Like many gamers, I’m not a huge fan of Gamestop/EB Games. I mean I buy from them frequently since they are pretty much the dominant game retailer and the easiest place to find the latest games, but their trade-in service is a complete ripoff nowadays and most of their clerks act like such know-it-all dicks, so I prefer to shop elsewhere if I can. One of my favorite game shops used to be a local import shop chain here in Northern Virginia called Starland, but years back the store location nearby (and the only one I knew about at the time) closed up shop and so I thought the company as a whole did so too.
While browsing around online last week, though, I came across the site eStarland.com and discovered that the chain didn’t shut down but instead merely consolidated into one store in Fairfax, VA and formed an eCommerce branch known as eStarland. So at last I found the game shop I once loved so much, and this weekend I decided to make the 45-minute trek into Fairfax to check it out, especially since I’ve been on a kick to go back and collect some older titles, mainly from the PS1 era.
Unfortunately, their PS1 selection was kinda limited — at least most of the games I was specifically looking for were “temporarily out of stock” — but I did find some sweet deals on a handful of PS1, PS2 and 360 games and found that their trade-in service actually kicks back a much more fair value than the Gamestops of the world. I was getting like $7 in credit for some really old and really crappy PS2 games I’d probably only get a couple bucks for at other stores or selling to other traders online. Overall I made nearly $130 in credit on a small stack of games that had been collecting dust on my shelf for years, and thanks to their Saturday-only Star-tacular sale that had “Buy 1 game, get a second for 50% off” deals in effect I was able to pick up used copies of Chrono Cross, Evergrace, Metal Arms, Earth Defense Force 2017 and Medal of Honor Airborne and a brand new copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (yeah, I’ve only just now been able to get it dammit!) with like 12 bucks in credit to spare. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet bargain!
The shop was rather small — probably half the size of most Gamestop/EB Games stores — but it was packed with games from virtually all platforms, past and present, and imported anime, game soundtracks and action figures. All of their new games are offered at a slight discount to the standard MSRP too. So instead of new Wii games being $49.99 or new PS3 and 360 games being $59.99, for example, they were all like $46.99 or $55.99. On average it’s about three to four bucks under typical market value. Not much, but hey, it’s still a discount. As for their used games, the quality is incredible. Every game I saw (and the five I bought) was resealed like new and in pretty much mint condition. They actually check trade-ins before accepting them and won’t take anything that’s damaged.
Best part is, you don’t have to live here in VA, or even the US, to be a Starland customer. The eStarland branch offers all the same prices and services as the store. You can submit trade-in orders online and ship the games to their warehouse for instant credit for use online, or for someone like me who isn’t too far away, I could place an order then head to the store for drop off/pick up to cut out the shipping and make the process go quicker. Since it’s not exactly close by, I unfortunately won’t be able to shop there on a regular basis, but I’m stoked to see that it’s still around and will definitely be making it my go-to source used games and collectibles. Definitely head over to eStarland.com and check them out for yourself.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
absolutely agree, i’m an international customer and i absolutely recomend starland, as before told in the post, the prices are great and the service is very reliable.
Cool, great to hear from a fellow Starland customer/supporter!
I live in Mexico and videogame prices are stupidly high here and you can’t find a decent place to buy retro games, then i found estarland.com and was the best thing that could ever happened to me, I’ve found a lot of games & accessories that i’ve been looking for a long time! it’s one of the few companies that ship internationally, also it’s cheap and my orders took an average 7 days (sometimes less) to arrive.
Awesome to hear from another satisfied eStarland customer. Really wish I could get in to visit their shop more often. Have ordered a few things since, but unfortunately haven’t made it back to the actual store since writing this story. I easily must’ve spent a couple hours in there last time just browsing around and talking with the owner about all these old PS1 games I was searching for at the time, was like geek gamer heaven for me 🙂
I’ve been shopping at starland since the early 90s… I think 1993 (3rd grade) to be exact. They use to be in some office in a building. I felt like I was visiting the dentist or something. It wasn’t a retail store at this time it was just an office (Located near Mason District Park in Annandale, VA off I think Braddock Rd). I walked up to the receptionist desk and dropped my stack of NES games on the table. The guy looked thru them and offered the cash, alot of the games he was offering $1.00 which made me a disappointed kid but I really wanted that Turbografx 16 so I sold all the games and my mom paid the difference. they took the games and came back out with a Turbografx16 system in the box and all with some games… guess I ended up buying a “bundle package” they were offering. It was very cool.
Years later…
They had a retail location in Annandale, VA (intersection of Braddock and Backlick)and this was the prime time of Starland. This store had it ALL and they could do whatever you wanted. I had my PS1 modded to play burned/copied games. It was super cool. My little brother went there to buy his japanese stuff.
[Story of the Used Video Game Retails in VA]
Around the “Starland retail era” other used video game retail stores started to pop up. EB Games, Software Etc, Babbages which all turned into Gamestops when their corporate company wanted everything uniform to compete with Gamecrazy (aka Hollywood Videos) and Blockbuster. This used video game retail boom caused a war between Gamestops and Game Crazys… corporate giants with money to lose duking it out while little Starland got smooshed in the fray. Gamestop became a power brand and people wanted to shop there so Game Crazy and retail Starland died out here in VA. Now the real battle is Gamestop vs Amazon.com with Amazon being so much better but thats another story that I can go on and on about.
I’m happy to see that Starland is not giving up without a fight.
The one I used to go to originally was in Centreville I believe, and it was like a regular retail shop like an EB Games/Gamestop. I remember they used to have like a membership card too, and every game was cheaper if you had one. I loved it too because back then it was really the only place around here where you could find lot of niche/rare games and import stuff.
The one store now is still very much the same in terms of offering old games that are hard to find elsewhere, and I like it because the clerks and owner actually seem to know and love gaming (as opposed to the know-it-all Gamestop clerks who actually don’t know shit).
It’s just a bitch to get into because it’s hidden back in these office buildings – getting to it the first time was like working through a maze!