New hobby shop to expand beyond its fantasy game origins

Laughing Star Hobbies, a new business on Front Street, opened July 2. Owner David Jellum eventually plans to expand the store beyond its fantasy game roots. As a longtime player of the tabletop combat game Warhammer and the role-playing game Magic: The Gathering, he has been planning this for a while.

Inside the storefront that used to house the Wrangell Insurance Center, two long tables stand ready for adventures in role-play and combat. Glass countertops and display cases present figurines of fantastic characters, packs of trading cards and boxed sets of other role-playing or combat games, like Magic and the popular Dungeons and Dragons.

While some games make use of trading cards, others use miniatures like Warhammer or Star Wars: Legion, a game that tells tales from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. A flatscreen television mounted in the corner plays family-friendly movies like "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Also on one of the countertops are jars filled with Jellum's homemade mixture of spices and seasonings labeled "Spice Melange." Although named after the fictional psychedelic drug central to the "Dune" series of science-fiction novels by Frank Herbert, this product's only uses are as a spice rub or table seasoning.

When he and his wife Ellen moved to town several years ago, they lived in a small apartment. "Our entire apartment was about the size of this carpeted area right here," he said, indicating the main area of his new shop. "I decided that if I wanted to have a place to play, and do my hobby thing, I had to open a spot."

Now, just as the couple recently bought a house, he feels there is a need for his type of business. "There's not much to do in town outside of fish or hunt," he said.

Jellum works weekdays at Wrangell IGA. "I'm working over there in the mornings, because it lets me pay the rent here without having to bleed the business," he said. "That way, I can put all the money I make back into it."

After his IGA shift ends at 2 p.m., he'll work weekdays at Laughing Star Hobbies from 3 p.m. until 8 or 9 p.m., with full days on the weekend. "It depends on what people are doing and how late people want to play," he said, adding that he'll give it a few weeks to better determine the hours of operation.

Ellen Jellum's grandfather suggested the store's name, which she first used for her massage business. Her father shared his interest in fantasy and collectibles, having once owned a comic book store in Battle Ground, Washington.

The new shop owner's passion mirrors that of another Wrangell resident, Wesley Seward, who set up a similar business at his home called AK Hobby R.A.W.K.S.

Jellum believes there's enough room in town for two hobby shops. "He didn't know I existed; I didn't know he existed. It's just the way it happened. I have a better location; he's been going a bit longer and has more stock. ... I've got no problem with it. He's talked about coming down here and playing."

In addition to the game tables, for which he's still fabricating appropriate scenery, Jellum also has a separate back room that will be reserved for D&D campaigns. The renovations are still in the planning stages, as he's waiting for feedback from local fans of the game. "A lot of people are into Dungeons and Dragons around here," he said, adding that he has a 3-D printer to create generic miniatures for D&D fans who don't normally have them to use in their game-playing.

He admitted that he's not much of a Pokémon fan, but he'll be glad to stock the trading cards for patrons.

Although he started his business just as a place to play his games, it has grown beyond that. "At the end of the day, it's about what hobbies that the community wants to do," he said.

Jellum also plans to sell art merchandise like sketchpads, pens and charcoal for artists as well as materials for various kinds of crafters. "My wife does needlepoint and knitting," he said. "We're trying to find a yarn distributor right now."

He also noted growing interest in the community with anime and manga, which he wants to provide at his store, but pointed out there's a lot of material to choose from. "The problem with that is right now is I don't know anything about it," he said. "I'll need to talk to some people to find out what's appropriate and then find out what people are after."

For more information, check out Laughing Star Hobbies' Facebook page, call Jellum at 360-334-2531 or email laughingstarhobbies@outlook.com.