Mission: Board Games – Board games, card games, and now … exclusive collectibles
You see a game in a box. You buy it. You open the box. You play it. You love it. You play it again and again. But sometimes replay value can suffer a bit if the game doesn’t change—if the tokens are always the same tokens, if the cards are always the same cards. How to get around that? Games that grow and change over the years, including expansions, collectible cards, tokens, and more.
Mission: Board Games—with two locations in the Kansas City Metro area (downtown Mission at 5606 Johnson Drive opened in 2016, and on the north side of Kansas City at 7751 N.W. Prairie View Road opened in 2022)—aims to satisfy both the board game itch and the collectible gaming itch.
KantCon is honored this year to have Mission: Board Games as a sponsor and locally owned business on the vendor floor to join more than a dozen other sellers of role-playing games, board games, art, game accessories and more at the convention July 14-16, 2023, at the Overland Park Convention Center.
Owner Mason Hans is especially proud of a new set of figurines he’s featuring in store all the way from Japan. Find out more below this and other offerings available both at the store’s KantCon vendor booth and at both of their locations. You can also find Mason and the Mission: Board Games team and their fans on their Discord channel and missionboardgames.com.
When/how did you get into tabletop gaming?
I grew up playing games all the time! I was a huge fan of Pokémon video games and the collectible card game from the start, but I would also invent tabletop games with my friend with toys that we had. I strayed from those passions as a preteen and teen, but at the end of high school I discovered that they were still producing Pokémon cards and running competitive tournaments. My love for card games and board games was rekindled!
What made you decide to turn the hobby into a business?
After high school, I tried the traditional route of going to college for a four-year degree, but I didn’t enjoy the grind of school or feel that passionate about any of the subjects. So, I quit school and worked odd jobs. I saved money where I could and spent all my free time playing card games or board games with friends. After long enough, I had an epiphany that teaching games and hosting game nights was my calling.
Is there a product that you have out now or are going to release this year that you’re particularly excited about?
Two answers here: First, we’ve partnered with Taiyaki Collectibles to bring in gachapon (or gashapon) machines to our stores. Gachapon are small but high-quality collectible figurines that are loaded into mechanical token machines. We'll have all sorts of figurines—from Pokémon to anime (like Demon Slayer and Hunter x Hunter) to Star Wars.
Second, coming in October is “Pokémon 151,” a new set from the card game that will only include Pokémon from the original game. I have so many fond memories of those first games, so I’m super excited!
What will you have at KantCon that our attendees should check out?
We'll be showing off those Gachapon figurines from Taiyaki Collectibles. Come check them out!
What’s one of your favorite things about KantCon?
I love that KantCon is a convention by local people for local people! It's focused on the Kansas City community that our business is so passionate about. They do bring in vendors from all over, so there’s a wonderful selection of fun things to buy.
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