“There were no RuneQuest articles or scenarios in the first issues of White Dwarf I bought. That however didn’t stop me from buying the Chaosium second edition boxset; I saw it nestled on the shelves of my friendly local games store F.C. Parker in Cardiff,” thus begins the very first contribution of @dailydwarf to the GROGNARD files Episode 1. The mention of F.C. Parker was a trigger word for dozens of listeners of the podcast. The toy shop had a very special place in the memories of grognards in the area.
Since it was mentioned, the team at The Armchair Adventurers have been trying to track down more details about the store. Last year, the South Wales division of the GROGSQUAD, led by Wayne Peters, conducted an interview with David Miles who grew up in Cardiff and worked at FC Parker and Encounter Games. He now lives in Kent, but enjoyed reflected on the days in the old store:
For those who are not native South Walians, and not filled with wistful nostalgia, can you describe what FC Parker and Encounter games as you remember them?
FC Parker and, particularly, Encounter Games were THE place to be if you were into Role playing or wargaming, either historical, fantasy or sci-fi. I like to think that amongst a handful of other similar stores, FC Parker and Encounter Games drove gaming to new heights.
The Royal Arcade incarnation of FC Parker was about traditional board games – I recall hundreds of different types of chess-pieces, backgammon sets, Go!, mahjong and at the end a few RPGs and a square cabinet in which miniatures were stored.
And lots of Prince August moulding kits, they were a big part of the business at that time.
I worked there twice – once I was a Saturday lad in FC Parker on the corner of Royal Arcade and, then full-time for FC Parker, which became Encounter Games in the High St Arcade. I was just cheeky, walked in and asked for a Saturday job at first, but I cannot recall how I came to work there the second time came about, but I am both glad and sad it did.
I have only a very fleeting memory of Roger the proprietor, what do you remember about him? Was he a gamer himself?
Roger was Roger Harris – a giant of a man – with a massive heart and with the deepest voice I have ever known. Sadly he had health issues, which were aggravated in later years of the business and wouldn’t have helped him at all. He was interested in all the traditional games – chess and the like – but not the RPG side of things – he was a keen business man to boot though – he knew when something was going to be big! He was very generous and someone to look up to – to aspire to be like in fact.
Were you, yourself a keen gamer back then, how did you get involved in the hobby and what did you play?
I was … D&D, Runequest and Traveller, then I moved to Warhammer – the first box I can still remember vividly; Rogue Trader came soon after, that was the forerunner to Warhammer 40k. I loved and still love Space Hulk, plus some Call of Cthulhu, Mechwarrior and Shadowrun were always in the mix. And a part of my youthful heart will always belong to Vampire: The Masquerade.
Are you still a gamer? If so, what do you play now?
Gaming – hell yes – consoles but still tabletop in a big way, in my active gaming cupboard at the moment, The Awful Orphanage, KillTeam, the Batman Miniatures game and X-Wing – plus I really fancy Journeys in Middle-Earth to be honest – so can see that being added
What were the shop’s big sellers?
Well Traveller, D&D and Runequest were always immense – the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game was massive, Vampire: The Masquerade was extremely popular as was Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mechwarrior was really big and RoboTech was pretty popular too. But then a heavy move towards GW products saw the real growth of the shop – anyone who recalls it, will remember rack upon rack of miniatures hanging on the wall and a gigantic stand in the centre – which held more stock inside and opened up. Roger made that stand himself, it was so heavy, packed with so much great stock too. It was like a record store display, but full of every RPG book and supplement known to man!
Why did FC Parker move to the High Street Arcade and why did the name change to Encounter Games?
Space constraints drove the move, a desire to expand and become THE goto place for gamers in Wales – I think the move was proven to be the correct one. The name change was part of the rebranding alongside becoming the first Games Workshop Specialist Stockist, a change months in planning and execution – in conjunction with John Stallard, now of Warlord Games.
What was your relationship like with the competition (Bud Morgans, Beatties, Virgin and GW)?
Bud Morgans were great, they were in a different sphere to us and although we overlapped no bad words – Beatties were the same, VIrgin we didnt have a real relationship with, Games Workshop, well, less said the better I think, we all know how events transpired and what happened.
Even before the change to Encounter Games, was there a sense that interest in RPGs was waning, with miniatures war games becoming more popular?
Yes – the acceleration was obvious – but other games came to the fore, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was immense for us, possibly because it was a bloody good product and partly because there was a great little group who were into it and enthusiastic about it. But other games were massive too, Shadowrun was enormous and had a range of miniatures, even if people only bought one as their character avatar, it was all good.
We also saw how big the hobby was getting when we launched the Encounter Games mail order service and catalogue – this was before eCommerce and we were shipping out enormous amounts per week, worldwide – that was the point when the juggernaut was appreciably massive – it got bigger and bigger from there onwards – it helped having staff who were gamers and loved the hobby, that buzz and enthusiasm came through. That is something I have carried forward in life, I do what I do because I love it, not because it’s a job, whatever you do, enthuse and be genuine about it, it will make the difference.
FC Parker were involved in organising Welsh Games Day – any memories / stories from those?
At that point Games Workshop were being really supportive of Encounter Games, so they really did help out a lot. We also wanted to make it inclusive of other manufacturers and other games; those two conflicts were an interesting conundrum to resolve.
Did you ever have any celebrity customers?
I think the only celebrity would be a certain artist, who was also a gamer, Mark Gibbons, who I was friends with then and still am – it was at the start of his career – which is how we got him to illustrate the Encounter Games catalogue for us, with a caricature of both Roger and myself. He was a figure painter, a gamer, a budding artist and in a rock band. I was lucky enough to often see what he was working on and some of the artwork blew my mind at the time. He produced some of the iconic pieces of artwork; of course, he is too modest and always pushes praise on others, notably John Blanche and Jes Goodwin – but he was one hell of an artist – and still is. His work was never art for arts sake, it was a glimpse into his head, how he saw the miniatures in their settings, which is why much of it stands up to modern scrutiny and it remains inspirational! It took GW 30 years to resculpt the Blood Angel Mephiston, but when they did, it was Mark’s artwork that was the foundation – of course, he thanks Jes Goodwin for the original inspiration! He’s very modest and genuine as a person.
Anything else that you’d like to say that isn’t already covered by these questions?
I wouldn’t change the years spent at FC Parker and Encounter Games. I met some great people over 30 years ago, some of whom I am still in contact with, I met Mark who I remain in contact with and friends with, and my best mate after all these years is Mike, if anyone remembers a ginger guy who worked Saturdays for me in the shop, that was Mike. We’ve grown up, been each other’s best men, seen kids – in Mike’s case – come into the world, watched them grow. We’ve gone to many, many rock gigs together and spent many a night drinking beer and being stupid – so from a games shop, a great friendship came – that’s worth its weight in gold!
Thank you to David for the interview and to Wayne for organising the interview. If you have any more information about the store, then please let us know, particularly if you have a photograph.
