an old-style mom-and-pop comic shop. Magic: The Gathering sold quickly once they stocked it, and Yu-Gi-Oh! demand followed soon after. The stock grew until the store was so crowded that gaming tournaments had to wait until after closing.

In 2003 the store moved to a space two and a half times larger in the Hickory Corners shopping center. In January 2018, at the start of its 17th year, a longtime employee took over from the founders and moved the shop to its third location, 265 2nd Ave SE in the Village Corners shopping center, on the edge of downtown Hickory. The name comes from a short-lived 1960s science fiction TV show, and the store lives up to it: a 50-year-old comic and a brand new one can sit a few feet apart.

Shows and conventions

Time Tunnel Comics co-sponsors the bi-annual Hickory Con comic shows and sets up at other conventions, which is a major way it keeps the back issue bins stocked. It also runs its own event, the Time Tunnel Comic Con. The next edition is July 11, 2026, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Brookford Community Building on South Center Street in Hickory. General admission is $5, and kids 15 and under get in free. A cosplay contest runs at 1:30 PM, with sign-up from 11 AM to 1 PM at the door for $5, and prizes go to the top contestants.

Vendor tables run $60 for an 8 foot table, $40 for a 6 foot craft table (handmade goods, jewelry, plushies) and $20 for a 6 foot artist table (prints, sketches, original art, self-published books). Tables are reserved by contacting the store.

Hours

The local scene

Hickory has several other card and collectible stores within about a mile, including Hobby Town USA, Comics & Toys, The Dugout Cards & Games and Hickory Cards & Collectibles, which makes a single afternoon of shop-hopping practical. Farther out, the Village Inn Card Show from Grail Card Promotions is about 56 miles away, with its next date on November 28, 2026.